About our Apostle
Apostle Deborah Bell is the founding member and Lead Apostle of Deo Gloria Family Church, Durban, South Africa. She has over 30 years experience in leading ministry and has been the lead pastor of DGFC since founding and planting the church in September 1997.
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Deborah is globally recognised as a Lead Apostle or an “Apostle to Apostles”(or a Bishop as others may relate), and she has travelled both locally in SA and internationally, hosting conferences, and speaking as a Keynote at other affirming conferences, teaching and preaching on the Apostolic mandate that the LORD has called her to impart globally. She is closely connected in relationship with other Apostles, Prophets and networks, internationally.
Some History:
A Pioneer
In 1990, with the calling of God on her life, Deborah pioneered the first affirming Christian group in the City of Durban, South Africa. The group continued meeting for 7 years before becoming a church. She now refers to this time as her “training ground” for ministry.
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Credentials
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Deborah was ordained in 1997 and has a Bachelor of Theology degree (BTh), from
the University of South Africa (UNISA), and a Diploma in Christian ministry through Rose of Sharon Bible School in SA.
Deborah has extensive experience in the business sector as a Senior Manager in Marketing & Sales in various Multinationals over the past 25 years.
Full-Time Ministry - A Step of Faith
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In 2007, after much prayer and waiting on the Lord and receiving confirmation from other leaders, (10 years after starting the church), Deborah knew this was the time that God was calling her into full-time ministry. This was a radical move as it meant leaving her very lucrative career & workplace, and the security of a pension, medical aid and many perks, behind and as an act of faith, moving full time into her ministry calling.
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It was during this time, that she was able to transition into her called role of Lead Apostle (or as some prefer Bishop), in the beginnings of what would be a global Network of affirming ministers and churches.
An Encounter with Holy Spirit
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In 2012, she had an encounter with Holy Spirit in East London, South Africa, where Holy Spirit came upon her in power, like a bolt of electricity, and she couldn’t move for over an hour and could not stop weeping before the Lord in God's presence. This encounter changed the course of the next leg of her ministry and life.
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In September 2012 Deborah held meetings in JHB with other LGBTQ affirming fivefold ministers, and on a Friday night, in what was supposed to be a general get together with all the affirming spirit-filled Fivefold ministers,
Holy Spirit came upon the meeting and all the Fivefold gathered there, said that God had called them together for such a time as this, to lay hands on Apostle Deborah, recognizing and officially publicly acknowledging her as their Lead Apostle (or Bishop) for South Africa. Deborah had planned to do a teaching on Saturday morning on the Apostolic to introduce the churches to it, but Holy Spirit had already supernaturally accelerated the process.
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Apostle Deborah is globally recognized as a Lead Apostle or as an “Apostle to Apostles”, and she has travelled both locally in SA and internationally, hosting conferences, and speaking as a Keynote speaker at other affirming conferences globally, teaching and preaching on the Apostolic mandate that the LORD has called her to release & impart globally to the Fivefold.
Vision
It is her vision & passion to see the Kingdom of God established on earth as it is in heaven; with a manifestation of the supernatural power of God’s glory being released & operational through Holy Spirit & the Five-Fold ministry in the Church & imparted through the Apostolic, into the greater Body of Christ so that the Body of Christ attains the whole measure of the FULLNESS of Christ on the earth according to scripture (Ephesians 4:11). It is her desire to see people living in the fullness of who they are created to be & called to be in Christ.
It is her heart to see the global Church united as one, which includes the LGBTQI community each being used in their own uniqueness to bring about the Kingdom of God on the earth, without the exclusion of anyone. Apostle Deborah has planted churches and ploughed into many ministries individuals and leaders over the years. This is seen in the many spiritual sons and daughters she has in the 31 years she has been in ministry, 25 of those years leading churches and ministers.
Her influence can be seen in the many leaders, churches and fivefold ministers she has coached & mentored from different cultures over the years, some of whom are now affiliated with DGAN Apostolic Network. Deborah, officially established the DGAN Network in 2012.
Her experience includes coaching leaders, Church planting, training, equipping the people of God, and various other aspects of church management.
She has an Apostolic vision and strongly believes in the Apostolic being established in the Church to activate the Fivefold in the Church. Namely, the offices of Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor & Teacher according to Ephesians 4:11, so that the global church can operate with the power of Holy Spirit activated that it needs.
Deborah lives in Durban North, South Africa, with her spouse of 25 years,