The work of restoration on the former Heritage USA, or PTL (now Heritage International Ministries, or H.I.M.), has obviously captured the attention of the church around the world. As one Asian pastor put it, “Just the news that this property was being restored lifted the encouragement barometer of the body of Christ a few degrees.” It is seen as a major prophetic symbol of the power of God’s redemption and heart for restoration.

MorningStar Fellowship Church purchased The Grand Hotel and Conference Center, along with the uncompleted high-rise, general store, castle, restaurant, cabins, and fifty-two acres of adjoining land in September 2004. The property, which had cost nearly sixty million to build, was bought for just $1,600,000, the estimated value of the land, subtracting the cost of demolishing and removing the buildings, which were in such a state of disrepair they were not considered restorable.

Vagrants had lived in the buildings, starting fires in them, using the elevators as latrines, and generally breaking just about everything that could be broken. The stench was nearly unbearable, and the reporters that first viewed the buildings questioned whether it could be restored. To the MorningStar leadership team, the job looked overwhelming, but we were convinced that we were on an assignment from God. We knew that many thought this property prophetically represented the general state of the modern church and if that were true, we would do what it took to restore it to the highest standards.

Volunteers from around the country who had heard of the purchase started showing up with a heart to work. To everyone’s amazement, including the MorningStar leadership team, in just a little more than two months the first service of MorningStar Fellowship Church was held in the lobby of the Grand Hotel on December 5, 2004. A few days before this service, documents were found which stated that the building had been closed for business on December 5, 1997, exactly seven years to the day from when they were reopened again.

Within weeks, a certificate of occupancy was issued for opening ninety-one hotel rooms and many of the offices. Now there are over three hundred rooms open in The Grand Hotel, and on October 31, 2006, Main Street with its shops and over one hundred twenty additional rooms, suites, and apartments are scheduled to open. The Conference Center with the Heritage Café, which seats several hundred at a time, the Grand Ballroom, and additional breakout rooms are scheduled to be open by December 31, 2006.

MorningStar has already hosted about a dozen conferences at the facilities, and many who come say they feel the Lord’s presence here like no place we have ever met. From the church services to the conferences, everything we do here seems to keep going to higher levels. The depression that once hung over the property now seems to be completely gone, and it is being replaced by the joy of the Lord. Many of our guests staying in the hotel say that they have had the best sleep here of anywhere they have ever been. Many claim to have had a major spiritual awakening here. It is going to be known as a place of visitation where people receive what they need the most.

When completely restored, H.I.M. will be one of the best places on the planet for hosting Christian conferences and seminars. It is the heritage of this property to be a gathering place for those of different denominations and nations, and we are seeing it become that again. We want to make it as comfortable and hospitable as possible for God’s people to gather, get to know one another, and minister to each other. More than that though, we want it to be a place where they meet with the Lord. Even though we have only hosted MorningStar conferences to date, we will begin hosting conferences for other churches and ministries in 2007 when the Conference Center is open.

We have been especially blessed by the way so many former PTL partners have stopped by to encourage us, many becoming partners with MorningStar. Effective immediately, Christians can now come stay at the Grand Hotel for personal retreats and conferences being held by other local churches and ministries, or to attend MorningStar’s three services each weekend. Because of the low cost of acquisition and restoration due to our supporters and volunteers, the rooms in The Grand Hotel cost about 25 percent less to stay in than they did in the 1980s.

For years, we have had Christians from all over the world come to attend our weekend meetings. Now we have a place for them to stay so that they can get to know each other as well as our team. We can already see that this is going to grow until it is again a major gathering place for Christians from every nation and denomination.

When people come together from different nations, just as they did on the Day of Pentecost, there seems to be something special that attracts the Holy Spirit. He is not only moving here during the conferences and church services, but there is almost an electric presence of the Lord that can be felt here all of the time. Almost everyone who comes, even workers who do not know the Lord, talk about it. This is our hope. We know the place itself will be an attraction to many, but we want the manifest presence of the Lord to be so great that no one leaves here talking about the buildings, but rather are captivated by the Lord Himself. We are thankful for the incredible facilities, but if the Lord is in a place, even the most awesome place, it will not be the place that gets your attention—it will be the Lord.

If you are interested in using H.I.M. to host a conference of special meetings, you can contact our Front Office at:

Phone: (803) 802-5544 ext. 233 Email: egray@morningstarministries.org 375 Star Light Drive, Fort Mill, SC 29715