Urgent Vision Ministries International
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David Shull is the Pastor at Urgent Vision Ministries International. Was born in Toledo, Ohio in 1969 and raised in East Toledo. Raised in Church, I heard the Call on my life early to serve in full time ministry; I ran from God had and fast until I came face to face with having to deal with life and death. Accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior in 1988 on my terms and from there God accepted me and I dealt with Him. It was a long road. Graduated from Waite High School in 1987 and went on to College at the University of Toledo to become a Teacher.
God dealt swiftly with me and I had to begin to really deal with Him. Coming to a place of accepting Him I transferred to Grace College in Winona Lake, IN to become a Pastor. It was at that time that I came home for the summer and God really got a hold of my life. I once again transferred to another college. Circleville Bible College (CBC) in Circleville, Ohio while at CBC I experienced the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and it filled my life very full and I couldn't get enough of God.
Married in 1993, joining the Church of the Nazarene and after 14 years of ministry in the Nazarene Church I suffered a divorce and was removed from ministry. I spent the next several years suffering from the loss of hope and depression. I didn't understand what God was doing in my life.
In 2007, I remarried and God reminded me of the calling on my life to serve Him. It has been with great vigor that I have served Him. With my wife Cheryl, our eleven children and our grand children we touch many all around the world in many countries.
I hold a Bachelor of Arts in Religion from CBC and a Master of Arts in Church Growth and Evangelism and a Master of Divinity in Pastoral Counseling from Liberty University. I have also been trained in many different types of ministry. It has been a joy to be able to reach so many countries with the Gospel and provide for those who can be reached for Christ
On January 11, 1973 at Wesley Long Hospital in Greensboro, North Carolina he was born to Kelly and Wanda Harrelson. The family consisted of a total of two older sisters and one younger brother. From age two he began singing with the family in church where they were members. He was raised in the Pentecostal Holiness Church where he served many years through 1991 as an usher, choir member and Sunday School member.
At age nine, Dereck felt a strong call to preach. He decided to get baptized and join the church. However, it wasn’t until the age of seventeen that he realized that he needed Jesus in his heart. And at that age he gave his heart to the Lord. During his senior year in high school, while looking into colleges, he decided to better understand the word of God. In 1995 he graduated with a B.A. degree in Religious Studies. After Campbell University, he felt like there was more and he left his home church to search for the PERFECT WILL OF GOD for his life.
In 1996, while attending a Marilyn Hickey Crusade, she spoke over Dereck from Hebrews 5:14 and told him that God was getting him ready for the strongest meat in his Bible so, “You buckle into God and He buckles into you. Get out in the aisle; I want to pray for you. This man is going to be a “WILD MAN” for God in Jesus name, take the anointing.”
In 1997 shortly after that Dereck was licensed and ordained as the Minister of Music at “Spirit of Life Ministries.” Since then there have been many more gifts and anointing that have flowed through Dereck.
In April of 2001, Owen Johnson from Laurens, South Carolina was conducting a service that Dereck attended and after speaking to others in the service, Owen came over to Dereck and confirmed the word of the Lord over him. This is what he said, “And the Lord says I do a new thing in your life and it shall not only be done in the area of singing but also in the ministry of preaching. For the Lord’s going to stir thee and bring thee into the ministry of a Prophet. You will not only sing but you shall also write music even the HIGH PRAISES of God.” Later he would go on to say, “And in the time to come I will raise up a people around you and yea ye shall be within the confines of a building, it shall be a church and the people shall call you Prophet and Pastor, sayeth the Lord.”
Since that night and the many days following the Lord has used Dereck to be HIS vessel to bring REFRESHING and RENEWAL to many that he has come into contact with.
One fond memory is while Dereck was working for the Power Company. One day he went to go read some meters in a garage. And as he was pulling into the parking lot, the Lord spoke to him to pray or the maintenance guy. While he prayed the Lord moved mightily upon the guy and was delivered by a “spirit of suicide.”
Later Dereck would go on to driving trucks for Swift Transportation. One trip took him to Greencastle, Pennsylvania where he ran across many new faces. One in particular was a Chaplain named Budd Taylor. At the time Dereck didn’t know what was going on only that he knew he had to pray with him. Dereck later got a call from Budd telling him that he needed to give him a tongue lashing. When Dereck asked why, Budd said, “because of what you prayed for me.” Budd had received through being in prayer with Dereck, a RENEWED spirit. The Lord had also convicted Budd of finishing a book on “Why No Revival.” Since then Budd has been one of Dereck’s personal INTERCESSOR’S for his ministry. And anytime that Budd’s batteries get low he calls on Dereck to help get them charged back up.
There are many others that have the same testimony to being around Dereck. One story that Dereck also loves to tell happened in 1995 just as he was coming back from school. One night Dereck was working on a fill-in puzzle which he loves. And he heard the Lord said to him, “Go to the store.” After the third time that God spoke to Dereck, he got up and went to the store. When he got there he looked in the store and as he did he knew exactly what he was doing there. Later after prayer with a catering business owner name Sam, he found out why he was there.
Sam told him a week later that he had received the van that they prayed about and that his walk with the Lord had tremendously changed.
During Dereck’s sophomore year in school he able to lead his adopted brother Josh Clark. Several of those prayer-time relations have grown over the last few years. On February 15, 2010, the Lord spoke to Dereck to start an every Tuesday Prayer Gathering that at the present has over 3,000 people praying from 6am Tuesday morning until Friday night 10pm.
Currently Dereck holds credentials through Associated Independent Ministers out of Gatlinburg, Tennessee. He travels when called upon to bring “RENEWAL and REVIVAL” to those that are hungry for God. In short, Dereck Harrelson, the “Man of God” is solely a guy that is constantly seeking the heart of God and wants to see Christian’s lives transformed by the Lord’s power.
Upon request Dereck can provide references of those that have experienced the ministry by which he has been given. Lastly, when you run into Dereck Harrelson you will find that he is still only scratching the surface and that you will definitely enjoy the ministry that God has anointed him with.
