The year was 1976, and the place was Ridgeland, South Carolina. Miracle Deliverance Tabernacle was birthed as a subsidiary of the New York based Move Of God Ministries . Ida Robinson, Apostle Youmans’ mentor and pastor of Move of God Ministries, served as overseer of Miracle Deliverance Tabernacle during its infant stages. The church’s first location was a defunct grade school in the Coosawhatchie neighborhood of Ridgeland. Services were held in a large, but less than glamorous, multi-purpose room that was sizzling hot in the summer and bone-chilling cold during the winter.  Sometimes the doors to the building had to be propped open during services to get relief from the scorching heat. As a result, Apostle Youmans would oftentimes be obligated to war against mosquitoes and other insects as well as the forces of hell.

Chairs had to be carried from a closet down the hall each service. Sometimes she was the only person there. She would carry out the service, collect the offering, sometimes as little as seventy-five cents, and then go home.