Bishop Edwards may have been in Ypsilanti as late as 1972 but other accounts describe him moving to Meridian, Mississippi by 1969.
Holyland
In 1985, Edwards began building Holyland, a commune in Emelle. Holyland featured a communal cafeteria, nursery, private school, office, and dormitories.
On November 17, 1998, at around 7:30pm, a fire destroyed the girl's dormitory, killing four. Mary Long, the fire chief was quoted, "The fire scene was unusual because residents stood quietly at a distance, watching as the flames towered over the building."
On November 24, 1999, the boy's dormitory at Holyland also burned.
REACH
In 1976, Bishop Edwards founded REACH Inc., short for Research, Education, and Community Hope. he started a grocery store in the basement of his church in Meridian for his congregation, raising money through food stamps, later purchasing a dedicated building for the operation.
In 1983, REACH started Meridian Meatpacking Company and Choctaw Meat Processing Plant, to supplement his farming operations.
In 1986, REACH opened the South Wood Family Restaurant in Eutaw, Alabama. In 1988, the South Wood Deli opened in Livingston, Alabama. In 1989, the South Wood Pizza Kitchen opened in York, Alabama.
In 1989, REACH purchased a car parts store and service garage in Eutaw.
In 1993, REACH purchased the Livingston Motel, the Western Inn in Eutaw, and the Western Inn in Tuskegee, Alabama.
Around 1995, REACH built a subdivision in Eutaw, providing low cost housing to church members.
By 1997, the organization owned a Cessna airplane.
In the early 2000s and 2010s, the organization maintained a website.
In 2010, Edwards began working on a project to build Greentown USA, a school in Sumter County, though the project never came to fruition.
Routes
While the company maintained many local businesses, Edwards admitted to 60 Minutes that the majority of the church's income came from "routes" where members of the congregation would travel across the country to sell peanut brittle and solicit donations for abused children. The church owned several buses and vans to transport members on routes.
