New Earth Refuge's construction project is moving forward daily. Gracie and I are thankful to God and our supporters for the nearly $50,000 that has been given since August. We have now completed all the framing, the roofing and are just now installing the doors and windows. We are confident that gifts will continue to come in so we can complete the electrical, plumbing, insulation and interior finish.
We are especially encouraged that our ministry here at New Earth Refuge at our existing guest house has been growing. Groups, individuals and couples are coming here more and more to receive prayer from Gracie, me and others at Tierra Nueva. People are experiencing healing and renewal, as you can read in the testimonial from Laurie below.
"In June I returned from riding a friend's horse. It was a vigorous ride to say the least and the next morning I woke with terrible low back pain. As the days passed instead of getting better the pain grew worse. It spread from my lower back up to my neck and shoulders leaving me unable to drive or do daily household chores.
Despite seeing doctors and physical therapists over the following weeks the pain did not go away. The summer passed as I sat in the chair feeling hopeless. With two children, one autistic, and a marriage that was all but over I could not imagine why God would allow this to happen.
Finally, in August I thought that maybe God was trying to tell me something. I began to pray. Quickly God began to bring to mind all the things I had done to contribute to the poor state of my marriage. I called my husband and apologized for all the things I had done and was so quick to blame him for. Needless to say he was shocked but accepted my apology.
A few short minutes later a friend arrived at the house. I told her of the events of the morning and she mentioned that she knew of someone who would pray for my back pain. I wrote his name down but I wasn’t sure how I felt about “healing prayer”. My skeptical side just does not want to believe it, for several reasons I suppose. I certainly do not want to look like a sucker and what am I supposed to do with my faith if for some reason they pray for me and my back does not feel better.
Later, another friend dropped by and I was shocked to hear her tell me that she also knew of someone I should see who would pray for my back pain, Bob Ekblad, the very name I had just written down. Despite my skepticism and discomfort this seemed more than a coincidence to me.
I tried to schedule a time to see Bob but somehow no time seemed to work so he offered to pray for me over the phone. During this prayer time Bob mentioned that I may have some people in my life I need to forgive and encouraged me to ask God to bring those people to mind. Over the next several days names and events came to mind like waves on the beach and I spent a lot of time dealing with forgiveness. My back pain, however was still there and discouragement was setting in. What I wasn’t thinking about was healing was taking place in my life just not in my back yet.
Finally my husband and I were able to schedule some time with Bob at his home. We arrived and were introduced to a woman by the name of Amy who was also there to pray with us. After brief introductions Bob and Amy placed their hands on me and began to pray. At first I was afraid this would not change anything. Then my back and neck began to feel hot and cold at the same time....like BenGay. Amy mentioned some impressions that she was receiving that were so accurate I was overwhelmed. How could she know that? Bob mentioned to me then that he had a strong impression I had been given a gift of evangelism. The association I had with that word made me very uncomfortable at first until Bob explained to me what evangelism really meant-- sharing naturally the stories of God's work in my own life first. The pain in my neck and shoulders was gone.
Bob turned to my husband and asked whether he had pain in his left shoulder. This really surprised him as my husband had been suffering from pain in his left shoulder for years, as well as his right knee, but had said nothing about this to Bob. Before praying for him Bob expressed to my husband that he felt very strongly that my husband had a prophetic gifting, that he was sensitive to hearing God’s voice. Like me, my husband was resistant to this until Bob explained to him that it was more like your own thoughts then a “booming God voice”. Then Bob began to pray. Again Amy mentioned the impressions she had and again she was so accurate. Bob asked my husband how he felt and the pain was no longer there.
We left that evening knowing that God was not only doing a physical healing in our lives but healing our marriage and our lives as a whole. God did so much more for us than we ever thought. Since that day we have been asking God to teach us more about the gifts He has given and we are excited for the future."
Laurie Hinkley
Anacortes, Washington
For more testimonials check out my blog at www.bobekblad.com
2 comments:
lukeek
Hi Dad!
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