This ministry, TheWell Encounter, was birthed out of a God-given desire to see the Body of Christ healed from the inside out. You see, I attended church every time the doors were open, every Wednesday and twice on Sunday. I loved gathering with God's people. However, as the years went by, the Holy Spirit awakened me to the pain that was seated all around me. He would often challenge me to talk with people that I had never met, which is not hard to do in a mega church. Yet the charge was not just to talk with them, but see them. He wanted me to see the deep pain in their eyes. He wanted me to really get in touch with their emotional needs that were not being addressed. I saw this phenomenon everywhere I looked within my church. It was as if I was given a God's eye view of everyone around me. So what did I see? I saw people struggling with depression, anxiety, and self-worth. I saw people who were so overwhelmed by pain that they considered taking their own lives. I saw people racked with fear despite being reminded over and over again that faith and fear could not live in the same heart. At that time, I did not have any answers. The only thing I knew to do was pray with and for those around me. Yet, I was also compelled to act. Don't get me wrong, I believe in the power of prayer and I know that the Father hears me always, however we all know that faith without works is dead (James 2:20). So I became ever so determined to assist my family (the body of Christ) through these personal struggles. I enrolled in Seminary to get a Master's Degree in Pastoral Care and Counseling and under divine inspiration, the vision of TheWell was born.
Without fail, those seeking help with depression, anxiety, and PTSD came calling and I was happy to oblige. Though there is a prescribed way to treat such individuals from a mental health perspective, I believed (as I have previously mentioned) that the root of their issues was deeply embedded in spiritual malformation aka the lack of discipleship. Hosea 4:6 tells us that we can be destroyed by what we don't know. As time went on, the Lord would provide me with great insight into the root causes of the pain that I saw on so many faces. He made clear the issue, provided the remedy, and released healing through the revelation of self or identity, which I discuss at length in the Moment@TheWell: "The Truth about Anxiety and Depression". So thus began my Moses ministry. Leading people out of the darkness of anxiety and depression and into the promised land through personal discipleship and healing...then came the demonic manifestations.
I must admit, when I first started out, I was pretty green. Though I had heard of deliverance, I had only seen true deliverance one time in my whole life in the church, what a shame. Yet it did not take long before my counseling sessions were interrupted by demons. Did this freak me out? You bet it did! However, I got a Holy Spirit crash course on taking out the garbage. My first deliverance client required five hours of intense deliverance before she could really lay hold on the revelation that was being given to her in counseling. Fortunately, my understanding of deliverance has increased greatly over the years and today I know how to effectively partner with the Holy Spirit to evict demonic interlopers. Deliverance is a topic that is not normalized in the modern church, even though it is most definitely part of our inheritance in Christ. I was so impressed with Ashlee V. Grant's Facebook post on the subject of deliverance that I asked her to submit it for publishing in this edition. She agreed and you can learn more about deliverance in her article "Releasing the Shame of Deliverance".
In this issue, I also sat down with former client Valerie Gamble to tell her story about overcoming anxiety in "On the Winning Side". She has an incredible testimony to share that will offer hope to those that feel bound by medicinal treatment for the condition. Additionally, my sister and friend Shelby Frederick, is back offering another take on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder through something known as betrayal trauma. Let me just assure you, what you read in these articles will help you overcome. How do I know? The enemy tried his hardest to prevent this issue from being released, but the God that we serve is greater than any of the enemies antics. So take heart my brother, my sister. Help is here!
In Christ,
Shelley
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| Shelley Crozier-Fleming Lead Pastor, TheWell Encounter Publisher, Yashab Magazine |
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