Introducing Healing/Deliverance Ministry Into the Local Church

Naturally there are great variances of understanding and philosophies between individual churches and denominations toward this type of ministry. For us to relate a typical scenario is somewhat difficult, but to this point we certainly do have some suggestions as to what has been the most successful. It is important however that in most situations that the following items, in the order listed below, are by and large adhered to. It will help avoid misunderstandings, controversy and division from happening down the way. This ministry can certainly go cross grain to people who are stuck in certain unscriptural traditions or religious ways of man, that unfortunately are present in most assemblies. It is our recommendation therefore to proceed prayerfully, cautiously but confidently through the following items:

1. Full and proper understanding of the principles of this ministry needs to be accomplished at pastoral and board level. Prior to Restoration Ministries ministering in deliverance/healing meetings, we suggest an open meeting with leadership to answer key questions it is also very import and to establish relational trust and discover whether or not this ministry is something that everyone is comfortable with. Discussions need to occur so that the vision and ministry philosophies are understood from both sides, so that we are under proper submission or in unity with pastoral leadership and direction of the church. Time lines and relational commitments need to be discussed, along with financial obligations so that everyone is at peace with the arrangement. It is very import and that everyone at the pastor/board level is in full agreement, or at the very least positively open minded toward this ministry.

2. Breaking of the Ground/Spiritual Mapping and Assessment. The fist meetings with Daniel Baker and normally with a couple of Ministry team members will spend 3-4 days at a church to accomplish the following:

• Spend an evening with pastoral board/leadership including spouses for open sharing, teaching and personal prophetic ministry time.
• Spend at least a full day on a prayer walk and time spent in intercessory prayer, identification al repentance, breaking strongholds and curses over the church property. We encourage pastoral leadership, and intercessors to be present and participate for this time.
• Evening services, should primarily be with the normal membership and adherents of the church, open but not necessarily promoted to outside guests-the main goal initially is to have personal ministry with the home congregation.
• On the first trip it is good to have Daniel over a Sunday for a.m./p.m. services for exposure to the whole congregation, which can certainly be promoted to outside churches and guests.
• If some of the trained staff from Restoration Ministries are present on this initial trip, personal appointments may be prearranged-normally restricted to those in leadership. We encourage limited pastoral/ministry staff to sit in on sessions to witness the ministry process.
• Daniel normally wants to spend special time with the senior Pastor and spouse, if possible to stay in their home for fellowship, build relationship, and speck or minister into their lives-very important during this first visit.

3. Future Visits-Ministry Time-Teaching the Principles of Ministry

• Introduction to Personal Ministry. Depending on the results of the first visit will certainly set the stage and plan for subsequent visits. Normally, if all goes well, we like to return to introduce more people to the personal ministry, trying as much as possible to take the ministry leadership through sessions.
• Basic Teaching with Demonstration, 3-4 days. We also like to come for a three to four day time period to mix teaching in with group demonstrations and some private sessions, respecting sensitive confidentiality issues. At this point teaching material and sessions are presented at the basic level to help prepare people for ministry and have dialogue particularly with the pastoral/ministry staff. (For these times of ministry and teaching Daniel Baker may or may not be involved, depending on the need and his availability. Dave and Judy Allan have been trained in this ministry and have been traveling with Daniel on a full time bases for over three years now. They are taking on a more shared responsibility of teaching and ministering in deliverance/emotional healing with Daniel. Other team members are also coming along as this ministry grows).
• Ministry Time spent with Pastor First. The long term goal is to establish this ministry as an ongoing ministry of the local church that would be capable of independently carrying on within their own body and taking it out to others in the area or their sphere of influence. Longer term, due to the time commitment required, it is best that the Pastor, find a mature stable leader or couple to be proficiently trained, to oversee this ministry. Initially, however, it is very important that the senior pastor personally experiences this ministry and obtains training to become somewhat proficient in ministering using the methods taught, before releasing to this responsibility to someone else.
• Purpose of Public Demonstration Style of Teaching. Normally the very basic teaching and public ministry demonstrations are open to anyone who is interested in what this ministry is about or personally wanting ministry for their own lives or family members. Holy Spirit is very much at work in these group settings, speaking into hearts, demonstrating His love and compassion to those be ministered to, causing desire and faith to grow in others. This is a Holy Spirit lead ministry, and the best teaching tool yet is show and tell, followed by class room teaching (similar to the way Jesus taught his disciples). In these times we are sensitive to watch for those individuals whom the Lord is preparing or calling into this ministry, who will be confirmed with the Pastor or vice versa.

4. Deeper levels of Training-Undetermined Time Frame

• Return to On going Ministry Training. Depending on the size of church, the trainees, and the demand for this ministry will dictate the number of training sessions and/or ministry sessions required to become proficient. The basis to this ministry is based certainly on understanding the basic principles, the word of God and most importantly the anointing and ability for people to grow in the gifts of the Spirit. Time lines and learning curves may vary significantly between individuals. It is therefore difficult for us to project the time requirements for teaching. Practice and direct teaching of the Holy Spirit is one of the biggest keys to learning. The length of time for someone to be properly trained up is very dependant on the number of clients coming for ministry, to provide hands on ministry training time. The good news is that this ministry is all about Holy Spirit/Jesus who is the counselor. He knows far better than anyone, the level of understanding, faith, confidence and discernment that each minister has. He is very patience and is the best teacher, so He will not leave anyone stranded or embarrassed---stretched perhaps. In the beginning it is important that the mentoring process be conducted properly and carefully having a good safety net and follow up program in place, which is where we fin in.
• Deeper Levels of Training will be Progressive, usually Based on Demand. Our experience thus far has been that since the variety of ministry sessions are as different as individuals are that come for ministry, that there literally never two sessions alike. In fact even having preconceived ideas of what challenges you will run into in sessions or how a session will develop, is literally impossible. Such things as various levels of abuse, ages when the abuse occurred, the client's will, personality, emotional make up, historical behavior and relationships of the past,depths of previous sin e.g. involvement in the occult, plus many other factors all contribute to the depths of strongholds and difficulty of ministry. These issues along with the client's level of desperation, levels of demonic blocks, level of commitment to change and deal with unresolved issues, will all determine the time line of ministry to a break through. A good portion of the training process involves helping those being trained to recognize and discern, how the enemy structures blocks, strongholds, embedded lies, along with keeping significant hurts or issues of the past buried so keep that in many situations are not even known about by the client. Hands on training sessions are used to demonstrate the various ways Holy Spirit will bring truth into these deep areas, to break chains of bondage, setting the captive free. The advancement in the training is based primarily on the relationship and dependency between the trainee and Holy Spirit or the anointing and ability of the trainee to learn how to "pick things up in the Spirit". This is why demonstrating, teaching and practicing need to be intertwined. Deeper issues such as satanic ritual abuse (SRA), Dissociate Identity Disorder (DID or Multi-personality), schizophrenia, and developed OCD and deeper levels of depression cases will present themselves, which certainly take on a higher skill or experience level, which quite often requires special and professional help. We are ministering in the deep level cases and offer assistance by having people bring their deeper cases to us for ministry. We normally have those who are currently ministering to these clients be present for training purposes. Please do not be overwhelmed about getting in over your head, the good news is that our God never gives us or expects more than we can handle. He is only asking that we are obedient and willing. As you minister in these things you will be amazed at how big and wonderful of a God we serve!! We do have a library, and highly recommend other resource material for those who take this ministry to deeper levels. We also intend to introduce a deeper level or advanced training seminar, besides a basic training seminar at least annually with specialty workshops, as time goes on.

5. Follow-Up Commitment. Since our time and your time is valuable we are looking for churches that will lock arms with us to walk together in a long term commitment relationally for the purpose of solid progressive growth of this ministry. This is very essential for both parties. We fully understand that for whatever the reasons that some relationships will not necessarily work out and that is OK, and sometimes is unavoidable. Our desire, however, is to have a network of like minded people and churches that will walk, pray, and stay together in long term relationship for the advancement of the Kingdom of God in this day. We suggest that for everyone to benefit from this ministry and for you to benefit from Daniel's prophetic influence into your church that he be invited to speak into your assemble on a 2-3 times per year basis. Also it will be a good idea for your ministry team to have a Restoration Ministry team member (Dave Allan) visit once or twice per year to check up, answer questions, review, help problem solve, update teaching and monitor progress of the deliverance/healing ministry. It is helpful to establish relationships in the ministry environment of your church, to discuss pastoral concerns, particularly the ministry team issues or concerns.