I have received many benefits from my Grace Fellowship International training, and it has enriched my life and the lives of those I have counseled.  I grew personally through learning more about the rejection syndrome and the things that can play into it.  Because of what I learned, I personally started working on strongholds that had been in place most of my life because of developmental trauma.  I also was helped by learning about identity and how exchanging the self-life (the wrong things we build our identity on instead of our identity in Christ) for Christ’s life can resolve the frustration and anxiety that were created because of the tension of living out of the wrong identity.  I did not even realize I was doing it since “doing in order to be” was what I had been doing my whole life.  Once I fully understood identification and surrender, it made a huge difference in my life and in the lives of my family.  I was then able to begin counseling people from a Christ led position – closely listening to the Holy Spirit  while working on keeping myself out of the way.  This, of course, is a “pick up your cross daily” type of thing, but what I learned at G.F.I. helped so much in increasing my ability to live with hope and joy, and from that position, to walk with others who are struggling to find that same peace.

I have used the ministry model mostly through informal counseling with friends, family and church members who have come to me for help, though I have also done quite a few formal counseling sessions.  I find that this model is easy to use and that I am much more comfortable walking beside people in their lives than coming from a perspective of the expert with all of the answers. This is what is taught in the G.F.I. model, so it works very well.   Ultimately it is the Holy Spirit who is the counselor, and I am just there to facilitate that connection and help point them to biblical truth.  I have used this model in a variety of situations and presenting problems:

• a man struggling with adoption issues,
• a woman struggling with singleness,
• a woman going through a divorce,
• many childhood traumas,
• and many other diverse situations. 

Because the GFI ministry model is based on discipleship and reinforcing biblical truth, it is so helpful to everyone, including the people ministering. It is good to be reminded of our identification and identity in Christ on a frequent basis. 

I would love to bring this ministry model to my church and offer it as a way to help those who are in conflict, or are suffering.  I am hoping that when I can move from full time secular work to more part time, then I can put that dream of mine into motion.  I feel led to pursue a focus on grief, crisis and trauma–specifically developmental trauma as that is my personal experience– and God has put that on my heart.  I believe that I am being called to fulfill 2 Corinthians 1:4 “(God) who comforts us in all our suffering, so that we may be able to comfort others in all their suffering, as we ourselves are being comforted by God.”  I think the G.F.I. model works well to help those going through all suffering by helping them to understand their true identity and standing in Christ.

-Beth Kressin
(Georgia)
10/04/2020

by G.F.I. trainee, Bonnie Young

I’m hearing this worrying statement spoken a lot, “You know, the number of Covid-19 cases is spiking in our area.” My reply, “Yes!! Didn’t we kind of anticipate it?” But I go on to say, “If our nation doesn’t get back to work, we’ll be dealing with an economic depression.”

We will see sickness and death from depression, suicides, and cardiac incidents instead of disease and death from the virus. Not to mention delayed necessary surgeries, physician visits, and diagnostic procedures.”

My unsaid thought, “Along with illness and death related to an economic depression, there could be more violence. Some who’ve received government financial assistance in the past months might demand the government feed and support them.”

As a nurse, I agree the elderly and those in poor health should continue to shelter in place. Those who are healthy and secure should be assisting them with shopping and other needs to help protect them.

Novel or new viruses usually lose strength and disappear after approximately two-thirds of the population has been exposed to or have experienced the infection. There are reports from physicians in Pennsylvania and Italy of the virus losing its virulence. In recently contracted cases of Covid-19, patients are not as severely ill.

It was wisdom to do the social distance for two months to slow the initial spread and allow health care resources and our nation to handle the ramifications of a pandemic more efficiently. Policies and procedures needed enactment to protect those most susceptible or in fragile health.

The past weeks have been a time of spiritual growth for me. In my years as a hospice nurse, I watched many people die and cared for their bodies after death. My experience and much contemplation have brought me to a place where I’m at peace with the fact I could contract the Covid-19 virus and die.

As I chose to believe God’s promises for me, my cascading thoughts of “what if” stopped, and I began to hear the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit leading me in a hopeful direction not only for the present but also the future. Wise, responsible clarity for myself, and others began to take shape.

Eventually, we will die physically. As I seek God’s presence and direction daily, He reminds me I’m securely resting under His wings. Nothing will take me home to Him one minute sooner or later than He has planned. (Psalm 91) Therefore, I am not looking to man or a bunch of rules to save me.

I’m 67 years old, considered elderly, and have white hair and wrinkles to prove it. Despite my age making me more vulnerable to the virus, I’m sensing God’s leading not to fear going out but to follow His direction. I sense a need to share this message of hope.

God’s reassuring promises have erased my imagined fears concerning the virus. Meditating on the truth of God’s words have given my physical body more stamina and my emotions a resolve to follow God’s directions despite any threat to my health. (Proverbs 4:20-22, Psalm 34:4)... Continue reading this article: AFRAID TO DIE?

My Certification Process with Grace Fellowship International
By Lisa Hummel

Back in 2002 my husband Tom and I started marriage ministry at our church [in North Carolina]. It had been a 15-year journey that led us to write a pre-marriage curriculum and establish a vibrant marriage ministry that is still going strong today. However, we knew God was leading us to something deeper. Couples came to us after they had already been through counseling, yet still struggling. This perplexed me because I thought that’s why you went to a counselor, to get help! I didn’t feel led to get a counseling degree, so we both got certified as a Life Coaches, hoping it would equip us to help couples and individuals move out of where they were to where God wanted them to be. That was the beginning of my journey and what led me to Grace Fellowship International. Through my frustration of trying to understand how to help people, the Lord led me to GFI, and I knew I needed to go through the Exchanged Life Conference and the Spirituotherapy Workshop.

Lisa (left) at the August, 2028 Workshop with her 2 practice partners

I learned so much in both the conference and workshop. I learned biblical truths that I had never been taught before. I had understood who I was in Christ, but it was the first time the gospel was presented to me in one piece and with such simplicity. The message and the meaning of the cross became so personal to me and helped me to gain revelation of my own identity in Christ. I felt like so many questions were answered for me personally and I knew these truths were the missing piece in our ability to help couples and individuals to break free. As I shared these truths with my husband, we both have grown much deeper in our understanding of what it means to deny the flesh and walk in the Spirit.

The certification process gave me the tools I needed to become more equipped to share the gospel and biblical truths with those who are struggling. God has opened the doors for me to minister to many women through one on one counseling, online Bible studies as well as couples and individuals through Sunday School classes. I have seen many “aha” moments when using the wheel and line diagrams!

I am currently using my training to minister not only married couples alongside my husband, but with many women who are struggling in their Christian walk. My husband and also I created a marriage training using a combination of the Spirituotherapy model and other marriage material. We use this in our church as we are building a marriage team. We’ve also introduced the wheel and line diagrams in Sunday School classes and felt led to build a discipleship team. This training has helped me see the importance of discipleship within the church. Since my certification, my husband and I have both become licensed pastors; we felt the Lord leading us in that way. I know God has a plan and a purpose and that He has equipped us for good works. I have no idea where this will ultimately lead, but excited in what God has next.

I’m so thankful for Dr. Solomon’s obedience to Christ’s leading to develop the Spirituotherapy model and for John Woodward for his continual encouragement and counsel through my journey. Blessings to this ministry!

________________________

Congratulations, Lisa!

Excerpts

…Reflecting back to September 2018 when God revealed to me to seek out Cross to Life Discipleship Ministry for biblical counseling to August 2019 when I am writing this testimony, my experience can be summarized by the following four steps, through which God’s invisible but eternal presence and grace has been working in me to sanctify me to become the person He wants me to be. Indeed, God causes all things to work together for good for those who love Him and for those who are called for His purpose. What is His purpose for me? For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son Jesus Christ so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:28-29).

Step 1: Brokenness – I came to the end of my own resources.
I remember pastor Troy Dobbs sometimes quoted in his sermon that “brokenness is the blessing that nobody wants”. I agree. I don’t want to be broken, instead I want to be protected and shielded from hardship. But is my want realistic in life? Is my want the same as what God wants in my life?

Growing up in China before I came to US in my early 20’s for education, I had experienced hardship in life due to my parents’ turbulent marriage. Home environment was unstable, not nurturing, full of hostility of my parents against each other on a daily basis, and insecure. Suffering from youth in this environment had motivated my young soul to ask deeper questions about life, such as what is life, why I am here, who am I, where I am going, what is the meaning of life, why is there suffering, why human hurt each other, is there a solution for suffering, and is there hope? I didn’t find answers to my questions in academic success, career in prestige accounting firm, physical attractiveness, philosophy, and psychology. I was broken inside losing hope in life, then God saved me at His timing and in His way in 2006…

Step 2: Total surrender – Jesus Christ is not only my Savior, but also my Lord, and my Life…

Step 3: Identification – My union with Christ is not only head knowledge but also life experience.
I learned my identification with Christ in the following ways:
1) Identification in His death. He died for me (Romans 5:8). I died with Him (Romans 6:6).
2) Identification in His burial. I was buried with Him (Romans 6:4).
3) Identification in His risen life. I live with Him in newness of life (Romans 6:4-5).
4) Identification with His glory. I share the splendor of His Character by His indwelling life (John 17:22, 2 Corinthians 4:7, Romans 8:17-18).
5) Identification in His concern for a lost world. I have been sent as His ambassador to share His good news with a world that does not know Him (John 17:18-20, 2 Corinthians 5:19-21).
6) Identification in His triumph. He always leads me in triumph over sin (Romans 6:14), over circumstances (Romans 8:25-28), over Satan (Colossians 2:15).
7) Identification in His reign. I am to reign in life through Him (Romans 5:17). I will reign with Him (Revelation 5:10).
8) Identification as joint heir with Him. I share in all that He is (Romans 8:14, 17, 1 Corinthians 3:21-23).
9) Identification in His suffering. We suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him (Romans 8:17, Philippians 1:29, 1 Peter 4:12, 13).

Learning and comprehending my identification with Christ becomes not only head knowledge but also real experience. Somehow God has caused the biblical truth and teaching of union with Christ becomes realized. I experienced Him and His life in this process. My words fail to explain or describe it. I experienced deliverance and His life, His abundant life, truly wonderful beyond words. Galatians 2:20 is no longer a familiar and memorized biblical truth, but reality.

Step 4: Experience the Abundant Life of Christ – I experience the power and life of Christ in me in daily walk.
How to live the abundant life of Christ in me on a day to day basis? I learned that to cooperate with God and sail above life’s trials and challenges, I need to “spread my wings” through surrender and trust. I need to surrender to God’s control moment by moment (Romans 12:1,2; Luke 9:23) and trust fully in Christ’s indwelling presence to live through me moment by moment (Galatians 2:20, John 15:5). As I “spread my wings” through surrender and trust, let God’s Word dwell in me and maintain an attitude of praying (Colossians 3:16; Philippians 4:6,7).…

Read Sophia’s complete testimony here: Sophia’s Testimony

We congratulate chaplain Juan Mendez who just completed his certification as an Exchanged Life Counselor. He testifies,

“The Exchanged Life Certification and Training has a plethora of resources to equip counselors and lay persons to be more confident in approaching the helping profession. It does this in a variety of ways, such as offering visual diagrams, methodologies, pastoral leadership, seminars, insights from God’s Word, testimonies, and useful books that can be incorporated into daily ministry practices . . .

“This model of counseling has been helpful for addiction recovery in many ways, which is my primary use for it . . . Many of the counselees that enter the America’s Keswick residential recovery center were circling around in a spiritual wilderness, and this model helps pinpoint where to engage in the [spiritual] warfare. The [GFI] curriculum has a structured format to walk each counselee from darkness to light, stepping out from the lies into the truth, and eventually claiming their new identity in Christ . . .”

You can email Juan here.

A Testimony by Steve Ranz

I was raised in a Catholic home and attended a Catholic grade school and High School which including my freshman and sophomore years in a minor Catholic seminary.  I completed my formal education by gaining my Bachelor’s degree from a Catholic College and my MBA from a Catholic University. I maintained my strong Catholic ties well into my adult years. However in 1999 my wife and I received an invitation to attend an event at an Evangelical Church.  This invitation led to some questions and within a short period of time we began attending both the Catholic as well as the Evangelical church.

I was struggling between my strong catholic ties and two critical concepts I encountered in the Evangelical church: mainly, that every person needed to have a personal relationship with Jesus, and that the Bible was God’s personal love letter to each of us. If that were the case, I needed to read the Bible.  From today’s vantage point, these facts seem so basic to my walk as a Christian, but back then it was a huge turning point for me.

The Holy Spirit began working mightily to open the eyes of my heart.  In a short period of time I began attending a Men’s Bible study and was being mentored by a strong Christian man.  In 2004, my wife and I were baptized.  When I gave my life over to the Lord there were two Bible passages that He put on my heart. The first was Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.” And also Philippians 3:8: “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”

About three years ago our faith journey led us to Grace church and a Sunday morning class. Then came an invitation from Brad and Lynn Adams to attend a presentation by John Woodward (of Grace Fellowship International) arranged by Cross to Life Discipleship Ministry in Minnesota. When I heard the presentation and realized the message was based on Galatians 2:20 and the “Exchanged Life,” I knew I was right where God wanted me to be. After that Saturday I acquired and read Dr. Solomon’s Handbook to Happiness. I then read two more of his books and went through the webinar class with John. I also observed John as he took a man through a multiple session Exchanged Life mentoring process.

Back In 2005, the Holy Spirit drew me into discipling and mentoring men within our church, and eventually by 2010 I was strongly involved with prison ministry. I have now incorporated lots of the Handbook to Happiness diagrams and Bible verses into my “toolbox” and I have encouraged a number of men to read the book so that the Holy Spirit could use it to impact their walks directly.

One of the prisoners with whom I have been working since 2012 has read Handbook to Happiness and The Ins and Outs of Rejection at my suggestion.  Not only has it intensified his own walk with the Lord, but he has shared the message with other men in the prison as well. In January, 2018 this inmate will be leading a group of 10 men, navigating them through The New Life book by Regional Wallace. The class is called “Your Identity in Christ.” We have supplied books for them to use and we are hoping this becomes a regular part of the Prison Fellowship Academy program.  I am excited about this opportunity, and I am in communication with the Deputy Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Corrections about getting this implemented in other locations for inmates.

I also lead the Every Man A Warrior study group at Grace Church on Saturday mornings and refer to the Galatians 2:20 material there. I recently shared John Woodward’s “Paradigm Shift” article with one of the men to help him understand more of the New Covenant concepts.

I retired last May and was then able to begin and complete the first step of the personalization process to become trained for “intensive discipleship” to men through the Cross to Life ministry here in Minneapolis. I was not sure what to expect of that process. It turned out to be very eye-opening for me. As Linda Gammon and her co-discipler took me through the Main Truths to be Shared in Exchanged Life Discipleship, I uncovered and learned a lot about myself that had been “hidden” before. I am so appreciative of the investment that the Cross to Life Discipleship ministry team made in taking me through this process. I look forward to the next step of observing trained Exchanged Life mentors to further what the Holy Spirit wants to do through me. Praise the Lord!

We congratulate Yvonne Ward on completing her certification process in Exchanged Life Counseling with Grace Fellowship International. Here is her testimony:

.

The Grace Fellowship International certification program has been one of the most positive and beneficial experiences in my Christian life. I did exchanged life training in the mid to late 90’s through a related ministry in Tennessee. While I learned much during that training, I feel the training I’ve received from GFI has been a deeper and more usable.

Since my certification with them almost twenty years ago, I’ve done a lot of Biblical/ discipleship counseling. The reason I chose to go through the GFI work was two-fold. Mainly, it was because I wanted to review and gain new insight for my personal life, as well as my counseling ministry. Through this process, I feel better equipped to share through the Spirituotherapy materials and training.

Personally, I’ve been reminded of my own identity in Christ. I lost my husband (to cancer) three years ago and found that I wasn’t sure where I fit anymore after my husband was gone. No longer a wife, a missionary, and not ministering alongside my husband was heartbreaking. I believe part of personal healing has been through the Holy Spirit using the truths I’ve been reminded of during my training with GFI.

Currently, I am serving in my church as a Biblical/discipleship counselor.  I don’t know what God has in the future but my desire is to continue to minister to hurting women through the means of the Spirituotherapy methodology.

Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of the ministry at GFI. I value the friendships I’ve made and hope to continue them.

Yvonne
yvonneward50@gmail.com

From a sister who attended the August Workshop:

There has been much to catch up on the home front since returning from the workshop, but I have been reviewing the material and have shared it with one person. I have two more volunteers eager to go through the material with me and I hope to meet with them this week. Hopefully, I will be calling you soon with an update. There are four others that I hope to be able to share with in the near future, too. Everyone I know would benefit from being exposed to and thinking through these things! The Lord continues to deepen my own understanding, experience of, and appreciation for the exchanged life that is mine through Jesus. What a wonderful Savior!

The conference and workshop were such a blessing! I’m so glad I was able to be a part of that time. The Lord used each one of you present to speak into my life in a unique and special way. You did an excellent job of teaching, mentoring and encouraging all of us. Thank you so much.

I pray all is well with each of you and your families that are associated with Grace Fellowship. You are all thought of with such fond remembrance. Your labor of love continues to bear fruit. May the Lord continue to bless your ministry to equip the body of Christ with the transforming truth of the exchanged life and to expand your reach for the furtherance of His kingdom. To the praise of His glory, always!

Gratefully,
A. C.

Deanna Bullock is a pastor’s wife, mom, and graduate of the GFI Counseling Institute.

One way she is using what she’s learned is through her blog: http://deannebullock.com/.   She also has an online/telephone counseling ministry: “eCounsel Subscription Service – counseling you can receive at any time, in any place, for as long as you need it.”  Her site is titled “18 Inches Down” to address the need for a head-to-heart process of appropriating Christ as Savior, Lord, and Life. God bless your ministry, Deanne!