Open Heart Ministry is a non-profit church-based healing ministry in Washington State, started in 2001 and incorporated as a non-profit corporation on August 4, 2003. The seeds of this ministry began with an encounter Mary Oliver had with the Holy Spirit in 1999 in which she believes the Lord called her to establish healing centers worldwide. Since that initial calling, the prophetic word has been confirmed by others, some who have exclaimed, "The Lord has given you a really big vision!"
The ministry started with Mary in the role of a "healing practitioner" based out of a local office and leading a home fellowship on Mercer Island. In 2001, at a Randy Clark conference in the Seattle area, Mary met Dr. Stephen and Michele Saunders. A powerful word came from the conference about healing and conference centers being established across the Northwest, a confirmation of Mary's vision in 1999. Stephen, a healthcare professional by occupation, and Michele, connected with the vision and joined Mary and the Open Heart team in 2004. They were ordained as pastors in 2006.
During this past decade Mary has developed several core educational components that are foundational to the theme of healing the whole person. These include Resurrection Power Seminars, PrayerCare™ Therapy and Training, Biblical Health and Nutrition (now Whole Health), and the Supernatural School -- Dimensions of the Father's Heart. Among the educational focus is also the relational format established with the Bethesda Fellowship - A Place of Outpouring a weekly opportunity to meet with other believers for fellowship and worship.
A focus of the ministry is the birthing of the vision for our first healing center, which will be called Courage House. As we pursue the funding, Courage House will become a radical place of healing and restoration. It will include an onsite prayer center, conference and retreat center, accommodations for visitors, and healthcare and nutritional services in a idyllic natural setting.
Our journey is personal...
Life can be complicated. We have our compartments for work, family, friends, health, food, and fellowship. Difficulties come our way and we bury them. Without knowing it our personal pain limits us, closes in and suffocates us. Sometimes this even happens when we are doing good -- serving our God, our family, or our church. But the telltale signs are sure: from within your heart you cry out, "I was created for more than this!" Jesus came that we might have life and have it to the fullest!
Open Heart is not merely a "church." It is a mission. As a group of believers we have excellent opportunities for fellowship and worship, wonderful connections with each other and the body of Christ -- but the mission the Father has placed on our heart is more than this. Open Heart is dedicated to bringing the resurrection power of Jesus Christ to the whole man. Our mission is to do this with a dynamic, holistic healing ministry, training the Church in Biblical wholeness, equipping leaders, and releasing the purposes of God in your life where you choose to live it - in the church, marketplace, among the nations, or wherever the Lord has called you.
If you have been a member of a local church, you are probably familiar with the mission of that organization and the opportunity to participate at whatever level you choose. At Open Heart, we have a similar focus, with an intense desire to release you to your destiny. There are many rooms in the Father's house. Let's find out which one you are to occupy!
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