LAKE COUNTY – Healing Rooms of Lake County (HRLC) celebrated its third anniversary Thursday as an affiliate of the International Association of Healing Rooms (IAHR). Representatives from all three Lake County sites, Clearlake, Lakeport and Cobb Mountain, gathered at Neighborhood Christian Fellowship in Clearlake to rejoice in the accomplishments garnered in three years of operation.
“What we”ve learned through experience is that a lot of physical illnesses have an emotional or spiritual root, such as a person who is angry a lot over an extended period of time, that anger will take its toll on the body,” Bill Edmonds, HRLC director said. “Many times the first things we approach are difficulties in relationships where forgiveness issues might exist and quite often, leading a person through a prayer for forgiveness corrects that spiritual root issue and allows the body to recover enough to heal itself.”
Edmonds welcomed the group and highlighted the growth and achievements realized locally as well as internationally. He said the local affiliate opened its doors three years ago as US 377. “Today there are 951 Healing Room ministries throughout the world, the newest one being the Healing Rooms of Cape Town, South Africa,” Edmonds said. “That brings the total number of Healing Room ministries, in 44 countries outside of the United States, to 557.”
According to Edmonds Healing Rooms of Mendocino County (US 556) expects to open its doors in the near future. “We were blessed to participate and support the training of a brand new Healing Rooms ministry in Ukiah, CA,” he said. “They have been training up their team for weeks and have as many as 18 prayer warriors ready to go.”
In April 2008, HRLC opened its third prayer site in the county at Cobb Mountain Community Fellowship Church. “Since April 14, 2008, we have regularly prayed for people at the location every second and third Monday evenings of each month and have conducted 55 individual prayer sessions,” Edmonds said. “Added to our 151 prayer sessions at our Lakeport location and our 448 sessions in Clearlake, that amounts to 654 times members of our prayer teams have provided personal and private prayer sessions for physical, spiritual and emotional healing to those who have walked through our doors.”
Edmonds said prayer teams also participated in two outdoor ministry events as well bringing the grand total to 713 prayers for healing in 2008. Since its establishment three years ago, HRLC has provided 1,940 prayers he said.
“It is wonderful how it keeps growing. Our first anniversary there was just a few of us. Then the second anniversary there were a few more and now we have this,” Valerie House, HRLC trainer said looking at the full room of people there to celebrate.
HRLC welcomes interdenominational collaboration. “We are interdenominational so on the healing room teams, a variety of religions are represented. That”s one of the things that really impressed me when I joined,” Jennie Digruttolo, associate director for the Cobb Mountain site said.
Members of the prayer teams receive special training designed to teach them how to pray according to the international organization”s standards. “We pray a certain way so everything is covered,” Digruttolo said.
When those with prayer requests visit a Healing Rooms location they are given a form to write down their prayer requests when they register. They then enjoy what Edmonds refers to as “soaking” in the sanctuary to soft worship music while they are waiting for prayer.
“Randomly one of the prayer team leaders will get the folder, take it one of the four prayer rooms that are operating and then that team will pray over the prayer request seeking direction from the Holy Spirit on just exactly how to prayer for that person. Then they go get the person and pray as they have been led,” Edmonds said.
“We kind of wait on God to receive before we can give out,” House said in describing the preparation ritual that precedes individual prayer sessions.
Healing Rooms prayer teams have assisted in the healing of numerous individuals including Susan Horesz, of Clearlake, who has received nearly 100 prayers in the past year. “They are wonderful. They are so sweet and every one of them really cares,” she said, adding that the prayer teams have helped her find strength and guidance.
Anyone wishing to join the Healing Rooms team is encouraged to contact representatives at 994-1494. “We are looking for mature believers who are being called to a deeper level of ministry. It is important to us that they be associated with a church ministry,” Edmonds said. “”We have eight churches represented. We have core teams established in each region that are primarily responsible to pray in the three ministry locations, Clearlake, Lakeport and Cobb Mountain.”
Healing Rooms of Lake County offer prayer from 7 to 9 p.m. every Thursday at Neighborhood Christian Fellowship, 14660 Olympic Drive in Clearlake; the first and third Monday of every month at New Life Foursquare Church, 1125 Martin Street in Lakeport; and the second and fourth Monday of every month at Cobb Mountain Community Fellowship, Highway 175 in Cobb.
No appointments are necessary and prayers requests are taken in the order in which they arrive.
Contact Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com or contact her directly at 994-6444, ext. 11.
