HCI History, Part 3: "You Can't Quit!"

This post is a continuation of Betsy’s May 2023 post, HCI History, Part 2 “The First Two Years”.

As I shoved the exit bar and the door swung wide, I said to myself, “I am never coming back here again!” My conversation with the church administrator had stirred up an overwhelming sense of not being seen or understood. I was triggered but was not ready to acknowledge it, even to myself. But no sooner were the words on my tongue than I began to wrestle with God.

I argued with the Almighty as I drove home, crying without a sense of release. When I walked in the door, Sam was there. He heard my story, looked at me with compassion, then said, “You can’t quit. God has called you to this.”

He was right. Planting the Healing Center was hard, and I wanted a way out. Looking back, I’m not sure that I could have remained on the path in front of me without the support of my husband, but Sam was firm and resolute, and his words calmed my heart. I was called. I thought of Peter’s words to Jesus, “Who else has the words of eternal life?”

I surrendered. I agreed to be paid for 12 hours a week (far less than I was actually working) at a very low rate of pay, a fraction of what I had earned as a government scientist, an hourly rate similar to the lowest paid staff for work that had a much higher level of responsibility, as well as more demanding and complex. But I was certain of God’s call and knew he would provide.

God was humbling me, and it was part of the call.

Thankfully, I was also able to do other work, which kept our family afloat. I was still ghost-writing books about other people’s lives. I was still substitute-teaching at Trinity Christian School. I was still writing for several Christian magazines.

Looking back, my heart fills with gratitude, when I consider that  my pastor David Harper, let me pioneer a Healing Center in our church. We met monthly in his office now that he was the official head of the Healing Center. It was a joyful time but also a time full of trials. I probably cried during nearly every meeting. Poor David. I can’t imagine our meetings were much fun for him. I was frequently overwhelmed by my home life, the ministry demands, and the resistance. David and his wife Margie had a strong anointing for healing. Margie trained the prayer ministry team, and they had a Friday evening healing service called “The Father’s Blessing” where many were touched by our Lord. I served on the team and learned so much from the two of them.

We began hosting soaking prayer seminars as well as conferences featuring leaders in the revival movement. Bill Johnson (by video), Randy Clark, Mahesh Chavda, Mary Audrey Raycroft, Ruth Fazal. HCA, the Healing Center at Apostles, provided much of the logistic support. I remember when we hosted Randy Clark. Sam and I stayed in the hotel with him and were amused by his request for a particular sandwich from Panera, daily, even though the conference offered catered food. I longed to see all our people experience a touch from God and gradually an idea for how it could happen began to form in my mind. I began testing it out, asking a young man on staff to lie on the floor of the sanctuary so I could measure how much space was needed for one to be slain in the Spirit. I wanted to make it possible for each person to fall under the power of God and rest there as long as they liked. I enlisted the help of the ushers. Then one morning at breakfast in the hotel I drew my plan on a napkin for Randy.  He agreed!

It involved asking all the participants to stand and push all the chairs to the back of the room. Then we lined people up in four horizontal lines across the sanctuary. About half the people were in the foyer. I remember asking them to step back, that they would also have a turn but not just let. I remember the look in their eyes. Fearful, yet trusting. It was a humbling moment for me to realize that people trusted me.

Randy began working his way down the front line. Many fell under the power of the Spirit and were caught by our ushers and lowered gently to the floor.  We let them lie there as long as they liked. By now Randy was working his way down line two. Slowly some who were resting in the Spirit got up. Ushers filled in any empty spaces with new people, who of course were standing.  Randy continued to tirelessly work his way down the lines, while ushers helped to their feet anyone who was done soaking in the presence of God, and giving the open spots to those who were waiting. It was a beautiful rhythm. Everyone was able to receive. I was last in line and was also profoundly touched by God.

I experienced so much joy partnering with God (and Randy) to make space for God to touch each one.

I was pioneering a new work but was also receiving so much healing myself. As our team honed our prayer ministry skills, we started bringing in a pastor named Bruce Hankee. We hired him to drive in from Greenmonte Fellowship in Stuarts Draft, Virginia, to lead daytime and evening training sessions. During one, the Lord told me to volunteer to be the recipient. I remember alternating between anger and sadness during the entire session. Releasing one then the other over and over again as I processed a mountain of childhood pain. I felt shame at the beginning, not wanting to expose my brokenness to the group, but it was so healing that five minutes into the session I no longer cared that everyone was seeing just how broken I was.

Another healing that I received was physical. It started when I was driving my Honda Fit down Fairfax County Parkway, heading to the church for my monthly meeting with David Harper. As I drove, I noticed with a sinking heart that the unmown grass in the median strip was higher than the level of my eyes. The seed heads on the red-topped grass were ripening. For as long as I could remember, I had had a terrible grass allergy—especially to red-topped grass. The allergy was better in Virginia than it had been in California where the mountains are covered with grass, but it was still intense. In that moment I remembered hearing Randy Clark say that for someone to be healed someone had to have faith. Then this thought popped into my mind, “I have faith to believe that God can heal me of this grass allergy.” The faith had come upon me suddenly, but it remained.

I waltzed into David’s office and announced, “I have faith to believe I can be healed of my grass allergy today. Would you pray for me?” He looked a little startled but then cracked a grin and said yes.  He prayed and the allergy completely vanished!  My heart sang with gratitude.

Before I close, I want to pay tribute to two other people who were instrumental in what we were doing at the Healing Center. Cheryl Collins and Mark Robbins. At some point after Hayes left, Cheryl heard the Lord say, Help Betsy. She came alongside me in so many ways, too many to count. My favorite memories are the many trips we took to various training events. First to hone our skills in Theophostic Prayer Ministry, then to learn about the Life Model and Immanuel Prayer. Finally, to learn HeartSync. We even practiced our prayer ministry skills with each other, meeting every other week in my home or hers. When we became a non-profit, Cheryl agreed to take on the least desirable job—that of treasurer for the Board of Directors. I could not have done it without her.

Mark was a lawyer turned school teacher. He was a member at Apostles, but we got to know each other well when we both taught at Trinity Christian School. Not only were we teachers at the same time, but I had his daughter Lizzie in my science class and he had my daughter Sarah in his fifth grade class.

Mark was a huge fan of the Healing Center. I remember him bringing an elder woman who had strong prophetic gifts to my house. She had two prophetic words: One was a dandelion being blown by the wind all over the world. The other was a trickle of water moving along parched ground, sinking in when it found a crack or hole. These words confirm what others had said: What God was doing in us would one day be all over the world reviving people, churches and communities. It did not matter that the ground looked barren, water was finding places that were ready to receive.

We were growing. We were learning experientially how gracious and loving God is. We were honing our relationship skills. We were drawing people from outside the church. By 2007 the Healing Center was comprised of seven ministries. Over 400 people had taken at least one of our classes. More than 200 people had had a personal Theophostic prayer session (some more than ten). Our team averaged 8-10 Theophostic sessions a week, mostly Apostles members, but also participants from other churches including Truro Anglican, The Falls Church Anglican, Church of the Word, Christian Assembly, All Saints in Dale City, Christ the Redeemer, Eagles Landing, Faith Fellowship, and Oakdale Emory Methodist.

God was taking us on an amazing adventure!