United States (MNN) – As 2018 comes to a close, Set Free Ministries is once more looking back on a year that showcased God’s faithfulness, grace, and healing hand.
Set Free Ministries works both in the United States and overseas. Domestically, they’re primarily focused on bringing spiritual freedom and healing through God’s Word and what they call freedom appointments. Internationally, they’re bringing these principles into the work they’re doing to build stronger communities and educational opportunities.
A year of hope
Looking back on the year, Pete Noor of Set Free is grateful for the hundreds of people who came through their door and were able to grasp at hope once more.
“We daily have people coming in here, right, that are broken, hurting, struggling with depression and anxiety and so forth.”
Noor says that when these individuals arrive in the lobby at their headquarters in West Michigan, you can see that they are downcast and depressed. The team regularly starts the day by praying for everyone who will come in that day. They ask God to reveal himself to the hurting.
Volunteers take participants through the freedom appointments. These one-time counseling sessions help people identify harmful lies in their life and replace them with the promises of God.
“Often times we will have the opportunity just to see these individuals and to see the actual difference in their countenance as they leave, the hope that’s in their eyes,” Noor says.
The volunteers walking these people through the freedom appointments, exposing the lies that are dragging them down and sharing the truths and promises of God, are blessed to be used by God to bring spiritual and emotional healing. Just about every day, Noor says, they get to see God transform lives in a big way.
Noor recalls how this year, they received a letter from a woman who tahenked them for helping her husband find healing through the Gospel. He had once more assumed the role of spiritual leader in their household.
“Hope. Hope is just something everybody needs, right? And it’s just, so many are searching for it in all the wrong places. And so when they come here and get connected to the true Healer– what a great thing.”
A growing ministry
This ministry offers freedom appointments free of charge to participants. They feel strongly about this because they don’t want to put up any barriers to God’s free gift of mercy and grace. Noor says they often have people break down in tears of gratitude because they didn’t know there was anyone who could help them in their financial difficulties.
But providing these free services requires the time, talent, and treasure of others.
Jim Faber of Set Free says as they finish out the year and look ahead, there are a few ways they are asking God to provide. First, he says they want to meet their basic budget and finish the year in the black. Second, they are raising funds to build a high school in Uganda. And third, they are planning to build a new ministry building so that they can expand their operations in West Michigan.
All of these financial needs have come about because of the growing demand for what Set Free provides. But time and time again, they’ve seen God provide, and they’ve seen the people involved in that provision greatly blessed.
So, what exactly does it look like to be blessed through giving? Noor gives an example.
Lives changed
Several years ago, there was a man who accompanied their executive director, Dean VanderMey, to Uganda to visit the schools Set Free supports there. During their visit, they met a student named Robert whose leg was so deformed, he was unable to walk. His future was bleak.
“The gentleman that accompanied Dean on this trip saw this, and they inquired about the possibility of having surgery done, found out how much it was. And he committed on the spot to take care of this boy’s surgeries,” Noor explains.
The boy went through quite a few surgeries to try and fix his leg. Last year, a team went back to visit the school he attends. Dean was excited to bring the news to this donor that Robert not only walked up to him, he ran across the classroom!
Robert underwent several corrective surgeries.
(Photo courtesy of Set Free Ministries)
Today, Robert is the top academic student of his class. Noor believes this boy will one day be a leader due to his personality and drive. His donor is blessed to know he was part of making that possible.
Another example from Africa involves the rescue of 18 young girls from an area where they would have become victims of female genital mutilation. These girls were taken in by the schools that Set Free supports, but they needed to be enrolled in high school. This meant that tuition funds needed to be raised.
Set Free approached one of their donor couples and told them about the girls and their need for school. This couple decided to pay for their tuition. They’ve been able to give these girls a hopeful future and a chance to succeed, and to know the love of Jesus through all of that.
Faber says God is working through donors and prayer warriors all the time, and he’s doing incredible things.
“It’s a joy to come in every day and to work with these people. They have such tremendous hearts. And God is using Set Free Ministries in a tremendous way.”
How you can help
If you want to be a part of this incredible work, there are a few ways to get involved. First of all, consider becoming a prayer warrior for Set Free. You can learn more about that, here.
Second of all, consider supporting them financially so that they can achieve their exciting goals for the near future. Learn more, here.
And finally, Noor says, “We need more volunteers, frankly… We’re becoming more known. And we’re getting referrals from a lot of different sources now. We’re having people come here from out of state. And we see a real need for more people whose hearts are moved by this type of ministry. Who would like to be used, to be the hands and feet of Christ.”
Volunteers just need to be willing to be trained and go through their own freedom appointment. They need to have a desire to “get in the trenches and experience the rewards that come when you answer the call,” Noor says. “And you are able to actually experience the power, the grace of God, flowing through you to others. It’s unlike anything you’ll ever experience.”
For more information on this, click here.
If you are looking for some help to work through addiction, depression, anger, or any other emotional or spiritual difficulty, you can reach out to Set Free here.
Header photo courtesy of Pixabay.
