Changing Lives

“What a meaningful and relationally fulfilling time we shared at Men’s Encounter 2.0! This get-together fosters and encourages deep connections as many of the attendees have been coming for years. I love how the men have years of history loving each-other well, and therein have created a haven wherein we can talk freely about our scariest fears and questions about God, the church, anxieties, and how the Bible speaks to them. It provides soul-care and an intimate brotherhood so lacking in our world. I am looking forward to our next gathering for the healing and soul-soothing-salve it always brings.”

– Karl Moe

“I loved it, It was a fun and amazing time for me. This Ministry has brought me closer to my walk with God. The other Ladies, whose are full of faith and strength, are showing me new ways to look at my walk with God, knowing that each of us faces, battles, and turns to God for strength and guidance. Up until recently, I would call myself a closet Christian. To understand this, I have always been a believer in God, but to tell the world about my faith, my lips were zipped. I truly did not see a need for me to shout out to the world. But the need is here, I need to let others know how he saved my life – countless times. When he does it for me, he can do it for others as well. Nothing is stopping God but your fears of trusting in him. and the GROW experience is a steppingstone to where God is leading me to. Yep, I back up, I stumble forward, not believing in me, but God does. As I was listening about Ruth and talking with the other ladies, I am learning to talk out loud with and about God around other believers. I like listening to the stories about what happened in the Bible, especially the women in the Bible. I’m slowly getting better at this.”

– Cheryl Fletcher

“Ed and I, who both grew up in Christian homes as believers, have been on a long and rough journey in our 18+ years of marriage of discovering hidden sins which surfaced after a slow and painful trickle over the last decade. Since discovery, to disclosure, to therapy, to attending and serving at Men’s and Women’s Encounters, to individual group work (“7 Pillars” and “Betrayal and Beyond” by Pure Desires), we finally had a breakthrough in our marriage after attending our first Marriage Encounter together this month (March 2024).

We had both been working so hard in our healing process individually for the past couple of years and it felt like we hit a plateau in our marriage – Ed was pursuing His recovery with God and other brothers in Christ and I was pursuing my recovery with God and other sisters in Christ. However, I felt hopeless in our marriage as a couple pursuing God because it felt like we were on two separate islands.

Thankfully, the Marriage Encounter, where we were encouraged to put God first and then each other second- “together”- was the uniting bridge we were missing and so desperately needed to be connected. The structure and layout of the Marriage Encounter, the preparations and prayers, the environment and facility, the content and worship, the facilitators and servers, the speakers and attendees, and all the testimonies were all sovereignly conducive to allowing God to open us deeply to Him and each other so intimately and authentically that the Holy Spirit was able to freely flow and operate in our hearts without hinderance all weekend!

For the first time in our marriage, Ed was able to genuinely and vulnerably ask me how he could take the lead in our marriage and family and be truly open to my response, and because of all the prayerful fellowship and opportunities we had to open up with each other and other couples throughout the weekend, I was also genuinely and vulnerably able to respond without any resentment and bitterness. It was amazing to feel so connected without any barriers or offenses. God was powerfully present and faithfully operating in both of us the willingness and the working to unite us as one in Him.

We came back from that weekend with more Christ as our communicating tool in various situations and I feel so hopeful that we are on this path of true oneness in our marriage. My heart smiles as I eagerly wait to start the Harmony in Marriage sessions with Ed.
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God is so good and He will bless His people, His work, and His purpose through this ministry! Thank you for inviting us to be part of it! Praying for the seven-fold intensified Spirit to shine and reach all those He has chosen before the foundation of the world!

Lord, make Your home in the deepest parts of our hearts and be fully magnified in our souls! Root us and ground us firmly in You so that everything that comes out of us is completely of and for You and Your interest on this earth! We especially lift up Your purpose and work here in Reno and northern Nevada! Your Kingdom come more each moment, Your will be done here on earth as it is in heaven! Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord! We long for Your return King and Lord Jesus!”

Sweet dreams and God bless,
Trish Hsu