Testimonies
We invite you to hear from the people who have received ministry at Our Place of Refuge. Each person has a beautiful story that reflects the goodness of the Lord and how He wants freedom for each of His children.
My son and I look forward to every Monday night gathering at OPR, It is always a beautiful time of fellowship, worship, and prayer. The love of Jesus is so evident in all of the people and in the atmosphere. I have found love, healing, and acceptance there. My family has been forever changed because of the love of this community.
The first time I came to OPR everyone was so genuinely welcoming. I love the way Holy Spirit is permitted to flow. I heard in my spirit, “welcome to the new wineskin.” OPR is such an incredibly loving, life giving group that truly hungers & thirsts after God’s own heart. It’s a breath of fresh air to see others diving deeper, sharing what God has put on their heart & many times giving confirmation with more perspective & clarification, sharing the keys of the Kingdom, praying for one another, speaking life into one another and the FELLOWSHIP! I’ve been a stay at home mom and a small business owner with my husband since we moved to SC in 2011. I don’t have a lot in common with most of our customers and me leaning towards the introverted side is not helpful either. OPR provides the Christian fellowship I’ve been praying for and that my heart has been crying out for. I can see myself being drawn out of a shell that I’ve taken residence in for far too long. For me, OPR is a taste of Heaven on Earth.
Our Place of Refuge has been such a blessing to our family. In gathering on a weekly basis we have developed friendships with many of the people there. We have been able to open up to others; share prayer requests, needs, and victories. The greatest gift we’ve experienced in this community is the encouragement that each person is in our relationship with Jesus. Because of the people at Our Place of Refuge continually pointing our family to Jesus and lifting us up in prayer, our faith has increased and our relationship with the Lord has grown deeper and more intimate. Within this last year we have witnessed physical healing, healing in relationships, and miraculous provision. We thank the Lord for all He has done!
“Our Place of Refuge helped me find the ‘free indeed’! I came in with such guilt and disappointment in my heart. Through Holy Spirit and help of the prayer ministers, I walked out a completely different person. Thank you Jesus! True healing took place and now I’m walking in my greatest days.”
My first experience with OPR was on October 28th, at Just Jesus. I had been invited by two different individuals, and I did not know what to expect. All I knew was that I wanted to attend. I am just coming out of a very painful relationship and extended period of time where I did not have an accurate view of God. My view of God over the years had become very distorted after some very difficult life experiences. I did not know what to believe anymore when it came to the Bible/spirituality or about God. Maybe part of me knew that by attending the OPR meeting that night, I might experience some form of healing that I desperately needed. Little did I know at the time, that just by attending, it would lead to a rescuing. Even still, it seems to be a daily thing for me, being rescued. My former distorted view of God being a mean, authoritarian, conditional, and punishing God has been transformed to see God as loving, kind, gentle, sweet, patient, with everlasting and unconditional love. The verse that spoke truth to my heart is 1 Corinthians 13:4-8: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away” This verse has also taught me how to recognize if another person is showing traits like Jesus by their fruits. Galatians 5:22-23: “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” This is helping me to protect my heart and mind when interacting with others and being able to recognize if someone/something is safe or harmful. It is also helping me to heal heart and mind wounds. Most of all, however, I have learned that a relationship with Jesus is the safest, healthiest relationship I could ever find or hope for. In Matthew 7, Jesus warned about wolves in sheep’s clothing, and how this will increase in the later days. To stand guard, and how powerful it is to have knowledge to discern. I have learned a lot in the last 6 weeks. I’m just returning to God’s shelter after several years of having fallen away. It is by God’s grace I was rescued. I am very thankful. I’m thankful that OPR exists for those who need a safe place. A refuge.
I thank Holy Spirit for allowing me to be a part of Our Place of Refuge this past year and a half. There is no other ministry like this in the Upstate that I am familiar with that allows Jesus to have full genuine control. For a very, very brief season, I stepped away from the ministry to begin going somewhere else only to quickly realize that it was not where I was supposed to be or what God had for my life. It took me leaving to realize the blessings that were right in front of me. Our Place of Refuge has been very instrumental in a lot of emotional and spiritual healing, learning the voice of the Lord, and engaging in community fellowship that I’ve needed in my life. This goes the same for my two children. They also have been impacted by the ministry and the community that comes with it. They are always requesting to go to the Monday night gatherings because they too enjoy the community of other children their age.
It is hard to believe it has been a year since the first time I went to an OPR (Our Place of Refuge) event. I quickly realized that this was a community that I wanted to be part of every week. The peace and feeling I felt was like nothing I had experienced, so I remember saying, "I will be coming every Monday, so please count me in for space". We were meeting in the house and space was limited, but I just knew this was where I was supposed to be. Each week I would meet new people, but more importantly I would learn about Jesus and what He said about me. Each week I could feel the Holy Spirit calling to me for more and more healing, and that is where the community part came to play. Every week this amazing group would come around me and pray and not just the quick prayer, but deep healing prayers and staying with me until what I was dealing with was broken. Many weeks I would end up in tears at how much Jesus loves me and wanted me to be filled with JOY instead of the deep rooted anger, PEACE instead of the fear and lack of true confidence, FRIENDSHIP instead of thinking I was supposed to do it on my own and figure it out on my own, FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT and understanding the fire inside of the true healing that only HE can do. This year has not been without trials (going through a divorce, raising teenagers on my own, having an adult son go to jail and watching an adult daughter have her husband walk out on her, moving, work being much slower). But I can also share the miracles and blessings that have happened and salvation for my children and a different walk with Jesus than ever before. I now walk in true joy knowing that in the end the only thing that matters is Jesus. This last year walking in this community and meeting each week (honestly I didn't feel "good enough" or qualified to be with) has wrapped me in the arms of Jesus in the most loving and kindest way. I have seen so much of God's glory and goodness and truly have and continue to experience a true Acts model. It has been full of loving Jesus, loving each other, truly praying and contending for each other through pray and encouragement, true friendships, tears, growth and a lot of laughter.
I must admit that going into a prayer session at Our Place of Refuge, there was a little bit of apprehension because I didn’t know what to expect. I knew that I needed freedom, and I was tired of the baggage. On the day of the session, we started with prayer and then we started working through past hurts, disappointments and betrayals. As I started identifying them, I began to call them out, and as I began to do that, there began a crumbling down of walls, fears and false expectations of man. I was able to experience freedom. I feel that I am healed and whole!” Prayer session at Our Place of Refuge, there was a little bit of apprehension because I didn’t know what to expect. I knew that I needed freedom, and I was tired of the baggage. On the day of the session, we started with prayer and then we started working through past hurts, disappointments and betrayals. As I started identifying them, I began to call them out, and as I began to do that, there began a crumbling down of walls, fears and false expectations of man. I was able to experience freedom. I feel that I am healed and whole!”
”What a blessing me and my family received…we needed healing and a touch of the Holy Spirit. I was able to let a lot of trauma and hurt from the past, way long ago – go! I have such peace.”
“I was invited to attend the last day“I was invited to attend the last day of one of their retreats…I knew from the moment I pulled up that I would encounter God on this property. I warred with myself upon arriving. I’m so glad I chose to go, because I was delivered of many things that day. I’m currently walking through a hard divorce, and there was no coincidence this retreat, and water baptism took place during this hard season. As I stepped in to be baptized, I was shaking getting in, feeling the weight of every oppression, the weight of the world and all my anxieties and worries on my shoulders. A group of prayer warriors quickly surrounded me and interceded on my behalf, and I as I came out of the water, I felt lighter, and it took me a moment to realize I could breathe deeply again. The second time I was dunked I felt the love of Christ fill all my empty places. Now I could truly breathe in a way I haven’t been able to for a long time. Supernatural peace came upon me like a warm blanket. The peace that I felt that day still hasn’t left me. To this day I experience a supernatural peace and JOY in a season where it doesn’t make sense to feel this way. PRAISE GOD and all Glory to Him for He is Victory, our Redeemer and the Prince of Peace! Thank you to the ministers at Our Place of Refuge who have been SO kind to me, opened up their hearts and their property to all who are hungry for him, and want to encounter God to a deeper level. I truly felt like I was in the holy of holies, an intimate place, and felt special to be a part of this. This is what family feels like.”
Going into the session, I was a little nervous. During our time of prayer, the issue of pride came up in my heart. I have thought about that issue before, but the way that the ministers talked about it was different than I had ever thought about. Months later, I now find myself able to identify pride when it pops up. Much of the session entailed healing wounds surrounding my relationship with my mother. In the moment, it didn’t feel life changing, however, since the session, I have had heart-changing moments with my mother that I believe were possible only because of this prayer session. I believe there is something special that Our Place of Refuge ministers carry.
I am so grateful for my prayer session. I was in desperate need of breakthrough from the trauma responses in my body. My body was daily telling me a threat was near: extreme anxiety made it so I could barely eat, and panic was always looming in response to any slight issue. When this state is triggered there is not much cognitively I can do to calm myself down.. To sum up the cause of my current trauma state, I will say it was from a relationship where I experienced abuse and betrayal. This is what led me to Our Place of Refuge and led to a few intense, messy, tearful hours of humbly declaring forgiveness, releasing of judgments, breaking soul ties, and declaring blessings, over all of my perpetrators. It was a mini battle. My flesh did not so easily want to pray these things. Everything in me wanted to hold on to my anger and judgments, to protect myself, to wish for them to suffer and to be held accountable. Yet despite the resistance, I knew, I had the power to choose; and as a Christian, I knew there was only one choice, and that that choice was the only way to be free. Patient, peaceful and direct these two sisters battled with me and called out what they saw in the spirit along the way. Like I said, it was not a pretty sight, with tears and tissues in abundance. I can't help but wonder what it looked like in the spirit realm if we could pull back the veil. I do believe dark creatures where writhing, and light ones were rejoicing, laughing and even dancing around these decisions of deliverance. I walked out the door so much lighter. What had felt like a knot in my stomach, like hands on my throat and hooks in my back for weeks, some of it perhaps for years, were gone. We are born to be free, but there is only one way to truly and fully be free. And it is not the easy or obvious way. Sometimes you need help and guidance to stand and fight the good fight of freedom. I am so grateful for these two who have given of themselves to stand with others and contend along side them for that.
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