In September, 2009, Mark Ferrel, Director of Face to Face Charismatic Communities, reached a spectacular milestone: 30 Years Of Ministry for Our Lord! He looks back and reflects at God’s hand in his years of service.
Looking Back
Last September marked thirty years of my involvement in ministry. When I look back on all my experiences, the miracles I saw, and the lives touched, I am amazed at the richness and blessings God packed into this short time. Yet God continues to surprise me with how much He wants done with my humble service.
The Early Years
After my conversion, I went on a series of mission trips with Breath of the Spirit Ministries, bringing Jesus to people all over the world. I ministered in the Philippines and visited China the first year that it opened up to the public. I saw Nigeria, Singapore, Italy, Egypt, Peru, Chile, Mexico and the Holy Land.
During prayer meetings and healing services, I saw between 250 and 1000 people at a time give their lives to the Lord. God worked powerfully; I was in awe of what He was doing in my life and other people’s lives.
After that, I began my own service to Our Lord. I started a bible study, began to listen to what God asked of me and let Him teach me. It was a time of growing.
A New Ministry
In 1991, shortly after I established Isaiah II Ministries, I knew that God wanted me to teach something new. He wanted to work in people’s lives, and He wanted to do it through inner healing. He sent a woman named Susan Jerome.
Susan taught a form of prayer called Connecting Prayer. This taught people how to listen to God’s voice better. Our ministry adopted this form of prayer, and we saw it help thousands of people.
Around the same time, we received a three-month course on Spiritual Growth and Maturity, which taught us how to seek out God’s perspective and His voice. This course became a stepping-stone to personal growth and spiritual and emotional maturity for many people in our ministry.
Once these ‘staples’ were in place, God worked powerfully. Crazy things started happening. Through inner healing, people got their lives back. We had healing services, workshops, seminars, conferences, one-on-one ministry and prayer teams. God built up a strong community!
Thousands of people came through the doors for healing and ministry. We had a team of 50 people, all doing different ministries. God truly worked something new, different, and unique.
New Horizons
In 1999, God told us to close Isaiah II and start Face to Face International Ministries. At this time, Roberta and I started traveling and doing mission work. We went to Ghana, Zambia, Botswana, China, Korea, Italy, and Japan. We trained people in California and did talks when we were in the States. We also started a Face to Face group in Connecticut.
Since then, God continues to teach us and use us to teach others. We are blessed for these years of ministry, and we pray that there are many more to come!
Just A Miracle…Or Two!
Here are some miracles that stand out in my mind:
A group called Breath of the Spirit, run by Michelle Corral and Joanne Petronella, mentored me. We went to China many times a year for four out of the five years that I was with them. We smuggled in bibles, chalices, vestments, mass kits, pix and all kinds of ‘contraband’ items so that Chinese Catholics could practice their faith.
During one of those trips, an American woman began to pray for someone in tongues. The man receiving prayer was amazed and shared that the language that she had spoken was a rare Chinese dialect that only five people in the world spoke. He just happened to be one of them.
He was the guard that the communists sent with us to make sure we did nothing illegal. I think that God wanted to show the man that He was real, beyond a shadow of a doubt, and He succeeded!
Baby Grows New Hands
Another time, here in San Gabriel, I was at a healing service. A two-month-old baby had been born without any fingers or toes. (I had visited her in the hospital.) During the meeting, I heard a scream from the other side of the room. I ran to see what was happening, and I saw that Michelle and Joanne were praying over the baby. I looked carefully, and noticed that baby had ‘grown’ the last digit of each finger from both of her hands!
I continued to watch as another knuckle simply ‘popped’ out of her little hands. By the time the prayer ended, the baby had grown perfectly normal looking fingers and toes where there hadn’t been any before.
Eyeless Man Sees
Once, while in Africa, Jeannette and Maria prayed over a man who didn’t have any eyes. During the prayer, the man began to see… without eyes! God didn’t give the man eyes, but did give the man sight. His sisters gave us testimony that their brother saw his family for the first time. He asked for prayer to learn how to read so that he could read his bible. Now if that’s not a miracle, I don’t know what is.
Crippled Lady Runs
The last miracle that I want to share is of a lady from Mexico, who had been in a terrible car accident. Her car had crashed but no one had found her for weeks. By the time that they discovered her, her broken arms and legs were permanently set at 90-degree angles. Her body looked as if someone had crumpled it like a piece of wrapping paper. God healed her without prayer, and she ran out of her chair, screaming in amazement.
Ministry Time Line
- 1979: Conversion
- 1979-84: Member of Breath of the Spirit (Missionary trips to China, Nigeria, Philippines, Holy Land, Singapore, Italy, Egypt, Peru, Chile, Mexico)
- 1984: Started own ministry
- 1989: Inner Healing, Isaiah 40
- 1991: Adopted Connecting Prayer
- 1991: Adopted the Three-Month Course from Pastoral Care Ministries.
- 1991-99: Isaiah II Ministries
- 1999-2010: Started Face to Face Ministries (Missions to Ghana, Zambia, Botswana, China, Korea, Italy, Japan, East Coast Connecticut, New York, Vermont and Massachusetts.
- 2005-07:Helped lead Charismatic Renewal for Orange Diocese
