Religion News / Healing Rooms of Buffalo-Niagara
Prayer team moves to new church site
NIAGARA FALLS — A ministry team that offers weekly prayer for the emotionally, spiritually and physically sick has moved to St. James United Methodist Church on Porter Road.
Healing Rooms of Buffalo- Niagara now offers prayer from 7 to 9 p. m. every Monday.
“People are hurting all over,” said Debbie Bolents, a volunteer prayer intercessor. “The ills of society don’t discriminate. People and families are hurting.”
Based in Buffalo, the interdenominational ministry team previously operated from locations on Third Street in Niagara Falls and at the Wheatfield Community Church in the Summit Mall.
“It’s a Christian ministry that prays for anybody’s needs, regardless of what they are,” said Pastor Don Schiemant, director of the Healing Rooms of Buffalo-Niagara. “We ask for nothing.
“God meets all our needs every month. It’s been the greatest adventure of my life.”
The group operates under the International Association of Healing Rooms Ministries based in Spokane, Wash.
Bolents, a trained Healing Rooms volunteer since 2006, said about six to 10 volunteers meet on Monday nights in St. James United Methodist Church. People who come to receive prayer are taken into a small, quiet room with two or three volunteers who pray over them. Another group of volunteers prays simultaneously in a separate room.
“We’ve prayed for people who’ve lost their jobs, who are struggling financially, who are physically impaired, who are emotionally suffering,” Bolents said. “It’s very difficult to cope today with what’s going on in everyday living.”
There is no fee for the ministry and appointments are not necessary. Volunteers keep details about who is prayed for or ministered to confidential, Bolents said.
“Do all get healed? No,” concedes Schiemant, a graduate of Elim Bible Institute and ordained through Full Gospel Assemblies International. “But many do. Jesus is the healer, and his desire is to work through believers. It only takes faith and a willingness to believe. Yes, the impossible still happens today.”
A printing-equipment entrepreneur by trade, Schiemant was originally inspired by Rev. David Rich, of the Rich Products family, to consider a Healing Room vocation.
Assisted by his wife, Carol, and scores of “prayer warriors,” Schiemant says their “ministry is full-time with no pay. We believe the Lord has called us to do this.”
The ministry has strengthened Bolents’ belief in the power of prayer.
She said clients who come in for prayer are asked to write down their concerns on a piece of paper. The prayer sessions, she said, oftentimes help them discover a deeper, root cause.
“God wants people whole,” Bolents said. “He wants them whole, spiritually, physically, emotionally, financially. He doesn’t want them to have any deficiencies, any diseases.”
For more information about Healing Rooms, call 844-0048.
News Niagara Reporter Denise Jewell Gee contributed to this report. lcontinelli@buffnews.com
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