Joyce Meyer - A Safe Place to Begin Again
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Ginger: We are so excited to share this vision, to share what God is doing here with all of our talk it out friends. Because not only is it super exciting, but we get to have a part in it. And I love that God does that. That he opens it up so that our hearts are touched as other people’s are as well. So, Joyce, let’s begin a little bit by describing what this beautiful place is.
Joyce: Well, it’s a quite a large ranch in Utah. And, you know, everything starts with a seed and sometimes just a thought you can’t get rid of. And our son Dan and his wife, Nicol, live in Utah. And he said for about 18 months he just kept feeling like he should look for property, but he felt very strongly. That’s why it’s important to follow the Holy Spirit one step at a time because sometimes the steps don’t make any sense because you don’t know exactly where they’re going. Then there’s other times where, like when God called me to teach and preach, he said, «You’re gonna go all over the world and teach my word». Well, I was makin' my bed. I was a housewife. And so, I mean, I had the picture, but it put a passion in me, and then I still had to walk it out one step at a time. And so, it became apparent pretty quickly that this place could become a hub or a center of certain outreaches for Joyce Meyer ministry.
Ginger: Yeah.
Joyce: And in particular, we wanna minister to women and girls that have been abused, or just mistreated, had a bad start, you know, battered women, maybe. And other ministries will come alongside like, global teen challenge, and we’ll provide the property and the funding, and they’ll bring their know-how and their expertise in doing the work.
Ginger: Yeah, that’s one of the things that we’ve really learned working all over the world through hand of hope, is that when we connect with people who have already been in that field, they know how to help people, they know the culture, they know what the needs are, and this is the same. And so, partnering together, we’re able to accomplish so much more.
Joyce: You know, Paul, in the Bible, people brought offerings to him, and he then distributed them where there were needs. And I think that was, that’s interesting that each person didn’t have to go find where the need was. They brought it to somebody they trusted, believing that they would distribute it in the right places, which he did. And we have a large missions' budget. We’ve always felt very strongly about outreach, about helping the poor, the needy, the naked, the homeless, you know, I think that we need to just take what Jesus said and do it. And the gospel is not about inreach, it’s about outreach. And so, I didn’t wanna have a ministry where all I did was just keep building it bigger and bigger and bigger, I wanted to reach out to other people. And as we did, the ministry got bigger and bigger and bigger. And so, you accompany the preaching of the gospel with reaching out to these hurting people. And that’s exactly what God wants.
Ginger: Yeah, that’s also why we have to realize that God is saying, «Now take what I’ve given you and share it with somebody else». And so, seeing what can happen here and being able to be a part of the healing in someone else’s life is astounding. It’s huge. And nicol, I know that with you being a big part of this, Joyce was talking about Dan and how, you know, he got this vision and you grabbed it and you have been researching: you know so much about the area and some of the needs right here as well as, you can hear a cow out there. I don’t know if you can hear it or not.
Joyce: At first, I thought, «What is…»?
Nicol: That’s gonna happen.
Ginger: I don’t know if you guys heard it, but it was awesome. But I know that, that vision spread into your spirit so fully, so quickly.
Nicol: Yeah. So, we’ve been in Utah like, about four and a half years. And when we moved here, I was like, «Why are we going to Utah»? It really didn’t make sense to me. The ministry’s in St. Louis, our family’s all there. But we really felt like God said to go, and so we did. And then, like Joyce said, Danny just started thinking that we needed to look at property. So, when we found this piece of property, we were like, «Okay, we have all this land». And we had vision for some things, but we weren’t 100% sure what it was gonna be. It was like we had all these dreams and vision for stuff, but it was like, «Okay, God, where do we start»? 'cause there’s so many hurting people. There’s so many things we could do. We knew that helping women coming out of traffic situations or coming out of abusive situations, that was part of it. But me, personally, I love that we’re in Utah, because when we came here, if you know me, I’m like, «The glass is half full». I’m very optimistic. I’m like, «Oh, everything is going to be okay». But when we moved here, I was dealing with this oppression that I’ve never felt before. And it was heavy. I just kinda felt hopeless. I was like, «What is going on with me? I don’t understand this». And it was a real thing.
Ginger: And that’s so unusual, like you said, for you.
Nicol: I’ve never dealt with that before in my life. It was never anything that I had struggled with. And so, I’m like, «What is going on»? I’d be like in my closet just like, «Okay, I can do it today. Like everything’s gonna be okay». I talked to other women that felt called to Utah and they said they felt the same thing. And it was specifically the women. And I’m like, «Okay, all right, I understand now. It’s spiritual 'cause the women in Utah specifically have been very oppressed from the inception of this state». There’s been oppression over women. So, the fact that we’re here, and we plan on reaching women all over the country, administering to people from everywhere, but I love that we’re here in Utah, 'cause it’s a need here.
Erin: I think it’s amazing that when it was difficult, or also when Dan said «We should look at land,» you could have said, «That is crazy». And when it got hard, you didn’t just wanna run back home to St. Louis, but you stuck it out and you pushed through, and then to see what God has birthed in your heart, like over time. I think we can easily rush the process of: it’s hard, and we don’t wanna, you know…
Nicol: Don’t get me wrong, there was moments where we’re like, «Oh God, this is you, right»?
Erin: Yeah.
Nicol: «This is you, right»? Because it does feel a little overwhelming and a really big task. But God has been so abundantly clear that we were supposed to do this. Like it would have been like, we would have known we were disobeying God 'cause he just kept saying, «No, this is it. This is the place. Even though it feels scary, even though it feels daunting, like, I’m gonna be with you every step of the way. Provide the people, provide the resources,» and that’s where our friends at «Talk it out» get to help. They can be a part of what God’s gonna do here. We’re super excited.
Ginger: Yeah.
Erin: Can I tell you about a cool experience I had yesterday? So, we’re here at the ranch, and I went, we’ve been eating really wonderful food, and so I needed to take a walk because it was really good food. It was good lunch. So, I’m walking, and there’s this horse that we’ve all really grown to love here. Her name is Ginger. I’m sure you’re gonna talk about her too. But she has been hurt and abused, and so she’s in an area of the land all by herself, just to kind of probably rehabilitate and…
Ginger: Yeah, she’s not comfortable around the other animals.
Erin: No. So, when we got here a few days ago, she just kept her distance, and she didn’t want us to love on her. And as we’ve gone through this week, she’s just really warmed up to us. And she has, I’m sorry, I’ll cry about this. But she has just really, like now she waits for us at this corner when she knows we’re coming back and forth, and we bring snacks. And so, one that struck me is that’s what women are gonna experience in this land. They’re gonna come to this place broken and hurting and malnourished spiritually and physically, and God’s gonna love on them. And it’s gonna be a protection around them, and he’s gonna heal their hearts. But then I had this other thought, that horse will only see the women right now. And she’ll learn to love that these men are trustworthy at some point, but right now the people that she is letting in to her little circle is the females.
Ginger: She stays away when the guys go over there.
Erin: She does.
Ginger: She’s not coming forward.
Erin: No, but she has let us go up to her and we’re able to pet her and just love on her. And I thought, like our «Talk it out» friends get to be this for this ranch, that we get to come beside these women and just love on them and remind them that they are enough. «You’re valuable». And we all have our own stories of pain. We all have our own Ginger, the horse story, but to get to come alongside other women, I was just, like, I was taken aback at the goodness of God letting us be a part of it.
Ginger: And just to clarify, the horse’s name was Ginger when we got her.
Erin: Yes, we did not rename her.
Nicol: We didn’t name her after this Ginger.
Ginger: We did not name her Ginger, but I think it’s so wonderful.
Erin: I do too. Those little things are fun.
Ginger: They are. They are. So, to kind of explain, and Joyce already did a beautiful job of explaining what the vision is for this place. But we have been doing and will continue to do so much outreach around the world and here in the United States. But this is an opportunity to create a home base for all of our United States outreach and for this just to kind of be the heart of it and also to combine what the ministry has been doing for so long, what Joyce and Dave said from the very beginning, «This is what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna share Christ and we’re gonna love people». So, it’s taking joyce’s story and the teaching and bringing it here to women who will come, and their needs will be met first. And their hearts then can be open to be able to receive and the Word of God will be shared with them and the healing, just as Joyce has received, will begin to grow in their life. And when I think of that and when we’ve already broken ground, you know, we’re heading that direction and it will take time. But when I think of that vision, that legacy for what you’ve done, Joyce, in so many women’s lives, that it’s going to grow into something here that will last for decades, that’s just so beautiful to me.
Joyce: And that’s always been important to me. I always wanted to leave a legacy.
Ginger: Yeah.
Joyce: And I even remember when I first started writing books, I wanted to leave a hundred really good books that people could be reading a hundred years from now if the Lord doesn’t come back. And of course, I’ve written more than that now, so they can pick out the best. But the same way with teaching…
Ginger: You outdid yourself. And you’re still at it. Yes.
Joyce: I’ve been teaching 50 years almost, 49 years. And it’s a lot of teaching, a lot of studying. And you know, you don’t want the fruit of your work to just end when God takes you home to be with him. And so, I’ve really wanted to leave a legacy. I wanted people to be able to hear the teaching and read the books a long time after I’m gone because a lot of the books that have affected me the most are books that were written 100 and 200 years ago. And as we know, the world is changing fast, and not always for the better. And so, people may need some of the things that are being written now to build them up later on. But you know, we live our little lives, and we can get so satisfied in our own life or so stuck on our own problems. And if we just stop and thought for a minute, wonder how many women there are just in the U.S. Right now who are just miserable or being battered by their spouses or being forced into the sex trafficking mess that’s going on. And there are thousands and thousands of girls that are trafficked out of here, not out of Utah per se, but out of America, every year. People think it’s not here, but it is. And so, there’s some really terrible things that are going on. And we cannot let the devil win. And it’s gonna take not just a few people with a vision, but it’s gonna take everybody in the body of Christ doing their part. And so many Christians are unhappy. And I really believe that many of them are unhappy because they’re not doing anything with what they know. You know, once you’ve been given the gospel, you need to take it and help somebody else with it.
Ginger: Yeah. Let me ask you this, Joyce, because a lot of our friends who are listening now are in the place where they may even be saying, «I spiritually or emotionally don’t even have anything to give because I’m still hurting, too». And you’ve been in that place. How would you encourage them that God wants to use them as well? That that’s part of the healing process.
Joyce: Well, first of all, they need to pray. And when you reach out to others, God reaches in to you. And the Bible says plainly, «Give and it shall be given unto you». And that’s not just finances. It’s whatever you can give, and anytime you pray for people, you’re giving. And so, I would say pray, and obviously, if they can support financially, we need that. Would love people to partner with us in this venture. So, I’d say the most important thing that people can do for us right now is pray.
Ginger: Which is huge.
Joyce: Yeah, huge. Pray that God will continue to bring in the finances that we need and the people that we need. And I’m just really, I don’t even wanna say excited because excited is just in your emotions. But I have a deep satisfaction in knowing that we’re gonna get to multiply what God’s done in us.
Ginger: I love that, a deep satisfaction in knowing what’s going to happen. What you said about breaking ground, I just want to encourage people in our own lives and in any project like this, we have to have patience because it takes time. So, it’s gonna be quite a while before that woman’s home is open. We dug a well and God blessed us with great water and…
Joyce: First time they dug…
Ginger: Exactly.
Joyce: They hit.
Ginger: What a wonderful thing.
Joyce: We’re getting 40 gallons per minute.
Nicol: Yeah.
Joyce: And water up here is very important.
Ginger: It is, that’s a big deal. And of course, you can’t build all year here, so you have to attend to the weather a little as well.
Nicol: We have to do certain things for the ground before winter hits, but then we’ll have to wait to actually start building after winter.
Ginger: But together we all have a lot that we can be praying about, just like Joyce was saying, and this is going to move forward and we’re gonna see good things. And Nicol, you were talking about that spiritual heaviness that you felt. Joyce Meyer Ministries has been involved here in Utah through the short creek dream center, which just, the women and the families there were devastated by a polygamous cult and very, very dark spiritual things happening there. And we know that God is doing big things there. He is working in women’s lives. He is setting them free. And I know you must be really enthusiastic, even though this is not always an easy place for God to break through some of the things and to see women really restored.
Nicol: Yeah, like she said, it’s not even excitement. It’s different than that. It’s like, there’s been a fire that’s been lit. And we’re like, «Okay,» because when I look out, I’m like, we’re in the middle of nowhere in Utah, like literally the middle of nowhere. But as we’ve been here, we just keep seeing there’s just a lot of things. It’s like serious spiritual warfare that’s happening. And so, we’re like, «Okay, like God.». I feel like just all the little pieces are fitting together and it’s like, «Okay, it makes sense why we’re here now». But along the way, I’m like, «Okay, I don’t really get what’s going on here,» but there’s so many needs here where we’re at, just in our community and around us, and we’re wanting to meet those needs and just to build trust and let people know we’re just here to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Like, we wanna love on people and let them know that there is hope when they’re in those hopeless situations. So yeah, we have a fire that’s been lit that we’re like, «Okay, we’re gonna do this and we’re gonna just keep walking through the doors that God opens».
Joyce: And that fire is what keeps you going. I know that from my own ministry. And, you know, I had such a passion to do what I’m doing that that passion keeps you going when it even seems stupid to try to keep going. And one of the things that we’ve done is we’ve retrofitted a bus for a first-class dental clinic.
Ginger: Yeah.
Joyce: And we have two fully equipped chairs with all the proper equipment and we’re gonna take it from place to place, and meet some of those needs and also use it to, you know, when people don’t trust other people, which, like you mentioned, the short creek dream center. I mean, it was very hard for them to trust anybody. And it took a long time to, just keep loving 'em, keep loving 'em, and keep loving 'em to break down those barriers.
Ginger: We’re still doing it.
Joyce: And so, when you help people in a physical way, it kind of starts to break down the walls, especially if you just keep it up and keep it up. So, we’ll take that dental bus all over the us and minister to people in needy areas where they don’t have the money or the dental insurance to go and take care of their needs.
Erin: I toured that bus the other day. It is beautiful. And it smells like a dentist. And it made me think I would like to sit here.
Nicol: And I think it’s awesome that the dental bus, the cities that we go to, we’re gonna partner with local churches there. And so, as we’re meeting needs of people that might need those needs met, we’re also gonna point them back to the local church. So, they can get connected to a church in their area. So yeah, I think that’s gonna be really awesome. It’ll be housed here at the ranch, but it’s gonna go all over the country.
Erin: Do you get to drive it?
Nicol: I don’t think anybody wants that to happen.
Erin: It’s just very big.
Ginger: We’re trying to help people.
Erin: You’re the dentist?
Joyce: I’m gonna be the dentist.
Ginger: Oh, my goodness!
Joyce: Do you still want your teeth cleaned?
Erin: You know, I actually just went, thank you so much.
Ginger: And being where we are also, we’re surrounded by a lot of native American reservations and the needs for those communities, it makes me so happy actually to think about that because my very first mission trip when I was probably elementary, maybe going into middle school, was going there and just helping people and sharing Christ. And it’s what got me rolling. And I have, as so many of us do, such a passion to help people who feel totally unseen like that. And so, the fact that we’re in a place where we can get to them and do that. And again, it takes a long time to build trust and inroads. And so, please pray for that too.
Nicol: For sure.
Joyce: We’re gonna have to have a lot of favor…
Ginger: We are.
Joyce: In that area.
Ginger: Yeah, anything else, Nicol, as we’re closing out, anything else that would be a good prayer point or some of the things that… Anything we’ve missed talking about with this project?
Nicol: Yeah, I think just to pray that it’s really clear the steps that God wants us to take and when he wants us to take 'em, to provide the right people, we’re gonna need the right staff for the homes and all of those things.
Ginger: Yeah, and it’s so beautiful here. I mean, you talk about a place where you can come and see the majesty of God, even if you don’t feel it, and then begin to experience the healing because of people who are loving you with the love of Christ. And I just think about being able to do it in this location where the mountains are so spectacular and it’s gorgeous. And I think of Psalm 121, you know, «I look to the hills, where does my hope come from? My hope comes from the Lord, maker of heaven and earth,» and it goes on to say that he will not allow your foot to slip.
Joyce: To sleep.
Ginger: To sleep. You know what it feels like when your foot goes to sleep?
Joyce: My foot’s asleep right now, so…
Ginger: Man! But he’s gonna wake us up when our legs go to sleep. But he won’t allow us to slip and that he doesn’t sleep at any time. That he is always watching over us. And wow, how many children, how many mothers, how many young women need to hear those words and not just hear them, but need to experience the God who will show them that that’s who he is?
Joyce: I think about the women and girls that are probably sitting hopeless right now, not realizing that help is on the way. That God’s preparing for their healing and their breakthrough right now.