Apostle Dr. Peggy Elliott

experience first-hand, how to function as an apostolic church being healed by God through inner healing and deliverance ministry. There is a congregational shift as people are healing from the inside out. The focus of the inner healing and congregational changes are on God.  He deserves the glory and honor for what is happening at Tree of Life Church.  Those facilitating the changes were ready to move forward and assist the Shepherd of the House in making this one aspect of his vision for the church, come alive.

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This article incorporates three sets of information:  my definition of inner healing, questions I posed to the Pastor and his wife, First Lady Nadine Carey, and last, but not least, testimonies from church members who have attended the training sessions and/or those who have experienced one-on-one client sessions. 

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What is the definition of Inner Healing?

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One of the scriptures I use to substantiate the ministry of inner healing is found in Isaiah 61: 1-5:

“The spirit of the sovereign Lord is on me because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor (evangelism).  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted (inner healing), to proclaim freedom to the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners (deliverance ministry).”

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Inner healing is allowing Jesus to reveal a traumatic incident in a person’s life, which negatively impacted the individual’s emotional and spiritual growth.  Depending on its severity, the trauma may not even be remembered.  Yet, it is causing the person to act in an ungodly manner.  The purpose for asking Jesus to reveal the hidden trauma in a person’s life, is not to cause undue pain to the client, but to uncover the lies spoken to a person’s spirit by Satan, about the trauma.  Then, through the Word of God, Jesus speaks the truth into that traumatic situation, and the Holy Spirit brings healing and comfort.   Inner healing deals with root problems.  A question often asked of me during an inner healing training session is, why do we have to go back to one’s childhood?  If trauma is not uncovered and healed during childhood, the person grows up and carries the effects of the trauma into their adult life, which causes an individual to make poor personal choices. This stunted growth is also known as ‘arrested development.’ If trauma occurred as a teen or an adult, that is where we begin.

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Asking powerful questions is a key element as a tool for practitioners of inner healing.  Powerful questions are open-ended questions, which causes the client to dig deeply for the answer.  Powerful questions assist the client in getting to the root problems of their brokenness.

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First Lady Nadine, what was your vision for a healing ministry at Tree of Life and are you seeing it come to life?

Mark 16: 17, 18b says: “And these signs will accompany those who believe:  In my name, they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; …they will place their hands on sick people and they will get well.”

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I am a Believer and that automatically puts me in the category of those who shall see these signs follow them.  The healing ministry has been in my heart from  the time that God called Pastor Carey and me into ministry.  Throughout the years, most of the books I have read, have been about healing and wholeness.  This is not something that just came to my spirit, it has always been in my crawl.  The manifestation of the healing ministry becomes clearer as we get people who desire to facilitate inner healing.  We are grateful that inner healing is a part of our ministry now.  It has always been a vision of Tree of Life and it will always be a part of this ministry.  I desire to see the body of Christ healed, whole and set free.

 

Questions to Pastor Carey:

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Q:  Why was it important that you acted when you did pertaining to incorporating inner healing into Tree of Life culture?

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I did not know the true definition of inner healing and what the difference was from inner healing and deliverance ministry.  A team and I from Tree of Life attended several trainings on deliverance ministry.  Yet, after talking with you (Dr. Elliott) and after being in fellowship with you, sitting under your teaching, I knew that there was a window of opportunity that we needed to act on and we needed to get involved in, even though some people were very skeptical of it.  We had been talking this language for a long, long time.  I think the reason why it was so important to act when we did is that there was a window and the light was shining. I knew that it was the right thing to do, after getting a true definition of what inner healing is.  I did not know how inner healing and deliverance ministry worked together.  The two are different, yet, they must co-exist together to bring wholeness to an individual. 

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Our leaders had gone through deliverance training and healing, but many still needed inner healing. Getting trained in inner healing clarified a lot for me and I felt really pressed to move on this ministry opportunity. I felt a sense of urgency and knew we needed to act on what we were learning.  I also believed that there was a very set time for you and I (Dr. Elliott), to be connected over so many years.  It has been a God-send.  Yes, there have been whispers and some people not understanding the voice and movement of God.  This has been pre-destined and pre-ordained.  It is happening now because it is supposed to happen now.  I’m excited about the momentum that is building, that people are (now) comprehending and benefitting from your teaching on inner healing.

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Q:  What do you believe would have happened if you would not have implemented the ministry of inner healing eight months ago? 

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I don’t guess, I know that we would have been walking in disobedience.  For so long, people’s hearing had been so dull, almost as if they were in a fog (regarding understanding the need for a healing ministry).  I knew that the ‘not understanding’ was demonic, and I knew what God had in store for us.  We’ve been under so many spiritual attacks for so long.  But, I knew I would have been walking in disobedience if we did not go ahead and move forward in inner healing. I felt a sense of urgency. I knew that we had to go forward.  I knew this was right and it was good.  For a long time, we’ve taught the Word of God, but without the understanding as to what inner healing is and what it is not.  We knew what deliverance ministry was, where it begins and ends.  We needed to learn where inner healing picks up.  If not, we would be at a stalemate.  If God would not have sent you, (Dr. Elliott) to be a part of us and us a part of you, we would still be going around in circles. With the apostle’s ministry and the apostle’s anointing, which is so vital and so missing in the body of Christ today, we would be in the same place we had been.

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Bottom line, we just would have been out of the will of God and we would have continued to struggle.  Now there is hope, there is fruit, and there are breakthroughs for many.  This is the will of the Lord and we embrace Apostle Peggy and her ministry, and together we will move forward.  God has so much in store for us, for His people and I know that this is going to catch on and people are going to desire this inner healing as we continue to press on.  We are going to get good at incorporating inner healing with deliverance ministry and we will be able to show others how these ministries can be effectively available within the body of Christ today.

 

TESTIMONIES

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When I was around six years old, my Mother allowed one of her girlfriend’s sons to babysit my older brother and me.  That’s when the abuse occurred. I always remembered the assault as if I was watching a movie about a little girl being molested, but it was not me being molested.  Going through the inner healing sessions allowed me to go back, deal with the trauma and learn the truth of why I suppressed the event.  Jesus brought forth the healing and truth that I needed for so long.  ~P. Carter

                                        

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I took Dr. Elliott’s courses on Inner Healing and Deliverance.  I also experienced the one-on-one sessions.  These aspects of ministry helped heal me or set me free in some way each time.  The healing even continued after each class or session too.  One significant way was the revelation that my heart had taken on some significant responsibility for my younger brother’s death almost twenty years ago.  My head knew it wasn’t my fault, but my heart took on the weight of the burden because I was his older sibling and felt like I should have known or helped to prevent it.

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During a class, this was brought out and healing began to take place.  A day or two later, as I was seeking God about this situation, He showed me that this burden that my heart took on, was the major reason I wouldn’t allow myself to truly help people in my profession or ministry.  Since my heart was hurt, the enemy was saying deep down, “because you couldn’t save your brother, how could you help anyone else?”  After the revelation and healing, I now have  a new zeal in me; God can use me to help Him reach others for Him.  There is a peace and joy that is attached to the healing and freedom.  All glory goes to God Almighty, The Knower, Seer, and Healer of all things.  ~J. Olson

                                                                                                                                                   

If you have any questions about the ministry of inner healing, feel free to contact Apostle Elliott at 914-573-4493.

Her book on inner healing, Inner Healing:  The Place Called In-Between will be available in the Spring of 2018.