Beginning with the earliest meetings in 1999 of the Hope Mission launch team, the community of Hope+in+the+Desert has discerned a calling to a healing ministry. This calling included dramatic visions of a campus where healing occurred in worship, and also in a community healing center, providing practical, spiritual support in health-related matters for families at every stage of life. Over the years, the reality of God’s call has been reinforced through the amazing training and spiritual development opportunities the Lord has provided to equip His people at Hope-in-the- Desert for a full-spectrum healing ministry. Hope+in+the+Desert has responded to this call in a number of ways: a monthly Healing Service in the style of Taizé; offering trained prayer teams for healing prayer at every service; offering private healing prayer appointments throughout the week; sending prayers out to minister in homes, medical facilities, and among the homeless; parish nursing to support healthy living and well-care; and much more. Hope’s response to the Lord’s call has been blessed by the opportunity to witness meaningful, miraculous healing of body, mind and spirit.
In 2008 Hope+in+the+Desert, a mission of the Episcopal Dioceses of the Rio Grande, completed phase I of its site plan, a wonderful 14,000 sq. ft worship space with offices, classrooms and fellowship areas. Phase II is intended to be the Healing Center. In July 2009 a planning committee was formed to move this plan forward. This will be used to pursue, and respond to, opportunities to fund the center. We intend to complete this report in the second half of 2010.