Since before Kelly and Daniel were married, they have shared a dream of using a piece of land to bless the Lord, and bless others. About two years ago, this dream was renewed, and confirmed through the book of Nehemiah at a note burning ceremony of Kelly’s home church. But at the same time, God also let them know it was not time to leave what they were doing. They were excited, but patient.
Two years later, in the spring of 2015, Daniel started having a feeling that by the end of the summer they (him and his family) would not be at the ministry they were serving at. A week later, Kelly told Daniel the same thing. Neither one of them wanted to leave, and much like Moses at the burning bush, made as many excuses as they could think of.
Then came summer, and Family Camp in July of 2015. Every day, the speaker would almost systematically knock one excuse after the other out of the way. Then on the second to last day, in the middle of his sermon, the speaker just stopped. He looked right at Daniel for what seemed like forever. He then looked out to the group and said, “If God has had you in a certain scripture, and He’s not letting you past it, then you are being to stubborn to listen to what He is telling you!” And then he simply went on with the lesson he was teaching.
Daniel had been stuck in Acts 23 for about two weeks. He went back to his cabin, and went to do his devotion, and thought, “Acts 23” and pushed his bible aside. He thought he would compromise and listen to a podcast of another preacher he likes to listen to. He put his earbuds in, and the preacher was preaching on Acts 23!
Acts 23 is where Paul was in jail in Jerusalem, the Lord came and stood next to him and told him, “You have been my witness in Jerusalem, and now you will be my witness in Roam.” He was telling Daniel, you have served me here, and now I am sending you somewhere else. So, even though they didn’t know where they were going, when they got back from camp, Daniel and Kelly went to their supervisor and gave their resignation. They told the organization they were with that they would stay until no longer needed. That day turned out to be October 16th.
Between July and October, there were several events that occurred, which all had the same message for Daniel. That message was to listen to and follow Kelly’s direction. After fighting through a strong period of burnout, she had been saying for months that there needs to be a place of rest for ministers. As the Lord rekindled the dream, they decided to pursue a piece of land and use it for a spiritual retreat ministry.
Kelly immediately started looking for land, and found a piece she liked. She showed Daniel the pictures, the cabins that were on it, and then the price tag. Daniel laughed and said, “We’ll never be able to get that much money.” She turned and with a sense of peace to her, just smiled, and simply said, “God will.”
Later that night, Daniel prayed with Kelly, and then went to do his own devotion. He spent time in prayer about finances for this property and the ministry that would be on it. Then he opened up his Bible and read “I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me. They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work” (Nehemiah 2:18).
Daniel realized something. It was the exact same scripture God had used at the note burning ceremony two years ago to confirm this as a calling. He wanted them to have a piece of land and use it for His Glory. And now He was using this scripture to confirm that it was time to start . . . to begin this good work.
We are here, building a Christian organization dedicated to those who are facing mental fatigue, stress, and burnout. We are here providing a place of retreat for rest. We are here so others may finish their journey. We are here, with God’s hand on us. So now the question is, “Will you do this good work with us?”
Lord bless,
Daniel G. Lockey
Founding Director