ACCOUNTABILITY AND OVERSIGHT
Our Council of Reference
Wonderfully Free is supported by a trusted Council of Reference. Its members provide experience, wise counsel and accountability for the way we run and practise our ministry.
It started with a desire to help people become free
Wonderfully Free Ministries grew out of a simple desire: to see people become wonderfully free.
We have always been fascinated by the difference between knowing about God and actually knowing Him — and by what happens when people discover for themselves just how much He loves them, who He says they are, and what He has made them for.
Over the years, that desire has taken us in directions we could never have anticipated.
What began with a home group, in which the same people asked for prayer for the same things each week, developed into an interest in Christian counselling, then into Bethel Sozo ministry, and eventually into a growing range of ministries serving individuals, couples, churches and ministries.
It was Sozo that changed everything for us, and we’ve been involved in this amazing ministry since 2009, becoming a major part of what we do. But, having said that, Wonderfully Free has never been just about Sozo.
That’s one of the things that makes us who we are.
Bethel Sozo
In Bethel Sozo we discovered a ministry built around something that resonated deeply with us: helping people develop a genuine, personal relationship with Father God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and giving them the opportunity to hear from God for themselves.
Sozo wasn’t counselling.
It wasn’t simply talking about God.
And it wasn’t about telling people what they ought to believe.
It was about helping people encounter God and discover for themselves what He wanted them to know.
We were captivated.
As we learned the Sozo tools and began using them with people, we saw again and again how quickly someone could move from feeling stuck to experiencing freedom. Sometimes that happened in minutes.
The more we learned, the more convinced we became that this was something worth sharing.
From Sozo to Wonderfully Free
Our involvement with Sozo grew. Within months, we had started a team at our church, and shortly after we were both asked to become Facilitators for the south-west of England. The UK Sozo Directors invited us to join a UK steering committee. Sometime after that, we became International Bethel Sozo Organisation trainers for both Basic and Advanced Sozo. In 2017, we launched the Sozo for Couples ministry at the Sozo Summit at Bethel in Redding, CA. Since then we have travelled across the UK and Europe, to India and Mexico, teaching and mentoring.
As we worked with individuals and couples, we also discovered that there were situations where Sozo wasn’t the whole answer. That didn’t mean Sozo had failed. It meant that people sometimes needed something different — or something more.
And so the ministry developed.
Wonderfully Free Sessions grew out of the recognition that sometimes a combination of Sozo and counselling is particularly helpful.
And our work with couples developed into something particularly distinctive too.
Sozo for Couples
Together with our friend, Liz Gregg, we are the originators of Sozo for Couples.
We developed a way for a couple to receive Sozo together, enabling them to overcome problems and enjoy greater freedom and wholeness in their relationship with God and with one another.
This became much more than simply adapting an individual Sozo for two people. We’ve seen how powerful it can be when a couple is able to explore what is happening in their relationship with God at the centre and with each other alongside them. It has become one of the most distinctive parts of Wonderfully Free.
And it led naturally into other expressions of marriage ministry.
Helping couples at different stages
We recognised that couples don’t all come looking for the same thing. Some are preparing to get married and want to establish a strong foundation before they begin married life. That’s where Marriage Preparation comes in.
Others are already married and want to address difficulties, understand one another better or simply discover how their relationship could become even stronger. That’s part of what led to Going Deeper in Marriage, a combination of Sozo, teaching and coaching.
And sometimes a couple simply needs somewhere to begin.
Our aim isn’t to fit every couple into the same programme. It’s to help them find the right doorway.
More than a collection of ministries
By now you may be wondering what all these things have in common. The answer is actually quite simple.
People.
Every ministry we’ve developed has grown out of encountering real people with real lives, real questions and real needs. That’s why Wonderfully Free doesn’t fit neatly into a single category. We’re not simply a Sozo ministry. We’re not a counselling service.
We’re not just a marriage ministry, or a coaching organisation.
We’re not just a training provider either… We do some of all of those things. But underneath them all is the same desire: to help people become wonderfully free.
What does “wonderfully free” mean?
For us, freedom isn’t simply getting rid of problems. It’s much more than that. It’s knowing who you are and whose you are. It’s being able to come to God honestly. It’s discovering that your past doesn’t have to determine your future.
It’s learning to recognise God’s voice and respond to Him. It’s being increasingly free to love, receive, forgive, hope, dream and live. And it’s discovering the purpose for which God created you.
We don’t believe that being wonderfully free means life will never be difficult. It doesn’t mean we won’t struggle. It doesn’t mean everything will always work out as we expect. It means that the things that have happened to us don’t have to have the final word.
We believe Jesus really does set people free. And we’ve seen enough of that freedom to remain passionate about helping others discover it for themselves.
Serving churches and ministries
Our journey hasn’t only been about individual ministry.
Over the years we’ve had the privilege of serving churches and ministries through teaching, training, ministry weekends, retreats, marriage events and other forms of ministry. We’ve trained people in Sozo and helped churches develop their own ministry teams. We’ve spoken, taught, prayed and ministered in a variety of settings, and we’ve discovered that churches, like individuals, often need different things at different times.
Sometimes they need teaching. Sometimes they need training. Sometimes they need practical ministry.
Sometimes they simply need someone to come alongside them.
That’s why we have an ‘Invite Us’ page.
Writing, publishing and equipping
Another part of the story has been writing. Over the years we’ve written, co-written and published books and resources arising from our experience of ministry. Some explore Sozo. Some address marriage, wholeheartedness and purpose. Some are designed to equip people who want to take what they’ve learned further.
Writing has become another way of doing what we’ve always wanted to do: helping people become wonderfully free — even when we can’t be there in person.
Still becoming ‘wonderfully free’
Perhaps the most important thing about our story is that we don’t tell it as people who have arrived. We’re still learning. Still discovering. Still asking questions. Still being surprised by God, still discovering things about ourselves that He wants to change.
The name Wonderfully Free isn’t a claim that we have everything sorted. It’s a description of what we believe God wants for all of us.
Freedom is a journey. Wholeness is a journey. Knowing God is a journey. And we’re on that journey too.
Where we are today
Today, Wonderfully Free Ministries encompasses ministry to individuals and couples, training and equipping, work with churches and ministries, writing and publishing, and a growing body of information and resources.
The different things we do may look quite diverse, but they are connected by one conviction: God wants relationship with us, and from that relationship comes freedom.
That’s what we’ve been discovering since the beginning, and it’s what we still love helping other people discover.
Our Council of Reference
We minister within a framework of accountability, supported by a trusted Council of Reference.
Welcome to Wonderfully Free
If you’ve arrived here because you’re looking for something specific, we hope you’ll find it.
If you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for, that’s OK too.
Explore the site. Read something. Find out about Sozo. Discover our ministries. Look at what we offer couples. See how we can serve churches and ministries, and if you think we might be able to help, get in touch.
You don’t need to know exactly what you need before you contact us.
We’ll start where you are.
EXPERIENCES SHARED
What people have said
“Thank you so much for my Sozo last Saturday and for the notes. It was a profound experience in which Father God showed me things that I had never understood before. I felt very safe with you during the session and able to be vulnerable in it. Asking my heart how it felt was something very new and a revelation. I have now started the Wonderfully Free journal and am looking forward to increasing in freedom. Thank you again.”
“Since our prayer time, which I felt was very significant for me, I immediately felt like a lot of stress and false guilt had been lifted off me, feeling safe in Jesus’ arms, in the midst of the continued storm around me. I felt more clarity in my mind about what the path forward with my marriage was going to look like. I felt so deeply ministered to, by the Holy Spirit, emotions that I had not allowed myself to express, always feeling vulnerable because of my personal boundaries being crossed.”
“I felt instantly comfortable talking to you, I felt safe with you ministering to me, and I knew you had prepared in prayer before, which made me feel like father God really cared and you really wanted to help me. I’ve been taking one step at a time, trying not to expect too much too soon. I am experiencing grief, for my marriage and dealing with the memories of psychological abuse from family & my marriage. The truths that were revealed that day, were very significant also, I have felt sharper, in standing up for myself, and I’m not sure if I have stopped trying to protect myself. I am releasing the weight of things to God more readily. I would highly recommend SOZO ministry and all the resources I’ve bought. — A Sozo guest.”
“Someone wisely told me once that it takes great courage to live in these days. I can see the nations raging and I have experienced the enemy dividing my family, and the stress of it all led to physical pain in my body. I began seeing a fascial release therapist, who quickly confirmed that I was holding trauma emotionally. Enter Wonderfully Free. I have now had several zoom appointments with Anthea (and my husband has had some with Darrell) where God has uncovered pain and trauma that have been stuck for years. My heart– the wellspring of life– was crippled. Each time Anthea has led me through release, I experienced a new level of freedom. My body is so much better, but even more than that, I am free of deep levels of fear that have kept me captive my whole life. It does take courage, but Darrell and Anthea are compassionate, confidential, and professional in their approach, and God is so good– he wants us free! How else can we keep our hearts alive when the nations rage and families are divided? I encourage you– go after your emotional health. It is connected to everything. God is faithful and Cocups are skilled– you will be in the best hands! — Michelle.”