Our Story
How We Got Here
God has given us a passion to help bring restoration to people who have experienced hard times. Our desire is to provide a place where families can get away from the pressures of life and focus on God’s peace and healing power.
Years ago we walked through a season of pain and hurt with good friends who were experiencing ministry burnout. We watched them struggle for fifteen years and often felt helpless in our efforts to support them. The idea came: What if we had a place for them to go to find healing, a place they could escape to where they could regain their focus and be reminded of their purpose? What if we could provide support and resources at no cost to them? These friends were the beginning of a long line of people who have come into our lives in need of a place to find healing and restoration. Our desire to provide such a place began to grow, and a vision began to take shape.
The next several years included major moves for our family that culminated in us settling in Blue Ridge, GA. As we encountered more and more people who needed help, we became more convinced than ever, that we had been placed in this environment for “such a time as this.”
There’s something to be said for the right place, right time, and right people. That’s what we have found here in Blue Ridge. Through faith and open doors we began to walk out the vision. After 2 years of “knocking on doors,” we finally closed on 11 acres of land ready for us to build the retreat center, ready for us to open Nicanor’s Gate.
From Weakness to Strength
In Acts 3, Paul and Barnabas are on their way to the temple to worship when they are interrupted by a lame man begging for money at the gate called “Beautiful,” or Nicanor’s Gate. The man expressed the need for practical assistance, but the disciples of Christ saw past his practical needs and addressed his physical and spiritual brokenness instead. They lifted him from his place of desperation and he was instantly healed. But they did not leave him there because they knew that his physical healing was not enough. They took him to the temple where they worshiped, danced, rejoiced and fellowshipped together with a man who was lost, but now had been found.
The spirit that is found in Acts 3 also applies to our vision for Nicanor’s Gate in Blue Ridge. We are committed to assisting people in practical ways as they deal with the symptoms of their issues, but we are also committed to helping them get to the root cause(s) of those symptoms and finding complete restoration. Offering this peaceful place for respite and sabbath from the stressors of life will give them a chance to relax and let God do his work.
Vision
We exist to help restore men, women, and families to right relationships with God and with each other.
Mission
To nurture a private, safe, and home-like space for families dealing with pain, tragedy/loss, trauma, and/or the burnout of serving others
To amplify the process of healing, restoration, and rest of both individuals and families.
To affirm a personal sense of purpose and fulfillment
To ignite a sense of hope, life, and adventure