Testimony from Cindy Farrington, New Hope Executive Director:
When I first knew that God was going to get me involved in founding New Hope Ministry & Counseling Center, I started praying that He would go before me and prepare hearts. I asked Him to begin calling those people He wanted to be involved. And He did. Little did I know, but He had already been preparing the way for many years!
My family and I had been living in Illinois for 15 years when God called us back to Iowa. (You can read my testimony here.) I want to give you just one example of the incredible things the Lord did in raising up New Hope. When we moved back to the Centerville area and I started working on setting things up, some people began telling me about a prayer group that had been meeting in Centerville for many years. The group was made up of Christians from several different churches who had been getting together once a week to pray for the pastors and churches in the area, praying for revival, praying for something that would bring the Body of Christ together. As some people began hearing about what I was working on, each one would say, “That sounds like what they have been praying for.” Then they ended by saying, “They meet in a place they call The Upper Room.”
When the time came that we had all of the materials ready, and our Articles of Incorporation filed, all we needed was a place. I prayed, “Okay, Lord, I’ve done everything You’ve asked, and everything is ready. All we need is a facility, and You know we have no money to pay for one.” God quickly arranged for me to meet the woman who led that prayer group I had been told about. Well, as it turned out, God actually placed this ministry in the very “Upper Room” building for our first 8 years—free of charge! Right where that prayer group had met for all those years, praying for this before they ever realized God was sending New Hope as an answer.
Isn’t that just like God to put this ministry in the very place where they had prayed for it for so long? He is so incredible! He did one thing after another just like that to establish this ministry and to continue to provide for it. It is so amazing to get to work at something that God is so evidently involved in every day.
And it really is bringing the Body of Christ together, just like they prayed! We now have a small Staff and over 70 Volunteers, ministering to people locally, regionally, and even in other parts of the country. Let me tell you—there is great power when the Body of Christ comes together!