Seth Moerkerke

Bethel is a house of restoration, healing, and miracles. We believe “nothing impossible with God,” with our whole heart, which attracts, thousands of people, every year, from all over the world who need a miracle. You will find, hundreds of broken people, in the worst season of their lives, desperate for a touch from Jesus, on any given week at Bethel. It’s common to find broken and fallen leaders, looking for restoration among our congregation. Part of our prophetic mandate is the restoration and recovery of the fallen. We also, bus in the homeless and the helpless, and have a ministry to them all week long. Many of them are mentally ill and/or drug addicted. This has been Bethel’s call for decades. During the Jesus movement, some of the elders at Bethel insisted that the “long haired hippies, and the girls in mini skirts” not be allowed in church. But pastor Earl Johnson, (Bill Johnson’s father), stood against those elders. They left and planted a different church while Bethel continued to welcome people in all stages of life. Our congregation is accustomed to having sinners and saints in fellowship together. They are well equipped for ministry to people no matter their condition. Our congregation is filled with radical believers, who call Bethel home, and are equipped by the five-fold ministry for the work of service. They are not afraid to dirty their hands with souls of broken people. In fact, more than 800 of them serve in the healing rooms on Saturday, healing the sick and broke. This is a place where people fly in from all over the world to experience a miracle. Bethel has a transformation center, led by my son Jason and Dawna DeSilva, that literally ministers to hundreds of people every month. It is staffed with over 70 anointed counselors, who move in deliverance and inner healing, along with professional psychologists who help people with mental illness. We have hundreds of trained prayer servants from our congregation, who minister to sick and the broken after every service. Bethel has a paid staff of about 850 people, including a large, wonderful paid security team who help to keep our congregation safe. Bethel is home to more than 10,000 people in a city of 90,000 But life here isn’t perfect, in fact attracting people who are in crisis makes all of our lives a little messy. John Maxwell said, “The way you deal with the worst determines if you get the best.” We know well life with Judases and even Jezebels. We aren’t quick to kick people out of the congregation, because the people who need us the most, are also the most broken. We are guilty of believing in people before they deserve it, which often transforms the broken into world changers. This is my story- two nervous breakdowns later, Jesus healed me and called to help the oppressed. But there are also those, who refuse to repent, change and/or don’t get well. Sometimes these people try to prey on the congregation and sadly they behave their way out of fellowship. It’s truly breaks my heart to have to restrict a person from the body because their chances of being transformed is dramatically reduced. Yet as rare as it is, it does happen. The bottom line is we deeply love people and try our best to help everyone. But we don’t always get it right. Yet to be honest, life anywhere on the planet isn’t perfectly safe; there are predators in every neighborhood who are looking to kill, steal and destroy the lives of others. Acts 20:28 Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. This is important to remember as we navigate the messiness of life in trenches of the cesspools of broken and desperate people.