Charis Bible College's School of Healing

CBC staff member, Carlie Terradez, holds the mic as Richard Bishop shares his testimony of victory over severe symptoms of a diabetic blood complication as a result of the prayer and ministry at the School of Healing. (Click to enlarge)Late last winter, Charis Bible College fostered the birth of a new branch of ministry at the Colorado Springs campus when they opened the doors of CBC's School of Healing. The weekly program is an answer to many prayers and operates under the leadership of CBC's School of Worship Director, Daniel Amstutz.

While the doors of the School of Healing officially opened in March of 2011, the concept was conceived in the heart of CBC's Director, Gary Luecke, in 2009. It came to Gary's attention when he was hired as the director of the college that Andrew was being asked to pray for people between classes. He was not being asked by the students necessarily, but by visitors traveling from afar, seeking personal ministry and healing. Andrew made every attempt to meet the need, CBC Director, Gary Luecke.
(Click to enlarge)but the frequency of the requests grew beyond the capacity of Andrew's on campus schedule. Andrew and Gary discussed ways to allow more time to minister to those in need—even if Andrew was off campus.

Gary sought the Lord about what it would take to establish a healing program at CBC. He envisioned a place where students were specifically trained in all things related to healing, about ministering healing and about how to receive healing. As Gary prayed, he knew it would take a special person to come along to develop the program, and he waited on the Lord.

Daniel Amstutz leading worship.
(Click to enlarge)In the fall of 2010, at Andrew's request, Daniel started leading worship once a week at CBC. Daniel progressively became more visible on campus, filling in as a guest speaker and leading worship more frequently. Eventually, Gary offered Daniel a full-time position as the Director of the School of Worship. Daniel remembered their conversation and said, "Gary got a smile on his face at one point, and turned to me and asked, 'Do you have any interest in directing a healing school?'" To which Daniel replied, "'That is a ministry that is very dear to my heart; one that I have been active in for quite some time, and one that goes hand in hand with worship ministry. Yes!'"

Carilie, who has witnessed the manifestation of healing in her own life, shares her revelation with those in attendance in December 2011.
(Click to enlarge)When Daniel joined the CBC staff in 2011, he invited students interested in being trained in the healing ministry to come to an initial training session. To his surprise, 175 students showed up at the first of six meetings on how to minister to the sick.

After teaching the first four sessions, Daniel invited Gospel Truth Seminar Prayer Team Coordinator and healing recipient, Carlie Terradez, to join him as an instructor. Jumping at the opportunity, Carlie agreed and taught the two remaining training sessions.

A CBC student shares her testimony of standing on God's word and speaking to her body and circumstances until her healing manifested. (Click to enlarge)Since those early days, the School of Healing has grown and the new branch of CBC is bearing fruit. "Every week we are seeing amazing things happening as people are receiving healings of every kind and miracles that are not only changing their lives personally, but the lives of their friends and families," shared Daniel enthusiastically.

News of the School of Healing and its fruit has become public through a variety of AWM and CBC outlets, and people are visiting the school from across the United States. Some visitors have traveled from other countries just to be a part of the School of Healing.

CBC students participate in the prayer ministry line at the School of Healing. (Click to enlarge)The school, which is free to all and open to the public, meets weekly on Thursday afternoons from 1:00 to 4:30 p.m. in the CBC campus auditorium. Each session opens with a time of worship, usually lead by Daniel and a team of musicians, then testimonies of God's goodness are shared, followed by teaching. The afternoon program culminates with a team of students ministering healing to whoever comes forward to receive.

"Healing School is not a church, but it is family. It's a safe place where people come and are always welcome; they are loved and ministered to for as long as is necessary. Some only come one time; Six months after receiving prayer at the School of Healing, Suki Mihalko shared her testimony of victory over lung cancer. (Click to enlarge)they receive their healing and go home. Others come weekly; they are growing spiritually and physically," said Carlie.

Miracles are witnessed at the School of Healing every week, not because of some special anointing or because the ministers are experts, but because signs and wonders follow the teaching of the Word. "Our goal is to draw people into relationship with Jesus so that they learn that everything they need comes from that relationship. This makes the School of Healing unique; we are discipling people, not just praying for their problems," said Carlie excitedly.

"There is nothing that you need to have completed to attend. Just come believing and receive what Jesus came to give. We will love on you and walk with you through your healing journey," said Daniel.

For more information about the School of Healing or to watch a session via live feed, be sure to visit charisbiblecollege.org.

Marilyn Vyzourek: Rescuing the Lost and the Least

CBC graduate and founder of Gospel Shelters for Women in Colorado Springs, Marilyn Vyzourek. Photo courtesy of CBS Denver (Click to enlarge)In the mid nineteen-nineties, Marilyn Vyzourek and her husband, Paul, were living contently in Kansas. In May of 1995, however, a single conversation changed the direction of their lives forever. Friends of the Vyzourek's brought up the topic of speaking in tongues. Having come from a conservative church background, they didn't knowing much about the gift of tongues, so the couple gave Marilyn and Paul one of Andrew's teachings on the subject. This was the Vyzourek's introduction to Andrew's ministry and it marked the beginning of a new season in their walk with the Lord. After listening to the message, Marilyn and Paul Marilyn walks with one of the many women she has ministered to through her Gospel Shelters for Women ministry. (Click to enlarge)were baptized in the Holy Spirit and received the gift of tongues, and by August of 1995, the Vyzoureks had relocated to Colorado Springs and enrolled in Charis Bible College.

During his first year at CBC, the Lord led Paul to bring sandwiches to the homeless and needy in the Springs. With the assistance of one of Paul's CBC Instructors, Don Krow, and several fellow classmates, Paul and Marilyn steadily served the homeless community. It was out of these efforts that a food pantry ministry was birthed.

Liza's Place in Colorado Springs.
(Click to enlarge)Initially the food was stored in a closet at the AWM headquarters, but in 1996, after Marilyn joined Paul as a student at CBC, the couple took a step of faith and founded Springs Rescue Mission (SRM). More than a food pantry, SRM became a parachurch ministry set up to serve and help the hungry, homeless, struggling, indigent and addicted in the Springs, by ministering to the physical and spiritual needs of each person.

The Vyzoureks graduated from CBC's two-year program, Paul in 1997, Marilyn in 1998, and Marilyn was ordained in 1999. Marilyn giving the ladies from Covenant Presbyterian Church a tour of the Hope Home facility. Hope Home is a 10-bed facility serving women with co-occurring disorders. (Click to enlarge)She credits her time at CBC with helping her identify who she is in Christ and for recognizing the call on her life to minister to the forgotten and the lost. The couple also learned what unrelenting faith is all about. "It was one step at a time, without knowing what the next step was—a lot of faith in God's leading," remembered Marilyn.

Paul and Marilyn remained at SRM until 2000, when they moved to New York City and established another rescue ministry called, New York Metropolitan City Mission, part of which remains active to this day. After getting the ministry off the ground, the Vyzoureks returned Marilyn and staff during a GSW graduation ceremony in April of 2011. (Click to enlarge)to Colorado and rejoined the staff of SRM.

In 2002, the Lord led Marilyn to launch a new, non-profit rescue ministry focused on homeless women and women recently released from incarceration in Colorado Springs. Prompted by her passion for society's rejected and an unfortunate tragedy, Marilyn opened a transitional housing facility called, Liza's Place under the ministry name, Gospel Shelters for Women.

The unfortunate tragedy, which led to the naming of the facility, occurred on September 10, 2001 Because Marilyn believes that it is only through Jesus Christ that the human heart can be healed, group Bible study is a mandatory part of the rescue mission programs. (Click to enlarge)when 39-year-old, Liza Chavez, a woman whom Marilyn had been helping, was murdered on the streets of Colorado Springs. Liza was an alcoholic and had served time in jail for several non-violent crimes. Upon release from jail, Liza found herself without a support system, living outside, and sleeping in local parks and under bridges in the Springs. Although Liza faced an uphill battle to create a stable existence for herself, Marilyn said she was anxious to turn her life around. The night before Liza was killed she called Marilyn and said, "If you don't have a women's home for me to go to and get off of these streets, I would just as soon go to be with Jesus." Marilyn formed the shelter in response to the need for a safe, supportive home environment for women like Liza.Mighty women of God celebrate another graduation in June of 2011. The women are transformed as they go through the program. (Click to enlarge)

Gospel Shelters for Women, which now includes two rescue programs, the second one called Hope Home, provides housing and structure for the women it serves and teaches them about God's love. "At Gospel Shelters for Women we have devotions and a Bible Study in the morning and a Bible Study at 7pm. Many of the teachings are things that we learned at CBC. We also teach Discipleship Evangelism and many of Andrew's other teachings," said Marilyn.

While introducing the women to Jesus and equipping them spiritually is foremost on Marilyn's mind, her vision for rescue includes practical life skills and workplace training as well. As Gospel Shelters for Women Thrift Store in Colorado Springs provides a place for the ladies of Liza'a place and Hope Home to learn business skills as part of their training. (Click to enlarge) part of the program, the women learn how to take care of themselves, manage and budget their finances, and they also develop marketable business skills while working at the Gospel Shelters for Women Thrift Store.

Marilyn is many things to many people, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a business manager and a minister, but at her core she, like Jesus, is a lover of people—especially the lost. In Marilyn's own words rescue ministry is, "Ministry to the least, the last and the lost; men or women who are homeless or about to be homeless if not for your help."

"People turn their back on the poor because they do not understand them and they judge them. Most of these people have an addiction which hides the hurt and pain of the past," said Marilyn. She considers her work to be her calling and her ordination to be like a marriage vow. Marilyn works diligently to fulfill both. If you would like to know more about Marilyn's work or help support her efforts, visit the Liza's Place website.

National talk show host Glenn Beck.
(Click to enlarge)Special Note: Marilyn's mission statement: "To help homeless and previously incarcerated women with programs of restoration through the Love of Jesus, Bible truths and self-discipline," is boldly posted, front and center on the ministry's home page. Marilyn has never hidden the ministry aspect of her efforts. Recently, however, the shelter's emphasis on sharing God's Word caused a stir in the media. In early November, Marilyn's ministry made local and national headlines, when her organization lost State and Federal funding for refusing to make the Bible study components of the programs "optional." The story even caught the eye of well-known American conservative political commentator, Glenn Beck, who not only supported Marilyn's refusal, but made a large donation to help offset the lost funding.

Daniel Amstutz: CBC's Way to Worship

Daniel Amstutz, the Director of Charis Bible College's School of Worship and the School of Healing. (Click to enlarge)Charis Bible College of Colorado continues to expand its third-year Ministry Training program. The third year has been specifically developed to further equip those students who have been called to an office in full-time ministry (Ephesians 4). Among the available course offerings, or tracks as they are called, are the School of Ministry, School of Worship and School of Media. Each of these tracks is led by a well-seasoned minister or team of ministers. As the third year offerings increase, the Lord continues to bring quality leaders to oversee each department. In the case of the School of Worship, CBC has been blessed to welcome to its staff, music ministry veteran, Daniel Amstutz, whom some refer to as a "Father of Modern Worship."

Daniel was raised in a Christian home as one of five children, and the son of a Baptist minister. He remembers the day he was born again when he was five years old. Daniel speaking in Greely, Colorado in 1978. (Click to enlarge)"I prayed with my Mom in the kitchen of our home in Montana, and received Christ at that time," recalled Daniel.

He knew from a young age that the Lord had called him to a life of ministry, but it wasn't until Daniel's latter college years that he realized his call to music ministry. As a young man, Daniel developed his musical skills to the extent that he was accepted to audition for several prestigious positions and collegiate-level scholarships across the country. Among these auditions were one for the Fisk Memorial Scholarship at the University of Colorado (CU), and one for a position at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. After auditioning for both, he was awarded a full scholarship to CU, Here Comes the Son, Daniel's first album release. (Click to enlarge)which he and his parents viewed as a confirmation from the Lord of His provision. Daniel graduated from CU with a degree in Vocal Performance.

In the mid 1970s, after graduating from CU, Daniel began writing and publishing music while he was leading worship for his dad's church in Alamosa, Colorado. He then recorded his first album while working as a music minister with Faith Ministries Fellowship in Greeley, Colorado. "My first solo project was called Here Comes The Son, recorded in 1981, and it was all original songs—most of which I wrote during the sermons, and would sing at the end of the service as a part of the altar call," Daniel and Praise & Worship artist, Don Moen, at CBC's Better Way to Worship Conference June 2011.
(Click to enlarge)said Daniel.

Over the years since his first release, Daniel has recorded several other projects, including his second solo effort called, Inside Out. In 1983, while Daniel was the worship leader for Bob Yandian's church, Grace Fellowship in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he and his worship team recorded Heart to Heart, the first of five live recordings he was a part of at the church. "At that time we were one of the first churches to record live praise and worship," Daniel said.

Daniel leading worship at CBC. (Click to enlarge)After the initial recording at Grace, Daniel began hosting an international worship gathering called, The Local Church Music Seminar, which drew hundreds of attendees. "People came from all over to receive teaching and mentoring in what was the beginning of the contemporary worship movement—although at the time we didn’t know that's what it was," said Daniel. It was then that many people, including his peers, began referring to Daniel by the nickname, Father of Modern Worship. "I was just trying to hear from God and obey," stated Daniel humbly.

Since the late 1970's, Andrew and Daniel had occasion to minister in the same places, and each became aware of the other's ministry. Over the years since their initial meeting at The Rocky Mountain Faith Minister's Conference held in Daniel and his wife, Tracy (green shirt) ministering together at CBC's Better Way to Worship Conference.
(Click to enlarge)Greely, Colorado, the two have maintained a friendship. Looking back Daniel said, "Every time I heard Andrew minister, it was so full of revelation and yet somehow so practical. He really ministered to me. I really could not be doing what I’m doing, and teaching what I’m teaching, without what I have received from Andrew."

When the suggestion to include a School of Worship as part of CBC's third-year program came forth and began to take hold, Daniel ministers to a couple. (Click to enlarge)there was some question as to who would lead. As roles were being considered last fall, Andrew recalled Daniel's influence in the music ministry, and called him to ask if he would consider being a part of leading CBC worship once a week or so. "That developed into more of the 'or so' and pretty soon I was asked if I would like to teach in the night school—and then the day school—and then when they found out that I had already written much of the worship school curriculum at Grace Fellowship in Tulsa, they asked me to put together a proposal to lead the CBC program." In January 2011 CBC welcomed Daniel to his new full-time position as Director of the School of Worship.

Daniel makes his point with contagious exuberance at a recent meeting.
(Click to enlarge)Daniel has ministered through his music in many places and in many capacities through the years, and now he has found his home at CBC. Just as Andrew has found A Better Way to Pray, Daniel has found a better way to worship. His revelation of what it means to praise and worship the Lord from a New Covenant position in Christ is being well received, and is sure to stir up the world of music ministry—again.

"It's a real blessing to have Daniel as part of the school. I think it's a Godsend. It's just awesome. He's got such great vision," Andrew said.