Written Testimonies

"My NETS Poem" by Karen

- Karen is from the USA but lives and works with a Christian ministry in Ukraine. After completing Stage One, she wrote this wonderful poem as a testimony of her NETS experience...

I came with open hands and an open heart not knowing quite what would happen in this place.
I'd heard there would be healing and growing here, and I desired time to better understand God's grace.

Questions, I've asked many, wrestling with both the simple and profound
But as I've looked deeper into God's word I've discovered his love for me truly does abound.

Do I really hear from God- this was the thought continually plaguing my mind-
There was once when I thought I had, but then things changed and doubt was all that I could find.

I longed to hear the voice of God and came here with expectancy in my heart
And you know, His spirit whispered such sweet things to me- he'd been there from the start.

I discovered things I didn't like about myself, the ugly parts I had hidden or tried to lock away.
But I learned to bring those things before the Lord, to be molded by the potter- if I let myself be his clay.

The Lord gave me space to dream with him and cry tears I didn't even know were trapped inside
He has brought me into a new season to trust him more, to remain in him and abide.

I did not understand soul ties and honestly thought they sounded a little weird,
until I had one of these ties broken and came face to face with something I had feared.

I was also given the gift of laughter and the memories I've made here are ones I know I never will forget, your colorful faces from around the world are some of the most real and honest that I have ever met.

My friends at home had hoped I'd come here and fall in love so that I could finally be a wife
But God instead saw fit to give me kindred friends that I know I'll have with me for all of life.

I have been immensely humbled to walk this healing journey with all of you by my side.
You have blessed me beyond measure as we have been on this NETS 27 ride.

No, not all my questions were answered and perhaps I leave with a few more then when I came.
But my heart has fallen deeper in love with Jesus, my healer and my savior and for that reason I know I will never ever be the same.

"NETS: Surrendering to God" by Elizabeth

Elizabeth is from Canada but was living in the US before doing NETS Stage 2 in 2009. A few years earlier she had completed the 9 week school at Ellel Canada which is the equivalent to Stage 1 of NETS. This is her story...

"The year is 2008 and I am in the midst of completing my doctorate in Counseling when I begin to feel the need to take time out from my normal routine and spend time with God seeking his direction for my life. The future seemed so unclear and I was eager to know what plans God had in store for me. Little did I know that part of his plan was sending me to Ellel Pierrepont’s NETS Stage 2 where I could expand upon the previous teachings of the 9 week school. However, being a starving graduate student there were no funds in place to finance the trip and expenses associated with Stage 2. My desire to combine my secular psychology degree with Ellel’s Christian based training seemed as if it was going to have to wait. Yet, when it’s God’s will, he will make a way…Financing came from the most unusual of places – the Canadian government and I was able to pay the entirety of the Ellel bill. With the school paid for all I needed to do was take a semester off of school and travel across the pond.

I think in hindsight I was putting a lot of pressure on this journey I was about to take. I had so many questions that I wanted answered and England seemed like a good place to find them. Thankfully God is much more patient than I ever hope to be and he allowed me to bombard him with questions, doubts, fears, expectations, hopes, dreams, etc. I think sometimes God needs to get you out of the place where you feel most comfortable and where it is too easy to fill your life with unspiritual things that consume your time and crowd out his voice. I desperately needed to hear God’s voice and immerse myself in Christian community where I could learn, share, heal, and grow in a safe, non-judgmental environment surrounded by believers who were on similar journeys of faith.

For me Stage 2 was about becoming rooted in my faith and exercising the principles of the spiritual life I had sorely neglected; things like warfare, intercession, worship, and walking by faith. The teachings equipped me with the tools needed for prayer ministry in Christian settings, as well as providing me with deeper insight into the roots of problems my clients face. As a therapist it can sometimes become discouraging the lack of progress you see your clients making. Yet, the NETS teachings helped renew my hope for restoration and positive change in the lives of people when you tackled the root of the problem.

Learning to rely completely on the Holy Spirit and not on my own knowledge, experience, expertise, etc. were one of the many lessons I learned on NETS. Surrendering what I wanted for what God wanted was difficult, but not impossible. You never know what will happen when you allow God to steer your vessel. It’s the uncertainty of what he will ask of you that often frightens us, so we continue to wander the wilderness searching for our Promised Land, when we could have arrived their long ago if only we had surrendered it all to him. God was faithful in answering some of my questions and making the future just a little bit clearer. He has opened doors I never dreamed possible. My passion for counseling international students is being utilized in my work as a student counselor at a Christian School in Budapest, Hungary. But he gave me a gift much more valuable than specific answers – the ability to hear His voice once again…" - Elizabeth

'My Story' by Ria

Roughly 11 years before I went on NETS I spent a weekend seeking more of God. He showed me what He had for me and it involved healing and deliverance.

Until now, I have always worked in administrative jobs but longed for something more. When people asked me what I would do if I could do anything, my reply was always "I'd love to do Christian counseling". I knew a formal education would not fulfill the desire that was on my heart in this arena and I felt strongly that I could not justify taking money for counseling when it would be God who was doing the work - the gift that Jesus gives each of us is free.

So I waited and watched and always kept my eyes and ears open to possibilities of how the Lord would bring this about in my life. I had been on a healing retreat in the Fall of 2006 at the Canada West centre that transformed my life. I was wanting to do the 4 Week Modular school there but couldn't afford the time or money to do it. In January 2007 I received a small inheritance. After paying off my debts I was thinking about what to do with the balance of the funds and determined this was a gift from God so I asked Him what to do. The next day as I was cleaning up my emails I came across an old email from the Ellel Canada West centre and read about NETS. The line in the email that caught my eye and my heart was, "NETS is often a place where people's identities are restored". Two people had spoken into my life about my identity and that I needed to find out who I am.

So I checked it out. What sold me on NETS was Stages 3 and 4. I liked what I saw about Stages 1 and 2 as that was going to be some incredible learning. What I read about the first 2 Stages seemed more in depth than the Modular school. It was very exciting for me to read that I could be trained up to move forward to walk in my calling... this is what I'd been waiting for over the past 11 years and the money left from my inheritance was just enough to pay for all 4 Stages of NETS. I quit my job, sold everything but my home, and went to England. I have not had a moment of regret.

I had no idea of the journey I had embarked on when I came on NETS. I had no idea I would receive the level of healing I did. I expected to learn head knowledge but I learned about the Father's heart. Stages 1 and 2 transformed who I was and my identity was restored. But Stages 3 and 4 brought about a fullness of the work the Lord did in the first two terms that I don't believe would have happened if I had left after Stage 2. I learned valuable leadership skills and the support and encouragement to step out into my call has been an invaluable gift. I can sum up my experience of NETS in one simple line:

"NETS was nothing I expected but everything I had hoped for."

Joe - "Reflections on Stage 4"

The fourth stage of NETS is focused on personal destiny, vision and purpose. Very early on I was challenged and a vulnerability exposed in a severe crisis of low self-confidence. But during the first of a number of days of Spending Time with Jesus where we had whole days to personally meditate on a passage of scripture, God met with me and affirmed His call on my life. (Reflection in the beautiful countryside around Pierrepont being part of the process). The content of Stage 4 was very good with the intimacy of a smaller group. Working as part of the stage 4 team on Getting to the Root and MicroNETS was very good. NETS is beautifully constructed, building progressively throughout to develop and equip the students. I recommend NETS to any Christian who seriously wants to bear fruit for God and help His Kingdom come and His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Shalom.