Duluth Area Healing Rooms brings its ministry to the community

• Duluth Area Healing Rooms

Nanette Frederick, director of the Duluth Area Healing Rooms, poses with her grandchildren Brooklyn Lopez (left) and Sophie Frederick. On the right are Diane and Harris Balko of Superior. Diane says she was healed by God by prayer during a convention in Minneapolis and that she and Harris pray for others at the Healing Room as a way to pass along the gift she received. Photo by Naomi Yaeger/ nyaeger@duluthbudgeteer.com

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Nanette Frederick of Duluth says her belief in the power of prayer called her to travel to Spokane, Wash., several years ago to learn about the International Association of Healing Rooms. After learning about the healing ministry and receiving training, Frederick decided to start her own healing room in Duluth.

Opening in 2008, the Duluth Area Healing Rooms is a nondenominational, nonprofit organization that aims to provide a place of prayer and healing for the Duluth community. The organization, located in suite 201 of the Skywalk near the Holiday Center, is run by volunteers from area churches, including the River Church, Living Stones Fellowship Church, and Jesus is Life Ministries Church.

“We’ve had some incredibly miraculous things happen,” said Frederick, who is the current director of the healing rooms. “Ultimately, we want to see people healed from whatever is keeping them down physically or emotionally. Even if we don’t get a total healing, we want them to feel encouraged and feel loved by the Lord.”

Shortly after the healing room opened, doctors told Travis Graves, who lived in Duluth at the time, that he had hepatitis C. He said three different biopsies showed rapid progression of the virus and that doctors said he may need a kidney transplant. Graves heard about the healing room and decided to go.

“When I went there, I was just kind of shocked because it was warm and pleasant, and everyone was really welcoming,” he said. “I went there two or three times, and when I went to the doctor a month later, they didn’t know what to say. I didn’t have hepatitis C anymore, and they couldn’t find an antibody that said I ever had it.”

Frederick said impacting the lives of individuals like Graves is why she started the healing room in the first place.

“People will often say that they feel something different here, that they feel loved,” she said. “Often, if they can connect with the Lord in even the smallest way, then we have succeeded. It really is all Holy Spirit led, and we just ask the Lord to guide us with what the issues are.”

After visiting Spokane, Frederick received her ministerial license through the International Association of Ministries, and she was trained by Cal Pierce of the International Association of Healing Rooms. The part-time paralegal said she looked for a location for the healing room for quite some time, eventually finding a place in the Holiday Center in the Skywalk.

Frederick currently has 16 children- and adult volunteers who pray with individuals who come to the healing center, and there is also a board of directors that helps run the nonprofit. All volunteers go through an interview process and are trained according to the International Association of Healing Rooms.

As one of the 2,500 healing rooms affiliated with the International Association of Healing, Duluth Area Healing Rooms is funded solely by donations from the community. Frederick said the healing room is open to the public and to anyone who wants to receive emotional or physical support.

“For physical healing, we lay hands on them. We believe that’s scriptural because the Bible says to lay hands on the sick, and they will recover,” Frederick said. “For emotional issues, we just listen to them and pray according to what the Holy Spirit has us pray.”

The healing room has a reception area, and a waiting room, where books and CDs from the International Association of Healing Rooms give visitors something to occupy their time as they wait. Linda Farrell, associate director of the healing room, said the prayer room has a table covered with a white linen cloth, candles, and healing oil.

“I believe in healing, and I believe the Lord wants everyone to be healed,” Farrell said. “He has some big plans for the healing room. It’s exciting to see people that come in and say, ‘Wow, I feel the presence of the Lord.’”

The healing room is located in the Skywalk kittycorner to Sneakers in the Holiday Center. The address is 207 W. Superior St. It is open Tuesdays from 6 to 9 p.m., Thursdays from 6 to 8 p.m., and Fridays from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays from 3:30 to 5 p.m. are children’s day for prayer. Appointments can also be made for time in the healing room.

“We just want to see people healed and make them emotionally strong and successful in every way,” Frederick said. “That’s what Jesus died for us to have.”

For more information on the Duluth Area Healing Rooms, visit www.duluthareahealingrooms.com or call (218)340-1995.

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