We believed the June 2008 THRIVE Applications Conference, Healing Redesigned, would be good. But we had no idea the conference would be this good! Our expectations were surpassed. Between Dr. Karl Lehman's rich teaching and Dr. Jim Wilder's creative exercises, the THRIVE Staff was profoundly overwhelmed at the positive response from the 140 attendees present. Testimony after amazing testimony was shared during each of the five days. Stories of God's faithfulness, deep healing, abundant growth, much needed encouragement and hope abounded.

The teaching by Dr. Karl Lehman proved to be insightful and powerful. Dr. Karl and Charlotte Lehman have worked numerous hours unpacking the Immanuel Process and how it relates to healing, recovery and growth. All week Dr. Lehman discussed the five levels of the brain and pain processing, trauma, memory and much much more. Anyone interested in recovery, healing, growth, the brain and maturity must be introduced to this information! The Immanuel Process has proven to be an instrumental part of the THRIVE Conference Training and is a large contributor in the Thriving Recover Your Life program. Learn more about the Immanuel Process at Dr. Karl and Charlotte Lehman’s website, http://www.kclehman.com/. We strongly urge you to attend their training seminars.

Dr. Jim Wilder led attendees through numerous exercises to help them cross the threshold from theory to experience. God was faithful as attendees interacted, prayed and tested the exercises. These exercises are a fundamental part of the Healing Module that is currently in development and part of the larger Thriving Recover Your Life program. Learn more at http://thrivingrecovery.org/. Let’s just say these exercises accomplished their purpose. We had numerous accounts of God healing people. Two of the evenings we had the opportunity to hear some of these testimonies as they were shared with the group. Each testimony was awesome! We barely scratched the surface of the testimonies. Many folks were unable to share because of time constraints. Miracles occurred throughout this conference. Folks who had not experienced God before were experiencing His presence for the first time. Some who had never been able to recover from old traumas were, for the first time, receiving healing and hope! We believe a book could be written just documenting the stories from the week. We praise God for His faithfulness! God used the Immanuel Process to free His people to abundantly live from the heart He gave them. Many chains were thrown off this week as people interacted with Jesus.

We ended each day with beautiful worship led by Charlotte Lehman. Thank you Charlotte for your songs and passion! Wednesday night Jen Coursey led the group in a synchronized dance time. Everyone seemed to enjoy learning together. We thank Ed and Maritza Khouri for their hands-on support and help throughout the conference. Chris Coursey was in a softball accident before the conference and was not his usual focused and chipper self. Thankfully enough people stepped up to the plate and God provided plenty of grace. Thank you Jody Mckenzie, Sandy Coursey and Bonnie Wunderly for your support! We expect much fruit to come from this conference. God accomplished more than we could have imagined. We praise Him for an awesome week.

Now we turn our attention to the upcoming THRIVE conferences in North Carolina, Edmonton, Alberta Canada and the last THRIVE of 2008 in Decatur, Illinois. Our next Applications Conference will be a THRIVE Conference for Families from July 23-25 with a three track conference the following week from July 27-August 1, 2009.

What attendees said:

-Many thanks for the wonderful conference in Springfield last week. Got many insights and tools that I know will be of tremendous help....Thank you!

-Hello, I just wanted to take a minute and let you know that my Pastor really got something out of your conference last week. He didn't just come back with information; he came back changed. And I think it's great. I've never seen something like this happen to him. It's like he's finally alive and really REALLY "there" and it's very nice to see....I have fresh hope for actually getting connected to Jesus relationally just seeing what kind of encouragement he came back to us with and hearing him say, with tears in his eyes; 'There's NOTHING that can go wrong that Jesus can't fix.'

-I continue to see God use me through Immanuel prayer in amazing ways and I believe he has both gifted and called me to use it and to train others in using it.  (not to mention the great benefits I have personally received). Pastor from Kansas

|-Just came from the Thrive conference - it was so wonderful. I used what I learned with all of my patients today (I am also a psychiatrist) with excellent results. Thank you so much!... (Albany NY)"

-It (THRIVE) was a tremendously beneficial investment of time and energy and I was blessed in many ways. Not only was the content life changing, but also combined with new relationships and opportunities to practice the information, the entire week was exceptional both spiritually and educationally. Attendee from Colorado

-Many thanks for the wonderful conference in Springfield last week. Got many insights and tools that I know will be of tremendous help....Thank you!

-My wife...and I were greatly blessed by your (Dr. Lehman) presentations at the recent THRIVE conference in Springfield. Your teachings were wonderful and we look forward to seeing them emerge on DVD. What was particularly good about the THRIVE format was that we got to practice the Immanuel Approach in small groups and receive immediate confirmation of its effectiveness. Everyone in our group of three had major breakthroughs. 

 -Thank you all for the superb conference. The content was... excellent. I agree with someone else's comments that this was an historic conference. Personally I had one particular special Immanuel event. He (Jesus) took me to a time (when) I was six years old, playing outside my home in West Texas. Except I wasn't playing. I was isolated, self protective to the point of aggressiveness, and thoroughly unpleasant. He showed me that He was even then working in my life and was taking care of me. This did something significant from my personality, as I find I am much less guarded and feel more included and welcome in social settings. I am more stable and much more relational. Wonderful! Vocationally, I returned to Oklahoma and did a two-day training with several VOM women who will go on our "Returning Women to Joy" trip to Colombia in the fall. We compressed so much into two days, but at the end they all had their 5-bar's and Immanuel encounters. Awestruck is not too strong a word. Gentlemen, this indeed is a powerful tool! I think that within the next 6 to 9 months, I will be doing many similar training seminars with our VOM staff in several countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Sudan (around Malakal), to name a few. When I return to Chiang Mai, I will enthusiastically tell my co-workers (especially the mental health folks) about the Immanuel Approach. I expect to lead a number of training sessions there for the many ministries who work with traumatized populations.  All in all, an excellent conference. Thanks for your labors of love! 
K. Campbell, Medical Director for Voice of the Martyrs