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MARK AND MAUREEN SANDFORD
Mark and Maureen direct Elijah Rain Ministries, headquartered in Post Falls, Idaho. Mark earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in art from Boise State University in 1978 and a Master of Divinity with a major in counseling from Denver Theological Seminary in 1985. He is an author, teacher, conference speaker, pastoral counselor, and mentor with 38 years of experience. With his father, John Sandford, he co-authored Deliverance and Inner Healing and Healing the Earth, and was a contributing author for David Appleby's college and grad-school textbook, Transformative Interventions, and Joy Corey's Divine Eros.
In recent years, Maureen has joined Mark in teaching, speaking, counseling, and mentoring. Mark and Maureen have a passion for bringing healing to the Body of Christ (especially pastors and leaders), and for training others to do the same. Mark loves to do artwork, and Maureen loves to make green things grow. They share life and love with three grown children — a daughter, Michal, and two sons, Jonah and Jasha, as well as a mouse-sized pomeranian/shi-tzu named Juju.
John and Paula Sandford's Legacy
As pastors in the 1960's, John and Paula Sandford asked God why church members kept falling into the same sin patterns over and over. God's answer was a type of pastoral counseling called "inner healing," accomplished through the power of the cross and resurrection.
So in 1974 they left the pastorate in Wallace, Idaho and founded Elijah House in nearby Coeur d' Alene. Inner healing proved so effective that before they even installed a phone they were booked with prayer counseling for weeks in advance! People came to trust them so well that the local Catholic bishop asked John — a Protestant pastor — to take charge of the spiritual formation of his Charismatic nuns!
At first, John and Paula envisioned their ministry as a school for persons with a prophetic calling. But they soon learned that much healing is needed to prepare hearts for that task. So they developed the inner healing side of the ministry long before bringing the prophetic to the fore. Meanwhile, John wrote books on the prophetic and became a spiritual father to many prophetic leaders.
John and Paula authored many titles, including the classics, The Elijah Task, Transformation of the Inner Man, and Healing the Wounded Spirit (the latter two, on inner healing, are now a four-book series). God made sure the books got into the right hands—we've heard multiple stories from persons who were browsing in bookstores, asking God which book would give answers to their problems, when one of them literally fell off the shelf and hit them in the head! (You can find these books and more, at our online bookstore!)
Over the years, John and Paula, Mark, and others) trained thousands to carry their work onward. As a result, inner healing ministries have sprung up in many nations.
Where We Are Headed Now
After Elijah's departure, Elisha wore Elijah's mantle, continuing the work he began. And he expanded it! Mark's parents passed their mantles to him and Maureen before going to be with Jesus. So, as an Elisha to their Elijah, here's how Elijah Rain is expanding the work John and Paula began:
Inner Healing
John and Paula laid a solid foundation which, over the years, Mark and others have built upon. The plan was always to bring inner healing into the churches so God's people could learn to minister the Holy Spirit's healing to each other.
To further that end, we are expanding our teaching on following the Holy Spirit, offering more mentoring on the practical how-to's of inner healing through hands-on practicums.
In this day of increasing lawlessness, we're putting greater emphasis on how the natural law of sowing and reaping affects lives and relationships. We can no longer assume that this is firmly a part of every Christian's worldview.
As sin and occult activity increase, demonization is very much on the rise. We are offering more on deliverance from demons.
We are featuring more of the resurrection side of healing. Putting to death sin patterns lets us discover our true identity in Christ--walking in God's original design for each of us. And it leads us to affirm others' identity. We need a resurrection lifestyle!
Transformation should naturally lead to reconciliation. We are creating new teachings on marriage and on the "Malachi Mandate" (Malachi 4:5-6)--turning the hearts of fathers and mothers to their children.
Inner healing stops sinful compulsions, but we still have habits, and some die hard. We're featuring more on how to walk out our healing in practical cross-centered ways.
. . . And there will be more, as the Holy Spirit reveals.
Prophetic
John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah, and his primary task was to issue a call to repentance. Since we accomplish that task one-on-one through prayer counseling, it makes sense that when we should do the same for the Body of Christ, sharing prophetically from a pastoral counselor's perspective.
Having counseled persons from all over the world, we have a unique vantage point on what God is doing in people's hearts collectively. We'll share those perspectives as the Holy Spirit leads!