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Footprints of Hope I started attending Footprints of Hope not really knowing what it was all about. What drew me in was the warm "welcome to the family" atmosphere created by the leaders Mary K. and John Tortoriello. I had some life controlling problems, but Mary K. and John did not make me feel guilty about them, but rather explained that these problems stemmed from childhood hurts I had never dealt with. As time went by I heard both of them talk about the hurts they had personally overcome. I wanted the victory they had and I kept coming back. Footprints of Hope works because it believes in the power of the Holy Spirit to mend broken, hurting lives. When we apply God's word to our lives, our mind is renewed. Footprints provides an atmosphere of encouragement, love and acceptance. Because it is a safe environment in which to share our hurts and disappointments, personal healing and Christ-centered growth can take place. Footprints believes that emotions are the lifeline to healthy relationships. when we express our emotions, it helps us to better understand who we are and what is important to us. We should thank God for making us in His image. Scripture reveals God's full range of emotions. We should thank God for our mind, our will and our emotions. Footprints of Hope was started four years ago by Mary K. and John Tortoriello, who bring to it their personal life experiences and ten years of training and study. They are members of the American Association of Christian Counselors, and attend seminars and workshops to keep the ministry fresh and vital. Both are avid readers: a book is always close by. They have been married for thirteen years. By applying biblically-based principals, which they now teach in Footprints, they have changed a "rock and roll" marriage into a "symphony." Four years ago they received their call from the Lord to start Footprints while reading Isaiah 61:1-3: "The Spirit of the sovereign Lord is on me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken hearted." John's vision of Footprints compares it to a river: "Ministry is a process, like a river. It is not static like a lake. It is an on-going process of sanctification. Lakes and rivers provide scenic beauty. Lakes are fairly limited in what they can do. They can either grow or shrink. Rivers, however, go somewhere. They change and move on. Though rivers are made of the same composition as lakes, rivers have momentum that transports people and goods. It takes them farther along that when they first joined or entered the river. Rivers can change course, an option only available to moving things. God transorms us in an on-going process of metamorphosis and sanctification. God does more than just grow or shrink us. He leads and directs our course. Life with Him is like a river, an on-going process, not a static condition like a lake. To think like Him, we must become process thinkers. Process thinking transforms us. "Part of the strategic process at Footprints is healing hurting people and getting them healthy enough to help others. Viewing Footprints as a river, focuses on development, not just a final measure of growth. When we see ministry as a process of touching people and transforming them, it shifts our focus. People connected to Footprints will be moved along with the current. In a river journey, there are many adventures to experience -- it's dynamic and life-changing. "Footprints ministry goal is to develop the undeveloped, to mature the maturing. We realize that what needs to change in people will not happen on its own or in an instant. The process is cultivated over time. Footprints ministry will spend whatever time is needed to see people recovered from the ravages of life, and those people will spend time to help other hurting people. Our desire is for each person to experience meaningful, personal development. Our goal is to help develop people into what they might not be able to become if left to their own devices: To see the body of Christ healthy spiritually, emotionally, physically, a dynamic body empowered with God's Holy Spirit to become a lighthouse to a lost, hurting, dying world." Mary K. believes that many people would benefit from Footprints if they stop denying that they need help: "We dress up when we go to church, and we smile a lot. As long as no one comes to the house, no one really knows that things aren't going well. Actually, things aren't so bad, really. I'll eventually figure out some way to fix what is wrong. Denial is incredibly difficult to get rid of because it protects us from certain kinds of emotional pain. Letting go of denial means that we will see reality for what it is and that we will experience all of the painful emotions which denial has so effectively allowed us to avoid. Letting go of denial is, however, an essential step in recovery. It is a step we take many times over, as bit by bit, we face new truths about ourselves. "The prayers of the Psalms can be used to facilitate the process of letting go of denial. The author of the psalms gives voice to his pain and distress. He models for us the kind of honest self-disclosure that makes recovery possible. Look at the prayer he prays in Psalm 102:1-11, 17-20: Hear my prayer, O LORD. Let my cry for help come to you. Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly. For my days vanish like smoke; my bones burn like glowing embers. My heart is blighted and withered like grass; I forget my food. Because of my loud groaning, I am reduced to skin and bones. I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins. I lie awake; I have become like a bird alone on the roof. All day long my enemies taunt me; those who rail against me, use my name as a curse, for I eat ashes with my food and mingle my drink with tears because of Your great wrath, for you have taken me up and thrown me aside. My days are like the evening shadow; I wither away like grass.... He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; He will not despise their plea. Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord; "The LORD looked down from His sanctuary on high, from heaven He viewed the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners and release those condemned to death. "Facing the truth about our situations in life will involve experiencing pain. Try picturing denial as a series of prison bars. People are trapped inside, alone with their terror and confusion. Picture God coming to them and one by one removing the bars of their cell. He offers them His presence as they face the reality of their past and present. He offers them comfort as they grieve the past and the present. He offers them freedom, as they let Him remove the bars of denial from their hearts and minds. In Matthew 9:36, we read: But when He saw the multitudes. He was moved with compassion for them because they were weary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd. God's love is completely unconditional and He calls us to come to Him just as we are! Praise Him!" Footprints of Hope offers a wide variety of seminars and support groups, while applying the Gospel to daily living. Some of these include: Christ-centered Breaking the Cycle of Hurtful Family Experiences, Christ-centered Co-Dependency Meeting, Discipleship Training, Christ-centered Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, God-Dependency Meetings, Christ-centered Recovery Support Groups, Christ-centered Individual Biblical Counseling, Conquering Eating Disorders, Marriage & Family Seminars. Footprints of Hope meets on Thursday nights from 6 to 9 p.m. They just completed a study of anger, and are beginning one on "how to set boundaries." Anyone is welcome to come at any time. Some of the people who are being transformed by the "river journey," have formed a Footprints band. Jeff the music coordinator for the band, plays piano, trumpet, and sings. Jackie's life has been so transformed by the group that she has decided to study to become a Christian counselor. She serves as facilitating coordinating. And for myself, well thanks to great counseling and the great friendship of Mary K. and John, someone very special, with whom I was attending the meetings, asked my to marry him, which we did six months ago. What can one say except "It works if you work it and you give a lot of love! Keep coming back!" |
  
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