1. My husband and I are very grateful for the ministry that takes place at Restoration Nest.  After twenty-eight years of full-time ministry and marriage, having had eight children to raise (one of them with special needs) we were in great need of ministry ourselves.  Arriving around 9 p.m., I assumed we would be shown to our room to begin some type of counseling session the next day.  Instead we were greeted with a warm hug, served homemade apple pie, and spent the evening getting to know Chris and Juanita.  Their unassuming demeanor made is easy to settle in and feel at home.  With the fruit of the Spirit very evident in their lives, they helped us work through the issues we were facing. The process of being restored isn't easy.
 
Being honest and moving toward intimacy unearths a lot of pain and difficult questions.  They helped us take ours to the Lord.  The Lord was faithful to answer, and He performed a miracle.  The anger and bitterness I had come to live with is gone.  Although we still live with the day to day conflicts and struggles which are a normal part of life, the trauma of the guilt and blame cycle is over. Chris and Juanita, thank you for taking us into your home and into your life, that we may once again walk in abundant life! 

2. We want to thank you both for being obedient to the call God has on your lives. We had the privilege of visiting Restoration Nest (what an appropriate name). The relaxing peaceful atmosphere was just right for allowing the Lord to speak to us. We were extremely close to a separation, with a very thick wall built between us, not knowing how to deal with the hurts and many issues that we had to face in our marriage.
 
You have taught us to strive for a ‘Face to Face’ transparent marriage. The ‘I - ME - MINE - MYSELF’ mentality just does not work. Our flesh has to die; our marriage has to be God’s way. We cannot do what only God can do. Thank you for the time you have   invested in marriages, and thank you for your labor of love.

 

3. We were truly blessed when we visited Under His Wings Ministries. My husband and I are newly married, (1 1/2 years) and the reality of two personalities and two opinions coming together every day was a true eye opener.  We see things differently and do things differently and I had a son already so there was a lot going on.  We did not really know how to communicate with each other, so we kept stepping on each other’s feelings and opinions.

The ‘Restoration Cup’ was the best thing for us, because we did not know how to speak to each other without arguing.  Using the cup helped us to let our guard down, because when we saw our spouse approaching with it we were ready to listen to the other person and to give and receive forgiveness from one another.

The atmosphere at Restoration Nest was so peaceful that we were ready to be vulnerable and to trust so easily. We are so grateful for the gift of Under His Wings Ministries.

The Jacksons

4. Under His Wings Ministries has been a God-sent to our marriage. God used both Chris and Juanita in our marriage at a critical time. Our marriage was in a crisis mode with no light at the end of the tunnel. I thought that since I wasn’t the one with the outbursts of anger and mood swings that I was in the right. Frustration was building up inside and this negatively played out in day-to-day communications with my spouse. The Lord had a lot to teach me.

It seemed that Chris, Juanita and the Holy Spirit met together in a huddle in June and came up with a game plan to turn our marriage around. I am so thankful for the counsel, the confidentiality, and the friendship that Chris and Juanita provided for us in our unstable, hostile, and vulnerable state.

I’ve been in the pastorate for a number of years now and I fell into the “shoe-makers syndrome.” Even though I have seen and heard of worse cases than mine, that does not mean that my wife didn’t experience the same sense of resentment and loneliness. I also made the mistake of overlooking the resentment that I had built up and was harboring in my own heart against past offenses. Satan used these factors and others to cause a great divide and distance between us. We were prime candidates for a marital makeover.

No magic, no formulas per se, rather, God doing what He does best – transforming us from the inside out to be more conformed into His image. I first want to thank God for how His Spirit moves in the hearts and minds of His people. I’m always amazed when I see God at work and what He did this summer in my life and my marriage has the fingerprints of God all over it. Secondly, I want to thank Chris and Juanita for making concerted efforts to reach out to us as a couple. They are genuine believers who have a genuine love for God’s people and a deep respect for the institution of marriage.
May God richly bless you both as you continue to reach out and heal hurting marriages.
 

5.The time my wife and I have spent at The Restoration Nest has been some of the best time we have ever invested in our marriage.  As newly placed leaders in our church’s Marriage Ministry, our initial reason for going there was to get leadership pointers.  However, we received so much more and were so blessed, it was remarkable!  Not only are we much better and more effective leaders but most importantly we have grown by leaps and bounds within our own marriage: Thus, enabling us to relate better to each other and our family.  They have a true anointing over their ministry.  We truly love Chris & Juanita!  May God continue to bless you and your ministry.

Marc & Trina

6. What a blessing it was for us to once again take some of our church leadership couples to Restoration Nest. Our first retreat with Under His Wings Ministries was last February and we were able to have 6 couples including ourselves attend. This June we came with three other leadership couples and once again the Lord spoke to us through Chris & Juanita exactly where we were in our walk with Him and with each other. It was another time of refreshing and restoration.

We are so thankful to our Lord for connecting us to this powerful ministry that speaks to marriages. This is a time that every couple needs to just get away, rest, and be ministered to (and the food’s not bad either). We know ourselves that if our marriage is not on solid ground that it will be difficult for us to minister and give out to others that are in need of a touch from the Lord.

Our heart as a Pastor and wife is to develop strong marriages. If our marriages are strong then our families will be strong and in turn our churches and communities will be strong. When God brought forth His creation, marriage was at the beginning and “God blessed them and said to them “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.”  The call is still the same. He desires us to be one flesh and to go forth in Him.

Thanks Chris & Juanita for answering the call on your life to minister and teach the truth that sets us free. We love and appreciate you. We are looking forward to sending more of the couples from our church.

Pastor Bruce & Helen

7. God bless you both! We are so happy to send you this testimony about how Under His Wings Ministry, the ministry God has blessed you both with has blessed and inspired us.

We had the privilege of breaking bread and having a joyous time in the Lord with you both and our Ecclesia Word Ministries family at your beautiful home. God moved mightily the entire weekend and as you know, God used you both and we received a mighty deliverance in our marriage.

God used you Brother Chris to administer healing and deliverance to my husband, the flood gates of forgiveness were opened and we have never been more blessed. Not only did God use you in this capacity, but you were gracious and wonderful hosts, and you still follow up with us. We love you and thank God for you both.

Michael & Adrienne

 

8. I thank God for the vision of your ministry, and for your acceptance of the call to minister to couples.

I believe God has been orchestrating my healing for the last two months.  Our pastor had been preaching about forgiveness and healing just before we came to Restoration nest. As you know, when we came, I was at my wits end and ready to separate from my husband.  Your ministering to us provided the breakthrough to the things hidden in me.  Since that time, I have been seeing a therapist to go deeper and get some better understanding of the things in my past.  God has placed an awesome gift in the two of you, continue to bless him and use it for His glory. 

My husband recently said that he feels like I’ve been away for so long and that I am finally back.  I will always remember and praise God for what He did through you for my marriage.  We now have hope, joy, and a deeper understanding of each other.

Vincent and Michelle

9. God’s purpose for marriage is only fulfilled once a couple gets to know what it is; discovering, enriching, fulfilling, worthwhile is what we can say about the weekend we spent there.  
- Anonymous  

We wanted to let you know how much we enjoyed and appreciated the weekend at Restoration Nest.  Your ministry has truly blessed us, and we would love to return someday soon.
- An engaged couple

We have gained a lot from listening and seeing how the two of you minister to couples and make everyone feel special.  It was quite obvious to us that you were meant to do Marriage Ministry.  We did the face-to-face prayer and it was very special and intimate.  We were both unable to contain ourselves just thinking about the change God has made in our marriage.  We truly do thank you and pray that your ministry will continue to be blessed.
- C & F from NY

10. We have been telling others and passing out fliers about your ministry ever since we returned home.
- A & D from NY

11. I really enjoyed myself.  I learned a lot about Christian relationships and gained an understanding of the effects that past hurts have on our present and future.
- R & V from PA

12. The couples’ retreat was a good experience!  I received a break through in the area of unresolved issues from my past that kept me bound and captive.  I cried out to the Lord, participated in the group and allowed the facilitators and my church brothers and sisters to teach me how to let go and not harbor these hurts. I realized that as I released I increased spiritually.
- K & S from CT

15. My wife and I attended a one day conference at House of Healing and Restoration.

 I want to share with you that we were blessed by your presentation. We had a few couples from our church who attended the conference. I’ve spoke to a few of them since the conference. One couple who has a child together but are not married made a commitment and decided to get engaged this past Sunday. What impressed me the most about this couple was the young man who proposed, used the ‘Restoration Cup’ to repent of offenses committed against her, and  right after he asked her to marry him. Praise God!

 I have another couple that bought an extra cup and gave it as a gift to a Christian couple who were going to be married that day. They explained at the wedding ceremony what the cup meant and had an opportunity to share with others.

I want to personally thank you for sharing with us wonderful insights on marriage.

 Pastor Wilson Alvarado

16. We’ve wanted to write for a while and have been praying that God give us the right words for the work He did through your ministry in our marriage.

My wife and I recently had the privilege of going to “Under His Wings” ministry the weekend of December 19, 2008. That Friday we awoke to a major snow storm and decided to cancel the trip due to safety issues and thought that maybe God had another weekend for us. So I called Chris and told him we weren’t coming.

I would like to back up a bit and testify that our marriage has gone through some major challenges from the beginning. Both of us were previously divorced, with two children each and in full time ministry at the time of our wedding. We have fought, kicked and screamed at each other for many years. Then in 2008, God gave us a wakeup call and through praying and fasting we started doing some serious things to improve our relationship. One of them was going to Under His Wings.

So after I cancelled our weekend, I felt the need to fight harder for the miracle that God had for us and decided that we weren’t going to let some snow hold us back. So we started the drive at around 6:00 PM. The roads were very slippery and traffic was moving very slow.  Somewhere along route 87 we almost hit a car head on that had spun out in front of us.  We avoided hitting him but in the process got rear ended really hard. Whiplash and all we tried to pull over to exchange papers with the other driver but as we exited the ramp he took off. Now we were really confused as to whether we were being turned back by God and or maybe we were just doing this on our own effort. But we concluded that it was just the enemy fighting to keep us from the blessing that he knew God had waiting for us at Chris and Juanita’s ministry.

We finally arrived and were welcomed by Chris and Juanita who immediately fed us and made us feel at home.

The entire weekend was just a time of renewal and refreshing as they both poured into our lives. It wasn’t the “regular” marriage retreat that we had been going to for years. This was a special time with a couple who knows how to be lead by the Holy Spirit.

Needless to say we had an awesome weekend and walked away with new skills that we are implementing everyday in our marriage. We plan on visiting them again this year and look forward to more of what God will do through them.

Chris and Juanita, Thanks for your investment in our lives, our families and most importantly our marriage.

Ray and Trish

17. Crayons to Marriage

In 1967 Sydney Portier stared in a movie called, To Sir with Love. His character -Engineer Mark Thackeray - arrives to teach a totally undisciplined class at an East London school. Still hoping for a good engineering job, he's hopeful that he won't be there long. He starts implementing his own brand of classroom discipline: forcing the pupils to treat each other with respect. Inevitably he begins getting involved in the students' personal lives. The students wrote a song for him based on the journey they took together as he convinced them to manage life style a little different than they were accustomed to. Before they knew what hit them, his karma and teaching style brought them to a level of maturity they thought to be unattainable. The theme song was written by a student to the teacher as a thank you. The song states, “How do you thank someone who has taken you from crayons to perfume, It isn’t easy but I will try.”

A small town boy and a Long Island girl with bruised pasts decided we were not going to be another marital statistic. God’s perfect timing would lead us to the tranquil upstate woodland, where we would seek direction in the development in our marriage journey to become one under the tutelage of Under His Wings Ministries. Having heard Chris and Juanita speak the year prior impacted me greatly. We never forgot the message to learn about Gods design of marriage. The turmoil and daily grind accompanied with trial and error would lead us to reach out to them. You see God gave us everything we needed in a marriage. We just did not know what to do with the blessings we had. Rapidly and repeatedly we just seemed to fall apart, leaving us further away from each other with each emotional roller coaster ride. Arriving at the gates of this hideaway stunned us. The natural beauty passed by our car slowly during our country drive on our way to their residence. As we went inside we found that our comfortable room and warm fire place moved us into position to open up and receive whatever God had for us. It was as though we were visiting with old friends as we talked about times of past and present. We were challenged to dig into past present and future. The journey through scripture with Chris and Juanita would reveal God’s truths like we never heard before. The Holy Spirit captivated our minds our bodies and soul. I (the husband) realized God wanted to rewrite some of my realities by walking with me through my past. The spirit of FEAR gripped me, but the strength and power gained by the lead of Chris and Juanita would bring my FEAR to its knees. I was freed from 35 years of past abuse and pain, positioning me in front of God’s gift to me, my bride. In just three days I gained more strength than in the 3 years of misguided attempts. Together we learned how to pray as a couple in a face to face relationship. We realized that when we are not getting it right we need to seek God for the answer. If we are not getting along it’s generally because our relationship with God is not going well either. We got everything we hoped for times ten. We rode home like we were coming back from our honeymoon. We now have the tools we needed to work as one and the clarity to stand each test.

So, how do you thank someone who has taken you form Crayons to Marriage?  It isn’t easy, but we will try. We will show you by living and seeking this face to face marriage as one. We gained friends and learned that we only need to be repentant to God and each other. Chris and Juanita, our lives depended on this change and because of your commitment to our God we received the miracle we needed. If I could write across the sky in letters that would sore a thousand feet high it would say, Thank you Chris and Juanita for teaching us Gods love face to face.

Jim and Allisha

18. My husband and I thank God for under His Wings Ministries.  We were originally married in September of 1993 and through many rough times we were finally divorced in 2007.  During a trying time in the life of one of our children, we were basically forced to come together on a daily basis.  During that time, god made a way for us to be able to communicate peacefully, sharing his word and talk about our future. 

We decided before making any majors moves that we would really seek to be educated on what marriage was really supposed to be.  We learned more than we could have ever imagined about marriage and what it is supposed to be.  During our time at restoration nest a soul was saved and god poured out his blessings in many different ways, one of those being the confirmation that we were to renew our marriage covenant.

I would have to say that our encounter with Chris and Juanita and their obedience to god in their ministry was a pivotal point in restoring a marriage that was lost.  Amongst the many things I learned, one of the most important lessons for me was that marriage is not a contract, but a covenant.  No matter what my spouse is doing, I am always called to give 100% because that is what god expects of me and that is what he does for me.  No matter where I have missed the mark, god forgives me and he continues to love me no matter what.

My husband and I entered our new marriage covenant in May 2009 and have continued to fellowship with under his wings ministries on a regular basis.  We can never thank god enough for all that he has done to restore this marriage and this family.   Once again, we thank Chris & Juanita for their sacrifices, their sharing and their obedience to our heavenly father.

The Vales family

19. On March 19 - 21 we were at Restoration Nest for a marriage retreat with Hopewell Community Church.  About 2 years ago our marriage was not the greatest and heading quickly downhill toward divorce!   Since then God has done an awesome work in both of us and continues to do so.  We went on the retreat expecting to just have a great time, spending time with each other and fellowship with the rest of the group. God had another plan for us!  He moved dramatically that weekend in both of us!  God has laid it on Jeff's heart a few months ago to forgive his father for an abusive upbringing. He could not bring himself to forgive; he has been holding such resentment towards his father and did not know how to let it go. He did know there was more to his anger and resentment towards his father but didn't know what it was. God revealed to Jeff that there was a part of his child hood he could not remember; a whole year of his life was blank. He could remember being a happy child before this point and only anger towards his father after this point. Jeff assumed his father was the main reason for all of his anger throughout his life. God should him that his father was only a small part of the root of his anger. Through the revelation certain emotions continued to pop up, FEAR, no self worth, no acceptance, anger, and confusion. But through all of that, God also revealed that He was with him the whole time, he was never alone and through this he was able to forgive. He was able to come against the spirit of fear and no self worth.
 
What God showed me that weekend was how the things I do can uncover our marriage.  And God really has been working in me to change that.  He also showed me to have more mercy and how to be more willing to forgive Jeff.  Throughout our marriage I really have been struggling with rebellion towards Jeff, until a year ago, and now I see how that can uncover our marriage, it just blew me away!  I want to always be under God's covering, His protection, to keep the enemy out of our marriage.  It’s amazing to look back and see how far we have come in Christ!  How our sinful ways were destroying us, our marriage and our family! He continues to work in us and our marriage.   I thank God everyday for His love and not ever giving up on us! 
 
Your marriage does not have to be falling apart to be blessed by God through Chris and Juanita. We did not expect to have God move so mightily in us this weekend. God has truly blessed Chris and Juanita and their ministry. I urge you to pray about your marriage and to consider spending some time at Under His Wings Ministry, and expect God to move mightily in your marriage too.
 
Thank you once again for an amazing weekend. May God bless the both of you and your ministry.  With love through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,
Jeff and Janet