Introducing Val Eliason

Hi! I’m so glad you have found my page! Thanks! 

My heart for working with Agape First is prayer and outreach. That has always been a part of my life. When we were missionaries in the Philippines, or now in the States working with Agape First. 

I am a wife of 40 years to Steve and we have 5 grown children. All of them miracles! We have a son that has identified gay for over 10 years and I came to Nate Oyloe’s ministry and have been a part of a parent’s group for about 7 years. My healing came in prayer at a prayer set when I totally surrendered our son to the Lord. It was so painful but it was where God took my burden away and I found total freedom and I can minister to others! 

 

Introducing Wendi

I came to know Jesus as my Savior when I was 8 years old. I did not learn how to submit to His leadership and learn to trust Him as a loving Father until I was 57 years old. 

Introducing Daren & Rhoda Mehl

Reverend Daren Mehl came to Christ at the age of 17 and began to minister on the streets of Minneapolis the following year feeding the poor and sharing The Gospel. Rev. Mehl spent three years traveling in the Midwest as a member of an evangelism ministry team which included missionary work in Trinidad where he had his first opportunity to preach from a pulpit. While attending college in Minneapolis Daren met Rhoda.

Daren and Rhoda got married in 2005 and they began serving in a local church where they participated in many community outreach events leading many people to Jesus Christ. Over 14 years they grew in their faith and became servant leaders in their congregation.

Having accepted the calling in their life to ministry, they are now dedicated to service work of the Gospel.

Their vision is to make disciples of Jesus, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to call home the prodigals, and to reconcile people to their creator, calling people out of the darkeness and into His marvelous light.

Daren is a licensed minister with International Ministerial Fellowship.

 

Freedom United: Joy of Transformation

I presented this message at Freedom United: Jesus Transforms conference Friday October 8 at Plymouth Covenant Church. It was a message that had been growing in my heart as I’ve been seeking the Lord and praying about the times we are in and His heart as revealed in scriptures.

Freedom United: Joy of Transformation

by Pastor Nate Oyloe | Freedom United Conference Oct 8, 2021

Daren Mehl on Changed Movement

“I pursued spiritual counseling. Through the help of powerful books and resources I found my true identity… and then my behavior and sexual attractions changed. ”
— DAREN MEHL

Daren Mehl

In my early twenties, I attempted to live as a celibate gay, but that all changed the night I was raped at a party. The trauma threw me into a spiral of same-sex encounters. To avoid HIV, I moved in with my boyfriend and settled into a monogamous relationship. For nearly a decade, although I looked happy on the outside, I lived in constant inner turmoil and stress because I knew my homosexual behavior wasn’t who I was. I did my best to ignore my inner voice, but doing so came at a high cost to my personal peace and conscience.

All that began to change the night I was invited to a prayer service and told a friend about my inner battle. Deep down I knew I hadn’t been created gay but couldn’t reconcile why I had same-sex attraction. My friend prayed for me, and for the first time in my life, I saw clearly that my issue was sexual addiction, not sexual orientation. That night, my hope was restored in my long-lost dream to marry a woman and have a family. Right then and there, I asked God to end my same-sex relationship because I knew I couldn’t do it myself, and I asked Him to arrange it so I could marry a particular woman. When I got home that night, my boyfriend abruptly ended our relationship, and soon I was dating and eventually married the exact woman I had prayed for.

While this set me on a course towards personal peace and fulfillment, even as a happily married man, I could not break my secret addiction to gay porn. Despite my best efforts, I cheated on my wife with another man. In an instant, instead of feeling fulfilled and satisfied, I felt dead. I thought I’d lost it all—my wife, my unborn son, my best friends—but by a miracle of mercy and love, my wife took me back.

Desperate for help to get free from gay porn, I pursued spiritual counseling. Over the next year, through the help of many powerful books and resources, weekly prayer and support from a faithful friend, and my wife’s unconditional love, I found my true identity. For the first time in my life, I began to see the false beliefs I had about myself, men, women and my sexuality, and my sexual orientation changed. God healed my mind and my heart, and then my behavior and sexual attractions changed. I now see other men as potential friends, not sexual partners.

The journey wasn’t easy, but it was worth it. Today I am a whole person living authentically to who I am. My sexuality and behaviors are in line with my original design. For the last 12 years, I’ve been married to my beautiful wife, my gay porn addiction is gone, and now my sexual energy is directed toward her. I’m the happy, fulfilled father of a beautiful four-year-old son and three-year-old daughter.

Originally Appearing on ChangedMovement.com