join the healing-uvalde team

This ministry is a nondenominational ministry that seeks to help local churches equip their members to help people in Uvalde to overcome their emotional struggles through prayer and the Holy Spirit. We invite all pastors and Christian leaders in Uvalde to join us in this outreach to bring healing to Uvalde through spiritual means.  


TWO WAYS TO PARTNER WITH US AND HELP BRING HEALING TO UVALDE:

1)  Be trained to become a Certified Prayer Minister.

2)  Become an Anger and Grief Coach who pledges to never let the sun go down on your anger, and commits yourself to telling others how to overcome anger and grief.


healing uvalde advisory board

  • dina aguirre

    Training coordinator

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  • james garZA

    MINISTRY director

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  • LINNEA FORTNER

    WEBSITE COORDINATOR

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  • ANA LIZA ALMARAZ

    outreach coordinator

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healing uvalde pastoral supporters

  • JAMES GARZA, pastor

    risen community church

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  • gilbert limones, pastor

    casa el shaddai

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  • joe ruiz, pastor

    templo christiana

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  • carlos contreras, pastor

    primera iglesia bautista

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  • Mark Tews, Pastor, trinity  Lutheran church

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  • Greg knapp, Pastor,

    first baptist church

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  • Jerry Masters, Elder

    first baptist  church

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  • bill dillard, elder

    first baptist church

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  • Ralph Huerta, Assoc. Pastor, first Baptist church

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dr. gardner's changing role

Dr. Gardner started this ministry the week after the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde on May 24, 2022.  His desire was to equip and empower believers to do what God has said He came to do: Heal the brokenhearted and set the captives free.


There are now almost 20 believers trained to do this ministry and three churches that have hosted the training seminars during the last two years.  His trip in May 2024, on the two-year anniversary of the shooting, will be his last regular trip to Uvalde. He is turning over this ministry and this website to Pastor James Garza to continue this outreach while he takes on a consultant role.

friends of healing uvalde

  • joe martinez

    trinity fellowship

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  • mike & soledad phillips

    music ministry

    templo christiana

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  • jose guzman

    men's ministry leader

    templo christiana

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  • Dina Aguirre

    Casa el shaddai

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  • Glenn Fortner

    Risen Community Church

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  • linnea fortner

    risen community church

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  • rachel lambert

    risen community church

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  • julian pechacek

    risen community church

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  • agustin negrete

    risen community church

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  • ida barbosa

    Primera Iglesia bautista

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  • Jerry masters

    first baptist church

    elder

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  • ben masters

    first baptist church

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pastoral luncheons

Dr. Gardner tries to have a pastoral luncheon each time he comes to Uvalde to provide more training to local pastors and to connect with them. The pictures below were taken at some of these luncheons.

FOUR KEY CHURCH COMMITMENTS

Churches are God's key instruments for changing the world and turning it "upside down" (Acts 17:6). Jesus said that His followers were the "light of the world" and the "salt of the earth" (Matthew 5:13-16). In order for churches to have the maximum impact for good in Uvalde, there are four commitments they are encouraged to make:


1)  PRAYING: Begin praying corporately and devotedly as a church for God to protect the children in Uvalde from the evil one and to bring healing to the city.

2)  TRAINING: Begin training church leaders and members how to help themselves and others to overcome negative feelings so that the devil will have no opportunity to do more harm (Ephesians 4:26-27).  Train church members in this prayer-based counseling ministry for six months, then reach out to the community to help it heal. 

3)  PLEDGING:  We must do more than pray; we must choose to release our resentments and pledge to never let the "sun go down on your anger."  This is the key to stopping the violence epidemic in America. Church leaders must set an example and teach all church members how to forgive and to make this promise to never let the sun go down on their anger again.

4)  OVERCOMING:   Believers must choose to "not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21). This can be done as each believer commits him/herself to engaging in "Heroic Acts of Grace" each day and obeying the Scriptures to "devote yourselves to good deeds" (Titus 3:8). 



the importance of salvation

Jesus said, "What does it profit a man if he gains the world, but loses his soul" (Mark 8:36). These words make it clear that salvation is the most important issue that we must deal with. When Jesus healed people, His goals was to demonstrate that He was the Messiah and the Son of God so that people would follow Him. When the royal official came to Jesus in Cana of Galilee to get Him to heal his son, Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe" (John 4:46-54). He did not go around healing as many people as possible to relieve them of their pain, because that was not His ultimate goal. So, rather than go to the man's home to heal his son, Jesus simply told him, "Go, your son lives." When the father arrived home and saw that his son was healed, "He himself believed and his whole household." That was Jesus' goal, not just healing the man's son, but revealing Himself as the Messiah so that people would follow Him. He healed the blind so they would follow Him; He healed the lame so that they would follow Him; He healed the deaf so that they will follow Him.


This prayer ministry, likewise, wants to see people supernaturally healed of their grief, anger, and trauma, not just that they feel better but that they will follow Jesus. Many times after people are supernaturally set free from anger, grief, shame, and PTSD they get saved and begin to seek God and to follow Him. This is our desire for the people of Uvalde.


THE IMPORTANCE OF CHURCH ATTENDANCE AND FOLLOW-UP:

Once an individual is set free from their anger, grief, shame, sadness and fear, we want to see them get saved and become involved in a local church where they can receive fellowship and biblical teaching so that they can grow spiritually. If they do not do this, they will very likely slide back into their former state of anger or depression. We want them to be set free so that they will follow Jesus and serve him, and they need to be involved in a local church in order to do this.