Ministry Eyes Hephzibah House Land For New Use
September 26, 2020 at 2:57 a.m.
By Amanda Bridgman-
Wounded Spirits Ministry, Inc., is a nonprofit organization whose board members hope to acquire the 51.9 acres at 2277 E. Pierceton Road, Warsaw, to house 200 individuals for PTSD treatment.
The Rev. Andy Sommers is part of the Wounded Spirits board, and he graduated from Grace College Seminary with a degree in intercultural ministry. Originally from Osceola, he lived in Winona Lake and Warsaw during the 1990s and currently lives in Denver, Colo., with his family.
Right out of the gate, Sommers wants to make it very clear to the community that Wounded Spirits Ministry is in no way affiliated with Hephzibah House or the former Believer’s Baptist Church on the property.
The group is preparing a feasibility study on the property that they hope will provide positive results to purchase it, and then rebuild. Sommers said they’ve spoken with the current property owners, named in Kosciusko County records as Hope Baptist Church ran by Don Williams, son of Hephzibah House founder Pastor Ron Williams. Sommers said those conversations have been positive, and the owners are willing to see the property change hands.
Hephzibah House has been in local and national headlines for decades, with former students of the boarding school for troubled teenaged girls alleging physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Ron Williams and his team have always denied those accusations, mostly basing it on the fact that parents consent to sending their minor daughters there with the full knowledge of what happens. Hephzibah House was shut down in March after their insurance company would allegedly no longer carry them.
For Sommers, that history is concerning.
“If we buy the property, then they’re going to have to buy a different property to use,” he said of Hephzibah-affiliated people. “Whoever owned the property before I?bought it, I’m not them.”
The mission of Wounded Spirits will be to bring in medical professionals and Christian counselors to help anyone who is suffering from PTSD. Sommers stresses that it’s not just military veterans who can suffer from the disease.
“I had a friend from high school, from South Bend, she was in 4-H with me. She was leaving an event and drove separately from her parents. A drunk driver hit her parents head on and her dad was killed instantly,” Sommers said. “You can imagine what she went through, and particularly her mother who was sitting next to her father. And so that’s a post traumatic issue that she’s dealing with.”
Sommers said he also has friends who have been in the military and referenced one friend who he said has told him stories about the struggle to transition back to civilian life.
“I have dealt with friends for many years who have suffered from this and so then finding some people who have a vision to do this is really exciting, because I’ve seen many who have overcome it, and those who haven’t,” he said.
There will be chapel services at the camp, but the ministry doesn’t have a church affiliation, Sommers said.
The organization’s website is www.woundedspiritsministries.com, and they’re seeking donations. Those donations would first help them pay for the feasibility study, and then would help them purchase the property. Sommers said while no contracts are in place, or site plans for how the property will look because that will take working with the county’s plan commission, that ADA handicap accessibility will be needed, which is costly.
“I think God can redeem this land for a good use and a good cause, and I think people can get behind it,” Sommers said. “So, whatever the history is, my God is bigger than that. Am I concerned about it? Sure, who wouldn’t be. There’s been a lot of negative publicity. We want to have a good relationship with the community and our neighbors, and our idea is to make things better wherever we go, and PTSD is our focus with this ministry.”
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Wounded Spirits Ministry, Inc., is a nonprofit organization whose board members hope to acquire the 51.9 acres at 2277 E. Pierceton Road, Warsaw, to house 200 individuals for PTSD treatment.
The Rev. Andy Sommers is part of the Wounded Spirits board, and he graduated from Grace College Seminary with a degree in intercultural ministry. Originally from Osceola, he lived in Winona Lake and Warsaw during the 1990s and currently lives in Denver, Colo., with his family.
Right out of the gate, Sommers wants to make it very clear to the community that Wounded Spirits Ministry is in no way affiliated with Hephzibah House or the former Believer’s Baptist Church on the property.
The group is preparing a feasibility study on the property that they hope will provide positive results to purchase it, and then rebuild. Sommers said they’ve spoken with the current property owners, named in Kosciusko County records as Hope Baptist Church ran by Don Williams, son of Hephzibah House founder Pastor Ron Williams. Sommers said those conversations have been positive, and the owners are willing to see the property change hands.
Hephzibah House has been in local and national headlines for decades, with former students of the boarding school for troubled teenaged girls alleging physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Ron Williams and his team have always denied those accusations, mostly basing it on the fact that parents consent to sending their minor daughters there with the full knowledge of what happens. Hephzibah House was shut down in March after their insurance company would allegedly no longer carry them.
For Sommers, that history is concerning.
“If we buy the property, then they’re going to have to buy a different property to use,” he said of Hephzibah-affiliated people. “Whoever owned the property before I?bought it, I’m not them.”
The mission of Wounded Spirits will be to bring in medical professionals and Christian counselors to help anyone who is suffering from PTSD. Sommers stresses that it’s not just military veterans who can suffer from the disease.
“I had a friend from high school, from South Bend, she was in 4-H with me. She was leaving an event and drove separately from her parents. A drunk driver hit her parents head on and her dad was killed instantly,” Sommers said. “You can imagine what she went through, and particularly her mother who was sitting next to her father. And so that’s a post traumatic issue that she’s dealing with.”
Sommers said he also has friends who have been in the military and referenced one friend who he said has told him stories about the struggle to transition back to civilian life.
“I have dealt with friends for many years who have suffered from this and so then finding some people who have a vision to do this is really exciting, because I’ve seen many who have overcome it, and those who haven’t,” he said.
There will be chapel services at the camp, but the ministry doesn’t have a church affiliation, Sommers said.
The organization’s website is www.woundedspiritsministries.com, and they’re seeking donations. Those donations would first help them pay for the feasibility study, and then would help them purchase the property. Sommers said while no contracts are in place, or site plans for how the property will look because that will take working with the county’s plan commission, that ADA handicap accessibility will be needed, which is costly.
“I think God can redeem this land for a good use and a good cause, and I think people can get behind it,” Sommers said. “So, whatever the history is, my God is bigger than that. Am I concerned about it? Sure, who wouldn’t be. There’s been a lot of negative publicity. We want to have a good relationship with the community and our neighbors, and our idea is to make things better wherever we go, and PTSD is our focus with this ministry.”
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