Paul Luckraft interviews author Marion Daniel, whose books have been reviewed recently on Prophecy Today.

Marion has written two books to date but this was not the main reason for requesting an interview with her - for she is more than an author. In fact, that is a relatively small part of how God has led her and impacted her life.

She is better known as the founder and leader of a significant ministry, Sozo Ministries International, on which God clearly has his hand, and which will be featured next week on Prophecy Today. But Marion’s personal story is the best place to start.

From Harm to Healing

Marion describes her early background as nominal Anglican. She went to Sunday School and would say she had a moral upbringing, but that at most she was a God-fearer rather than a true Christian believer. However, in the early 1970s she came to salvation and was also baptised in the Spirit, a real life-changing experience.

Later that decade, a car accident impacted her life in a totally different way. Strangely, at first there was no immediate effect from it - no real pain or physical consequences. But ten years later, she began to suffer symptoms in her shoulders and spine that required further investigation. Eventually it was traced back to the accident, and when X-rays revealed that she had spondylosis (a form of spinal degeneration) it was clear that something serious and traumatic had occurred at the time. The diagnosis was stark – she wouldn’t get better.

At this point in her life Marion was attending church regularly, but her main church did not have a focus on divine healing, so she was given no hope there either. However, Marion herself refused to accept that God can’t heal today. With the help of a local Gospel Church, which was more Spirit-led, she began to explore what the Bible had to say on the matter of healing. It was soon obvious – if Jesus is alive, he can still heal! The Cross makes this possible today, and it should be part of Christian reality for all true believers.

If Jesus is alive, he can still heal!

Now that she had been properly instructed on such matters, her faith level was raised and the truth made clear. She was ready to receive personal healing - it was just a matter of when and how. The opportunity came at a meeting in Brighton, led by a visiting preacher from New Zealand called Steve Ryder. After prayer Marion experienced a clear spiritual transformation - something internal, which meant that although healing was not instantaneous, her body soon followed down this path of regeneration to wholeness.

Seeds of a Ministry

Marion now realised that not only could God heal, but that he did! And this was something she wanted to share. Her boss at work was not only sympathetic but encouraging, and became a significant part of what would follow. Not only did she become a prayer partner but once healings started to happen at work she realised that Marion had a larger ministry in this respect, and remarkably agreed to keep her on the payroll while allowing her to give up her usual work in order to pursue her new calling.

Now released for a wider ministry, the 1980s was a time of growth as fresh opportunities arose, slowly at first but with increasing momentum. Marion recalls her time ministering healing in Devon at a holiday village there each spring and autumn. Looking back, she now realises that this was an important training period.

Also during this time, she held monthly healing meetings with perhaps a dozen or so people attending. But this was also a season of charismatic renewal within the wider Church and things were soon to take off.

Marion realised that not only could God heal, but that he did! This was something she wanted to share.

Establishing Sozo Ministries

During her next phase of ministry, Marion began hiring places in order to reach more people, but it was soon clear this was to become even bigger - and before long, Sozo Ministries was established. Aided by her parents, her sister and family and her younger brother Alan, Sozo Ministries was set up in 1983 and became a registered charity later that decade.

A school in Romsey was hired for the big healing and deliverance meetings held every three weeks. Another building in Romsey was bought and renamed Sozo House in order to provide offices and smaller meeting rooms.

As part of the overall ministry, Sozo offered conferences and other teaching meetings. Marion’s two books, written in 2008 and 2010, were based on topics taught at these conferences. Turning such material into book form was a new challenge but New Wine Press agreed to publish both and these two slim volumes are now part of the many resources that Sozo provides through its bookstore.

New Vision…

By now the ministry was well-established, but further big changes were to come, both physically and spiritually. In 2013 Sozo moved from Sozo House to a new site, Dunwood Oaks, in Awbridge. This opened up fresh possibilities - not least of which was the chance to develop and extend the building for larger meetings, and to eventually move away from hiring the school in Romsey.

But equally significant was a new vision which would emerge from an unusual and extraordinary deliverance session, that was to change Marion and the rest of her team as much as it did the person being ministered to.

To be continued next week…

Read our reviews of Marion's books here and here.

N.B. Marion Daniel and Sozo Ministries International are in no way affiliated to Bethel Sozo or the International Bethel Sozo Organization.