Soteria was birthed to us, Melody and Ernie Hays, from dreams and visions during our initial relationship to each other in Orlando, Florida. I, Ernest, "saw" long-haired, dreadlocked, hippie kids on inclined streets falling down under the power of the Holy Spirit with no apparent other person nearby. I also "saw" a unique Friday night service where people from many different walks of life came into a building just to be in the presence of the Holy Spirit.

I tried to find and/or start this type of ministry in Orlando, Florida because the vision was so strong. Melody and I had just been married and we both knew we were being called to full time ministry. God was showing us what we were going to do, just not where we were going to do it right then. 

Melody's parents had just moved just outside of Asheville in May of 2002. By October of that year Melody and I traveled to Arden to visit them and to have a respite from the "warfare" we were experiencing in Orlando. On the way home from Arden the Lord spoke to both of us that we were moving to Asheville, NC. When we returned home we immediately put the house up for sale. Although it hadn't sold yet, we planned to move out of the home on December 20. Supernaturally, almost three dozen people showed up to our house to help us load our truck and even two of our friends volunteered to drive the vehicle to NC for us. We put all our household goods into a spare storage room at Melody's parent and began to settle in to the Asheville area. 

Once here we immediately went to a Morningstar conference for New Year's in Charlotte. There we asked if there were any "Morningstar" ministries in the Asheville area. They told us about "Mountain Vintage" Pastored by Steve and Mindy Scroggs. So, we began attending there upon our return as a place whereby to worship and get plugged in to Asheville. Uncannily, this church was the closest one to where  Melody's parents had moved in Arden.

After several meetings with different people we met, it became apparent that the dreams and visions we had about kids had been given to many others in this area. So many that I had to ask if we could all meet somewhere to discuss what was happening. So, one Friday morning about twelve people met at "Beanstreets" coffee house downtown. As we went around the table and began to share what each of us had been revealed by the Lord, it became very apparent there was a common vision and purpose the Lord was bringing to Asheville. It was very clear He wanted to establish a ministry of united believers that would minister to the poor and the street, or "rainbow", kids that frequent Asheville's downtown. It also was very apparent there was one particular building downtown the Lord had called to be His to use for His Glory. This building was currently a nightclub called "Music Zone", formerly another nightclub called "Bar Code" where someone had been murdered, and was about one block away from where our meeting was being held. After coffee and prayer we marched to the building to pray over it and declare it in the Kingdom of the Lord! Within one week after that day the night club was closed and one week after that I was in the building talking to the owner, Bill McClain, about utilizing the facilities for our purposes. He stated he could "sell" us the entire building for no money down and finance it since that was what he had done for the previous buyers who ran the nightclub. 

Needless to say I was ecstatic! I immediately went home and spread the good news to everyone. We were all excited. I began the paperwork communications with Mr. & Mrs. McClain about the building but was abruptly halted by Mrs. Bebe McClain. She stated she could not sell the building with no money down now since it was costing them $80,000 to recover it from the previous owners they had sold it to and financed. She stated we needed to have at least $100,000 down now, no financing, and only to qualified economically stable and financially established companies before they would consider selling or leasing it. She did not want to go through this situation again. Now we were at a dilemma. We had no established company and we certainly had no established financials. So we prayed for the Lord to open the right door for us.

We tried to begin the ministry right then so we could fulfill the request from the building owners to lease it to an organization. We began to call the ministry "Sozo" because I had felt the ministry would have a great bearing on "salvation" for many. "Sozo" is a Greek word for salvation in the new testament. We also had thought of "Salvation Station" but one couple we met said that sounded more like "Salvation Army" and would give people the wrong impression. I had looked up "Sozo" on the internet and found that website to be taken. While looking at "Sozo" on the Greek lexicon I found the word "Soteria" to be practically the same meaning except more emphasis on "deliverance". This word seemed to match better with the flavor of downtown Asheville, which is very new age, and would draw people from many different walks of life even if only curious.

Click here to continue

 

 

RENT OUR SPACE DOWNTOWN!