Apostle Lila Harris and Healing the Hurt Life Center Ministries Offer Hope and Love to Men and Women
Apostle Lila Harris believes in healing the hurt of broken lives and hearts through loving ministry that uplifts and empowers those in need. After all, she has experienced many painful things in her own life, including being homeless, and feels that this is her way of thanking God for bringing her through it.
“I have experienced many things in my life that have caused me hurt,” she said. “In a previous marriage, my husband (at the time) and I had five ministries going. Then he fell prey to the enemy, and I suffered the loss,” she continued. “I found myself shut out of the ministries and locked out of my own house — I became homeless.”
Apostle Harris says that she was going to try to get all of her belongings and had even called her father to bring a truck and help her, but the Lord intervened. “The good Lord said, ‘You can get your stuff but if a life is taken, you can’t get that back.’ I called my dad and told him not to come and I just walked away from it all.”
Originally from Twiggs County, Apostle Harris started the Healing the Hurt ministries in 1998. The ministry began in the Joshua House located on Jeffersonville Road in Macon. This location now offers men who are down on their luck or are experiencing job loss, addiction or homelessness, a place to call home while they heal.
Apostle Harris now pastors Healing the Hurt Life Center located at 776 Holt Avenue in Macon. Holistic and spirit filled, Healing the Hurt also offers the Touch of Love Ministry with a food and clothing bank, where people who are in need but not necessarily homeless can come to get something to eat and wear.
Partnering with the Mental Health Court of Bibb County, Healing the Hurt Life Centers do just that – heal the hurt. The Ruth House (which Apostle Harris named after her mother) is a transitional home for women. She accepts and provides housing for women who are trying to get their lives together, whether the hurt be from incarceration, addiction, domestic abuse, or anything else. “It doesn’t matter why you are down,” she says. “Only that you heal and come back up.” The Ruth House has space for a few more women.
“I told God that if He would restore me, I would give back,” she said, “and little by little, He brought me through all the hurt and pain and healed me. So, I came back to Macon, and I am giving back now to others in need,” she continued.
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.” Isaiah 61:1-3 KJV
Apostle Harris loves to meet new people and is available for conversation and to explore the possibilities for anyone in need. She and her staff are present at the church at 776 Holt Avenue every Tuesday afternoon for visits or you can call any time at (478) 714-4723.
