What is SOZO?
It’s a Greek word that appears 110 times in the New Testament and means to be “saved, healed, and delivered” all at once.
“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because He will SAVE (SOZO) His people from their sins.”
Matthew 1:21 (NIV)
Our founder, Dawna De Silva, describes the SOZO ministry.
Our ministry approach
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Get to the root of issues hindering your connection with the Godhead.
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Reconnect with each member of the Trinity and receive a fresh revelation of God’s love.
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Heal painful/traumatic wounds and memories.
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Experience the life of freedom and wholeness that God has for you.
Yes, Sozo is a deliverance ministry
We believe that deliverance 1) should be gentle and 2) can’t be separated from inner-healing. When wounds, lies, and traumatic memories are healed and God’s love is freshly experienced, the enemy’s access point to you is closed. Deliverance is a natural byproduct of this healing process and helps you maintain your newfound freedom. Most Sozo sessions will focus on reconnecting you to God in your areas of pain.
However, our advanced ministers are skilled in prophetic deliverance too. Victims of the occult, SRA, and other severe trauma have experienced freedom and wholeness through a combination of SOZO and Shabar ministry tools.
Your Sozo session
There will be 1-3 Sozo ministers in the room praying for you and guiding you through a process of connecting with God.
As the Holy Spirit leads, you’ll be invited to ask Father God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit questions about:
- Lies you’re believing
- Wounds that need healing
- People to forgive
- Unhealthy relational and/or generational ties
- Sins to renounce
You’ll come away with a fresh revelation of God’s love and truth.
Regional director of SOZO South Africa
Carina Boshoff
Carina Boshoff returned to South Africa in 2010 after completing the first year at Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry at Bethel Church with her husband Deon. There she was introduced to the Sozo ministry.
They started a Sozo ministry in Knysna in June of 2010, and after completing an internship at Bethel a year later, she was released by Teresa Liebscher and Dawna de Silva to become the contact for Bethel Sozo in South Africa.
The founders of SOZO
Dawna De Silva
A native of Redding, California, Dawna’s been a member of Bethel Church since before Bill Johnson became the head pastor.
For two years at the start of Bill’s tenure, Dawna faithfully joined the prayer line each week for an encounter with God. There were many times she walked away disappointed, but she remained committed to the weekly services (admittedly in part because her husband Stephen was Bethel’s CFO).
In 1997, Dawna’s breakthrough occurred when healing evangelist Randy Clark held a series of meetings at Bethel Church. His training included a model of deliverance prayer that eventually became one of the tools we still use in Sozo ministry today.
Dawna began integrating this tool into her prayers for others and saw a miraculous difference in peoples’ connection with God and level of freedom. She and her core team slowly expanded the prayer tools used, and the Sozo ministry was birthed. Sozo ministries can now be found across the globe; it’s the most well-known deliverance and inner-healing ministry in the world.
Today, Dawna spends her time overseeing Bethel’s Transformation Center. She also travels extensively to equip the church to walk in freedom and wholeness of body, soul, and spirit. Her books and teachings on Shifting Atmospheres, Overcoming Fear, Warring with Wisdom, and Sozo: Saved, Healed, Delivered are sought after in churches worldwide.
She still lives in Redding, California with her husband Stephen, the founder of Prosperous Soul Ministries. Their two adult sons, Cory and Tim, are both married to adorable women, Colleen & Autumn. Dawna and Stephen love being grandparents to Theodore James De Silva.
Teresa Liebscher
Teresa is co-leader of the Bethel Sozo ministry. In addition to her work training and equipping others in using both Sozo and Shabar ministry tools, Teresa spends her time overseeing the global Bethel Sozo network.
In the beginning of 2000s, when conducting Bethel Sozo sessions, Teresa started using a process with individuals that could not overcome obstacles in their sessions or that could not maintain their healing. That process became the Shabar ministry.
“Shabar” comes from the Hebrew word meaning “broken-hearted” (Isaiah 61:1), and the goal of the ministry is to bring knowledge, hope, and wholeness to a “shattered” individual.
Her passion for connecting the body of Christ to Father God, Jesus and Holy Spirit is an ever-increasing love of her life.
Teresa now lives in Sacramento, California with her family.