Our Story.
Side By Side is the depiction that Mike and Cheryl Wells have chosen to represent their journey with Christ, with each other, and with the community.
Continue reading to learn more.
Broken Hearts & Dreams
The Wells story starts in the summer of 1977 when at the ages of 17 and 18 they married only to find themselves struggling under the pressure of broken promises, broken dreams, and broken hearts two years later. The Wells were officially divorced in the spring of 1980, which started a spiritual journey for both of them that eventually lead them to their knees seeking Gods redeeming love for themselves and their son Michael. In October of that same year Mike asked Cheryl out on a date and as they say, the rest is history. On March 6th, 1981 Mike and Cheryl Wells once again found themselves at the altar committing to one another till death do them part, only this time with the help and assurance of God’s love, and provision.
Helping the Hurting
It was through this experience that over the years they began to “come alongside” those who found themselves hurting and in need of prayer, physical, and financial support. As the years progressed and their awareness of the needs around them began to grow, they opened The Living Center in 2003, a place for people to get connected to life. Cheryl provided leadership as the Executive Director early on building a full-time staff of lay counselors until the spring of 2007 when she exited in order to focus on Side by Side Ministries.
Ministering to the Ministries
Throughout the years, Side by Side Ministries has come alongside ministries locally, nationally and globally. We do this in a three-fold manner. We are intentional in investing our time (2 Corinthians 13:12) with those in ministry we support. Whether it be a physical visit, over the phone or video-conferencing, time listening and encouraging those we support. We also come along financially (2 Corinthians 9:7-8) as we are guided and led by the Holy Spirit. And lastly, and most importantly, we come alongside regularly in prayer (Philippians 1:3-5). Our heart is to bring people into the manifest presence of God and there He brings perspective and changes us. We also need intercession and praying the Word of God through declarative prayers to go out before the gospel is shared and evangelism is powerful.
Training up Ambassadors
Since the beginning we have been raising up ambassadors for Christ and sending them out. In 2013 we began an intentional program where we worked with young adults in their early to late 20’s helping them to grow up and soar in every area of life. It is intended to be a very comprehensive plan and schedule for them that includes Faith 101, Life Skills 101, Professionalism 101 and it includes cooking, taking care of our bodies and learning how to prepare a budget and live within it. It includes every area of life and we saw huge success. They were each mentored and were encouraged and given opportunities to mentor after they graduated from the first year.
This program has been changed for our new season and we continue to raise up ambassadors but it just looks a little different.
A House of Prayer
We have been a house of prayer since we first opened our doors. Our ministry is about the heart of Jesus and we began by praying every day and just asking God what He had for us to do. Our greatest ministry to date has been helping others to grow in their relationship with Jesus through prayer and also finding freedom through the healing of hurts from the past and getting God’s perspective by His Spirit. Prayer ministry is all about being intentional in prayer and we have prayer every day for and with people and for ministries and businesses and organizations that we come alongside of. Prayer is our lifeline and the talking part of the most important relationship that we could ever have.
Following Where He Leads
There are so many lessons in life for all of us about following and what that looks like in the seasons of life and the seasons of our growth in our relationship with Jesus.
With all of the years of ministry we have had here, we look back and see how God has led us and His faithfulness over the years. All we have is gratefulness and praise to Jesus and how he has healed us and brought us to greater fruitfulness. Of course, we have had to learn many lessons the hard way and we have had to adjust the course at times.
We have known at times that we were to stretch out our tent pegs and at times we have known that we were supposed to pull in and go deeper. We have gone from full-time ministry with individuals and other ministries to knowing that our ministry was to be in the marketplace also. This has been I believe a direct result of our prayers for our city and our region and that God would bless our region with peace and prosperity as He told us in Second Chronicles (7:14).
Our single greatest goal has always been to share the gospel and do that in whatever way that God shows us. We are doing that in a very significant way by partnering and sharing our lives and our struggles and our growth in authentic relationships (Romans 12:16). What else would we do in a ministry called Side by Side?!? We have found that we truly are better together!