Cleft of the Rock Ministry Center

Our beloved Doreen Corley stepped into the presence of the Lord on December 13, 2022. Doreen deeply and wholeheartedly loved God and served Him as a cross-cultural worker among least-reached people for over 50 years. Doreen’s daughter is carrying on Doreen’s legacy through Cleft of the Rock as this ministry equips and refreshes workers for sustained services in difficult places. Your gift will enable others to serve faithfully, just as Doreen did for more than half a century.

Cross-cultural work in Muslim communities can be incredibly challenging! To be effective and avoid burnout, both cross-cultural workers and local believers need support as they serve among least-reached people.

Cleft of the Rock Ministry Center helps keep workers on the field in countries where ministry is especially difficult by offering retreats and other services. Since it was founded by Christar workers in 2010, this center has restored and equipped workers from throughout the Middle East and Central Asia through counseling, cultural orientation and team building, as well as group and personal retreats. Prior to COVID-19 Cleft of the Rock served approximately 3,000 individuals annually; but by God’s grace, in 2020 it more than doubled this number, welcoming 7,000 people.

Located in the forested mountains of the Middle East, Cleft of the Rock Ministry Center provides a safe place where workers and local believers can be restored. There, they can pull back from ministry and the stress of living in places that are hostile to followers of Christ. Through Cleft of the Rock, they receive teaching, counseling and rest, and they return to their places of ministry better able to serve.

In addition, through its equine ministry, Cleft of the Rock offers guests the opportunity to care for and ride horses, providing a unique kind of soul therapy. Having horses onsite also enables Cleft of the Rock to offer additional services that help workers continue to serve in least-reached communities. The workers serving at the retreat center look forward to providing therapeutic riding and outfitting (backpacking on horseback) to those who visit.

In the future, the equine program will help those living with disabilities better manage physical and mental challenges as they learn to interact with and ride horses. This outreach will not only address the mental, emotional and physical aspects of disabilities but will meet deep spiritual needs as well. By God’s grace, many will discover that they were made in His image and created to know and worship Him.

Your gift to Cleft of the Rock will help workers and local believers continue to serve and thrive in hard places! And, as they are able to minister in these communities, more least-reached people will hear and embrace the gospel.

Specific Needs:

• $10 provides sports equipment such as a volleyball or soccer ball to help children and adults staying at Cleft of the Rock relax, bond and find joy in the small things.
• $50 provides a one-night retreat for a single worker.
• $100 covers a one-night retreat for a family serving cross-culturally.
• $700 covers the cost of a one-night conference for up to 50 people.
• $5,000 buys a horse for the equine therapy program. 
• $10,000 provides coal and firewood for heat throughout the winter.
• $15,000 enables Cleft of the Rock to dig a new well.
• $500,000 builds a multipurpose building with a reception area, conference rooms and a restaurant; this new addition will allow the ministry center to host and train up to 50 people at a time—and help keep more workers on the field!

Participate by Praying for the Cleft of the Rock Ministry Center:

• Lift up the construction process as Cleft of the Rock adds a lodge with conference rooms and a dining hall to its facilities.
• Ask that the ministry center will have a good reputation in the community.
• Pray for workers as they counsel those who are weary, burned out and discouraged. Ask God to give these workers words of life to impart so that counselees can return to their places of ministry renewed in their spirits.
• Pray that Cleft of the Rock’s unbelieving staff members will come to know Christ.
• Pray for another believing family to join the ministry center's staff.