Joanna McKay is a co-founder of AIHN and lives in Melbourne with her three children aged 20, 18 and 16. She has raised them as a single mum since the youngest was a baby. Jo gave her heart to Jesus as a teenager. She is an intercessor and prayer minister with a mature prophetic gift.
She was raised in the Baptist church in NZ.
“I got saved into a Presbyterian church in Lower Hutt, soon after a group of elders and leaders had travelled to Auckland to attend revival meetings led by John Wimber and his team from the Vineyard movement in the US. There was a move of the Holy Spirit in the Presbyterian church, with healings and the prophetic flowing. I was baptised in the Spirit on a youth camp when I was 17. I have attended mostly Baptist and Pentecostal churches during my adult life.
Introduction to Inner Healing
“In 2008 I reached the lowest point of my life. I ended up in hospital with severe postnatal depression four months after the birth of my third child. My marriage broke down and I was suicidal. I literally believed that my kids and everyone else would be better off without me. I embarked on a journey of holding onto God with all my might – I felt very far away from Him, but I committed to reading one Psalm per day. That was all I could manage. I would cry out to Him to lift me up out of the deep pit that I was in, but it felt hopeless. I was put on antidepressant medication and after a month in a mother-baby unit, my daughter and I were discharged to the care of my parents (who were already caring for my sons, aged 4 and 2). I am so thankful to my family who were so supportive. My parents, and my sister Claire, and my brother, Brad, helped me to get through this horrific time. Claire introduced me to some women who did prayer ministry – something I had zero framework for, but I was desperate! The inner healing and deliverance ministry I received from those women was life-changing (and probably helped save my life, literally). I also received counselling and continued with psychiatric treatment for a few years.
As I journeyed through life, I made choices that impacted negatively on me. Traumatic events happened to me that were outside of my control. I had deep emotional wounds that I had been suffering from for decades. I had high anxiety levels that I thought were normal – I didn’t know any different. The inner healing and deliverance ministry I received over several years was like peeling back layer after layer of trauma and mess. It was a two-way exchange – I handed Jesus my pain and brokenness, and He gave me His unconditional love, joy, and peace. Four years after I was diagnosed with severe Post Natal Depression, I was completely delivered of depression and anxiety. I was able to wean off my antidepressant medication and have never needed it since. That was over 12 years ago. God is so good!”
You can hear more of Jo’s story in this podcast with Ken Fish: https://youtu.be/4nNjmSD93NQ
Ministry background
In 2016, when my children were all at school, I attended the Stairway College School of Transformation (where I met the amazing Wendy Hayes). I completed a Certificate IV in Christian Ministry and Theology and then started working for Dr Allan and Helen Meyer at Careforce Lifekeys. I received a lot of training from Lifekeys and was a group facilitator for the Divorce Recovery course. In 2019, Ken Fish invited me to work for Orbis Ministries, managing his international team trips, and helping to run Orbis School of Ministry which launched in 2020. I have completed all the Orbis courses including training on inner healing, deliverance, and the prophetic.
What would you like to see for inner healing in Australia going forward?
I would like to see the Australian Christian community and general public at large become more aware of the inner healing ministry. I want to see unity and collaboration between different streams, and an honouring of what we all carry – even if we’re different. I’d like to see more inner healing ministers raised up and trained and equipped for this Body ministry.
What are some of the joys you experience in this ministry?
One of my greatest joys is to see people encountering Jesus. I love the way He speaks to them so tenderly and sets them free from pain and shame. I love to see lives transformed through inner healing and deliverance.
What are some of the frustrations you encounter in this ministry?
My biggest frustration is the overwhelming need for prayer ministry, and not enough resources. There are so many people living lives that are not the abundant life that Christ paid for on the cross. We minister to thousands of people all over the world through the Orbis Prayer Ministry Network, and the need is so great that we have a waiting list several weeks (sometimes months) long. We need more labourers in this ministry!
Is there anything else you would like to share?
I am so incredibly thankful to the Lord for all that He’s done in my life, and so grateful for the people that He’s brought into my life to journey alongside. I love that I get to minister to people, connect them with Jesus, and see their lives transformed. I’m a very ordinary Mum from Melbourne but I serve an extraordinary God.