Experience God's Healing Love
Christian Prayer Therapist
Daren Pagenkopf
Licensed Massage Therapist since 2003
National BCTMB 388478-00
Wisconsin 2691-146
An unexpected journey is an accurate way to describe the path that my life has taken. I have been very fortunate to have some doors open, while other ones close gently, leading and sometimes pushing me to where I need to go in my life for my profession and personal healing.
It started back in 2002 when I was looking for a new challenge that would allow for great flexibility to pursue my newly found passions for travel, the outdoors, and snowboarding…little did I know that the decision to attend massage school would change my life forever. Personally, I was extremely naïve to what massage really was, with my only exposure to it having been shaped by films, portraying it as an extravagant treatment that people enjoyed on vacation and appearing to me, frankly, as just a really expensive oil application that anyone could do. My preconception couldn’t have been more misled. In school, I was amazed at the impact massage could have on the physical body and learned that massages could literally change someone’s life. As part of my training I conducted an eight-week research project to study the effects that weekly massages had on bodily awareness and the self-image of people. This hands-on research further brought to light the power of massage on an emotional and mental level. These experiences through my training further ignited the fascination and inquisitiveness I had with the body, how it works, its ability to change and affect all parts of a person’s life. A key concept that stuck was that when we learn to connect, listen, and take care of our body, it has a remarkable ability to heal itself.
This wealth of knowledge of the body that I had gained continued to grow as I attended the Institute of Beauty & Wellness- an Aveda School for Esthiology. While I was employed at a four star spa in Lake Tahoe I continued to pursue furthering my education in all aspects of the body.
My trainings were all preparing me to travel to Hawaii and to have a profound life changing experience, both personally and professionally in 2012. Being exposed to a massage form that included prayer, brought this about. It was the most transformative, nurturing, and healing massage style I have ever experienced and the only massage style I have experienced that creates a sacred space for healing by integrating the body, soul and spirit as one through listening, massage, intention, prayer, forgiveness and gratitude. What makes it so unique and powerful is that the recipient is, simply put, treated as sacred and precious. It was while receiving this unique style of massage that I, for the first time in my life, truly felt fully loved, accepted and connected with my authentic self – body, soul, spirit and heart, without having any fear of judgement or condemnation. I knew at that moment I had stumbled upon a treasure that I also wanted others in the world to experience.
The following year, while praying for insight, my whole life was shown to me from God’s perspective exposing family generational patterns that I had fallen into, spirits that had been affecting me and thus potentially affecting those around me. In life as much as I tried to live a Christian life these things where subtly controlling and limiting me from living life as God created me to live in fullness, freedom, peace and joy. Fortunately God’s timing is always perfect and just a few weeks prior I read a book by Francis McNutt, founder of Christian Healing Ministries, which provided the necessary instructions and prayers to heal and free yourself from these spiritual issues. By using these Christian Prayers, I received deep healing from God within my body, feeling an instant relief and peace to the core of my soul. This had such a significant impact on my life that I decided to commit to assisting others in receiving the same healing from God, by fully integrating the powerful healing benefits from body work and Christian prayer into one healing experience.
In 2014, I took the opportunity to further expand and develop skills in healing prayer at Christian Healing Ministries – Schools of Healing Prayer. This unique experience of using only prayer for healing was astounding. While living and finishing the final level in the School of Healing Prayer in Florida, it was revealed to me that I was to come back to Madison and establish IMAGE as a Christian prayer massage ministry.
My unexpected journey lead by the Holy Spirit continues to unfold. Every day I am blessed and taught by the people who come across my path and join me at the massage table. I only hope that I can be part of your own journey into self-discovery by creating a safe, supportive, sacred space for you to experience your own journey, discovering yourself through the connection of your own body, soul and spirit.