PRAYER TOWER

By: Betty Motsinger

I was asked to design a little, intimate prayer place.

I went into the smallest room in the house and sat on the floor. It seemed that the place of prayer should be round, with participants facing one another rather than in formal rows. Also, the windows should be high up so that they would not look out on the world, but at the treetops, the clouds and the sky. It would be like a jug, a stockade made of upright timbers, a silo or a stone tower. These all had meanings such as the "wine of life", projection or provision! WOW!

Then I thought of Proverbs 18:10 - "The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it and is safe." So I planned a tower.

There must be a little entrance vestibule so people could lay down their burdens, with shelves on one side. On the other side would coat hooks so they could take off their wrappings. Then they would find themselves in the arms of Jesus. The arms would from the backs of the seats, so that we could lean into them. But isn't there some requirement before we are received by him? Yes. We must receive the message of the cross. I would put a cross on the door through which we enter into His presence,

The alter would be on the north and the entrance on the south. Above the shoulders to which the arms are attached there must a round window representing the "Sun of Righteousness", as Malachi calls Him.

HISTORY OF HIGH PASTURES

In 1958, Elizsabeth Motsinger, seeking a hideaway in which to seek God found this place. She had been struggling for years to know if God actually exists, and, if so, whether He could be known. A year passed while her lawyer worked to clear the title. Betty attended Camp Farthest Out at Kanuga Conference Center outside of Hendersonville, where she received the Lord Jesus as he living Lord and Savior. That very night a telephone call came saying that the title to the land was clear and that she could purchase it. Isaiah says, "He that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, " is a biblical promise that Betty claimed.

After making her 700 acre acquisition, Betty moved into the small four-room shack at the lower end of the property. The snow blew in between the siding on cold, windy winter days and nights, but the time seemed like a "honeymoon" in her newly found relationship with Jesus. The weather was not suitable for building, so it was the following Thanksgiving before her new residence was finished. And was she thankful!

Having been touched so powerfully by the Spirit of God, she dedicated her all to Him, yielding herself to be His handmaiden. Her resources and her newly purchased property were joyfully surrendered to honor and glorify the Lord Jesus for His highest purposes. In her heart of hearts Betty committed her life to obedience to His direction and plan.

And so High Pastures was birthed. As it emerged, God established it as a place where "His sheep" could be fed, find refuge and refreshing, be equipped and strengthened for service, and anointed for ministry.

Soon after Betty moved into her house in 1960 she began receiving visitors send by the Father. Small groups began to come for weekends, and Betty was hard pushed to provide for their care. She says she didn't "found" High Pastures. The Lord send the people and all she could do was try to cope with that He was doing.

As the number of guests outgrew the capacity of her house, Betty built more buildings as demand dictated and as she was able. By this time she felt that she was living in Isaiah 54:2:

Each time another building as finished this scripture was dropped into her mind. By 1968 her home was surrounded by a log cabin, a guest house, a two-bedroom cottage and a small hut. She could go no further without help, so High Pastures wsa incorporated and a Board of Directors was elected.

As groups groups, families, couples, individuals, and people from many Christian ministries were using the facilities and resources, the need for additional lodging and food services buildings became apparent. In 1970 the dormitory, upper residence, and dining hall were built. The prayer tower was built in 1980 to 1981 – a unique structure for prayer and meditation.

In 1992, construction was begun on Laurel Lodge conference building which was opened in the spring of 1993. The Dining Hall was expanded in 1995.

Betty retired from actively managing High Pastures in 1989 and passed into His presence October 19, 2002. As she had dedicated High Pastures to honor and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ for His highest purposes, she assured its continuance by basically leaving her entire estate (including the beautiful seven hundred, thirty-two acres property) to the organization thereby endowing the work God had called her to even after she was gone to be with Him.

The buildings, the landscaping and trails, the food and other support services, the staff and Board of Directors are all for the purpose of glorifying God, for providing a place for His Word to be proclaimed, for providing training and outreach into all the world to further the good new of Jesus Christ. Those were Betty’s goals and purposes then, and are the goals and purposes of High Pastures today and in the days to come.

"It is our prayer that everyone who comes to this mountain will have a meeting with God."

290 Kings Highway / Burnsville, North Carolina 28714Phone: 828.682.3138 / Fax: 828.682.7386 / contact@highpastures.org