John G. Lake - The first 30 years

John G. Lake was born March 18, 1870 in St. Mary’s Ontario. His family moved to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan when he was a child. He was one of 16 children. He described his childhood by saying, “For 32 years some member of our family was an invalid…During this period our home was never without the shadow of sickness.” He remembers growing up with, “sickness, doctors, nurses, hospitals, hearses, funerals, graveyards and tombstones; a sorrowing household; a broken hearted mother and a grief-stricken father; struggling to forget the sorrows of the past in order to assist the living members of the family who needed their love and care.”

As a young man in the early 1890’s he moved to Harvey, Illinois and started the newspaper “The Harvey Citizen”. He met his wife Jennie while in Harvey – she was from Newberry, Michigan. They married on February 5, 1893. Sometime within the next 2 years Lake went to one of John Alexander Dowie’s healing homes. Lake had rheumatism that affected his legs. “There…the power of God surged through his body and straightened his legs” after an older man laid hands on him. Two years into John and Jennie’s marriage she became dreadfully ill with Tuberculosis and heart disease. The amount of medicine (including nitroglycerine) caused her to be unconscious often and a virtual invalid.

However, three family members were healed after being taken to the healing homes:
• One of his brothers who had been an invalid due to internal bleeding for 22 years.
• His 34 year old sister that had breast cancer.
• Another sister that was dying from a disease in her blood.

But yet still another sister was extremely ill and was not recovering even after lots of prayer. Lake was going to take her to the healing homes but before he could he received a phone call from his mom that said she was dying and that he must hurry if he wants to see her before she passes. When Lake arrived she was unconscious, without a pulse, mourners in the room, and his sister’s baby in a crib. He paced the room and refused to believe that death was the only option. He thought of Dowie. He sent Dowie a telegraph saying, “my sister has apparently died, but my spirit will not let her go. I believe if you will pray, God will heal her.”

Dowie telegraphed back, “Hold on to God. I am praying. She will live.”

That telegraph ignited Lake’s faith and he rebuked death in Jesus’ name. Within an hour she was completely revived. Five days later she ate Christmas dinner with her family in complete health.
The Lake family moved back to Sault Saint Marie in 1898. Doctors said nothing more could be done for her condition. One local minister told Lake that he should resign himself to imminent death.
On April 28, 1898 John G. Lake was understandably angry. He had grown up surrounded by death and sickness. In the past several years he had personally experienced the healing power of God. But his wife still lay marginally comatose on the verge of death. He paced the house in mounting frustration. Then he hurled his bible against the mantle of the fireplace. It fell with a thud open on the floor. He bent down and looked at it. It lay open to Acts 10:38, "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with The Holy Ghost and power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him." Lake’s mind erupted with revelation. God did not cause the sickness. GOD DID NOT CAUSE THE SICKNESS! He suddenly knew what he thought he already believed. It was God’s will for Jennie to be healed. He then announced to no human in particular and the entire spirit world in specific that Jennie would be healed at 9:30 am that very day. He then telegraphed Dowie to let him know that she would be healed at precisely 9:30 am.

When the announced time came Lake was praying. He heard a sound come from Jennie. Her voice was stronger than it had been in years. She arose, healthy and restored by God. Her 9:30 am healing became national news via newspapers. Soon people began travel in large numbers to the Upper Peninsula to get prayer for healing. It is there that a ministry was birthed that would eventually take them all the way to Africa.