1994 and Toronto

My mother became increasingly fragile, suffering from dementia, and in 1993 we moved her from Delmar, New York, to Newburyport, so that she would be closer and we could supervise her care. We discovered later that she was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. The Lord took her four years later. This period was difficult in dealing with my mother, and even though I thought I was doing OK with her and her behavior, I became quite ill and ended up with pneumonia.

In March of 1994, I heard about the events occurring in Toronto at the airport Vineyard Fellowship and decided to visit to find out about this renewal that was being reported. On the day that I left for Toronto, still suffering from the effects of a bad chest cold and ear infections, I held Sharon, and confessed, weeping, that I did not know how I could be a Christian with such conflict about my mother, one-minute loving her and the next wishing she were dead. I felt like all I had were bad memories from my childhood. At this point, it was impossible for me to distinguish between the disease she was suffering and the behavior it caused, and my mother that I once knew.

The service at the Toronto Airport Vineyard was chaotic, to say the least. I sat in the back row for quite a while and just watched. I was thinking that I did not know how this could be from God. People were laughing hysterically, some were weeping, others were falling down seeming to be unconscious, metal chairs crashing everywhere in this room that seated probably three hundred people. John Arnott, the pastor, finally stood and attempted to explain what was going on and invited those that had been touched by the Spirit to give a testimony as to what had been happening.

One of the first to stand in the front and share was a young man that Sharon and I had prayed for in Chicago at a Vineyard pastors training conference. At that time, he was trying to plant a Vineyard Church in Montreal, and was having great difficulty. His wife had suffered two miscarriages, and he was depressed. He wept and wept as we prayed for him. And now, one year later, he is reporting that the Lord had healed him, and his wife and his joy had been restored. I was amazed. Both he and his wife were full of life.

The next report came from an elderly woman who stated that the previous week, the Lord touched her. While she was “resting in the Spirit”, the Lord healed all her memories from her marriage with her husband. She told how her husband of over 50 years had died the previous year and had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. She related the horror of that experience, and that after his death she did not have any good memories from her marriage and was continually depressed and angry thinking about how bad the last years of their marriage had been, struggling with her feelings for him, remembering she sometimes wished he would die.

She reported how the Lord had healed her and now she could remember with great joy the wonderful times of the fifty years with her husband! I was amazed and felt like the Lord had made an appointment for me to be here and to hear this. I felt incredible hope about my relationship with my mother.

Several minutes later the worship began and what seemed like chaos broke out again. A woman came up to me and asked if I would pray for her daughter. I didn’t think that this was unusual because it was happening all over the room. Both were standing in front of me as the mother explained that her daughter needed prayer. I asked the daughter how I should pray, and she asked that I pray for peace for her. She explained that two months earlier, a drunk driver ran into her husband’s car and killed him instantly. She was six months pregnant with their child, and not wanting to carry bitterness, went to the jail to talk to the man that had caused the accident to forgive him. The man was forgiven and gave his life to the Lord, but she was still left with turmoil and grief.

She finished her story and I asked if I could place my hand on her forehead. I simply prayed “…Holy Spirit of peace, come…” This very pregnant woman slumped into her mother’s arms and they both collapsed to the floor. They just gracefully fell and lay next to each other. I have never seen such unbelievable peace surround two people like this mother and daughter. They were there for several hours.

Shortly after praying for this woman, the wife of the pastor from Montreal approached me. She did not know me, or the fact that Sharon and I had prayed for her husband in Chicago the year before. She was not with him at the time. But she came toward me from the front of the room with both hands raised, making her way over and around people in the isle. I was near the back and knew that she was coming to pray for me. She got within five feet and I raised my hand to shake hers and said, “I know your husband…” And as soon as that left my mouth, I burst into laughter and fell to my knees laughing uncontrollably.

I don’t know how long I laughed, but I was laughing so hard that at one point it felt like my lungs were going to collapse from lack of air, all being exhausted into every ounce of laughter. With no air left in my lungs, what I can only describe as a huge, long growl came out of my mouth, but it did not seem like it was part of me. I did not think too much more of this until later when I noticed that all of my chest congestion was gone, and both ears were totally clear after being congested and blocked for two months. I felt like something evil had left with a growl, and I was awesomely thankful to the Lord.

Brian Warner. Johanna’s Eleven (Kindle Locations 1076-1126).