A Trilogy of Healings: A Baby Conceived, Arthritis Healed, and Vision Suddenly Restored

I met Brenda sometime around 1993 in Kitsilano/Vancouver one Friday evening when she showed up at the little church I had been attending for some time.  At the end of the evening, some of the other young adults and I walked her home, and we’ve been friends ever since. 

Having recovered from anorexia and bulimia, and still working through the lingering food issues, Brenda knew her need of a living and powerful God, and I always admired and appreciated her faith.  We were both pursuing God for healing from our past, and had several deep hurts in common, but she certainly led the way in trusting Jesus to answer prayer and to meet our needs.  And we both ended up moving to Abbotsford about the same time due to the spiritual revival movement that was going on in the Abbotsford-Mission area. 

After moving to Abbotsford, Brenda began to express her longing to have a child, but the years of her eating disorder had left her with no monthly cycle, and doctors informed her when she was only 28 that she had the bone density of a 78-year-old woman.  It was physically impossible for her to become pregnant and risky even if she could.  Furthermore, many women end up permanently unable to conceive after a prolonged eating disorder and years without having a period.  But she never lost faith and persisted in claiming healing through declaring promises in the scriptures, praying and getting prayed for, all in the Name of Jesus.

HEALING #1 Conception

Finally at the age of 33, a new test revealed that Brenda’s bone density had been restored!  And then, about the same time, she received prayer again and the next day her menstruation started!  Several years later, she unintentionally conceived and, at the age of 41, gave birth to a healthy baby girl, which led to more emotional healing as she began to care for her daughter!  God is always at work for us, even when we think we have disappointed Him.

After a few more years, Brenda met and married Andre, and they wanted to have a baby together.  Unfortunately, this HOPE tragically ended twice—once with a miscarriage and once with the heartbreaking death of her newborn who had a rare genetic disorder called Trisomy 18, which made the baby unable to live outside the womb.

A short time later, someone new came into their life.  An 18-month-old infant needed a home and Brenda and Andre were eager to make that home for her.  In a beautiful irony, the little girl’s biological parents had named her HOPE.  Her adoption into the family became complete when she was three years old. 

When Hope was only 18 months old, she was diagnosed with Juvenile Arthritis.  It was appearing in her knee, finger and ankle, and the medication she was taking caused frequent nosebleeds.  When she was four years old, the arthritis went into remission, but then one year later, her ankle began to flare up.  At six years old, her condition became severe, and joint injections and IV. meds failed.  Brenda and Andre were informed that there was severe joint damage in their daughter’s ankle.  When Hope was 9 years old, the arthritis was only getting worse and spreading up into her knee, despite numerous expensive treatments and medicine targeting the immune system.  When she was ten, her ankle bones had become fused, and her knee was now in so much pain that she could no longer put her weight on that leg, so crutches became necessary.  The condition was increasingly disabling her.

HEALING #2 Arthritis

Then in September of 2021, a man who ceaselessly and enthusiastically believes in healing prayer came to town.  He set up a big yellow tent next to Abbotsford’s local stadium and spread the word that he was there to preach for spiritual revival and pray for healing.  Many of the locals knew him, so the tent filled up quickly as people arrived, bringing friends and loved-ones along.  I came one evening at the encouragement of my friends Brenda and Andre who attended with their daughter Hope.

Hope arrived on crutches, and when the preaching was done and the call for anyone wanting prayer went out, Brenda dragged her unwilling daughter to the line-up. The preacher, Mr. Len Lindstrom, went along praying for individuals one at a time in the line that stretched across the front of the gathering.  The worship team played on.  Hope stepped up when it was her turn and got dowsed with olive oil.  Her description of the event goes as follows:

“The oil was running down my face,” she said. “I hated that.”  She didn't experience any particular spiritual sensations.  “He yells a lot,” she said.  “It actually hurt my ears.”  Lindstrom encouraged her to try running around inside the periphery of the tent.  She chose instead to run down just one side and was shocked to feel no pain.  She ran back to the front “freaking out” (in a good way!) and he asked her how it felt.  “It doesn’t hurt!” she told him and stomped “really hard” to test it some more. The pain was just “suddenly gone.”

 “I was shocked!  I was really shocked,” she repeated to me, and said she stomped several times more before it was all over.  Meanwhile, her mom had fallen down under the power of the presence of the Holy Spirit, and Hope recalls there were 3 people there catching her to make sure she didn’t get hurt on the way down.  (Not that she needs 3 people to catch her, but that is how Hope remembers it.)  She went away very happy as they headed to DQ for ice cream.

When the family arrived back at home, Hope, still amazed by the experience, stomped some more to be sure it was real.  It was.  “I didn’t think it would work,” she said. “Some random dude prays.  Why would it work?  I didn’t even wanna go that night!”  But clearly, she was glad that she did.

As a side note, for some reason, Hope’s ankle bones have remained fused; but almost two and a half years later, neither her knee nor her ankle cause her any pain other than a rare, occasional, minor ache in her ankle, which she gets rid of with a Tylenol. She is continuing to seek God for the completion of her healing.

HEALING #3 Vision Suddenly Restored

It may have been the same night that Hope got healed of arthritis, that my friend Yolanda, whom I’ve known for a few years, attended one of the tent meetings.  She came with a mutual friend, and I was there with other friends.  As it is now more than two years ago, a couple of the details are lost to both of us, but the important ones are unforgettable!

Yolanda experienced a stroke in 1994, which left her paralyzed on her entire right side, head to toe, and 50% blind in each eye.  After years of hard work, she regained much of the ability in her body, but both eyes remained half blind without any change at all during the following three decades. As a result, she was never again permitted to acquire a driver’s license. 

At the meeting, as Yolanda sat observing, like many of us, in an attitude of worship toward God, she suddenly saw a flash of light and, at first, thought someone had flipped on a light switch. A moment later, she realized her range of vision had increased! The friend sitting with her encouraged her to get in line for prayer, and she did, but nothing more changed in her sight at that moment.  However, her faith was boosted, and she persisted in prayer on her own and at times with others.  Her annual vision test showed improvement.  She continued to seek healing in the name of Jesus and the next test showed further expansion in her range.  She now has documented 75% of her sight. As a result, eye specialists have told Yolanda that she at last qualifies to challenge the driver knowledge test and vision screening! 

Unfortunately, up to this point Yolanda doesn’t trust her stroke damaged short-term memory to get her through the written portion of the test, so she is holding back.  Therefore, we are and will be praying that her memory abilities will be healed and that she will have courage to take the challenge! Of course, we will pray for continued healing in her eyes as well.  She shared with me that while walking in the freezing cold to the grocery store recently, she was thinking, “It sure would be nice to drive again.” I will be ready to give an update on Yolanda’s journey as she moves forward.

NOTE: See the upcoming post for "Startling Details of Yolanda's Original Stroke Experience" (Her desperate prayer instantly answered.)

and "Reflections on Partial Healings". Why 75% and not 100? Why ankle bones still fused? Why one healthy childbirth and not a second one?