John G.
Lake
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Graham Lake, (1870-1935), usually known as
"John G. Lake", was a businessman influenced by the healing
ministry of John Alexander Dowie, received the baptism of the
Holy Spirit in 1907 in the wake of the Azusa Street Revival
and became known for his ministry as a missionary and “faith
healer.” His life and message are represented in a book
compiled by Roberts Liardon, entitled, John G. Lake: The
Complete Collection of His Life Teachings.
Lake was originally from Ontario, Canada. He was from a
large family, which was continually affected with illness, and
his memory of childhood was that there was always someone in
the house either sick, dying or dead. Lake was a very
industrious businessman, and started two newspapers, before
beginning a very successful career in real estate. By the time
he left for the mission field he walked away from a $50,000
year salary (around 1 million in 2005 dollars), as well as his
seat on the Chicago Board of Trade.
Early in his career, Lake's wife, whom he deeply loved, and
even adored, fell ill with a life threatening illness. Having
a lifetime of suffering and bereavement behind him, he refused
to accept this, and took the radical step of taking her to see
John Alexander Dowie. Dowie had a reputation as a wild faith
healer and founder of Zion City, Illinois fifty miles north of
Chicago around this belief. Lake's wife recovered and he was
drawn into Dowie's movement, and he eventually became an elder
in the church. It was here that he began to practice "divine
healing". Although Dowie rejected the Pentecostal message, a
number of early Pentecostal leaders, including F.F. Bosworth,
were trained under Dowie.
Lake's greatest ministry was in South Africa, and his
ministry there had dramatic and far reaching consequences. The
incredible stories of his ministry are too numerous to
recount. With Thomas Hezmalhalch he founded the Apostolic
Faith Mission of South Africa in 1908, which attracted many of
the early Zionists led by Pieter L. le Roux of Wakkerstroom.
Le Roux took over the leadership of the Apostolic Faith
Mission when Lake returned to America, and led it for 30
years.
A recent book published commemorating the 100th anniversary
of the Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) of South Africa, "The
History of Apostolic Faith Mission and other Pentecostal
Missions in South Africa" by Lyton Chandomba published April
2007 (ISBN 978-1-425997397), gives additional insight into
John G. Lake's involvement in the foundation of the AFM up
until February of 1913 when he returned to the United States.
Isak Burger published "Die geskiedenis van die Apostoliese
Geloofsending van Suid-Afrika".
Two other popular books about John G. Lake cited by Burger
and Nel are written by G. Lindsay: "Sketches from the Life and
Ministry of John G. Lake" (1952) and "John G. Lake - Apostle
to Africa" (1972).
Following the death of his first wife, and shortly after
his return to America, Lake married Miss Florence Switzer on
November 27th, 1913. Lake's comment on this second marriage
was, "Men in these days consider themselves to be happily
married once. I have been especially blessed in that I have
been happily married twice." From this marriage five children
were born.
From 1915 to 1920, Lake ran "Healing Rooms," a healing
center in Spokane, Washington. According to newspaper reports
at the time, his ministry in Spokane caused quite a sensation:
"Rev. Lake through divine healing has made Spokane the
healthiest city in the world, according to United States
statistics."
In 1920 he moved to Portland for a similar ministry that
lasted for a few years. He later on returned to Spokane and
practiced his healing ministry until his death. In 1935 he
suffered a serious stroke and died a fortnight later, on
September 16th, 1935, at the age of 65. He was buried in a
cemetery in Spokane one mile south of Spokane Falls Community
College, on the west hill overlooking the Spokane River. A map
of the cemetery is available for visitors to Spokane and can
be picked up from the office of Healing Rooms Ministries at
112 E. 1st Ave., Spokane, WA 99202. Also in Spokane is a
library containing many articles about John G. Lake by the
newspaper at the time.
Lake's ministry was unique and he had relationships with
many of the leading figures of his day including railroad
tycoon, James J. Hill, Cecil Rhodes, Mahatma Gandhi, Conan
Doyle, and others.
Lake's history has also served as a guide to other
ministries, such as Curry R. Blake's "John G. Lake Ministries"
based in Dallas, Texas, and Healing Rooms Ministries
headquarters in Spokane, Washington.
In 1987 Wilford Reidt (the son-in-law of the late Dr. John
G. Lake) and his wife, Gertrude (Dr. Lake's daughter) passed
the leadership of their ministry to Curry R. Blake. Blake was
named the General Overseer of the International Apostolic
Council, an organization founded by the late Dr. John G. Lake
in 1914. Today, the ministry establishes "John G. Lake Healing
Rooms" and trains Christians in divine healing.
In 1999, the Healing Rooms in Spokane, Washington was
rebirthed with an emphasis on not only serving the city of
Spokane, but in duplicating the ministry of healing globally,
with currently over 700 Healing Rooms in over 40 nations (43
as of June 2008). On their website (listed on the right) is a
resource for locating the Healing Room nearest your own city.
information collected from
Wikipedia ®
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