John G. Lake

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 and difficult to verify. 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).

On November 27th, 1913, shortly after his return to America, Lake married Miss Florence Switzer. 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 burried 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. A list of directors is available on his website (listed below).

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 below) is a resource for locating the Healing Room nearest your own city.

External links

* [http://www.jglm.org John G. Lake Ministries, lead by Curry Blake]
* [http://bennieblount.org/Online/Lake/Adventures/index.htm Adventures in God, book by John G. Lake]
* [http://www.refleks-publishing.com/en/books/lake.htm REFLEKS-Publishing]
* [http://leavesofhealing.googlepages.com Life and Ministry of John Alexander Dowie]
* [http://healingrooms.com Healing Rooms Ministries based in Spokane with approximately 700 locations]