ON MORE HEALING... June 9, 2012

Abel Steven Vanderheide

We feel that our family is so blessed of God. It’s hard to believe that we have now grown to twelve. We thank God for His hand of mercy and grace toward us! In April we received our 6^th grandchild. His name is Abel Steven Vanderheide.

During her second trimester, the doctor told Estelle that the ultrasound had revealed an irregular heartbeat and a cyst on the brain of her unborn son. We immediately went to prayer, claiming the promises God gave us in His Word.

They scheduled Estelle for a Specialist who does in-depth ultrasounds. We had a month to believe and claim this little boys healing. We called his healing into existence just as Jesus instructed His Disciples to do.  Jesus had told them to pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”  Notice that! Pray that those things on earth will be as they already are in heaven. You and I know that in heaven there is no sickness!  So praying God’s will on earth, as it is in heaven simply means bringing heaven’s blessings to earth through prayer!

For an hour and a half the Specialist searched and examined, but could find not one thing wrong with this little guy! That’s the kind of God we serve! He is more than able, and we thank Him so very much! 

One person asked us “So how did they happen to misread the first ultrasound like that??” They did not misread it, we believe God rewrote it!! We serve a mighty, prayer answering God!!

And here’s what is really neat......our 6th grandchild can't even talk yet but he has a true testimony of God’s faithfulness that happened before he was even born!   SHOUT NOW!!

I only notice one problem that he has.....he crys on occasion! Something I never did as a baby. And I never soiled 1 diaper!! J

ON SIDESHOW DISTRACTIONS.... June 8, 2012

Distractions can come in all different shapes and sizes.  There is nothing as annoying as when you are busy trying to do something and there is this "something else" that keeps distracting you!  It’s happened to us many times.  We are busy doing the Work of the Lord and something keeps trying to take our focus away from the task at hand.  I’m sure it’s happened in your life as well.

Well, the year 1999 was the worst! It was a year filled with distractions and there was one common result when the distractions came....FEAR!  Today, I will only share a couple of them.

We had just finished a week of preaching at Aroostook Pentecostal Campmeeting in Bridgewater, Maine.  I had been the Morning Bible Teacher for that week during Family Camp.  We were on our way home to Laval travelling through New Brunswick and we decided to stop at the Irving Restaurant in Perth, New Brunswick for some lunch.  This was the old one across the road from the big water tower on the old highway.  As we pulled into the parking lot we noticed there was some heavy road construction going on all around.  It was when they were putting in the new four-lane highway.  So we go inside and sit next to the side window right beside the tall propane cylinder where customers could have their small propane tanks filled.  And of course there was the gas station on the other side of the restaurant.

 

As we got settled, the waitress came and took our order. Within a couple minutes she came back into the dining room and announced to everyone, “In a few minutes there will be some blasting up on the hill behind the restaurant.  Don’t be alarmed.  It will only last a few seconds.”  There were probably 11 of us seated in the dining room.  About 10 minutes went by and our food arrived.  My wife and I and two girls bowed our heads to pray.  As I said “Amen” the heaviest RUMMBLE and loudest EXPLOSION began to shake the ground! Even though we had been prepared and knew it was going to happen it scared the living daylights out of us! It felt like they had dropped the “Mother Load” of TNT right under our feet! Just then we noticed people outside running away from the building with horrified looks on their faces. Those running were staring up at the sky. Now, I don’t know what would have gone on in your head, but in mine I was thinking, “Hmmm...What’s wrong with this picture?” Gas station...propane tanks...TNT!  I jumped up and rushed over to the front window.  And then I saw it....ROCKS!!, thousands of rocks were falling all over the parking lot.  Many were small but some were a pretty good size. I thought, “WOW! This can’t be good!” Then my brain kicked in and said to me, “No this isn’t good at all...you’re in a gas station ya know!”  Just then a huge boulder came crashing through the roof and right through the floor leaving a hole the size of an average watermelon!  It went through the floor about four feet from where my family and I were sitting!  I was shocked! Everything in the room was covered in gyprock dust. We looked at each other is total disbelief.  Within a few minutes the RCMP arrived and he asked me if I would be able to provide a statement. As I am sitting in the Police car giving him details of what had just happened, a little white truck with a flashing orange light slowly pulled into the parking lot. The little guy in the truck had a somewhat bewildered look on his face as he surveyed the scene. I said to the Officer, “I think that’s the guy we should be talking to.  It turns out the workers hadn’t covered the dynamite properly before igniting it!

A few weeks later we were taking Estelle to Bible College in St. Catherines, Ontario. The morning we were to leave and come back to Laval, we stopped at Tim’s for some coffee.  We ordered our breakfast and sat next to the window.  We like sitting beside windows!  As we began to drink our coffee on this quiet, peaceful morning, into the parking lot comes a little Suzuki Tracker, full tilt!  It never slowed a bit and slammed right into the window opposite from where Esther and I were sitting just one table away, shattering it from top to bottom! We just looked at each other and I said, “What in the world is going on?”  Once again it was like something was trying to scare us and to cripple us with fear.

In the same year we had an encounter with a very troubled girl in Montreal whose name was Rosa-lita.  Sometime when you have time I’ll tell you that story.  It was unbelievable!  It still gives me “shivers” when I think about it!

Throughout 1999 this sort of thing was happening often, until we were in prayer one day and the Lord showed us that these were just spirits that were trying to distract us from what God had called us to do.  If the enemy of your soul can distract you with fear, it will cripple your efforts.  Once we understood what we were dealing with, we then took authority over it through prayer and it subsided.  Now, when things like this happen, we immediately recognize what it is and we command it to GET OUT!

I recall reading a story as told by Smith Wigglesworth some time ago when he was being visited by the devil one night. Smith had gone to bed when all of a sudden he heard a noise downstairs, so he took his lantern and went down to investigate the noise. He found that Satan had manifested himself and was sitting in his rocking chair. Smith's reaction was one that we all should have. He looked at the devil and said, "Oh, it's just you.". . . blew out the lamp and went back to bed. Smith was always nonchalant in these types of situations, which would normally disturb most Christians. He knew he was more powerful than the devil. He had to be; he had the Holy Spirit living in him! There was no reason for him to fear something that was less powerful than he was.

Here’s how the Apostle Paul talked about this, “And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” Acts 20:22-24

And then one of my favourite scriptures says, “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.”

The Message Bible says, Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that's where life starts. Don't talk out of both sides of your mouth; avoid careless banter, white lies, and gossip. Keep your eyes straight ahead; ignore all sideshow distractions. Watch your step, and the road will stretch out smooth before you. Look neither right nor left; leave evil in the dust.  Proverbs 4:23-27 The Message

You may be bothered by "sideshow distractions" today with things that can be very un-nerving. My word for you today is....Be unmovable!  Be steadfast!  Don’t look to the left or the right!  Stay focussed on your personal calling!  God will protect you! SRR

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ON HEALING.... June 7, 2012

Today Esther and I are in Saint Catherines, Ontario visiting Estelle and Mark and four of our grandchildren. Murielle, their oldest who is now six, just crawled up beside me and in her soft little voice said, "Grampy, can you tell me another story?" I said, "Sure, sweety pie!" The story I told her went something like this....

Estelle   2 yrs old

As I look at your mommy, who is raising four small children, I am remembering it was way back in 1989 and we were pastoring a little country church in Springfield, New Brunswick. Estelle was always singing her little songs. Whether it was in her bedroom or in the back seat of our car, it seems she was always singing. I recall sometimes it was only a single line that she would repeat over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over...well, you get the picture!  All of a sudden, one day, Estelle became very sick with a severely infected throat. She was only 8 years old. She was crying. She couldn’t swallow. She couldn’t eat. And the pain she was experiencing was unbearable. Her throat was literally swollen shut!  


I recall that day when we took her to the Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital in Fredericton, New Brunswick. As we entered the Emergency we met a nurse who escorted us to a small exam room. A Doctor quickly came in and asked Estelle to open her mouth. Without hesitation he said, “Your daughter has acute tonsillitis. I’m calling Surgery to prepare for an emergency tonsillectomy.”  My heart sunk as I thought about my little girl having to have an operation.  I remembered years ago hearing a nurse’s assistant that had worked in an Operating Room explain to me how horrible a tonsillectomy was. She said, “If you can ever avoid having tonsils out...AVOID IT!! Just then a nurse came into the room with a tray carrying several vials and syringes.  I knew what was about to happen. She was there to draw blood. Without saying anything, I walked out of the little exam room and walked down the hallway until I saw another room that was empty.  I remember going in and shutting the door. I began to cry and talk to the Lord.  I said, “God, you healed me when I was just a baby of paralysis and I know you can heal my little girl’s throat. Please, Lord, don’t let her have to have this operation!”  I was so desperate as I prayed.  After about three or four minutes I walked back to the room where Estelle and my wife were and just as I got back in the room, the doctor came in and said these exact words, “I’ve changed my mind. We’re not going to operate! I’ve decided to just give her a prescription instead!” It was unbelievable! I was so relieved. I know my jaw dropped as I heard what he said. I knew then that God was doing something and it could only be GOOD!  We went back to our car and I told my wife and Estelle where I had gone when I left them in the exam room and I said, “I was praying for Estelle and I believe God heard my prayer!” In just a few days she was back to normal! To this day, Estelle has never had to have her tonsils removed!  And oh yes!....She is still a beautiful singer!...now singing ALL the lines of the song! I'm so glad she doesn't sing the same line over, and over, and over........Praise the Lord!!

God still answers prayer no matter how great or how small the need is.  He is my Healer! When we pray in faith something happens in the Spirit! Be confident that God hears you today as you pray for someone who needs a healing!! James 5:16b says, “.....pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” SRR

ON THE MIRACLE ROAD... June 6, 2012

Ever since I was a young boy I have heard my dad tell of the miracle that happened when I was born.  I shall tell it in my own words and from my recollection of the story that I heard my dad tell so often.

Steven Ray Roach

I was born in 1959 on March the 9^th at Gould Memorial Hospital in Presque Isle, Maine.  My mom had a very hard time giving birth. I guess you could say, the Doctor and I had a wrestling match the day I was born!  He won! But the complications we experienced caused me to be paralyzed. My mom said, recently, that she had been speaking with a nurse about a year ago that was on duty the night I was born and she said to her it was the most horrifying childbirth she had ever witnessed!  As you can imagine, it was a very difficult time for my very young parents. I told someone one time that dad was so young when I was born that I always thought my dad was actually my brother because we were so close in age!

The prognosis was not good.  The Doctor said to my dad, “There is really nothing we can do to help your son. It is just an unfortunate thing that has happened.”  My mom and dad were very distraught! The nurses began to teach my mom how to feed me with the bottle, working my mouth and jaws so that I could ingest milk.  

As a young boy my dad was raised in Oakfield, Maine and attended the Baptist Sunday School and my mom attended the Apostolic Church in Mars Hill, Maine, pastored by Dennis Barnes.  So, both my parents had a knowledge of God. But it was during this time that they both realized how much they needed God more than ever before.  My dad would tell how he knelt down beside my crib one day and prayed, “God, if You’re really real and You will heal my son, I will do anything for You!”  God took him at his word!  I remember him saying that it was only a few days later that I began to come out of the paralysis and eventually I was COMPLETELY HEALED! It was an undeniable miracle! That was the turning point for my mom and dad.  Dad gave his heart totally to the Lord with a desire to fulfill his end of the bargain. Dad had said, “God....I will do anything for You!”

Dad became very involved in the church on the corner of Silver and Main in Mars Hill and one day he was baptised through the ice in the frog pond across the street from the church. God gloriously filled him with the Holy Spirit! Dad was the type of person that when he did something, he would put his whole heart into it! It wasn’t very long until mom and I and dad were on our way to St. Paul, Minnesota where dad began his Bible School training at Apostolic Bible Institute. After college, my dad had a very successful pastoral ministry pastoring churches in several parts of the country for 46 years!  So many times I recall him telling the story of my childbirth and how it was the turning point in his life.  Because of dad and mom’s decision to follow the Lord, they raised a family of five children in a strong Christian environment.  Each of us was dads “favorite” and all of us are serving the Lord today.  All five of us are involved to some capacity of ministry in the work of the Lord.  Jason and his wife, Dana, and three girls are pastoring the church where my dad pastored in Brockville, Ontario. Joel and his wife, Misty, and their two daughters are pastoral assistants to John and Jody Genn who are pastoring a church in Lone Grove, Oklahoma. My younger sister, Rene, serves as a church secretary. She and her husband, Donnie and their two children are an integral part of their church in Wright City, Missouri.  And Esther and I are planting a new church in Brownsburg, Quebec. I thank God for our family!

Everyone comes to a crossroads at some point in their life where they need to make a decision.  It’s a point where you totally sell out to God, or you simply walk the other way.  Mom and dad could have done things so much differently.  They could have turned away from God in bitterness rather than turn toward Him.  I have often wondered what would have been the outcome of our family if they had made that decision to walk the other road. I dread the thought! I am so glad they turned to the Lord!

For someone, today, who is at a crossroads, I encourage you to turn to Him with all your heart.  Your family is depending on you to make the right choice!  Just do it and watch the miracles unfold in your life on the MIRACLE ROAD!  You will never regret it!!  SRR

ON REINFORCEMENTS ARE ON THE WAY... June 5, 2012

Estelle, Esther, Steve  1981
Campbellton, NB

It was 1980 and we were pastoring the Pentecostal Church in Wilson’s Beach, Campobello. I was 21 years old. It was a great place to live and work for the Lord with only ONE drawback!  I remember it like yesterday. It was the first year we were there and right after Labor Day I was driving down the Island and noticed something very strange.  All the local businesses seemed to be having a problem with windows being broken.  Every business we passed, we noticed that there was someone outside putting boards over the broken windows. Then I noticed one business and I could see that the windows weren’t broken yet there was someone boarding those ones up too. I thought, “That’s strange!” Then I realized, they’re not boarding up broken windows, they must be preparing for one of those hurricanes that I had heard the Islanders talk about.  But I was wrong yet again!  I remember stopping at a place and I asked, “What are you doing?” The man replied, “Boarding up windows!” Then he kinda looked at me with that, “that’s a dumb question to ask” look.  I said, “Yes, I can see that, but WHY are you boarding up the windows?” He explained that they were boarding the windows up for the winter months because tourist season was finished and many people only lived on the island during the summer months and would head south for the winter.  I said, “Oh! I see.”  Now this was something that I hadn’t even thought of.  But I soon learned how deserted the island could be in the winter.

Now folks, I have to tell you, "That was one quiet winter on that island!"

Anyway, I told you that to tell you this. The following year I received a phone call asking if I would be interested in going to Campbellton, New Brunswick to continue the work that Brother Harry Lewis had already started. I would be joining the Home Missions team and would be under the Mission 1000 program that had been created by my Dad, Brother Raymond Roach. Mission 1000 was a Home Missionary finance program designed to support several church planters full time on the field. Things came together quite quickly and we resigned the church in Campobello.  We loved the people and the church and the island villagers.  They were good to us!  

We were so excited about this new adventure! Mom and Dad were only an hour away in the city Bathurst, New Brunswick which was nice too.  Dad had already planted a new church there and had built a Mobile Chapel which I had helped him build a few years earlier.  It wasn’t long until I, too, wanted a Chapel just like Dads for the Work of the Lord in Campbellton.  I found a mobile home that had been stripped down to just a flatbed and after looking it over realized this would be a great start for a new Mobile Chapel.  It was 14’ X 70’.  My Dad checked it out with me and agreed that it would be ideal.  On his advice, I bought the flatbed for $1,400. and was able to buy enough material to frame the walls and close them in. It was during that time that some adverse things happened and the Mission 1000 program came to an abrupt end.  I remember the day that Dad called the Missions Team together in Edmundston to let us know that there would be no cheque this month.  I was devastated!  I wondered, What will we do?  How will I afford to live?  I recall that it wasn’t but a few days later that Dad called to tell me that he and mom were moving to Nova Scotia.  He asked me what I was going to do strongly suggesting that I should think about moving somewhere else.  I said, “Dad, I can’t leave here! I have an 11 month old baby. We have a nice home that we are renting. Plus, I’m right in the middle of building the Chapel!  And I can’t just up and leave!"  Once again my heart sunk because I couldn’t understand why all this was happening! Deep loneliness and discouragement began to set in. I found a job at a local bicycle shop building and maintaining bikes.  But it wasn’t enough money to sustain us. I needed some reinforcements and I needed them now! We ended up leaving the beautiful home we were renting on Dover Street because we simply didn’t have enough money. One of our neighbours offered us a pop-up tent trailor to live in so we moved into a camper for the summer.

As we lived in the camper, I continued to build the Chapel.  My wife’s brother, Vincent, came up to give me a hand. He was a great blessing! I remember the day he and I worked so hard building the first 70 foot wall.  We built it in two 35 foot sections and by the end of the day we were able, with the help of Esther, to stand the wall and get it braced! 70 feet is a long wall!! That night a strong thunder storm with heavy winds ripped through Campbellton and when we came back to the Chapel site in the morning, the wall that we had worked so hard to build had fallen outward onto the ground!  What a 70 foot mess! Much of the wall was destroyed and had to be completely rebuilt. That was the day I "lost it!"  My poor brother in law, Vincent, was in the wrong place at the wrong time. As I was so overwhelmed with grief I took my hammer and smashed it against one of the 2X4 braces. The 2X4 went flying across the floor and hit Vincent in the arm. There happened to be a 4”spike protruding out of the board and it left a 6”gash in Vincent’s arm! I was more devastated than ever!!  Now someone was paying the price for my own discouragement and anger!  I literally felt sick to my stomach as I saw the blood pour from his arm.  I would never intentionally hurt anyone!  I think he has forgiven me but I’m sure there is still a scar that reminds him of that day.  Sorry Vince!!

Once again I was so distraught but we were determined to tough it out! Money was very low but we were determined! There were a few faithful churches who sent money designated directly to us.  For that we are so thankful!

During that time I recall receiving word from Brother Harry Lewis that he was putting together a crew of men to give me a hand to finish closing in the Chapel.  I was so happy. I had the four walls standing and sheathed when they arrived.  He sent the crew of men over from Perth, New Brunswick to do the roof and that was such a great encouragement!  No one will ever know just how thankful Esther and I were to have the roof sheathed and shingled!  It was beautiful! Thank you Brother Lewis for the reinforcement!! 

The next hurdle was the electrical and we had no idea how we would be able to do it.  And didn’t we receive a call from Brother Colby Churchill in Hatfield Point and he said, "We are providing the money for the electrical and we are sending Brother Murray Urquhart up to do the work." Brother Urquhart and his wife came to Campbellton and did all the wiring.  Once again, we felt the relief of reinforcements! 

The fall came and we knew we couldn’t live in the camper for the winter so we divided the Mobile Chapel into two sections with a wall. In one end we built a small apartment for Esther and I and our daughter, Estelle.  It had one bedroom and the rest was an open concept with a tiny bathroom in the corner. It was November, and winter in Campbellton was extremely cold as I recall. We had no insulation in the walls or the ceiling. We had a wood stove and someone had donated some firewood for us. I can’t remember how much wood we went through but it was substantial as you can imagine.   I remember that our roof was the only ‘bare’ roof in the neighbourhood! The snow had come and we kept the fire burning full time to keep us warm.  The snow would melt as fast as it hit our roof!  

Again, a feeling of despair overwhelmed me as I knew the coldest months were yet to come.  We needed reinforcements and we needed them now! Sure enough! God sent a “Good Samaritan”!  I call him that because I know if it hadn’t been for this man, we would have never survived the winter!  His name was James Underwood from Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Brother Underwood worked for Canada Post and was in our area doing some work for a few days.  He called us and wanted to stop by for a visit.  When he arrived I think he was shocked to think we were endeavouring to live in an uninsulated home in Canada in the middle of winter with an eleven month old baby.  Before he left our home that day, he told us to make arrangements to go to the building supply store and get whatever we needed to get the Chapel insulated and gyprocked!  He went to the store and paid the bill before going back to Halifax.  Once again we felt the awesome blessing of reinforcements!  I remember the incredible difference it made in our heating once the walls and ceiling were insulated. Then my wife’s sister and brother-in-law, Helen and Donnie Kennedy, came to Campbellton to help install the gyprock.  Donnie also gave me a crash course on how to build kitchen cupboards. They turned out quite nice!

My heart is so full today that now 32 years later, I see the “big picture” and how God sustained us during that time and how He sent REINFORCEMENTS just in the nick of time...EVERY TIME!
It blesses us to see that the church in Campbellton is still going strong today!!

There may be someone today reading this, who may be walking a difficult road and you are wondering, “How will I ever make it through? I wish there were some reinforcements!”  I need to say to you, “Don’t lose hope!  Don’t EVER lose hope!!  Reinforcements are on the way!”  Not only will the Lord send reinforcements but He is faithful and He will RESTORE many times over for the sacrifices you make for Him!

Today Esther and I look back and realize how God has blessed us many times over for the sacrifices we made early in our ministry!  Just remember, when you think it’s too hard, REINFORCEMENTS ARE ON THE WAY   SRR!    

ON THE POWER OF NOISE..... June 4, 2012

Recently my daughter, Michelle, was standing at the kitchen sink in her apartment when she began to share with Esther and I a story that she had just heard at the church in Laval. I shall never forget it! It went kinda like this...

Even though there are those who deny that the “Holocaust” ever happened, history records the events that occurred when 6 million European Jews were annihilated at the hands of a ruthless, murdering dictator, Adolf Hitler. The Nazis' persecution and genocide of millions of precious people was carried out in stages. There were even laws that were written and enforced to totally remove the Jews from civil society.  The Nuremberg Laws were enacted in Nazi Germany years before the outbreak of World War II. Concentration Camps were set up and prisoners were subjected to slave labour until they died of exhaustion or disease.  There were units established called Einsatzgruppen that murdered Jews in mass shootings! Others were carried away on freight trains to extermination camps where, if they even survived the journey, most were systematically killed in gas chambers.  It was during this horrifying time that there was a little church that would hold it’s regular Sunday meetings.  It so happened that the church was situated near one of the railroads that carried these people to the concentration camps. As the congregation would gather and conduct their services, every so often there would be a train with freight cars full of Jews that would pass by. Inside the church, the congregation could hear the wailing and screams from the people in the train cars being taken away. This went on for quite some time until the leaders of the church spoke about it and how it was so disruptive to their meetings. In a specially called meeting to discuss the situation, they collectively came to a decision. And here’s is what they decided to do.  During the next service everyone would be prepared so that whenever a train would pass by, the people would simply play their music stronger and sing louder.... to drown out the screams! We’ll turn up the volume so we can’t hear those that are in torment!

As my wife and I listened to her story, all three of us began to sob there in the kitchen as we thought about that awful solution just so the ‘church people’ wouldn’t hear the horrific sounds of people heading to their demise.  We also began thinking of the church, the world, and this day that we live in.  It seems that it is so easy for us to be in our comfortable homes, cars and churches that we forget that we have a world of people passing by us in their proverbial ‘freight train’ headed for an eternity without God. Often it’s easier to simply turn up the NOISE so we cannot hear their cries of desperation.  The noise can be as simple as our own busyness and we become too busy to hear the cry of the lost. There are many ways to create 'noise'. 

May our hearts break inside of us today with compassion for lost souls. Please don’t turn up the volume this week!  But LISTEN..... listen to the cry of those you see at the mall, at work, or on the street and then do what’s right. PRAY..... pray for the lost and usher them right into the throne room of heaven before the very Throne of God. Ask the Lord to place people strategically in your pathway so that you can become an instrument in His hands to lead them to Calvary!  Remove the NOISE so you can hear the cry of someone’s heart!  There is a song that goes like this; Lord lay some soul upon my heart, And love that soul through me, And may I ever do my part to win that soul for Thee!   SRR