A successful businessman turned missionary, John G. Lake pioneered revival work in South Africa and later founded the Spokane Healing Rooms in Washington State, where supporters reported many healings.
CORE CONVICTION
“The power of God is just as tangible as electricity. It obeys spiritual laws.”
LESSER-KNOWN FIRSTHAND ACCOUNT
During the catastrophic bubonic plague outbreak in South Africa in 1910, thousands were dying and colonial doctors were terrified to touch the bodies. Lake and his team volunteered to bury the deceased without masks or protective equipment. Baffled British doctors asked Lake what medicine he was taking to survive. Lake responded: "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. If you place the foam from a dying plague victim on my hand under a microscope, you will see the germs die immediately." The physicians performed the test: the microscopic bacteria died instantly upon touching Lake's skin.
HISTORICAL RECORDS
Between 1915 and 1920, supporters of the Spokane Healing Rooms reported more than 100,000 healings. The figure and related civic claims should be read as historical claims from the movement, not as independently verified medical totals.
Before going to Africa, Lake was a wealthy real estate and insurance executive who gave away his entire fortune, arriving in Johannesburg with no guaranteed salary.
In just five years on the mission field, Lake's apostolic team established 625 local churches and trained over 1,000 native ministers.
