Brought back to life

I was born in Ste. Rose du Lac, Manitoba, on January 19, 1936 and raised in Crane River. I went to school in Crane River up to Grade 4. Then I started working for local farmers. Later I moved to St. Boniface to work at Central Grain Company. There a man put bad Indian medicine on me and told me “You’re gonna die.” I didn’t believe him, but that day a severe pain started in my leg that continued for twenty years. The doctors could find nothing wrong with me but eventually, I had to quit my job and was drinking steadily.

I met my wife, Mary Fisher, in a hotel bar in Winnipeg. We were both alcoholics. We moved to Crane River and started a family. We had three children and decided we wanted to change our way of life instead of drinking all the time.

My wife came to know Jesus first in 1986 at the home of my nephew, Terry McDonald, during a gospel service there. Then on August 13, 1988, Mary and I got married.

I was still sneaking drinks. In 1991 I was willing to be baptized in Jesus’ name at Dog Creek, MB. At that time, alcohol was destroying my liver. God completely healed me. I got rid of my medication because I made up my mind that Jesus Christ would be my Doctor. Still today He is my Doctor. I also made up my mind to quit smoking cigarettes because my life was changed.

We started traveling to different places to fellowship with other Christians. We also started having our own gospel services in Crane River. A group of Christians there prayed about my leg pain. I stood up and raised my hands and everyone there heard a loud popping sound. The pain completely went away and I felt like I could run!

In 1993, we moved to White Dog, Ontario, where my wife had grown up. We both started to work at the greenhouse planting trees, a 15-minute drive from our home. We were both serving the Lord.

Then suddenly in February 1996, Mary got very sick. She was admitted to Kenora District Hospital. The doctors didn’t know what was wrong with her. She wasn’t getting any better so they transferred her to the ICU unit of the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg. Her diabetes was causing serious kidney problems.

We went back and forth from White Dog to Winnipeg to see her and pray for her. Then one night, two of my children and I went to a church service in White Dog. All of a sudden, a lady came into the church and yelled “You have to pray for Mary McDonald—she is very sick in Winnipeg!” So everyone in the church began praying for her to get better.

We didn’t know it, but at that time she had actually succumbed to her illness. But there was a Native preacher there in the hospital—I can’t recall his name—who told the doctors to bring her back and give her another chance. The doctors listened to him and hooked her back up to the life support equipment, working on her one at a time.

She was brought back to life! The hospital room was filled with laughter and joy. The holy presence of the Holy Spirit was in that room. The doctors and nurses and the preacher had witnessed a miracle! When God brought Mary back, I asked the Lord to extend her life. She stayed in the hospital for four-and-a-half months before being discharged in July 1996.

Some time later, I had a dream while we were still living in White Dog. God spoke to me in my Saulteaux language: “Kiizeebeckeg. Weba we shkakeeyen.” (“Go in water baptism. The end of the world is near.”) I shared my dream with the people in White Dog. One man asked me “What are you going to do if the end doesn’t come?” I told him “I am going to keep on serving the Living God!”

I am now 76 years young and still serving the Lord! God has given me a gift of feeling when someone is sick. If someone at a gospel service has heart trouble, I can feel that. Then I let them know what I feel and call up the person so that we can pray for them.

I was married to Mary for 18 years but we were together for 40 years. She passed away on December 24, 2006 at our home. It’s been five and a half years and I miss her, but I know that we will see each other again someday.

I will keep on playing my guitar and singing to the Lord. I always pray for my children and grandchildren, including everyone. It is good to serve the Living God.

For those who know Jesus as their Savior, I want to encourage you to go on serving the Lord. To those who do not, I say “Try Jesus! He’s the Only Way, the Truth and the Life.”

He has never failed me. He is coming soon. Trust in Him while you still have the chance.