Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 7
January 31, 1956
NUMBER 43, PAGE 15

On The Trail Of The "Faith-Healers"

G. F. Raines, Lebanon, Indiana

Mr. Yater Tant Box 980 Lufkin, Texas

Dear Brother Tant:

I have been intending to write you for the past several days.

Mr. L. W. Jones, the "healer" to whom you referred, came to Lebanon on schedule at 2:30 on a recent Sunday afternoon. As he was then engaged in a "revival" at Veedersburg, he was in Lebanon but one day.

As you mentioned in the paper, I had procured the services of a man with a glass eye who had agreed to enter the healing line. That day, however, he took a terrific headache, thus was unable to appear for his appointment.

Though our expectations were temporarily shattered, we were rewarded with a field day after all. The cases on which Mr. Jones tried his luck were as follows:

1. A girl with a scar on her face: She still has it!

2. Mr. Jones knew me and recognized me in the audience, so with this effort he started offering apologies. He told the girl it would probably go off later.

3. A boy with a speech impediment: He still has it, and just as much as ever. He was told at the outset to say "Praise the Lord." They prayed for him, and asked him to try again. Due to the nervous tension and excitement, his second effort was much worse than his first! Jones was becoming more embarrassed by the minute.

4. Boy in wheel-chair: He was put off till last. The healer's efforts with him prove him forever to be the faker and liar he is. He started by telling about working a similar cure over in Arizona or somewhere a long way off. Though the miracle workers prayed long and loud three times, the boy is still paralyzed from his waist down. He is in exactly the same shape he was when they prayed for him. Mr. Jones was the fourth healer who had attempted to cure him.

At the conclusion of his services for the day, Mr. Jones admitted failure! He made his case analogous to that of a doctor who gives the right medicine but still fails occasionally! As the meeting at Veedersburg was still in progress, I went over there the next day and wrote a detailed account of the activities which took place in Lebanon. This was published in the weekly paper of that city.

From today's Indianapolis Star I quote the following:

WOMAN DIES OF CANCER AFTER 'CURE'

Evansville, Ind. (Spl.) — A former Evansville woman, whose "miracle cure" of cancer after treatment by a faith healer was featured in a television movie here Sunday, died early yesterday in her Burbank (Cal.) home, 12 hours later, of cancer . . . . Early last June Mrs. Vonderscher saw a telecast of a service by Oral Roberts, a widely known evangelist. The next week, with her husband, she flew to Cincinnati and attended a Roberts service.

On her way home to Burbank she told relatives in Evansville that Roberts had treated her by the "laying on of hands" and prayer.

Mrs. Vonderscher's physician at the Pasadena Tumor Institute listed the cause of death as cancer.

The following is an exact copy of a letter recently received from the Tennessee Department of Safety:

Dear Sir:

I wish to advise that Evangelist A. A. Allen was arrested for drunken driving by Trooper John Watson on October 21, 1965.

Preliminary hearing was set a week later at General Sessions Court, Docket No. 12322, at which time his attorney, Mr. Ely, had his case passed until November 29, 1955, at which time the Judge required a $1,000 bond. On the date it was re-set November 29th, he forfeited said $1,000 bond as he did not appear.

Yours truly,

George Burdette, Captain Tennessee Highway Patrol Knoxville Troop "C"

I hope that all goes well with you and with your work.

Fraternally yours,

G. F. Raines