DAYS OF HEAVEN ON EARTH: REVIVAL IN WESTERN CANADA

Lillian Yeomans (1861-1942) was born in Calgary, Alberta Canada and grew up to become one of the brightest and most inspiring teachers of faith and healing in the 20th century. Her books on faith and healing are some of the most inspiring, faith-building writings to be found on the topic. When I was battling sickness many years ago, I found her books unmatched for stirring my heart with faith and hope.

Both her father and her mother were medical doctors and Lillian received her M.D. from the University of Michigan in 1882 at the age of 21. After graduation she set up her medical practice with her mother in Winnipeg, Manitoba. However, she over-extended herself in her work and to relieve the stress she began taking morphine. She became horribly addicted to the drug and after seeking deliverance through Christian Science without the slightest success, she finally turned to her Bible.

Healed from Drug  Addiction

As she read, hope began to rise in her heart. During this time she heard of the ministry of John Alexander Dowie and his healing home in Chicago, IL. The testimonies from there of marvelous healings stirred her heart. Finally, she finally decided to make the trip accompanied by her sister Amy, who was a registered nurse. At the Dowie Healing Home in Chicago she was miraculously delivered from the drug addiction and her life was never the same.

Lillian returned to Winnipeg but began moving away from the practice of medicine to a dynamic ministry of teaching, faith and healing. She authored several books on the subject of faith and healing, and her testimony is found in the book, Healing from Heaven. She ministered in many part of Canada and the U.S. and ended her life teaching in Life Bible College, the college founded by Aimee Semple McPherson and part of Angelus Temple in Los Angeles, California.

Shortly after her healing from drug addiction, Lillian along with her sister and mother, moved from Winnipeg to Calgary, Alberta. From Calgary, Lillian (often with her sister) traveled throughout western Canada and into the United States teaching God’s word, emphasizing God’s will to heal, and praying for the sick. She saw tremendous results with thousands saved, healed and baptized in the Holy Spirit.

She tells of one incident that is particularly stirring. She and Amy were invited to hold meetings in a rural part of Alberta. She said, “We seemed to have to pray the car along every foot of the way, partly because of the bad roads and partly because the car was none too good.” They finally arrived to the area and began having meetings in homes and schools and “had the joy of seeing God move in a blessed way.”

Finally, they felt it was time to return to Calgary and bade everyone farewell and “told them to have the ‘famous car’ ready for an early departure the following day.”

A Miraculous Healing & Revival in Alberta

That evening a family, who had not attended any of the meetings and were not Christians, came to the home where they were staying. During their visit, Lillian noticed that one of the children had a pronounced squint in one of his eyes. Lillian informed the parents that it was not God’s will for their child to have such an infirmity and, if they wished, she would pray for him.

They consented and Lillian prayed but saw no immediate change. The next morning, however, before they finished breakfast, the father returned to report that they were all amazed at the change in the child’s eye. He went on to plead with Lillian to continue the meetings and promised to bring his entire family, adding that they were all ready to make an unconditional surrender of their lives to Jesus.

Deciding that this was an indication from the Lord to continue the meetings, it was announced that the meeting would be held in the upper room of the host’s barn that same evening. They announced that “only those who were serious about seeking the baptism in the Holy Spirit were to come, and no others.”

Later that evening as she was walking from the home to the barn, she met a man passing on the road. She invited him to the meeting but he informed her that he was too bad of a person to attend a church meeting. He told Lillian that his name was John and that his wife was coming to the meeting, but repeated the excuse that he was such a bad person that it would not be right for him to come.

Lillian urged him to come, telling him that he was the very kind of person that Jesus came to save. John sheepishly decided he would come, and I will let Lillian tell what happened in her own words.

A Mighty Work of the Holy Spirit

The loft of the barn was spacious and clean with new hay spread along the floor and lighted by lanterns hung around the walls. 

John knelt on the outside of the ring where the shadows were deep as the lantern light hardly penetrated to that distance. I wondered how he was getting along and intended going to pray with him; but before we had been on our knees many minutes, the power fell and a sister—not John’s wife—received her Baptism. As she was kneeling next to me she fell over on me and I could not get away.

When John’s wife actually heard this sister praising in other tongues, she seemed to grow desperate in her longing and began with all her might to call upon God for the Baptism.

I was encouraging her when suddenly, as a flash of lightning, the power of God struck John where he was kneeling. It bolted him upright at the edge of the group, and felled him to the floor with a crash so mighty that it seemed as though it must pull the building down. As he lay there under the power, which moved and manipulated every part of his body with such force and lightening-like rapidity that the people thought he was having an awful attack of convulsions. Indeed, it was with great difficulty that I calmed their fears. At last the Spirit began to speak through him, first in English describing the vision he was having of Calvary. And after that he spoke with awful power and majesty in a new tongue.

His wife was so dumfounded when she heard him that she said to me, “He’s got the Baptism before me and he was so bad. Perhaps I need to be saved from my goodness more than he needed to be saved from his badness.”

And I said, “Perhaps you do. Just repent of everything and cast yourself on Jesus.”

And just then, to the amazement of all, John raised himself to his knees and came along to us, and placing himself in front of his wife, he preached the most wonderful sermon on Calvary I ever heard.

“Oh look away from yourself, bad or good,” he cried. “See where He hangs bearing your sins away forever and making your peace with God—everlasting peace, sure as Jehovah’s throne.”

It was thrilling. He seemed to see Jesus and to be able, through the power of the Spirit, to make us see Him too.

As he kept pointing her to Calvary, the power caught another sister up as though in a whirlwind and she danced all around the loft lighter than a feather—she had never seen dancing in the Spirit—praising and singing meantime in Gaelic. Later the language changed to High German, which I had studied for years and understood a little; and she was unable to speak anything else for a couple of days. When spoken to in English, she replied in German. She had no knowledge of the language.

A sister who was taking charge of her baby—he had awakened by this time—asked for his bottle and she danced all around the loft looking for it but unable to stop dancing and singing.

Meantime the power was falling on others and there were days of heaven on earth, and the salvations and baptisms came about through the healing of the child’s eye. It is pretty hard to separate healing from salvation, isn’t it? For my part I have given up trying.[i]

Concluding Thought

May our hearts be stirred to believe God once again for “days of heaven on earth” as Lillian described those times. She was, of course, alluding to Deuteronomy 11:21 where God exhorted Israel to be careful to keep His word and teach it to their children; that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord swore unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

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[i] Yeomans, Healing From Heaven, 117-19.

PRAYER IS THE KEY

How Canada was Once Impacted by a Powerful Revival of Prayer

A powerful Prayer Revival erupted in Hamilton, Ontario in the fall of 1857 and spread to other parts of Canada. This prayer revival resulted in thousands turning to Christ and the revival and renewal of many churches. Entire towns were impacted.

Prayer meetings were begun in Hamilton after a visit from Phoebe Palmer and her husband, Walter, in the fall of that year. The Palmer’s were from New York City where a powerful prayer revival had recently begun after a layman began a prayer meeting in the Dutch Reformed Church on Fulton Street in that city. Within a short time that prayer meeting had spread all over the U.S.

As in the Fulton Street meeting, a spirit of prayer gripped the hearts of the people in Hamilton. They did not want to hear preaching; they wanted to pray. In answer to their prayers, God began to work mightily in the city. In just a few days around 400 people were converted. The November 5, 1857 issue of the New York Christian Advocate and Journal reported on the “Revival Extraordinary” in Hamilton;

The work is taking its range with persons of all classes. Men of low degree and men of high estate for wealth and position; old men and maidens, and even little children, can be seen humbly kneeling together, pleading for grace. The mayor of the city, with other persons of like position, are not ashamed to be seen bowed at the altar of prayer beside the humble servant.[1]

The revival spread as the Spirit of God was poured out in response to the prayers of His people. Conversions were multiplied. The following year, in 1858, A. B. Earle, a Baptist evangelist, reported that he was one of five ministers baptizing new believers simultaneously because of the massive numbers. Concerning the awakening in one particular Canadian village, Earle wrote, “I went out at midnight near my boarding-house and could distinctly hear the voice of prayer in the houses, in the barns, in the fields, in the streets.”[2]

God will touch Canada again if He can find a people who will pray and obey. At a critical moment in Israel's history when the nation had strayed far from God and His ways and was facing destruction, God said through Ezekiel, And I sought for anyone among them who would repair the wall and stand in the breach before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one (Ezekiel 22:20; NRSV). God was looking for someone who would pray and intercede on behalf of the land. Sadly, He found no one. May God, at this time in history, find in us a people willing to stand in the breach in intercessory prayer on behalf of the land.

Amelia Le Sueur Yeomans: Pioneering Physician & Social Reformer

Amelia Le Sueur (1842-1913), physician, social reformer and devout Christian, was born in Quebec City, province of Quebec in Canada on March 29, 1842 to Peter and Barbara Le Sueur. Her father was a civil servant and, for a time, served as secretary of the Civil Service Commission. Her parents made sure that she and her brother, William, received a good education both at home and in what was known as the Provincial School. William went on to become president of the Royal Society of Canada and a well-known writer.[1]

Marriage & Family

On October 16, 1860, at the age of 18, Amelia married Augustus A. Yeomans, a physician from Belleville, Ontario. Shortly thereafter they moved to Calagry, Alberta where Augustus practiced as a surgeon and where their first daughter, Lilian, was born the following year. When the Civil War broke out in the United States in 1861, Augustus decided to respond to an urgent appeal from the Union Army for his expertise as a surgeon. This required a move to the United States, including a brief time in Washington D.C.  After the war ended in 1864, Augustus continued to serve as a military surgeon in the U.S. Army. This meant that the family, which now included a second daughter, Charlotte, spent much in the United States where they had legal residence. Their first love, however, was always Canada.

She Pursues Her Dream

When Augustus died in 1878, Amelia decided to pursue her dream of becoming a physician. Because no medical school in Canada would accept women students, she joined her daughter, Lilian, at the University of Michigan School of Medicine. Upon her graduation with an M.D. in 1883, she joined Lilian who had preceded her to Winnipeg, Manitoba. In Winnipeg they practiced together specializing in midwifery and diseases of women and children. They were the first women physicians in Winnipeg.[2] In 1890 Charlotte, who was now a registered nurse, joined them in Winnipeg.

Involved in the Suffrage Movement

In her medical practice in Winnipeg, Amelia observed first-hand the plight of women because of their degradation and marginalization in society. She also personally experienced discrimination because of her sex and because, as a doctor, she was functioning in a role that had traditionally been reserved for men. As a result, she became convinced that only by obtaining the right to vote would the discrimination against women be alleviated. She thus became a champion of equal rights for women and a leader in the suffrage movement in Manitoba and Canada. A tireless worker, she helped found the Winnipeg Humane Society in 1894 and the Equal Franchise Association, which was committed to empowering women.

Not everyone appreciated her efforts. In fact, there was much opposition.  Not only were most men opposed to women’s suffrage and convinced it would cause the disintegration of the family, most women were apathetic or hostile to the concept. This, however, did not deter Amelia. She continued relentlessly in her efforts to convince both men and women of the advantages that society would accrue when women were given the right to vote. 

On February 9, 1893, Amelia served as premier of a mock parliament at the Bijou Theatre in Winnipeg. This staged parliament was organized by the suffragists of Manitoba for the purpose of bringing the suffrage issue to the attention of the general public and the Manitoba legislature. During the proceedings, Amelia argued that the right of women to vote was necessary “for the sake of both justice and expediency” as well as “the best progress of the commonwealth.” For a time it appeared that they had effectively influenced the provincial legislature when a resolution, giving women the vote, was voted upon and declared to have passed. The recorded vote, however, fell short of the needed majority.

She Tackles Other Social Issues

Winnipeg was booming when the Yeomans settled there in the early 1880s. Everyone traveling west stopped in Winnipeg and many decided stay. Between 1881 and 1901 the population increased from 8000 to over 42,000. This sort of growth also brought with it the sort of vice that seems to go with boomtowns. At one time, it seemed there was a saloon on every corner and houses of prostitution abounded. As a result, Winnipeg was known as one of the wickedest cities in Canada.[3]

Observing first-hand the domestic violence perpetrated on women and the role of alcohol in this abuse, Amelia came to see alcohol as the symbol of the deterioration of the home and society. She, therefore, joined the Christian Women’s Temperance Union of Canada and served as vice-president of that organization. She saw the success of the temperance movement closely linked to the success of the suffrage movement because women, “the protectors of community morals, would vote against the liquor traffic.”[4]

Amelia’s social activism was not limited to the temperance and suffrage issues. She forcefully addressed the problems faced by non-English-speaking immigrants, the wretched state of prisons and the deplorable conditions in the clothing factories where women worked for a pittance. She also confronted prostitution and excoriated the men who kept the vice going by their participation. One daily newspaper reported her speech to a gathering for “men only” in which vividly described the ravages of venereal disease in women patients whom she had treated; “Young women made to suffer through the wickedness of men, their young lives ruined, while their betrayers moved untarnished through the ranks of society.”[5]

Amelia believed in reform in all areas including the home. Although she was not anti-male and reached out to both men and women, she obviously felt that men had relinquished their responsibilities at home, being led away by alcohol, prostitution and other social ills and distractions. As far as she was concerned, this made them ill suited for provincial or national leadership. “If men spent more time at home,” she said, “they would be more fitted to remedy the social ills of the nation.” But as things stood at present, “it was women who were most suited to govern the nation.”[6] These were strong words for the 1890s.

Making a Difference

The influence of Amelia and other reformers grew until city officials began to take needed action and the police began to make arrests and issue more than token fines. Amelia led the way in this reform. One writer said of her, “She enlisted the help of the city fathers, pressured the police, wrote to newspapers and was always ready to speak to any group that could be gathered to hear her.” Through these efforts the character of the city began to change for the good. As one writer said, “The days of Winnipeg’s wickedness were waning.”[7]

Her Faith in God

Although Amelia did not wear her faith on her sleeve, it was obvious that she spoke and acted from a deep sense of faith in God and from a Christian world-view. A devout Anglican, she believed equal rights for women to be a part of God’s plan for human society. To have the vote was to have a voice in building that society according to God’s plan. She once said, “Christ, when on earth, never gave any example to the men to keep the women silent, for many women followed and helped Christ while on earth.” The respect she gained because of her faith and integrity was highlighted by one newspaper report that a prisoner, condemned to die, had requested “Dr. Yeomans” as his spiritual adviser rather than a priest.[8]

A Powerful Speaker

Amelia was a very effective and popular public speaker. One writer said, “You didn’t fall asleep when Amelia Yeoman’s was giving a lecture. And you weren’t allowed to sleep afterwards either. Dr. Amelia’s speeches were given to stir you into action, and she saw that there was action.”[9] The Calgary Daily Herald called her “a most eloquent and effective speaker “ and declared that to listen to her was to “arouse the intellectual ambition, to enrich the mind and enlighten the life.” She was in much demand as a spokesperson for temperance, suffrage and other issues including her faith in Christ. Her daughter Lilian, who became a popular author and speaker in both the U.S. and Canada, once said, “I can always get a hearing in Canada, for people think I am my own mother and come to my meetings.”[10]

Her Later Years & Legacy

In 1904 Amelia and her daughter, Charlotte, relocated to Calgary, Alberta where she had lived for a short time after her marriage. Two years later, in 1906, Lillian joined them. Both Amelia and Lilian were, by this time, in much demand as public speakers and they set aside their medical practices and concentrated on advancing social issues and their Christian faith. Amelia lived out the remainder of her life in Calgary where she died at the age of 71 on April 23, 1913. Her funeral was held at the Church of the Redeemer in Calgary. At the time of her death she was Vice-President of the Dominion WCTU, honorary Vice-President of the Ottawa Equal Suffrage Society and honorary President of the Calgary Suffrage Association.

Although she did not live to see women obtain the right to vote in Canada, there is no question that her tireless efforts played a major role in the Manitoba legislature, on January 27, 1916, granting women the right to vote. Other provinces followed suit until the enfranchisement of women was a reality across Canada. For this we can thank God and Amelia Yeomans. Upon hearing of her death, her friend and fellow suffragist, E. Cora Hind, declared,

""There should be a life-sized portrait of Dr. Amelia Yeomans placed in the city hall [of Winnipeg] for it is very questionable if any worshipful mayor whose portrait now adorns the walls ever did one tithe as much for the real up building of the city.[11]

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[1] The Manitoba Historical Society, www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/yeomans_a.shtml.

[2] University of Manitoba, Health Sciences Library, www.umanitoba.ca/libraries/health/resources/womhist/ayeomans.html.

[3] Carlotta Hacker, The Indomitable Lady Doctors, Halifax: Formac Publ., 2001), 91.

[4] Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, www.biographi.ca/index-e.html, Amelia Yeomans.

[5] Hacker, The Indomitable Lady Doctors, 89.

[6] Hacker, The Indomitable Lady Doctors, 90-91.

[7] Hacker, The Indomitable Lady Doctors, 91.

[8]  Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, www.biographi.ca/index-e.html, Amelia Yeomans.

[9] Hacker, The Indomitable Lady Doctors, 92.

[10] Yeomans, Balm of Gilead, 14.

[11] Hacker, The Indomitable Lady Doctors, 93.