REMEMBERING 50 YEARS OF GOD'S FAITHFULNESS, PART 10

When a Billionaire Encountered the Power of the Holy Spirit

Shortly after planting the congregation in Sue’s hometown of Saint John, we decided to establish a Christian school for grades 1-12. We chose to use the Accelerated Christian Education curriculum commonly known as A.C.E. We began making arrangements to launch this school, which included Eddie attending a seminar in Lewisville, Texas for pastors and principles of new schools.

Knowing we needed an administrator and teachers for the school, we decided to invite a couple, Chuck and Madonna, whom we had met in Bible school in Dallas. Chuck was working in an A.C.E. school at the time and they seemed like the ideal couple to help us launch our school.

We were relieved when they accepted our invitation to move from Texas to Canada and work with us in the school. We knew that school tuition payments would provide a salary once school started, but they were going to need a place to live before school and there was no extra money in the accounts.

Sue and I were living in an apartment at the time, and we decided that if we purchased a duplex we could live in one end and Chuck and Madonna could live in the other end with their two children. It seemed like the ideal solution and I announced to our fledgling congregation that we were believing God for a duplex home for us and the new family that would be arriving in a few days.

I had a list of prayer needs that I was bringing before the Lord each day and I had written the word “house” on the list. One morning I was going down my prayer list, praying over each item. When I came to the word “house,” it seemed that my insides began to glow and I heard the Holy Spirit say, “You have a house.” I was elated and shared with Sue what I had just experienced and heard.

I also shared it with our congregation the very next Sunday morning. After the service, a man who was a realtor and had a construction company, came up to me and told me about a modular home company that had gone bankrupt that week. He said, “A duplex home that sold for $40,000.00 can now be purchased for $20,000.00.”

He went on to say that because of the equity in the house we would have no problem getting a loan from the bank. He also said, “I have a five-acre plot on which we can put the house.” I was elated and exclaimed, “God told me this week that we have a house!”

My mistake in this situation was that I did not take time to ask God if this was the house He had spoken to me about. We must never assume that we know the details of something God says to us. We must pray about everything. God tried to warn me, but I would not listen.

While I was talking with this man on one side of our small auditorium, Sue was on the other side weeping and praying in tongues. She was grieved in her spirit and finally came to us and said, “Something is not right here. I don’t feel good about this.”

However, I was so sure I had heard from God, that I pushed ahead with this man and his plan. It was a big mistake on my part. To make a long story short, the plan fell through and we had no place for Chuck and Madonna when they arrived.

We, therefore, turned our apartment over to this couple with the furniture and food in the refrigerator. We moved into the upstairs floor of the rented building where we were having our church services. There was a commode and sink but no bathtub or shower. Neither were there any kitchen appliances.

It was inconvenient and somewhat humiliating for I had announced to our congregation how God had said to me, “You have a house.” Now they knew we were camping upstairs without a house or even an apartment. God, however, is faithful and will always come through when our eyes are fixed on Him.

During a Thursday midweek service, a woman was there whom we had not met, and it was the only time she attended one of our services during the eight years we were there. God always has the right people at the right place and at the right time when we are trusting him. After the service she asked, “Are you and Sue looking for a place to live?”

I replied, “yes,” and she proceeded to tell me of a woman in Rothesay for whom she worked who was looking for someone to live in her home without cost. She said, “I cannot live in it for I have just moved in with my mother; but if you are interested, I will tell her about you and Sue and you can arrange to meet her.”

My mind perked up when I heard the word “Rothesay” for it was an exclusive area with many fine, luxurious home. We made contact with this woman who turned out to be the daughter-in-law of K.C. Irving who at that time—1982—was the third wealthiest man in the world with an estimated wealth of eight billion dollars. He was into oil, shipping, forestry and owned paper mills and gas refineries.

This woman, Joan, had just gone through a divorce with one of his billionaire sons after 20 years of marriage and was moving to the other side of the continent in British Columbia. We accepted her offer and moved into a luxurious home with eight bedrooms, five bathrooms, and fully furnished with expensive modern and antique furniture.

There was also a sauna and game room in the basement. It was rent free and all utilities were covered. In addition, a maid came in and cleaned twice per week, and a person looked after the grounds.

I got up before our congregation the next Sunday morning and told them what had happened. I then said to them, “This is the house the Lord was talking about.”

But as Sue and I have often said, “It is never about houses, land and cars; it is always about people.” And it turned out that God put us in that house because he was after the owner. He wanted to touch her life, and He positioned us for that to happen.

In the meantime, our Christian school had begun, and Chuck and Madonna were receiving an income from the tuitions. Wanting to be closer to the school, they had moved out of our apartment, leaving it empty, and rented a place near the school.

At the same time, we began to sense that we were to move out of the house and back to our apartment. So, when the owner informed us that she was coming back to her home for a visit, we went back to our apartment and arranged to meet with her while she was there.

As we drove out to meet with this woman on a Saturday afternoon in October, I noticed that Sue was quietly praying in tongues. It was the real thing and not something she had initiated. I sensed that she was praying for this woman, so I asked, “What are you praying about?” She replied, “I feel that I am praying for Joan.”

We arrived and found that Joan’s former sister-in-law, Jean, had joined us. Jean was married to another of the billionaire sons of old K.C. Irving. We had heard of her and knew that she was a Christian and attended a local Wesleyan Church.

We sat down on Joan’s back veranda and when Jean learned that we were pastors, she said, “I would like for us to pray for Joan before she leaves for British Columbia.” Sue was still experiencing the Holy Spirit flowing up from her innermost being and replied, “Yes, we want to pray but it is going to come out in tongues.”

We were sure that Joan, a nominal Presbyterian, knew nothing about praying in tongues and were not sure if Jean would be in agreement with it. Nonetheless, Jean replied, “That’s OK.”

Sue then burst forth with an utterance in tongues but this time it was not prayer; it was a message that needed to be interpreted (see I Corinthians 14). As Sue was speaking in tongues, I looked at Joan and her eyes seemed as big as saucers (so to speak) and I could tell that she was wondering, “What is going on here?” 

By the time Sue had finished speaking, God had given me the interpretation, and it was a message for Joan. I knew I needed to be very clear and simple, so I said to her, “That is God speaking.” With a note of awe in her voice, she replied, “Well what is he saying?”

I then took her hand, looked her in the eye and began speaking the message God had given me for her. It was a message of God’s love and care for her. As I spoke, I noticed that tears began rolling down her cheeks. We learned later that she had been very depressed and seeing a psychiatrist because of the break-up of her twenty-year marriage.

I finished speaking and knowing that she had never committed her life to Christ, I asked if she would like to pray a prayer, committing her life to Jesus. She replied, “yes,” and I led her in a simple prayer in which she committed her life to Jesus Christ.

At this moment, there was a tangible sense of God’s presence as powerful and real as I have ever known, and I knew that God wanted to baptize her in the Holy Spirit. I was sure she knew anything about it, and I didn’t know if her Wesleyan sister-in-law would be in agreement, but I knew I had to act.

I explained to Joan that “in the Bible” after people received Jesus into their lives it was normal for them to be filled with the Holy Spirit and asked, “Would you like to be filled with the Holy Spirit?” She replied, “yes.” I then asked, “Would it be OK if we laid our hands on you and prayed for you to be filled with the Holy Spirit?” She replied, “Yes.”

Sue and I then laid our hands on her and we noticed that her Wesleyan sister-in-law laid her hands on her and joined us in prayer. God’s presence was so very real, and I noted Joan’s eyelids fluttering and her lips quivering but she was not experiencing the breakthrough that was there for her.

We paused praying and I asked, “What are you experiencing?” She responded by placing her hand around the area of her solar plexus and moving it slowly up to her throat and saying, “Something started here and moved up to here and stopped.”

I immediately know what it was, for Jesus, speaking of the coming of the Holy Spirit, had said in John 7:37-38, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

I said to her, “That is the Holy Spirit. He has come in and now He wants to flow out.” I told her that we would pray again and this time to open her mouth and let it flow out even if it came out in a strange language. We learned later that she was fluent in five different languages.

She agreed and we laid our hands on her again and began to pray. Suddenly, it was like a dam broke. She began laughing hilariously and shouting praises to God, and praising God in other tongues. It was a glorious moment in time.

She then turned to her Wesleyan sister-in-law, who had been praying for her salvation for many years, laid her hands on her and prayed over her in other tongues. When she finished, her sister-in-law looked at her in amazement and said, “Joan, you were going like an old Pentecostal.”

This woman’s life was forever changed, and we knew that we had completed our assignment in her home. We went back to our apartment and began looking for a duplex, but now for a different reason. Sue’s father had passed away, and her mother was alone in an apartment, so we decided to look for a house with two living areas.

We found the perfect house and just at the right time this woman sent a check that covered the down payment. That was our last contact with her, and she is in heaven today. We had (and still have) the satisfaction of knowing that her life was forever changed by that Divine encounter, providentially arranged by God.

To summarize the lesson here; it was not about the house. It was about this woman that God wanted to help and bring into His kingdom. May we aspire to be the kind of person whom God can trust for any assignment. If he wants to send me to the White House or Elon Musk’s mansion, I can handle it. If he wants to send me to the outback of India where there is no running water and no sewage system (I have been there) I can handle that as well. This is what Paul was speaking of when he said,

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.

 

Drs. Eddie and Sue Hyatt are still active in ministry and their numerous books are available on Amazon and their websites at http://eddiehyatt.com and http://godswordtowomen.org. This article is an excerpt from their upcoming book, Remembering 50 Years of God's Faithfulness. Of particular significance at this moment in history is Eddie's book, America's Reawakening, and Sue's book, In the Spirit We're Equal, which contains a message that "has the power to begin a mass movement from Islam to Christianity, beginning with the women."