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Miracle
Testimony
testimony
by: Geraldine Rideout "He
was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our
iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him and
with His stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5)
I
RECEIVED A MIRACLE
I
was healed of Osteo Genesis Imperfecta
Jesus
Healed Me!

I
AM STILL HEALED & WELL 36 YEARS LATER AND AM HAPPILY MARRIED
In
a 1983 Revival miracle crusade at Faith Cathedral, in Edmonton,
Alberta, Pastor Max Solbrekken interviewed Geraldine Rideout and
her mother Ruth Rideout.
During
our 3 week Revival miracle crusade in May 1968 at the F.G.
Bursey Memorial Tabernacle near Lewisporte, Newfoundland, the
Rideout family brought their little invalid daughter Geraldine
for prayer.
Geraldine
was about 2 1/2 feet tall and weighed only 25 pounds. Even
though she was 16 years old, they laid Geraldine in my arms for
special prayer. God in His great mercy stretched forth His
hand of healing and made Geraldine Rideout well
GERALDINE
HAD NEVER IN HER LIFE STOOD OR WALKED BY HERSELF
Geraldine
had never stood up by herself and had never walked in her life.
The doctors said she would probably only live until she was 17
years old. When I laid hands upon her, and prayed in the
name of Jesus Christ, Geraldine was instantly healed and she
walked for the first time.
From
that night on she began to improve. At the age of 21, in
1973, she started school for the very first time in grade one.
Now in 1983 she is over 30 years of age and is in grade 10.
GERALDINE
NEARLY KILLED IN TRAGIC BUS ACCIDENT
Not
only did Geraldine Rideout receive this great healing miracle,
but in November of 1982, she was almost killed in a tragic
school bus accident. There were 43 children on the the
bus. Geraldine was thrown through the wind shield, the bus
rolled over and missed her by just a few inches. They
found Geraldine in a ditch of water and mud.
RUTH
RIDEOUT TESTIFIES OF THE HEALING MIRACLE HER DAUGHTER RECEIVED
Geraldine
was two pounds at birth so we had no hope of her even living.
Doctors had given her up to die. They said that she MIGHT
live to be 6
years old. I thank God that she lived and she is now over 30
years of age. I
thank the Lord for Jesus for this wonderful miracle of healing.
He has done a real miracle in Geraldine's life. There was
nothing anyone could do. All
I could do was give her loving care.
I
TOOK
GERALDINE TO MANY DOCTORS
and they told me to take her home and love her; as I wouldn't
have her for long! I
wasn't planning on giving up easily. I used to say,
"Lord, raise her up for your glory; by Your stripes she is
healed."
I would get up in the morning, send the other children to school
and then I would sit by her little crib. I would tell her about
Jesus! I told her if we believed together that one day she would
be like other girls. She
would say, Yes, I will be like other girls because Jesus is
going to heal me for the glory of God."
SATAN
WOULD TELL ME IT WAS USELESS TO PRAY
Many
times I was discouraged and sometimes the enemy, Satan, would
come and tell me it was no use to pray. But I said, "Lord,
I am going to trust You." I know that is why we are
here tonight, because of the love of Jesus! The mighty power of
God raised her up in a wondrous miracle. Jesus healed her
for His Glory. I
thank God tonight for all that He means to me and for all He has
done for Geraldine.
WE
LOVE GERALDINE VERY MUCH!
I
don't think I could live without her.
Sometimes I wonder what I would do if anything happened to her,
but, I know that Jesus is not going to take her from me yet. He
has a work for her to do.
When
she was in the bus accident and
they came to tell me that they had taken her to the hospital, it
really hurt. I didn't know what to say or what to do. Pastor Ken
Solbrekken called and asked if I wanted him to go and see her.
When Pastor Solbrekken and I arrived they had Geraldine on
the table and they didn't have much hope of her living.
She had 20 stitches in her head and she was really bad to look
at.
I
thank
God tonight because He brought her through it giving her another
healing miracle. He is continuing to do a real work in her life,
GERALDINE
WAS BORN TWISTED & DEFORMED - THERE WERE NO BONES IN HER
BODY
God
has done many miracles for her. One time she had a bad back.
When she was born, she was very deformed and twisted. Her
little arms and legs were deformed, and her feet were turned
right around behind. She was like a little bit of dough,
she had no bones in her body. Her little hips used to lay
just as you had put her down. You couldn't put any clothes
on her.
The
night she was born I just didn't know what to do. So I said,
"Lord, You know all about her, and I know You are going to
raise her for Your glory."
That night we called on our preacher, Pastor
Charlie Roussel, and we laid Geraldine in his arms and he
prayed. I gave her to Jesus that night and I'm not taking her
back now because she belongs to Jesus.
I
believe Jesus has a real work for her to do. I am
believing and waiting, because there is not much time left to
tell others. I believe Jesus is coming soon and I want to
be found ready when he comes. Today, if there is anyone
who needs a miracle, a miracle of healing or salvation, or
anything from Jesus, He can do anything that you would ask Him
to do.
ALL
THINGS ARE POSSIBLE - JESUS CHRIST IS A MIRACLE WORKER
There
is nothing too hard, too small or too big for Jesus, because
Jesus is a miracle worker and He can do all things. Don't be
afraid to reach out because Jesus is waiting. Whatever your need
is tonight, reach out and touch Him and He will answer your
prayer.
PASTOR
MAX:
"Sister
Rideout, Is
it true that
you had to feed Geraldine from an eye dropper for about 3
years?"
RUTH
RIDEOUT:
:
Yes, the night she
was born, she would not take a bottle or the breast milk.
What I used to do was squeeze the milk
from my breast and put it in a little dish and I would feed her
with a medicine tube. That is how I fed her for 3 years.
That is how I kept her alive.
Geraldine
couldn't suck, as she had no strength in her little mouth to
draw the milk into her mouth. Until she was 14 years old, I fed
her from a spoon.
I took her to doctors and they would say:
"Take her home and look after her yourself, because we
cannot do as much as you do."
When the time
would come to feed her, the nurses wouldn't stop to feed her. If
she wouldn't take her feedings they would just leave her. He
told me I was a wonderful mother and was doing a real work in
her life. But, they didn't think or believe that she was going
to live".
RUTH
RIDEOUT:
I WOULD NOT GIVE UP
When
Geraldine got sick, I would say, "Lord,
nothing is going to happen to her. She is going to live and be
raised up for Your glory". That is how I used to pray.
I would spend my days praying. I would send the others out
to school and I would come back and lean over her crib. If you
could see the tears I shed, you could say that I shed boxes of
tears over her crib.
Geraldine
would cry out to me "Mom." She couldn't turn
away or move her body in any way. I would have to hold
onto her hand through the crib, this was the only thing that
made her feel safe.
In
the winter, Dad and I would take turns fasting
and praying. We would run back and forth to see Geraldine
and feel her arms and legs to see if the lumps were gone and if
her feet were right. When she was asleep, I would tie her
feet together with a ribbon, believing that when I untied the
ribbon, her feet would be normal.
One
day I untied the ribbon and her feet were healed. I really
have something to thank the Lord for. That is how she was
brought up until she was 16 years old.
Geraldine
suffered pain. There were many times she would cry but no
tears would come. As soon as she saw me coming, she would
begin to cry. Both her arms and legs were broken. I
would prop up one leg on a pillow and place another pillow under
her arm. The doctor said he legs were like egg shells.
At
one time, both her arms and legs were broken, as well as her jaw
and back. Almost every bone in her body has been broken at
one time or another during the first 16 years of her miserable
life until Jesus Christ healed her with a wonderful miracle of
healing in the Max Solbrekken Miracle crusades.
Her
brothers and sisters would want to hold her, but they couldn't,
as her bones would
break. We couldn't even dress her. That is how fragile she was.
PASTOR
MAX:
When you brought her to the crusade, did you expect a miracle
that night?
RUTH
RIDEOUT:
:
Yes,
I did
PASTOR
MAX:
For the first time in her life, Geraldine stood to her feet in
1968? Is this correct?
RUTH
RIDEOUT:
:
Yes,
the next day we brought her to our married daughter's home, and
she walked right into the house for the first time in her life.
She had been healed of the incurable disease called, 'Osteo
Genesis Imperfecta'.
GERALDINE
RIDEOUT TELLS HER STORY
PASTOR
MAX:
Geraldine
Rideout, the only person in the entire world, according to
medical science, as far as we know, that has ever been cured of
"Osteo Genesis Imperfecta".
As
a matter of fact, if I have my figures right, most babies born
with this disease die within a few hours or days. Only 4 babies
out of every one hundred thousand that are born with this
disease, even live.
She
is one of the four!
Most
of them are crippled and die at a young age. But here she is,
over 30 years of age, started school at twenty-one and now in
grade ten; and has since come through a terrible bus accident.
HER
DOCTOR SAID: "You tell Pastor Max Solbrekken
that if he had seen you in that ditch, he would not have
believed that you could be alive today. In Nov 1983, when
Geraldine went through the windshield of that bus her body was
completely broken. Both of her ankles were broken, she had
head injuries that required 20 stitches. Her head
continued to bleed and hemorrhage for over 3 weeks. That
is another miracle itself that she lived through the school bus
crash.
GERALDINE
RIDEOUT:
It
is a real thrill to be with Pastor Solbrekken, and I want to
tell you that he is a real sport. Believe me. I have many things
to praise God for,
but the first thing I want to thank Him for is saving me.
I was just a little girl of 4,
and VERY SICK!
I
didn't know what it was like to be able to go out and meet with
people like all you nice people tonight.
My
Mom came into my room and she began to tell me about Jesus and
what He could do and how He could save and heal us if we
believe, together. In my room, I gave my life to Jesus and have
been serving Him since that day. He means everything to me.
I
used to have 2 broken legs and 2 broken arms all at once, along
with a broken back and turned up feet. Clothes couldn't
even touch my body. My mom would come in the mornings and
as she would begin to move me, I knew when she would leave the
room, my body would be full of pain. My bones were soft as
egg shells.
That
is what the doctors were telling us last year. They said,
"No one lives, but if they live, they would need to be
carried in a wheelchair. They would probably only live
until about 6 or 7 years of age." "But
Praise God, I have lived over 30 years. Today, I am going
to school and I am living a normal life like any other
girl."
MY
MOTHER WAS ALWAYS THERE
My
mother always stood with me when the other children went to
school and my Dad had to go to work. He used to work away in the
lumber camp and he would pray. When the pain got real bad, I
would say, "Mom,
write Dad a letter". I knew when he got that
letter, the pain would ease off.
It
is not always easy suffering with broken bones. It was very
painful. That is why I couldn't eat, I couldn't sit up, I
couldn't do anything because I was just suffering too much in my
body.
As
mother would read the Bible to me, she would always repeat
"By His stripes, we are healed". Sometimes now
when I am traveling, I hear that verse and it brings me back to
my childhood days.
My
mother would send the others off to school then come in to see
me. I was having so much pain, there were mornings I would
have given the world to be able to get up, dress and go to
school with my brothers and sisters. They would come home
from school and would tell me what they had learned that day.
Mom would bathe me with cold water.
I
just
couldn't take the pain! They would want to get near me, but no
one could even sit on the bed I was lying in. You couldn't
believe, my friend, how bad I was, but God can do anything if we
put our trust in Him.
I
LOVE GIVING MY TESTIMONY AND BRINGING HOPE TO OTHERS
I
love
giving my testimony, even though I have told it many times! The
students at my school have accepted me real well even though I
am much older than they are, but they don't take it like that.
They just take me as if I was fifteen or sixteen, just like
themselves.
Last
week, one fellow came in and said, "I think you should
write a book about how sick you were and how you are now
healed." I said, "You know, that is a good idea;
when I graduate from school, I might do just that.
I
owe all the praise to Jesus for what He has done for me.
Approximately 6 months ago, He filled me with the Holy Ghost and
Fire!
I was in
Summerford
Church, and I
went
up and began to sing.
After I sang one piece, I knew I was different.
That evening before going to the service, I felt a little bit
burdened; like everyone would feel, doing so much singing,
traveling and going to school. I felt so heavy, so I took my
songs and laid them on the bed. I said, "Lord, let
something happen that has never happened before."
I
went
up that night, praise God! It was a nice little walk and I felt
just like I was walking on air, like I was dancing around.
I said, "My, do I ever feel good tonight." I
told the Lord, "Lord, let something happen", but I did
not know it was going to happen to me.
That
night He filled me with the ‘Holy Ghost and Fire’! Ever
since, my friend, I have felt different.
I have traveled
more than ever, since I was in the accident. I was getting
many calls, but I was so sick. I said, "Lord, if you want
me to go to those churches, please touch my body and make me
whole." I was bleeding from the head so bad I didn't
know what to do. Every night my mom laid me in the bed and it
reminded me of when I was little. She could hardly handle me, I
was so badly bruised.
She
laid me in the bed and my head was bleeding heavily.
I thought to myself, that I can pray myself and be healed. I
am going to take the pad off my head and go to sleep. I hadn't
slept for more than an hour at one time in three weeks.
I
said, "I am going to take off the pad in Jesus Name and I
am going to have a good night's sleep." I took off the pad,
laid it on the dresser and slept the whole night. The bleeding
stopped and never started again. Praise God!
God
has healed my body many times in little ways and I take
everything to Jesus. Lots of times, I think of Mom saying,
"Geraldine, only take one day at a time." It is
so true, Lord! One day at a time, Sweet Jesus! We can do
anything if we just put our trust in Him. We must be willing to
accept what we are and to do our part and then Jesus will help
us.
Anyone
who needs healing for your body, salvation for your soul, or
whatever it is, Jesus is able to save and heal you tonight.
Why not come and accept Him as your Saviour? God Bless you al
PASTOR
MAX:
Geraldine,
please tell the people a little more about ‘Osteo
Genesis Imperfecta’, the disease that is incurable without
God's intervention.
GERALDINE
RIDEOUT::
When
I was one year of age, my mom took me to a doctor and he
wouldn't even take off the little suit I wore.
All
he had to book was look into my eyes and where eyes are white,
mine are blue. That
is how he knew that there was something wrong with the bones.
THE
DOCTOR WAS AMAZED I WAS STILL ALIVE
Mom
took me home and she gave me to Jesus! Mom and Dad fasted and
prayed over the years, but we didn't know the name of the disease.
At the age of 28 I went to St. John's hospital, as I had a
female problem and that is when they told us the name of the
disease from which I had been healed.
Now
I can see how everything worked together for good. We did not
know the name until that day. Just as I was admitted, they
came with this large book and they began to talk to Mom about
how I had been living over the years, and how it came that I was
still alive.
They
were really amazed. They didn't know what to do.
They were just gathering around me, like they were afraid.
That is how it looked to me. They wouldn't even give me a
needle. The doctor came in and said, "I am
going to give her a needle." I don't want anyone else
to touch her.
He was amazed to see that I was still living with Osteo
Genesis Imperfecta.
After
the night Pastor Solbrekken prayed for me, with every step I
took, I would say, "One step in your name Lord, two steps
in your name, Jesus."
The next day I said to mom,
"I feel real strong. I can walk around the
table."
I
was like a baby in a way; I had to learn how to walk. So I asked
Mom, to give me my coat, and I walked down to my sister's house
for the first time in my life. I guess it took me about ten
minutes to walk and Mom watched me from the window. I just
started off for the first time in my life!
I
JUST COULDN'T TAKE THE PAIN
Mom
and Dad always had clothes on hand for me, because they believed
so much that
some day I would be like other girls. They
would buy clothes and hang them in my room.
I
think about it now and it was not like it is today. It was not
easy! No cars, just a kerosene lamp and a woodstove, but Mom
stood with me and today that is why she means so much to me.
Another
time I had a broken back and when I would say, "Mom
come." I would cry but no tears would come. That may
not sound correct, but it is true. I would just stare at her and
cry as she came near because I knew that she was going to try to
move me. Sometime during the day, they told mom, "She is
not going to live, she is going now: but Mom would pray over me,
and I would come to and see her there.
It
was only this week I was thinking about how I got smashed up in
the bus accident and I didn't even hurt my back.
I
thank God because He did it! It wasn't because of the goodness
of myself or my parents. They would just stand with me and give
me the prayer support I needed.
God did the rest.
SEVERAL
HUNDRED DOCTORS COME TO OBSERVE ME
Just
a couple of years ago (1981), I was asked to present myself
before about 200-300 doctors, in a large place. I went in,
not knowing what I had to do. I thought I was going to have to
answer a lot of questions. I was sort of preparing myself, but,
when I got in there, there was nothing to it.
I
guess they got a big fright when they saw that I could walk,
talk, use my hands and do the things that I could do. They just
asked me a couple of questions like, "What I was going to
do when I finished my education? How were my grades in
school?" and a few questions like that. I asked the nurse
if I could leave and she said, "You are free to go;
everything is over". I went into the other room and told
Mom, "I am finished, I can go home."
They
just couldn't believe that I was living. They wanted to
see me and touch me and see that I could walk and do all the
things any normal person could do. And they wanted to look
into my eyes.
They
said, "No one else who has this disease for such a long
time was alive, let alone normal and walking about!"
THIS
IS WHY THEY WANTED TO SEE ME IN PERSON!
My
doctor asked me to tell Pastor Solbrekken,
that if he had seen me after that bus accident, he wouldn't have
believed that I would be alive today.
It
is all Jesus! He had His hand on that bus.
The first thing that
came in my mind was, "I am ready to go, but what about Mom
and Joan and the crowd behind?: It happened just five
months after I lost one brother.
This was all going through my
mind. It was just like claps of thunder; that is when the bus
was hit. That is all I know.
The
next thing I knew I opened my eyes.
My face was up to Jesus, and
I was praying, "Lord don't let me have any head
injuries." I knew they were working on my head
because my hair was all wet. A man from the church came and
prayed that my hair would grow.
In
the front of my head, where I went through the window, there was
a large hole and this is where I kept bleeding from for 3 weeks.
He came in and prayed, "Lord, close up that hole and let
hair grow there". I will never forget it.
You
couldn't find that hole now if you came up and searched my head;
Jesus even replaced the hair on my head! It was just last week
that I told mom,, "I don't think I could even find that
hole in my head now."
J
esus
closed the hole and grew the hair! I mean that is really a
miracle. Some people would have a hair loss for a long time. But
you can't tell on that side, it is just as good as the other.
GOD
EVEN GREW MY HAIR BACK IN
The
first thing I was concerned about when I came to in the
hospital, was how much hair had they cut away, because I didn't
want to lose my hair. There was a lot gone but mom said,
"Don't worry, the Lord will take care of your hair. Everything
is going to be alright."
It
seemed that her words were just ringing through my head. I
wasn't allowed to sleep for twenty-four hours and I wasn't
allowed to eat or move. I didn't know how badly I was hurt
because I wasn't able to move.
They just laid me in the same
position that they had picked me up at the accident. They didn't
think that I was ever going to come out of it.
But
mom went home and she called around for prayer.
The Pastor came
and we all gathered that time and Pastor
Murphy prayed, "Lord, let this night be short for
her" because he knew that I couldn't sleep. The first time
that I got restless was at
five
o'clock
in
the morning. The night was gone. I just couldn't believe it, and
I said, "Lord, you
sure answered the Pastor's prayer."
There
was another girl there and I asked her for the time.
She said, "
five
o'clock
!
The only thing that used to bother me is they kept checking my
eyes, to see how I was. I would be resting in peace and they
would awaken me. The peace was from Jesus, because I could never
do it on my own.
PASTOR
SOLBREKKEN CALLED & PRAYED
The
next morning they came in and moved me. I was bruised all over!
The bandaged my legs right up to the knees. The doctor said he
could see "no hope." We wouldn't want your mother to see you so
black and beat up, he stated.
I
would tell my mother, "Brother Solbrekken prayed and now
all I have to do is believe."
I came out of it real
fast for a big accident; only through an answer to prayer.
I
want to serve Him in any way I can because if He would have
wanted to call me home,
He could have done so. I know that Jesus
can use me just as I am.
I missed out on a lot when I was a little girl. I
didn't know anything about childhood.
MY
LIFE STARTED AT 21 YEARS OLD WHEN I STARTED SCHOOL
Life really started for me
at the age of 21 when I started to attend school. And I am
not ashamed to tell it, because if it had not been for Jesus it
would have never started.
When
I came to school, the first thing I noticed was the blackboard.
The first one I had seen in my life.
Twenty-one years of
age.
The
Principal set me down at a little desk and a wee chair, and he
gave me a paper and a pencil. I had to show him how much I could
do. I could do a little because Mom used to spend a lot of time
with me.
Everything
that could be done in kindergarten, I could do, so they put me
in grade one. I did four grades in one year. I went to grade
four. Then I would begin to do a year at a time and now I am in
grade ten.
I
will never forget that evening, and I said, "Lord,
I am in school, but I want you to do another miracle in my life.
Please take away my shyness."
I still felt shy but I sat down and the teacher came
along and I found I could talk with the teachers.
The first
thing the teacher said was, "I heard you are a good
singer." When I was really tiny, Mom would sit with me and
tell me words and teach me little choruses. I would sing.
He
called me aside one day in a little room and this was something
really big for me, after all those years. Imagine if you were
stored away for 21 years and all of a sudden, you were put
together with many students and teachers. It was really
something.
I
didn't
sing with music, I just sang along with Mom at home.
He said,,
"We are having a music festival at Grand Falls. I was
wondering if you would be able to come. There can only be
one student picked from each school, and you are the student
that I have chosen to go."
The
first thought that came to me was the Mom would never let me go
to
Grand Falls, because I was never out of the house in my life.
So
I went home and told Mom about the festival. The teacher had
asked me to sing, "A
Child of the King.".
I
did not know what it was all about then. At first she didn't
know what to say. She said. "I'll think about it."
I'll probably let you go with him because he is really a nice
guy. He could not do enough for me at that time. Mom
trusted him to take good care of me.
Mom
took the hymn book and taught me word for word the song, "A
Child of the King".
There were five verses. The day came when we had to go and my
teacher played for me. We went into a real large building that
was packed. I did not mind people then any more than if there
had just been a few kids there, playing.
I
just walked up. took the microphone and sang it perfectly
without the words. By the time I had finished the song,
there were microphones and cameras in front of me.
Mr.
Whalen was beyond himself; he didn't know what to do. He
was that excited. They were taking pictures, and we had a great
time.
Ever since that time I have received a lot of little gifts
and cards. That was the first time I sang in public and praise
God, He had taken away all of my shyness.
That
was just another miracle in my life. I have had many
miracles since that time.
Now, I take everything to Jesus.
If
you are sick, come and Jesus will deliver you. If you need the
baptism, salvation or whatever, come to Him tonight, my
friend. He is willing! Amen.
WHAT
IS GERALDINE DOING NOW?
For
more than 20 years, Geraldine Rideout traveled throughout
Newfoundland giving her testimony and singing the Gospel in
Pentecostal Churches and in Schools to packed auditoriums.
In
the 1980's, she and her mother and sister Joan traveled with our
team across parts of Canada and Norway, where she told her story
to large TV audiences, for God's Glory.
CBC
TV carried her testimony on the program 'Take 30' across
Newfoundland twice and once across the nation of Canada.
I
spoke with Geraldine and her mother last year (2003) by
telephone and God has answered Geraldine's prayer. He has
given her a wonderful husband. Congratulations Geraldine!
WOULD
YOU LIKE
TO RECEIVE JESUS CHRIST INTO YOUR HEART TODAY?
PRAY
THIS PRAYER NOW TO RECEIVE JESUS CHRIST IN YOUR HEART
"Dear
Heavenly Father,
I
ask for Thy great mercy and grace. I acknowledge my
sinfulness and confess that I cannot save myself. I
believe the GOOD NEWS that Jesus paid the penalty for m sins,
through His vicarious death on the cross."
"I
believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead according to the
Scriptures and He has the power and authority to forgive my sins
and save my soul. I repent of my sins and am willing to
forsake them with the help of the Holy Spirit."
"I
now renounce the devil and all his works and all his ways and I
now receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, my Master and my
God. Come into my heart and save me now, for Christs'
sake. Thank you Lord, for saving my soul. In Jesus
precious' name, I pray." Amen.
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