rayer and praise.
Teams from these areas visited other islands, and the revival caught fire there also. Eventually pastors from the Solomons were visiting other Pacific countries and seeing similar moves of God there also.
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1971 – October: Saskatoon, Canada (Bill McLeod)
Wilbert (Bill) McLeod, a Baptist minister in his mid fifties, had seen many people healed in answer to prayer, often praying with a group of deacons. He once anointed a woman with oil and prayed with her when she was dying of cancer. While Bill prayed the woman had a vision of Jesus coming to her and touching her. She was healed. Bill saw nothing.
Bill invited the twin evangelists Ralph and Lou Sutera to speak at his church in Saskatoon. Revival broke out with their visit which began on Wednesday 13 October 1971. By the weekend an amazing spirit gripped the people. Many confessed their sins publicly. The first to do so were the twelve counsellors chosen to pray with inquirers. Numbers grew rapidly till the meetings had to be moved to a larger church building and then to the Civic Auditorium seating 2000.
The meetings lasted many hours. People did not want to leave. Some stayed on for a later meeting called the Afterglow. Here people received prayer and counsel from the group as they continued to worship God and pray together. Humble confession of sin and reconciliations were common. Many were converted.
Taxi drivers became amazed that people were getting cabs home from church late into the night or early into the morning. Others were calling for taxis to take them to church late into the night as they were convicted by the Lord. Young people featured prominently. Almost half those converted were young. They gave testimonies of lives that had been cleaned up by God and how relationships with their families were restored. The atmosphere in schools and colleges changed from rebellion and cheating to co operation with many Bible study and prayer groups forming in the schools and universities.
Criminals confessed their sins and gave themselves up to the police. Restitution was common. People paid overdue bills. Some businesses opened new accounts to account for the conscience money being paid to them. Those who cheated at restaurants or hotels returned to pay their full bill. People returned stolen goods.
Christians found a new radical honesty in their lives. Pride and jealousies were confessed and transformed into humility and love. As people prayed for one another with new tenderness and compassion many experienced healings and deliverance.
Not all welcomed the revival. Some churches remained untouched by it or hostile to it. This seems common to all revivals.
Sherwood Wirt, editor of the Billy Graham Association’s magazine Decision reported:
“One day late in 1971 I read a strange report from Canada. Curious things were taking place in some congregations in the western provinces. Brothers and sisters, it was said, had been reconciled to each other; shop lifted articles had been returned; crimes were being reported by the culprits; church feuds were being resolved; pastors were confessing their pride.
“But then I heard this word: “We’re walking knee deep in love up here.”
“In November a team went to Winnepeg and told of the revival at a meeting for ministers. The Holy Spirit moved powerfully and many broke down confessing their sins. Rivalries and jealousies were confessed and forgiven. Many went home to put things right with their families. The ministers took this fire back into their churches and the revival spread there also with meetings going late into the night as numbers grew and hundreds were converted or restored.”
Sherwood Wirt reported on Bill McLeod preaching at Winnepeg on 15 December 1971:
“I confess that what I saw amazed me. This man preached for only fifteen minutes, and he didn’t even give an invitation! He announced the closing hymn, whereupon a hundred people came out of their seats and knelt at the front of the church. All he said was, ‘That’s right, keep coming!’
“Many were young. Many were in tears. All were from the Canadia