Personal Experiences of S. O. Susag

by S. O. Susag

The next time I was there he said, "There is no tuberculosis about him now; he is well, when did he have it?" Then I told him that five years previous to this time, when a lad of fourteen, he was sick and I prayed for him and the Lord healed him. (Dr. Seversen did a good job on that young man's arm and the Lord did the finishing.) Mr. Larson has a good strong arm today and is employed in a service station in Elbow Lake, Minnesota.

Two years later I visited Dr. Seversen. When he saw me, he stuck both arms up and said, "Here comes the man with the iron nerve." I answered him, "No, here comes the man with a little good common sense and faith in God Almighty." "Yes," he said, "common sense, but I thought it could not be done, when it was in such a mess and had been broken so long." I answered him, "Yes, but a good arm is better than an iron hook on it." He said, "Indeed, but I did not think it could be done." (I have nothing against doctors, but the Lord can do what men cannot do.)

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One time Brother and Sister George Larson's three sons were stricken at the same time with infantile paralysis. Herman was 21 and the twins 18 years. A specialist was called and he brought two doctors with him. He pronounced the cases as very serious, especially Norman who was stricken in the head, and they did not think there was any hope for him. They said it would be a good thing if he would die, for if he lived, he would be crazy. They sent for me. Sister Larson was then pastor of a congregation in Hereford, Minn. They had been praying and we prayed again, and the Lord finished the job and healed all three. Often people say, "It was not so serious and may not have been what they said it was," but this time the devil got fooled. The young man had been going to the University of Minnesota where they had been tapping some blood from them for medical science purposes to use to heal others stricken in the same manner; so medical science acknowledge they had the real thing.

At one of the camp meetings at Hereford, Ole Torgesen got very much under conviction and went home to repair a thrashing machine engine. It did not want to start and he got angry and swore at it. Starting suddenly, the fly wheel struck his left hand and breaking a number of bones. He went to the doctor and had the bones set and the hand taped and the arm strapped to his body. Then he came back to the meeting and wanted to be saved. He repented, and the Lord accepted him. While he was still on his knees he looked up and said, "I hear you men believe in divine healing, and I want to be prayed for that the Lord will heal my hand." So Brother C. H. Tubbs and myself prayed the prayer of faith and he began to unloose his arm and take off the bandage. While he was doing so, the saints were shouting the praises of God. Others told him not to take the bandage off and got angry as he continued removing them. Finally he took off the cotton and cleaned off the iodine and the taping. After doing so, he lifted his arm slowly to move his fingers. Finally he put his hand up and moved his fingers freely, and his hand was healed to the glory of God. Next day we had baptismal services and I asked him if he wanted to be baptized. He said he did, but thought his wife would be saved, too, so wished that both could be baptized together. I said, "All right."

Next day in the morning service she got saved. She was the daughter of a lay minister of a certain denomination who did not believe in baptism by immersion. She asked me if they could be baptized right away. I told her that just as soon as the service was over we would go immediately to the pool. She did not want her parents to know what she was doing, so we kept it quiet, but when we started for the pool, the prairie seemed to be alive with people on horse back and in all kinds of rigs, coming from all directions.

They were blowing horns and making music on circle saws. So when we got to the pool, the banks were covered with people more than in the baptismal service before. While we were singing, I heard the sister say to her husband, "There they come!" It was her father and mother. They came over to them and I said, "Don't say a word to them." The preacher went after them in a great way. Finally the daughter put her arms around his neck, and said, "Daddy, don't go at it this way, please. We are saved now and want to obey the commandments of the Lord." "All right," he said, "You are old enough to know what you are doing." "But this man…" running at me and shaking his fist in my face, and I thought I surely would get a good licking when I said nothing and did not move. He cooled down, and said, "This is a poor man. We better take up a collection for him," and walked away. While I was baptizing the two and a Methodist minister's son, stones and sticks flew in plenty around me but none hit me.

One evening three young men cut the rope of the tent and were caught. When they learned they could get seven years in State prison, and we did not prosecute them—that ended all the disturbance at that place.

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At one time I was holding a revival meeting at Plum Coulee, Canada. One evening there was conviction upon a number of people. I was just going to close my sermon and make the altar call, and the devil said, "Now you swear." It shocked me so, I had to stop for a minute and conviction ceased. Then I had to start preaching again. The devil once more said, "Now you swear." I rebuked him and went ahead and made the altar call, and those under conviction came forward and received help.