Thursday morning Roy was sitting up in bed. One of the
nurses, Mrs. Humpage, came in eating candy. Roy is fond of candy, and he
was hungry. Every time a nurse came in he thought she ought to be
bringing him a tray of food, and all they brought him was soup because
they thought he couldn't eat anything solid with his jaws broken. What
he wanted though was potatoes and gravy! When she came in eating candy,
he looked at her as though to say, "Aren't you going to give me a
piece?"
She took a piece out of her pocket; she walked across
to where Roy was sitting, and I said, "Oh, no, nurse. Surely you
wouldn't give him that hard candy! He might try to chew it, and with his
broken jaws he will hurt himself."
She said, "Don't worry about that, Mrs. Slaybaugh. He
couldn't begin to chew it, but he can suck on it. The doctor is going to
wire his teeth together this morning, since he knows now he's going to
live."
She walked over and placed the candy between his lips,
and Roy ground it to bits. She grabbed her own jaws and said, "I've
never seen anything like this!"
They tried to keep Roy quiet. The doctor's orders were
to keep him as quiet as possible. The nurses would come in with a hypo
and stick it in his arm and send him off to sleep. Just as soon as he'd
begin to waken and begin to talk they would come and poke him in the arm
again until he fought it off.
He said, "I won't have this any more. I want to go
home! "
There wasn't anything left now for the doctor to do
but to dismiss us and let us go home. He didn't have to set Roy's jaws.
He didn't have to order that artificial ear that he was telling me
about. He didn't have to do surgery on Roy's tongue, and he didn't have
to order that artificial eye, either.
Roy now has the keenest sight in the eye that was
healed. He can read the finest print. Many eye specialists have examined
his eye, and they all say the same thing that it is the most remarkable
thing that they have seen. Anybody that knows anything about eyes, they
say, can see that this is a different eye from the other. The color is
brighter and clearer than that of the old eye, and there isn't so much
as a scar, although there are many scars on the old eye. It hasn't been
very long ago that Roy had to take a test for a California driver's
license. He passed the test one hundred per cent. The officer said, "Now
we'll see how your eyes are, Mr. Slaybaugh. How far down the card can
you read these letters?"
Roy said, "I can read the bottom line if you want."
He thought Roy had been sitting there memorizing the
letters, so he said, "We'll just turn this card over. Now," he said,
"how far down can you read?"
He said, "I can still read the bottom line, backwards
and forwards."
"Why,' the officer said, "you have remarkable sight
for a man of your age! What can you do with one eye?" He picked an
envelope off his desk and covered over one eye.
Roy said, "I can still read the bottom line backwards
and forwards."
"You have the eyes of an eagle!"
Roy came home and told me about it. "Rose, it was a
good thing that he covered up my old eye, or I couldn't even have seen
the cardboard."
Roy was getting more and more restless.
I said, "Roy, we can't just walk out of the hospital!
We must wait until the doctor dismisses us properly."
"Well," he said, "why doesn't he do it?"
"Maybe he'll be here tomorrow, and we'll ask him about
it."
The next day was Sunday. I knew the doctor would most
likely be out on his farm. It was Monday, almost noon, before he came. I
met him and said, "Doctor, you'd better dismiss that patient of yours.
He's going home."
He said, "Take him home. There's not a thing the
matter with him. I don't understand what has happened, but take him
home."
The nurse overhearing the doctor said, "You don't mean
that, doctor! With the shock he's had it will take days, or weeks, for
him to learn to walk."
Roy said, "If they'll only bring me some clothes,
doctor, I'll show them I can walk."
"Nurse, fix him up, and let him try his legs," the
doctor said.
They placed his robe and slippers on him and then let
the railing down. He pulled himself over to one side.
The nurse whispered to me, "You get over on the other
side, Mrs. Slaybaugh, and be ready to catch him. He's not as smart as he
thinks he is."
But he was! Out into the hall he went, turned to the
right, and we never stopped until we reached the nurses' dining room.
The table was set for noon lunch. The head nurse pulled out a chair and
said, "Roy, sit down with us; have lunch with us out here today." After
eating a big dinner, he started back for the door that led down through
the hallway to his bed.
The nurse said, "Roy, you don't have to go back to
that bed. Come into my living room. Sit down here on the davenport. So
many people want to come in and see you. They want to come in and see
the man who was healed by a prayer."
Now we could go home, but the nurses begged us to stay
one more night. Tuesday morning I had everything packed, ready to go,
and Roy said, "Rose, go get the car; we're going home."
Our poor car! I hadn't told Roy about it yet. I
couldn't tell him what a wreck it was. But I looked across the street
and there was our neighbor, Charley Doneca. He worked at the garage
across the street. I called to him and asked him if he would like to do
something for us.
"Yes, what is it?"
I said, "Would you like to take us home?"
"Yes, whenever Roy is ready, just let me know."
"He's ready right now."
"Well," he said, "wait until I finish filling this car
with gas." Then he stepped into his car and drove across the street, and
Roy and I walked out of the little hospital together. When we got home,
as soon as we got into the house and closed the door, we dropped down on
our knees and praised the God of heaven for what He had done for us, for
hearing and answering our prayer, and strengthening our faith!
In the afternoon Roy said, "Rose, I'd like to walk
down to the beach. I'd like to go down there and have a prayer meeting.,
"Roy, don't you feel weak?"
"I never felt better in all my life," he said.
We walked down, and there by the side of God's mighty
ocean we knelt and again thanked Him for His goodness, mercy, and love.
Now I'm going to add Roy's story of what he
experienced during the healing:
"I would like to add my testimony and tell you what I
experienced during the time of my healing. I will try to give an exact
account of it. There appeared at the foot of my bed a heavenly being,
beautiful beyond description. It was head and shoulders taller than an
ordinary man. I say `man' because he was masculine-looking. His hair was
light gold in color and hung in ringlets about his head. He was clothed
in a beautiful white robe which hung in pleats from his shoulders to the
floor and gathered at the waist by a golden girdle with tassels hanging
down his right side. He gave me a very reassuring look, but I hardly
dared look at him. He said, 'I have come to raise you up again.' And
with that he reached over and touched me. It must have been just as the
minister anointed me, for a great fear and trembling came over me, and I
became fully conscious. He looked the same as he did in my
semi-unconscious state, but he was so glorious I had to take my gaze
away from him. I looked about the room and wondered where I was and why
all these people, our friends and relatives, were there, and why they
were weeping, but my mind was on this beautiful being at the foot of the
bed. I was almost afraid to look back, and when I did, he had
disappeared. He must have known that I couldn't take another look, and
live. If this being is an indication of what heaven will be like, or
what we will be when we have put on immortality and have been changed
'in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump,' (1
Corinthians 15:52), heaven will be cheap at any price we pay or any
sacrifice we must make. Let us all be faithful to the end."
I’ve have many testimonies from reliable people
confirming this healing, as well as the doctor's and nurses'
testimonies. We also have a set of X-ray pictures taken after the
healing, showing what the Lord did. Following are some of the statements
made by those who actually witnessed the healing:
"To whom it may concern:
"I have been asked to give a testimonial in regard to
the miraculous healing of Roy Slaybaugh after he was so critically
injured in a car wreck. It has been long enough since Roy Slaybaugh was
injured that I have forgotten some of the details, but I'll never forget
the change that took place in his condition in the space of twelve
hours. On the evening of August 20, 1945, the hospital phoned and said
they needed me to 'special' a case nights.
When I went on duty at 8:00 P.M. I was given the case
history. He had been injured the day before. There was a fracture above
the left eye extending over and above the left ear. The cerebral fluid
was oozing from the left eye and ear. There were cuts on the forehead
and the left ear was torn off. These injuries had been repaired, but his
condition was very serious, and the doctor gave us very little hope for
his recovery. I was with him until 8:00 A.m. Tuesday, carrying out the
doctor's orders for administering penicillin, irrigating the eye every
two hours, and giving sedatives to keep the patient as quiet as
possible. Tuesday night the orders were the same. After midnight his
condition was worse-pulse weakening, fingernails getting blue.
When I went off duty at 8:00 A.M. Wednesday, I felt
very sure he would not live through the day. I called the hospital at
5:00 P.m. to find out his condition, and they told me to come and that
he had improved and they needed me. When I stepped into the room that
night, I was shocked and surprised at the change. It was miraculous.
There were smiles of hope and confidence on the faces of Mrs. Slaybaugh
and her brother, and when I looked at my patient I could well understand
why. His color was good, his pulse strong, and he was rational. He knew
Rose when she spoke to him. It didn't seem possible. But Mrs. Slaybaugh
told me she had called in the ministers of the church and had prayed and
anointed him according to God's Word in James 5:14 and 15. This was done
during the noon hour, and the change came immediately.
From that time on he improved rapidly and soon needed
my services no longer. How happy I will be if my testimony will help
people to realize that God is the same today as He always has been. But
we must believe His promises enough to ask His help in the name of
Jesus. I am happy to give God the glory, for I am convinced that Roy
Slaybaugh would not be with us today if we had depended solely on
medical science.
(Signed) Jennie Schneidau, R.N."
"After we prayed and anointed Roy in the name of the
Lord, I went out to have a little lunch and have a tire changed. This
consumed a little more than an hour. When I went back into the hospital,
the nurse, Mrs. Floyd Humpage, who was caring for him, was seated at the
window crocheting. I stepped close to her and asked, 'How is Mr.
Slaybaugh? Is there any change?' Her reply was, 'Wonderful! He is
normal.' I said no more to her, but I have met and talked with her
recently in company with another minister, Leo Van Dolson. She gave us a
wonderful testimony on the healing of Mr. Slaybaugh. This was marvelous,
because when we entered the hospital, this same nurse was swabbing the
mouth of the patient, from which was flowing a brown fluid, which
apparently ceased when she left the room. May God use this testimony to
His honor and glory.
T. L. Thuemler, Minister, Crescent City, California."
"When Roy Slaybaugh of Gold Beach, Oregon, was injured
in a highway accident, his attending physician told Mrs. Slaybaugh that
her husband was fatally injured and could not live. Mrs. Slaybaugh then
phoned a minister in Crescent City to come at once and pray for the
restoration of her husband. The minister responded; Roy was anointed,
and prayer was offered for his recovery. The response, immediate and
marvelous, brought restoration and renewed life, and Roy was soon
getting about as usual. This experience aroused much comment throughout
that entire section and presently reached our town of Brookings, about
forty miles away. Mrs. C. P. Watt, an experienced registered nurse, and
I decided to call on this doctor for further inquiry into this unusual
experience. We discussed the case in considerable detail. When asked if
he considered that prayer had anything to do with the remarkable
recovery of the patient, the doctor replied, 'That enters the realm of
the supernatural, in which I have had no experience. But from a medical
standpoint, Roy Slaybaugh had no right to live, but he did live.'
B. W. Marsh and Mrs. C. P. Watt, R.N."
"In company with Pastor Thuemler, I visited Mrs.
Humpage, the nurse on Roy's case in Gold Beach, some time ago. Mrs.
Humpage was convinced that Roy's healing was miraculous and stated that
she was the nurse that gave him the hard candy. It was also my privilege
to visit at a later date with Mrs. Jennie Schneidau, a member of our
Gold Beach church, and she told me that she was certain that it was only
a miracle that spared Roy's life. She, of course, was one of the nurses
that took care of Roy and was converted as the result of that
experience.
Leo Van Dolson, Minister."
"I heard the crash; I ran to the scene of the accident
and found Brother Slaybaugh slumped over the wheel. I shook him and
talked loudly so I might arouse him, but he never moved. His head was
bent over like that of a dead man, and most of one ear was gone. We
called on Mrs. Humpage a few days ago, and she said, 'Anyone who knows
anything about God knows it was a higher power than medical science that
healed Mr. Slaybaugh.'
Fred Wimer."
"To Whom It May Concern:
"This is to certify that from August 19, 1945, to
September 11, 1945, Mr. Roy Slaybaugh was under my
care at the Gold Beach Hospital, suffering from injuries sustained in an
automobile accident. After examining the patient and taking X rays, I
told Mrs. Slaybaugh the extent of her husband's injuries and gave her
very little hope for recovery.
"His skull was fractured, and the cerebral fluid was
coming from the left ear and eye. I told her there was no way of
stopping it. The left ear had been pretty much torn loose in such a
manner that it sagged down. This was repaired, and it healed in very
good condition. It looked for a time as though he might lose the sight
of the eye, if not the eye itself, and there was some conversation about
an artificial eye if it came to that. I told her if the sight was lost
in the left eye, he would not be blind, as the sight was not injured in
the right eye;, X ray indicated fracture of the left lower maxilla and
less definitely of the right but not complete.
"During this time and for four or five days Mr.
Slaybaugh was unconscious."
Roy's accident occurred in August. The first day of
Decembei of that same year, Pastor Nightingale, who was pastor of the
tabernacle church in Portland, Oregon, conducted a special "Slaybaugh"
baptismal service. Six young Slaybaughs-Joe's two sons and their wives
and two nieces-took their stand for Christ, went down into baptism with
their Lord and Saviour, and became members of the church.
*The doctor's name and address are on file with the
publishers.