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was 17 years old when his life was changed by a dramatic religious experience. It was late July 1935 when his older brother Elmer took him to be healed. The 6 foot tall young man who only weighed 120 pounds was stricken with Tuberculosis. In the car on the way ....

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.... healing. There were several events surrounding the birth of Oral that became part of his ministry’s hagiography. Oral’s mother, Claudius, went to a sick child while she was pregnant with Oral to try and heal the child. She promised God that she would give her child to him if he would heal the sick child. The child was healed and she knew God had promised her a "little preacher". As a child Oral was mischievous and lively. But also shy, self-conscious, extrovert and poor. His self-consciousness came from his stutter and the fact that the kids made fun of him. To try and make him feel better his mom would tell him that she gave him to Go ....