About Jim

The years 1984 and 1985, was a time of making decisions about going deeper with the Lord and seeing where he wanted us. Arlyne and I both experienced encouraging moments together and with friends, which helped us in the process. An example was our friends, Jim and Pam Petri.

Around this time, in November of 1984, Arlyne went to Dallas, Texas to a James Robison conference to hear John Wimber speak. It was during this meeting when she was physically healed for the first time.

During the meeting, our friend, Dori Ryan, said, “Hey, Arlyne, why don’t you get prayer for your headache.” During those years, Arlyne had problems with migraine headaches. She would have them very often. They would put her out of commission and in bed. Just as Dori spoke, Dudley Hall, one of the speakers of the conference walked by. Arlyne got up and followed the speaker into the hallway and asked him to pray for her. After he finished praying, he said, “Now go back and worship Jesus.” She went back in to worship with her friends, Dori and Judy Archer from Fergus Falls, MN. After worship, Dori asked Arlyne, “How’s your headache?” Arlyne said, “It’s totally gone.” And she has never had any problem with migraine headaches since that time.

After this experience, we were so excited. I had a week off from Seminary classes in January 1985 and planned a trip to Dallas, Texas to attend a conference. Leading up to the conference, I was in church service at our church, Bethel Lutheran, in Fergus Falls, MN. It was just a few days before the conference was going to start. After the service, our pastor, John Kilde’s father-in-law, Palmer Eklund, pulled me aside and asked to talk for a minute. We went into a Sunday school room to talk privately. He began to ask for prayer for specific needs. I agreed to pray for him. This was unexpected for him to ask me to pray like this. After I prayed, he asked me how he could pray for me. I began to tell him that I was seriously considering attending the conference in Dallas, TX, but had not yet bought plane tickets to fly. I explained that I needed to buy plane tickets to fly down in just a few days. Palmer said, “Jim, I want to pay for you to go.” I said, “What? You want to pay for me to go?” He said, “Yes, and I want to pay for someone to go with you, like my son-in-law, John. Ask John to go and if he can’t go, ask a friend.” In response to this, I said, “Well how about my friend Jim Petri, could he be the one to go?” Palmer said, “Yes, of course! And, if Jim Petri can’t go, take your wife and have a good time. You need to go with two so you can have a witness to what goes on.”

Fergus Falls, MN -

Early Ministry Continued



So that next day, Monday, after my seminary classes, I was thinking over my conversation with Palmer. We did not know each other that well, although by being in the same church and close with the same people, we of course knew each other to a degree. I kept thinking, “Why would Palmer buy my tickets?” I decided to go to Palmer’s house to talk more. Once I arrived, he said, “Come on in!” By the time I was indoors, he had is checkbook in hand and said, “How much is it for you to go down there for the two of you?” I told him the amount and he wrote the check. I was completely amazed.

So, Jim Petri and I flew down to Dallas, Texas to the conference. At one point in the conference we had reached point in one of the sessions when John Wimber said, “Ok, now it’s ministry time. I call it show and tell. Anybody can get involved in praying.”

John Wimber said,” There are two conditions in the group right now. The first is if you have tingly fingers. You are now going to be praying for the sick. If you have tingly fingers, I’m going to ask you to come down to the front area by the stage.” Well, my friend, Jim Petri had that. He said, “Jim, that’s me, I have that!”

Then, John Wimber said, “The other condition out there is hot hands.” That condition was me. I said, “I have that Jim.” So, we both made our way down to the stage to pray for somebody. John Wimber said, “Now, any of you that want prayer for something, come down to the front stage area and these people are all ready to pray for you. God is going to use them to pray for you.”

When it came time to pray with someone, my friend, Jim Petri and I paired up with a man who began to tell us that he was a Baptist pastor. He began to share that he had traveled to the conference to try to find something to criticize and find fault with. But, he said, "I am so blessed by everything. I can’t even tell you how blessed I am." As he began saying this, he began to shake and cry. The next thing we knew, he began to shake very strongly and kind of tip over, so we gently helped him to lie down on the floor. It was just incredible. We knelt down next to him to pray with him. We asked God to bless him, and show him, and fill him with the Holy Spirit. Then, we began to pray for one or two other people as we had been very moved by the powerful experience we shared with this man. We felt like, wow, here we are. A couple of Lutheran’s and experiencing something so new and so powerful and good and praying for a Baptist pastor. The entire experience was life changing for Jim and I.

At that same time I had learned that my uncle Howard was going to be in the hospital in Minneapolis for treatments after being diagnosed with cancer. On our trip home, we stopped at the hospital where my uncle Howard was admitted in the hospital. We found him and shared with him where we had been and asked if we could pray for him. He said, “Yes, that would be great.” Howard said, “I feel like my entire stomach is full of fluid as they are pumping all this medicine through my system.” We asked Howard first if he would like to pray. He said, “Yes” and began to pray. He thanked Jesus for being with him there, etc. and asked for healing and thanked the Lord. I felt so blessed by this.

When Jim Petri began to pray for Howard, Jim had his hands gently resting on Howard’s stomach. All of a sudden, Howard’s stomach began to churn where we could visibly see it, almost like a butter church would look. It was going up and down. Then, Jim stopped praying and I prayed some too. After our prayer, Howard said, “Did you see my stomach?” Howard said he was feeling so great he jokingly said that he would actually like to go home with us.

We left the hospital and left for home. Howard later left the hospital to go home to North Dakota. Months later, I got a call from aunt Lorraine. She said Howard was asking for me. We visited him again then in North Dakota. His cancer had progressed and he was very weak. He ended up passing away that spring. ~

Buying Land:

I found a piece of land that I wanted to buy from Otto Richter in Fergus Falls, MN. He owned a nearby farm. He sold it to me.

I got a hold of the surveyor and told them my vision for the land. I explained what I wanted to do and needed 2.5 acre lots to develop it the way that I wanted. I asked the surveyor to map it out to see how many 2.5 acre lots we could get.

Down closest to the Ottertail River, we wanted land set aside to develop for later in life. The entire process came together very well. It was the right timing.

I loved the land and had friends, like Dennis and Sharon Fuhrman, who lived right nearby.

Other friends that worked at the title company in Fergus Falls helped out by getting my project all prepared and ready to go.

We felt that we would develop that land and live there forever. Little did I know it wouldn’t be that long that we would actually live there.

The Call:

I would often spend time down at our barn alone, enjoying the beauty of the surroundings. I would gaze out at the field and the adjacent slew near the house. It was a beautiful spot.

One morning, as I sat on the ground leaning on a tree, I was thanking the Lord. Then, the Lord said to me, “I am giving you this for a season, but I am requiring more of you.” I started to cry.

I said, “Yes, whatever you want Lord.” I was reminded of when I was 17 and I had promised the Lord that I would serve him.

After this time with the Lord, I went to the house to find Arlyne. I shared with her what had happened and what the Lord had said. We stood there hugging and crying. She was emotional too. I had told her that I had said, “Yes, Lord.”

Great Memories:

A great memory of life in the country on our land along the Ottertail River, is of our daughters, Kirsten and Kaaren. They enjoyed time outdoors ever day. In the warm months, they played around with friends and spent lots of hours at the barn with their horses, Cody, Black Jack and the others. They learned to drive (a few years earlier than age 16 being so far out in the country), riding horses, floating the river, etc.

One memory that stands out is when Kaaren and her friend, Julie Walvatne, decided to take the car for a drive around the gravel road. As the story goes, they came across some loose gravel, and although only driving at a slow speed of about 10-15 MPH, they ended up in the small slew. The two girls worked and worked to get the car unstuck in order to drive out. They worked so hard; to the point of getting out the floor mats from the car, to help get traction! I couldn't believe it! It tickled me to see how hard they had tried. After seeing all the work they did to get the car unstuck, I didn’t have the heart to get upset.