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Kari Holma: Difference between revisions
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|[[Image:Arriving_in_Finland_Apr_14_1950_copy.jpg|frame|William Branham and others arriving in Finland on April 14, 1950. William Branham is at the top of the stairs.]] | |[[Image:Arriving_in_Finland_Apr_14_1950_copy.jpg|frame|William Branham and others arriving in Finland on April 14, 1950. William Branham is at the top of the stairs.]] | ||
One of the most famous of William Branham's healings was that of a young boy in Finland, Kari Holma, who was supposedly killed in an automobile accident, and was restored to life by the prayers of William Branham as instructed in a vision. | |||
=Concerns with the story= | |||
There are a number of concerns with the story as related by William Branham: | |||
==Was the boy dead?== | |||
The only person that stated that the boy was dead was William Branham. There is no external evidence from anyone that the boy had died as a result of the accident. | |||
==Did the boy immediately come back to life?== | |||
The ONLY third party evidence is from a Finnish pastor, Vilho Soininen, whose story is significantly different from that told by William Branham. According to Soininen: | |||
#the boy was brought to the car and placed in the back seat | |||
#there is no indication that William Branham got out of the car | |||
#these cars were the first on the scene and so rushed the 2 boys to the hospital. | |||
the boy opened his eyes 5-6 minutes after William Branham prayed for him and started to cry a short time later. He was carried into the hospital and was released 3 days later. | |||
According to William Branham, the young boy | |||
=The Story According to William Branham in 1950= | |||
The following is an article by William Branham that appeared in a special overseas edition of '''''The Voice of Healing''''' magazine, published in June, 1950. | The following is an article by William Branham that appeared in a special overseas edition of '''''The Voice of Healing''''' magazine, published in June, 1950. | ||
==The Vision== | |||
[[image:Kari_Holma_Finland_1950.jpg|frame|left|Kari Holma.]] | [[image:Kari_Holma_Finland_1950.jpg|frame|left|Kari Holma.]] | ||
''One morning at about 3 A.M., I was awakened out of my sleep to find that the angel of the Lord was in the room to show me a vision. By the spirit I was transported in the vision to a scene where an accident had just happened. I saw that a little boy of about eight or ten years of age had been killed. He had light brown hair and his clothes looked very ragged and torn. Some men were taking the child to a hospital or funeral home.'' | ''One morning at about 3 A.M., I was awakened out of my sleep to find that the angel of the Lord was in the room to show me a vision. By the spirit I was transported in the vision to a scene where an accident had just happened. I saw that a little boy of about eight or ten years of age had been killed. He had light brown hair and his clothes looked very ragged and torn. Some men were taking the child to a hospital or funeral home.'' | ||
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''It was at that moment that the angel of the Lord told me to kneel and pray that the child’s life would return to him. That I did, and life was restored and he lived. Now this vision is to come to pass in the future. I have told it to hundreds of people all the way from Canada to Florida. Many have written it on the flyleaf of their Bible. About two weeks after the vision appeared to me, I was telling it to a crowd of people at a tent meeting in Miami, Florida. The next evening when I was coming to the service, I was taken to a crowd of people waiting just behind the tent. They had a little boy about five years old that had been drowned that morning in a canal. But when I saw the child I said it was not the boy I had seen in the vision. So I offered a prayer of sympathy for the family.'' | ''It was at that moment that the angel of the Lord told me to kneel and pray that the child’s life would return to him. That I did, and life was restored and he lived. Now this vision is to come to pass in the future. I have told it to hundreds of people all the way from Canada to Florida. Many have written it on the flyleaf of their Bible. About two weeks after the vision appeared to me, I was telling it to a crowd of people at a tent meeting in Miami, Florida. The next evening when I was coming to the service, I was taken to a crowd of people waiting just behind the tent. They had a little boy about five years old that had been drowned that morning in a canal. But when I saw the child I said it was not the boy I had seen in the vision. So I offered a prayer of sympathy for the family.'' | ||
==The Accident== | |||
[[Image:Part_of_Mountain_tower_group_in_Finland_1950.jpg|thumb|280px|Part of the group at the mountain tower in Finland in 1950 just before tragedy struck. William Branham is the second from the right, bottom row.]] | [[Image:Part_of_Mountain_tower_group_in_Finland_1950.jpg|thumb|280px|Part of the group at the mountain tower in Finland in 1950 just before tragedy struck. William Branham is the second from the right, bottom row.]] | ||
''…It was in Kuopio, Finland, when the Lord Jesus fulfilled the vision that He had shown me some two years before. It was that of a little boy with light brown hair which was raised from the dead. I was with a group of ministers, who were coming down from a mountain where we had been praying and singing hymns. | ''…It was in Kuopio, Finland, when the Lord Jesus fulfilled the vision that He had shown me some two years before. It was that of a little boy with light brown hair which was raised from the dead. I was with a group of ministers, who were coming down from a mountain where we had been praying and singing hymns. | ||
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''Among the ministers were Brother Gordon Lindsay and Brother Jack Moore, whom I am associated with. A motor car some 300 yards ahead of us struck a little boy, throwing him to the ground, and then ran over him with such force that it threw him back near the sidewalk. | ''Among the ministers were Brother Gordon Lindsay and Brother Jack Moore, whom I am associated with. A motor car some 300 yards ahead of us struck a little boy, throwing him to the ground, and then ran over him with such force that it threw him back near the sidewalk. | ||
==The Healing== | |||
''Brother Jack Moore picked him up and brought him back into the car with us. We saw that he was dead. I looked at the little boy and thought I recognized him. Then I remembered that he was the little boy I had seen in the vision, who was eight or ten years old, with light brown hair and who was poorly dressed. I held him to my body and began to pray. Suddenly his life came back. | ''Brother Jack Moore picked him up and brought him back into the car with us. We saw that he was dead. I looked at the little boy and thought I recognized him. Then I remembered that he was the little boy I had seen in the vision, who was eight or ten years old, with light brown hair and who was poorly dressed. I held him to my body and began to pray. Suddenly his life came back. | ||
==The Mystery of the second child== | |||
''Arriving at the hospital, we were surprised to learn that the car had struck another little boy, and had knocked him to the other side of the road. We had not seen him because he was hidden from our view, and another car had picked him up and rushed him to the hospital. After two days he was still unconscious. | ''Arriving at the hospital, we were surprised to learn that the car had struck another little boy, and had knocked him to the other side of the road. We had not seen him because he was hidden from our view, and another car had picked him up and rushed him to the hospital. After two days he was still unconscious. | ||
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''I then said to Sister Isaacson, "I can do nothing until God shows me what to do That is what Jesus said in John 5:19. I can only pray." That night I prayed again for the boy. The report came from the hospital the next day that he was just barely alive, and life seemed to be going fast. | ''I then said to Sister Isaacson, "I can do nothing until God shows me what to do That is what Jesus said in John 5:19. I can only pray." That night I prayed again for the boy. The report came from the hospital the next day that he was just barely alive, and life seemed to be going fast. | ||
==The Second Child Lives== | |||
''The following evening, after returning from the service, I was in my hotel room. The angel of the Lord came into my room. Before me were placed two Easter flowers, one leaning to the south and another to the north. That is just the way the boys’ bodies fell when the car struck them. The one toward the north was the one they took up dead, and the Lord healed. The other one to the south was the smaller lad, who was still unconscious these three days. | ''The following evening, after returning from the service, I was in my hotel room. The angel of the Lord came into my room. Before me were placed two Easter flowers, one leaning to the south and another to the north. That is just the way the boys’ bodies fell when the car struck them. The one toward the north was the one they took up dead, and the Lord healed. The other one to the south was the smaller lad, who was still unconscious these three days. | ||
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''They said, “While we were watching for him to take his last breath, he suddenly became conscious. It was 10 o’clock at the time.” When the doctors examined the boy, they reported that he would be all right. After checking the time of the vision, I found that it was just 10 o’clock when the angel of the Lord had come into my room. | ''They said, “While we were watching for him to take his last breath, he suddenly became conscious. It was 10 o’clock at the time.” When the doctors examined the boy, they reported that he would be all right. After checking the time of the vision, I found that it was just 10 o’clock when the angel of the Lord had come into my room. | ||
'' | =The Story according to Pastor Soininen= | ||
Pastor Vilho Soininen, of Kuopio, related the story in Gordon Lindsay's book, [[A Man Sent from God, by Gordon Lindsay|William Branham: A Man Sent From God]]: | |||
:''On Friday afternoon a remarkable and startling incident took place which meant much to Brother Branham and to those of us who happened to be its witnesses. Three carloads of us made an unforgettable trip to nearby Puijo Observation Tower situated on a beautiful scenic elevation. The outing was one of the most precious I can remember, because of the blessing of God upon us. Then as we were returning from Puijo, a terrible accident occurred. A car ahead was unable to avoid striking two small boys, who ran out into the street in front of it, throwing one down on the sidewalk, and the other five yards away into a field. '''One unconscious boy was carried into a car just ahead of us and the other, Kari Holma, was lifted into our car and placed in the arms of Brother Branham and Miss Isaacson who were sitting in the back seat.''' Brothers Moore and Lindsay were in the front seat with me. | |||
:''As we hurried to the hospital, I asked through Miss Isaacson, the interpreter, how the boy was. '''Brother Branham, with his finger on the boy's pulse, answered that the boy seemed to be dead''', since the pulse did not beat at all. Then Brother Branham placed his hand over the boy's heart and realized that it was not functioning. He further checked the boy's respiration and could detect no breath. | |||
:''Remembering the vision, he asked Bro. Lindsay to look in the 'fly-leaf' of his Bible and see what the vision said about 'a little boy being raised from the dead'. It was discovered that the description of the boy in the vision was exactly like the boy placed in Bro. Branham's arms. Then he knelt down on the floor of the car and began to pray. Brothers Lindsay and Moore joined in prayer, too, that the Lord would have mercy. As we neared the hospital, about five or six minutes later, I glanced back, and to my surprise, the boy opened his eyes. As we carried the boy into the hospital, he began to cry, and I realized that a miracle had taken place. | |||
:''The other boy had been brought in a little earlier and was still unconscious. As I was taking my guests back to their hotel, Brother Branham said to me, 'Do not worry! The boy, who was in our car, will surely live.' | |||
:''At that time Brother Branham had no assurance that the other boy would live, but on Sunday evening he assured me on the basis of a vision which he had seen early Sunday morning, that he, too, would live. At the exact time that Brother Branham was telling me this at his hotel, the boy lay dying at the hospital. The boy, who was in my car, Kari, was dismissed from the hospital in just three days. | |||
=William Branham relates the story on many occasions= | |||
I said, "Brother Moore, get your Bible." He had it wrote. I said, "That's the little lad. Look at the description. There he is just exactly. He's going to live again." Oh, my. I knelt down according to the way that I seen the vision and laid hands upon the little fellow. | |||
He let out a scream, and there he was, back to himself. The people didn't know what to do. Normal, not a broken bone in his body, nor nothing, just as normal as he could be, went on home.<ref>IT.SHALL.BE.EVEN.AS.IT.WAS.TOLD.ME_ CLEVELAND.OH FRIDAY_ 50-0818</ref> | |||
And usually, when God's fixing to do something, the whole audience just seems to be spellbound. I remember, over in Finland that when two years before, a vision (many of you still have it wrote in your Bible) that was telling about a little boy was going to be raised from the dead. And we was up at Kuopio looking over at the iron curtain. And when we come down, about thirty missionaries, I said, "I feel real strange; something's fixing to happen." | |||
And they said, "What would it be, Brother Branham," as you've read it in my book. | |||
I said, "I don't know, but it seems that the Presence of His holy Being is so near." | |||
And at that very time the little boy was dying down on the road below us. After laying there for a half hour, and our little party come down and found him... And the people standing around, and the main man of the city, which is equivalent to a mayor of our nation... And I walked over to look at the little fellow, and walked back, I was thinking of Billy Paul, my boy. And I'd been away from home for quite a bit. And how would I feel if that was my boy? And how that little mother and dad was going to feel after they'd come out of the--the farms to see their little darling laying there dead. Only a parent can have that feeling. And I was so tore up. | |||
They raised the little coat off his face and let me see him, and I started to walk away. And something happened. I turned to look at the boy again. And the manager, who was standing there, I seen it was the very description of the vision. And then was when the Holy Spirit begin to move. There before five hundred people I could, surely, with the assurance that God keeps His Word, could say to them, "It's THUS SAITH THE LORD; that little boy will be on his feet a living in the next five minutes." There was everything that the Lord had showed in the vision two years before, which many of you still have it in your Bibles. Something foretold that would come to pass, the grace of God to us. | |||
And then when praying for the little lad, and his bones broken... He was thrown thirty feet in the air, after he'd been rolled under the wheels and slammed into the middle of the street, with his blood from his mouth, his ears, his eyes set, and no heart beat for over thirty minutes. In five minutes time the little lad was jumping and racing around, praising God. It was the Presence of the Lord upon the hill, saying, "Something's fixing to happen."<ref>HIS.WONDERS.TO.PERFORM CHICAGO.IL 58-0112A</ref> | |||
Standing yonder in Finland that day, and that little boy laying there, and I walked around, '''him laying there dead, been dead for a half hour'''. You read in the book. I started to walk away; something put their hands on; I turned around; I thought, "What was that?" And I looked again. I thought, "Wait a minute." Looked back here on the flyleaf of the Bible, "And it shall come to pass, a little boy about nine years old... He'll be killed by an automobile. There'll be a long strip of evergreen, rocks lapped in there; the car will be laying across the road, wrecked. He'll have on little stockings like--up high, a crock haircut; and his little eyes will be turned back; the bones in his body will be broken." | |||
I looked; I thought, "Oh, God." | |||
I said, "Stand still all of you." The mayor of the city there... I said, '''"If that boy isn't on his feet in two minutes from now, I'm a false prophet.''' Ride and run me out of Finland." Certainly. "But if he is, you owe your lives to Christ." That's right. They stood still. | |||
I said, "Heavenly Father, across the sea yonder, two years ago, You said this little boy would lay here."<ref>ABSOLUTE_ JEFF.IN V-3 N-18 SUNDAY_ 62-1230M</ref> | |||
That night when that little boy in Finland, that day, rather; laying there dead, '''been laying there for a half hour''', mashed up, blood running out of eyes, nose and ears; his little legs broke up, in his little stockings; and his feet out through the end of his stockings, his shoes gone. I looked, and I thought, "That ought to be that boy." I said, "Say, let's look in the back of that Bible, Brother Moore." | |||
We got Brother Lindsay, Brother Moore looked back there "'And it shall come to pass,' SAITH THE LORD," (Oh, my!) "'there will be a--a land where's a lot of evergreen growing. Rocks will be lapped together. A little boy with a cropped haircut, little pantywaist buttoned up here, and his feet... his stockings pulled up high. He'll have brown eyes, they'll be turned back. He'll be killed in an automobile accident. But you lay your hands upon him, and he'll come back to life.'"<ref>PERFECT.FAITH_ JEFF.IN 63-0825E</ref> | |||