T.L. Osborn and his wife Daisy were in their early twenties and were pastors of a Portland, Oregon, church when they invited a female missionary from India to speak at their church. As she spoke, the Osborn’s felt an instant calling to international outreach. They immediately made a five-year plan for evangelizing India, raised the money, and moved to India.
Less than a year after moving to India, the Osborn’s began to realize their limitations. T.L. Osborn said in an interview with Charisma Magazine, “We couldn’t convince the Hindus and the Muslims about Jesus, about the Bible.” Osborn recalled telling himself, “You can’t do anything with people who don’t believe in the Bible.” He then said, “I didn’t know that the Bible could be proven because I didn’t know about miracles.”
T.L. and Daisy moved back to America filled with shame at their perceived failures on the missions field.
Coming back to America, the Osborn’s began to hunger for the power of God that was being manifested through miracle-working evangelists of their day like William Branham and Gordon Lindsay. Osborn said, “That was the big thing that happened to us in India. We realized that without the miraculous, we couldn’t prove what we believed. I hadn’t thought of that before India. So we were going to find somebody that performed miracles.”
They learned about a Smith Wigglesworth meeting and they made plans to attend. But then, unfortunately, Wigglesworth died. They then planned to go to a Charles Price tent revival, but Price also died. Osborn broke down and wept when he learned of Price’s passing. He felt that all the healing evangelists had passed away and he didn’t get to hear even one of them speak.
At the passing of Price, the Osborn’s learned of his successor, a lady named Hattie Hammond, and obtained a meeting with her. Hammond encouraged the Osborn’s that their experience in India was not a failure but was a glimpse into the harvest of souls God had planned for them to reach. She ended the meeting by encouraging the Osborn’s that “If you ever see Jesus, you’ll never be the same.”
Gripped with hunger, T.L. and Daisy prayed late into the night to see Jesus. “The next morning at 6 o’clock, Jesus Christ walked in our room,” Osborn vividly remembers. “I saw Him like I see you. He didn’t walk on the floor. He walked on the air. I’ll never forget it. And I laid there. It was like I was dead. I couldn’t move a finger or a toe. I finally laid on my face on the floor until 2 o’clock in the afternoon. It changed my life. I was totally, totally bathed in a new life. That’s the best way to describe it.”
Shortly after this, the Osborn’s had an opportunity to see Gordan Lindsay minister. Osborn was shocked at the simplicity with which Lindsay shared the gospel and then prayed for the sick. Many gave their lives to Jesus and the sick were instantly healed when Lindsay prayed for them. Osborn said, “It shocked me. It profoundly affected me, and it seemed to me like a thousand voices swirled over my head saying, ‘You can do that. That’s what Jesus did. That’s the way Peter did it. That’s the way Paul did it. That proves the Bible is true today. You can do that.’”
T.L. and Daisy began to pour over the four gospels, seeing Jesus’ ministry through a new lens. During this same period of time, Osborn had come in contact with the writings of Franklin Hall on fasting and prayer. He and Daisy had begun to go into many days and weeks of fasting and prayer. At one point, T.L. fasted all food and water for three days as he sought God’s presence. The Lord spoke to him and said “As I’ve been with others, so I will be with you. Wherever you go, I will give you the land for your possession. No demon, no disease, or no power can stand before you all the days of your life, IF you get the people to believe my Word.” The Osborn’s made a commitment, saying, “Whatever Jesus said He would do, we would expect Him to do it. Whatever He told us to do, we would do it.”
The Osborn’s decided it was time to host their first healing service at their church in Portland. They promoted their event through the newspaper and radio and, when the night came, their church was packed. Many gave their lives to Jesus as Osborn preached the gospel. Soon, lines formed to receive healing. “It worked,” Osborn stated. “We prayed for them and they were healed. I discovered Jesus in me. When that happened, Daisy and I said, ‘Now we can go back to India. Now we can convince them.'”
Attempting to return to India, the Osborn’s were unable to raise the necessary funds to make it all the way there. They mortgaged their car, sold their furniture, and began to travel. Headed towards India, their money only took them as far as their first stop – Jamaica.
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