of Stella L. Lutz

I've been waiting 75 years to hear someone mention the 1925 tornado that hit Topeka, Kansas. They called it a cyclone. It was the worst storm I have ever seen and I was in it.

My father, C. E. Foster was a minister and he built a church in Oakland in 1915. In the summers he rented Jones Grove for our Camp Meetings. We all lived in tents during camp. We had a huge tent for the church meeting. One Night in June just as the choir started singing, my mother saw a funnel cloud and ran to tighten up our tent, all of a sudden, a strong wind and hard rain hit. Huge trees were being uprooted all around us. We had no place to go. The tents were being shredded like wheat. The benches in the church tent were piled up high with a bunch of women under them. (I believe it was a protection, but it almost scared them to death.)

One young man decided to leave, but when he got to the gate, the wind picked him up and he was found lying in someone's cornfield. The next morning it looked like all of Topeka was gone. Trees and telephone poles covered the front and east side of the camp grounds. God was with all of us that night.

In 1908 there was a flood that my folks were in. They lived in north Topeka and had to go to west Topeka to my grandparent's house. My mother said when they went home they had to dig dishes and pans out of the mud.

In the good old days, we had tent meetings from June `til September, many came from all over the country and sometimes some of the missionaries from overseas came to our camp meeting (10 days every August). The night meetings sometimes lasted `til 2 or 3 AM. Many were getting filled with the Holy Spirit and the police came often to check on us. One night one started talking in tongues and the one next to her said, "The Comforter has come." And a little old lady said, "Yes, and so has the POLICE!"

Pearl Shears' dad came and pulled her up from the altar and said, "I don't want you to have this." and she said, "but Papa, I already got it." (Her parents soon came in.)

A man saw his little five-year-old girl in the church tent talking in tongues. A missionary from India said that made a believer out of him. He knew she couldn't do it.

The first time in history that God's Word is covering the World even China, India, the Islands and everywhere. God bless TBN and his many satellites in the air all over the world. The Bible says in the last days God's Word would be scattered over the whole world so no one could be excusable. Thousands have been saved, some even started churches.

When my twin girls were five years old, they were excited over going to kindergarten. One got sick and couldn't go so I kept them both home. The other one was upset and she said, "Well, when I come back, I'm going to kindergarten." I said, "What? You're not coming back?" She thought a little bit and said, "Well, the preacher (Victor my brother) said we need to get born again."