In 2008, Jon Cook was living in Sparks, Nevada, working as an engineer for the railroad (which he loved) and managing two companies on the side. In April of that year, he suffered a major work injury to his head and neck, shattering three discs in his neck and damaging the connection between the fourth cranial nerve and his eyes, causing double vision. His brain injury also resulted in cognitive issues. He would need to read something six to seven times to be able to retain it. Life became difficult. He underwent surgery for a triple fusion in his neck, which was successful, but he had level 7-10 pain daily. He felt as if he had a knife stuck in his neck that would feel either twisted or prodded; at worst, he would throw up from the pain. His marriage was suffering at that time. They went into financial ruin and lost the home Jon had built. "I was that guy that's like a strong ox, I could lift anything, but after the injury, I could not even lift my kids," he said. Jon was in and out of the hospital not only for pain but also for stress.
The railroad retired him. His wife, Zerlene, was so broken through all they had been through, it was the most painful thing for Jon to see. He could not do anything, and his personality changed. No longer his jolly self, he was depressed and hopeless. The whole time, certain that God could heal him, Jon prayed for a miracle. When he got out of his surgery, the doctor said, "It's a miracle you are not paralyzed. We had to remove shards of your discs from your back. We were successful in moving them, but you will probably be in pain for the rest of your life." In mid-2010, Jon and Zerlene decided it was time to move on with their lives. Jon had employment opportunities in Southern California. He wanted to go to L.A., but Zerlene wanted to move to Redding to attend Bethel. Jon visited Bethel for a Sunday service and went to the front for prayer. A German couple was ready to pray for him. He drearily recounted his hopeless story. With big smiles on their faces, they prayed, and the woman began to laugh uncontrollably as she prayed for Jon. Her husband looked into Jon's eyes and said, "Would you like to know why my wife is laughing? She's seen the plans of the enemy, and she knows it's not going to work." Somehow as crazy as it was, that just made sense to Jon, and he grabbed onto it. When he went back home, he sensed a shift in his heart. Zerlene had found out about BSSM and said, "I think we are supposed to go." That made no sense to Jon, but he loved his wife and after all she had been through, maybe this would be good. They applied to BSSM and got accepted, but when it came to faxing the rental agreement for a house near Bethel, Jon found it hard to send. He still did not know if this was the right choice. He stared at the fax machine for a long time before hitting send, and he heard for the first time in his life an audible voice say, "I will heal you."
They moved here on a Thursday, in June 2011. Jon was in severe pain from the move. That weekend, at an evening service, Jon was upfront worshipping, and one of the pastors called out a word of knowledge: "Someone here with a multiple fusion has had surgery, but is still in pain. The Lord told me you will be healed." Jon said, "The moment he said that my pain went from level 9 or 10 to nothing. I had not been out of pain for three years, and it went to nothing!" For Jon, that was a radical encounter with God. On one hand, it was immediate and simple and on the other, it shook his entire family. Suddenly, their dad was back. As if the last three years had not happened, his muscle strength was back, and he was jovial again. The next day he finished unloading boxes from their move. He still had double vision and memory issues, however. The Saturday night before school started, he was praying and thanking God for healing in his neck. He said, "Jesus, if there is any way to heal my eyes and my brain, I would be so grateful." Pastor Bill was teaching on Sunday morning and said, "I feel like God wants to do something with head trauma. There is a unique injury that has something to do with a brain injury that resulted in vision problems." Jon stood up and people around laid hands on him. He felt like something shifted in his eyes, and it seemed to him that he was healed. He went home after church and put on his prism glasses that helped with the problem but his vision was blurry, so he knew he had been healed. That night at church Pastor Bill was on the stage again and head trauma came back up and he said, "Someone here had a head injury, and it has affected the way you input." Jon stood up again because that was his other brain problem.
After BSSM started, Jon was on the phone with his aunt, sharing about what he had learned at school the last two weeks. Zerlene, who had been listening, said, "Do you realize you have been healed?" Jon was able to go through school, do his homework, and retain everything. He is fully healed. Their marriage was healed, and their family was blessed. So physically healed was he that he was able to get back to working in the construction field. Life was back to normal.
Then in January of 2014, while up in South Lake Tahoe, Jon slipped on some ice on the back porch of their family condo and could not move. He knew he had done something to his back and was in severe pain. His family called 911, and an ambulance took him to a hospital in Sacramento. He had broken his back, bruised his tailbone, and torn the tissue between his ribs. That was on a Thursday evening. Friday they left the hospital with Jon in a full brace from his hips to his neck and on heavy pain medicine. The next day, his wife took him to the Bethel Healing Rooms. The next thing he remembers was that evening his wife telling him that Chris Overstreet was on the phone, and he proclaimed that God was going to heal Jon. The next morning Jon managed to go to church. Before the 10:30 service, he went to find a seat but it hit him that he could not even sit down because of his tailbone. Chris Overstreet came up behind him and wrapped his arms around him and prayed for him and cried out to God. As he was praying for Jon, Jon had a vision of some type of white substance being injected into his back, and the pain increased. He thought Chris was squeezing him and he said, "Let go." As Chris did, the pain completely disappeared. Jon removed the back brace and said, "The pain seems like it's gone." He bent over and touched his toes. He then sat down and pushed his tailbone into the seat, but had no pain. Though he had had a radical encounter before with major healing, it was this time that he had a renewed view of the Father and how good He truly is. Two days after this second healing, he was right back doing construction again.