Healed to Spread the Gospel

 God’s transformative power is usually associated with the spiritually lost finding their identities in Christ, but it certainly applies to the redeemed finding their specific callings, too. The transformation of credentialed Assemblies of God evangelist Reneé Moore consumed her childhood and youth, but she believes it was worth the wait.

At the age of 3, Moore, of Muskogee, Oklahoma, suffered a life-threatening brain injury. It caused debilitating seizures for the next 17 years and robbed her of independence. But Moore never gave up on being healed. Moore was anointed and prayed for every time an evangelist visited Calvary Assembly of God in Boynton, the church her father, W. Dean Moore, pastored at the time.

“I had no driver’s license, my mother (Gailya) drove me to college, and I was on many medications,” says Moore. “But at every checkup, I believed for a miracle.”

Moore’s miracle came on a Sunday in 1989 as her father preached on Jesus’ miracles.

“That day, I knew God was going to touch me,” she says.

Moore’s annual checkup was a few days later, and the results were still abnormal, but she chose to believe the report of the Lord. For six months, she fasted and prayed, and quit all her prescription drugs.

“I don’t encourage individuals to stop taking medication,” Moore says. “I just think God required that level of faith from me.”

At the next checkup, her electroencephalogram was still abnormal, but Moore told her doctor she had stopped taking medication and had had no seizures — a pattern that has continued for the past 27 years.   

Almost immediately, Moore, who also ministers in song, began receiving widespread invitations to sing. Over time she began preaching, and by 1998, was a full-time evangelist.

Along the way, the stress of a busy schedule caused some health complications, and doctors expressed concern that a stealthier type of seizure might be occurring. Before seeing a neurologist, Moore sensed God directing her to read Nahum 1:9: Whatever they plot against the Lord He will bring to an end; trouble will not come a second time.

“I didn’t even know that Scripture — I had to go look it up,” Moore says.

Test results showed no abnormal brain activity. In fact, they came back so clean, Moore exhibited no trace of her prior injury and seizures.

The following year, Moore incorporated Healing Touch Ministries and has continued to travel across the nation and world sharing her testimony. She’s on the road 45 weeks annually, and has preached in Africa and Europe. It’s quite a change from the young woman unable to drive herself to college classes.

Moore says being a single female evangelist comes with a few challenges, but it also opens the door for opportunities.

“Churches invite me for women’s conferences, see that I can preach, and invite me back as an evangelist,” she says.

Assemblies of God Oklahoma District Superintendent Frank Cargill has known Moore and her family since Moore was a teenager, and he has watched her ministry grow.

“I have received numerous testimonies, particularly from women who have been encouraged and have experienced personal miracles as a result of her ministry,” Cargill says. “The most powerful aspect of her testimony is her total dependency upon God.” 

Although sharing her testimony to save the lost is a huge part of Moore’s ministry, her focus is on restoring and reviving the Church, and bridging the gap between generations, genders, and races.

“Restoration of the body of Christ should be the cry of all evangelists,” Moore says. “There’s so much confusion between ‘old school’ and ‘new school’ — but we can be fully progressive in our outreach and relevant in our use of technology while remaining fully Pentecostal in our doctrine and demonstration.”

Rachel Dawn Hayes

Rachel Dawn Hayes is a writer and journalist focused on the stories of ministries, people, and causes in the faith-based arena. Hayes lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, Joel. Together they enjoy travel, the outdoors, and cooking for friends and family.