Patricia Beall Gruits, remembered

Pat Gruits

Patricia Gruits was a 25-year-old wife and mother of a young boy when the Latter Rain revival poured down in December 1948 at the church pastored by her mother, M. D. "Mom" Beall.

That church, Bethesda Missionary Temple, experienced intense revival for almost four years (you can read more details at this link) and went on to be one of the largest churches in the Detroit area for decades. (It is currently known as, Bethesda Christian Church, and its 3,000-seat sanctuary is situated on a lovely 92-acre property in Sterling Heights, Michigan.)

As the Latter Rain revival blazed on at Bethesda, Sister Pat and her husband, Pete, had two more little boys (one in 1950 and the other in 1951), but she made time to assist her mother in the ministry. In 1951, the church started a monthly publication called the Latter Rain Evangel and she was the editor.

The Gruits added a fourth and final son in 1956, and in the decades that followed she left an indelible ministry legacy that included writing a catechism, Understanding God & His Covenants (with over one million copies in circulation), as well as, the founding of a mission in Haiti, RHEMA International.

On Saturday, June 15, Sister Pat passed from this life into the presence of the Lord she so dearly loved and faithfully served (Charisma News' obituary for her can be read at this link). She was 96 at her passing.

Although the highlights of her ministry have been previously presented on this blog (at this link), a tribute about her on Facebook seemed to capture her essence in a way that a mere recitation of events cannot. The author of that tribute, Ruth Simpson Betley, has graciously given her permission for it to be published here as well.

Here's what Ruth wrote:

"Prior to leaving Michigan, I traveled with Sister Pat as her unlikely companion and she became like a mother to me.

"There will never be another like her. She was truly a General. She carried an 'unsolicited' God-given authority that was recognizable everywhere we went and made people automatically treat her with the respect reserved for someone of great importance, even though they may not have had the vaguest notion of who she was.

"This godly woman truly lived what she preached. She read her Bible daily and spent time with her God in prayer. First, she would enter His court with praise and thanksgiving, then she would unselfishly petition Him about certain situations or for the needs of those she was bringing before Him - and she always spent that quiet time listening to what He wanted to say back to her. What a wonderful and personal relationship she had with Him. She truly spent her life putting Him first and serving Him.

"Her mother had taught her that when asked to go to churches to speak, never go out with a message that had been given at another place and time. We called it 'Yesterday's Manna'. She was always to seek God for a fresh Word for that particular service and those particular people and not use a previous message unless He told her to do so. Sometimes, prior to a speaking engagement, her office would be contacted by the church or group wanting to know what she would be speaking on so they could put it in their bulletin. Her staff would always say that she would be bringing an anointed Word. Many times we would go out and she would not have the Word God wanted her to speak. We would be in the hotel room the night before she was to preach and she would start feeling the pressure because He had not yet given her the message. All of a sudden, God would wake her in the middle of the night and tell her what He wanted her to say. The Word would end up hitting to the depths and would apply to everyone in the service, even though all of them had different situations and needs in their lives. They would be weeping before God after dropping to their knees at their seats or going forth to kneel at the altars. It was incredible how He used her to reach and minister to people.

"Oh, and what a teacher she was! Sitting in her classes, the students, whether they were young or adults, would be mesmerized by the anointed Word she was teaching from the books God had given her to write.

"We prayed together, laughed together, and she loved to share the wonderful stories about her life with me. She kept a treasured binder with a transcription of every prophecy that had been spoken over her, in the order they had been given. Periodically, she would have me sit in her home office and read every one of them to her so she could once again hear them being spoken aloud. She would listen intently, and as they were read, the words of the prophecies would become just as powerful and anointed as the day they were spoken over her. She would then celebrate every Word and rejoice in what the Lord had done in her life, thanking Him for being faithful to the promises He had made to her, the ministries He had called her to, and for faithfulness to her family. I can see her now as she would laugh and rejoice with her hands held high.

"Folks, Reverend Patricia Gruits was the real deal!

"Goodnight Mother, we'll see you in the morning."

*** Another tribute to Sister Pat, written by one of her daughters-in-law, Joy Gruits, can be read at this link.