Linda Gove grew up in Kennebunk, Maine. She is very thankful for the Christian parents that raised her and her 3 sisters and 2 brothers in the way of the Lord.
Her church experiences were saturated with Pentecostal services. Her parents, Ted and Charlotte Towne were faithful to travel to each service scheduled throughout the week."Good weather, bad weather, good day, bad day, Mom had everyone ready to go to church."
Linda was attending Graceful Gospel Church in Westbrook, Maine when she accepted Jesus into her heart and was water baptized. Although Linda is not sure of the year, she believes she was somewhere around the age of ten.
She remembers being a shy, quiet, skinny little girl with very little self confidence. She would feel very lost at times in the crowds at school, but she would feel the presence of God all around her. It was the presence of the Holy Spirit that made her feel so loved and so special.
God began to show her things at a young age. You will hear her dad, a lobsterman, and her mom tell of the time she stepped off the bus and said "Dad had trouble out on the water today didn't he." This particular day the raging waves took her dad and his boat over a cluster of rocks. Everything in the boat was washed away. Her dad held on. God had a man on the shore that day watching him with binoculars. This man called the coastguard and within minutes help was on its way.
Linda and her family started attending Bethel Christian Church in North Berwick, Maine when she was sixteen. Again, when the church doors were open her parents and all the children were present.
One afternoon while praying in the living room of her home, the power of the Holy Spirit came upon her and her body began to shake and tremble with the Holy Spirit. It was here that Jesus filled her to overflowing.
Being sixteen and the oldest brought many responsibilities. She was always looking out for her younger siblings but this day she was put in charge. Her parents had gone away for the day with a friend in his car. They came home at the expected time and when her mom came through the door she watched her grab for the stair railing and then collapse right before her eyes. Her dad, only steps behind, grabbed her mom and dragged her outside into the fresh air and laid her on the ground. Linda completely bewildered at her father's actions didn't realize that he understood that the gentleman's car had a muffler problem. Quickly she called the ambulance while her dad continued to try to bring her mom back. But when she went back outside her dad was on the ground also. Here she was sixteen years old with 5 younger siblings and both parents were dieing before her eyes. Soon two ambulances arrived, her Uncle David, an EMT, was pounding on her parents' chests. Her youngest brother,Tim, was in the upstairs window looking down on the whole scene. Everyone heads for the hospital; in the living room her grand parents, Bob and Olive Nichols, quietly sat, prayed and waited. Linda found her way to her bedroom closet, stepped inside and shut the door. She cried and prayed, "God let them live, God please let them live, I will serve you all the days of my life." Her parents now in their seventies are very active members of their church, Family Christian Center in Berwick, Maine.
While attending a house prayer meeting in North Berwick at the age of 17, her future husband walked in. Manley, a young man learning the construction trade, knew immediately he wanted to get to know Linda.
A few months before Linda was to graduate from high school she started feeling tired and ill. The doctors began to run tests. With little energy, Linda spent her days in bed or on the couch. She was sleeping her life away. A visiting missionary from Africa, Lee Russell, along with her pastor, Robert Cole, came to visit her. At this time the doctor had not told Linda she had a rare form of Leukemia. With God's direction Lee Russell began to pray specifically for Linda's blood stream to be healed. Fifteen minutes later, Linda was scheduled to leave to have more blood work done. It was this blood work that came back free of disease, totally normal. The doctor told Linda he didn't understand this good report but to expect the disease it to come back. She could have a walk in appointment at anytime she started to feel ill again. The results of the rare leukemia had been studied and agreed upon by other doctors also. For years after, even though Linda felt great and the reports came back normal, she was denied health insurance because she was thought to be a high risk.
Lee Russell was the featured vocalist in the Vincent Lopez Orchestra for twenty years. Lila Ginter, a missionary from South Africa, started him down the path of singing the Gospel. He was heard weekly on the nationwide radio show "That They Might See" under the direction of Rev. Ralph Montanus, the well known blind evangelist. Lee traveled half way around the world singing his Gospel songs. He received an award from the American Society Of Composers, Authors and Publishers for his contribution to Gospel music.
Then the wedding bells rang on July 19th, 1975. Linda and Manley were married at Bethel Christian Church in North Berwick, Maine. God had placed a strong desire within Linda to be a wife and mother. He granted her this desire and blessed her with three children: Manley, Katie and Mark.
November 6, 1979 God called Linda's sixteen year old brother home. He was killed while deer hunting with her husband Manley. He was in a tree stand and it was later determined that the safety feature malfunctioned on his gun. Moving down from the tree stand the gun went off. "Words can not express the pain, the heart reaching groans of mourning that come from deep within. The unexpected call, when God motions for you to come." She never expected her day to end in such a tragedy. It still brings tears to her eyes to talk of it today, but God held her and her family close to his heart and gave them the strength to continue on. She knows that one day they will meet again.
At the age of 32 and with three small children, Linda was told she had stage III cancer and needed a radical hysterectomy. Everyone knew that this was a grim report. One night before surgery, she was tucking her youngest son, Mark, into bed and he looked up at her with big eyes and asked her, "Mommy are you going to die?" Linda began to ask God to give her enough years to raise her children, to be the mother that they needed. God gave her complete peace. With eight hours of surgery and many, many prayers from family and friends, Linda regained her strength for the next two weeks in a Boston hospital. She was sent home to enjoy Easter with her family and made weekly trips to Boston to keep a close eye on her condition. Tests upon tests were performed to monitor what was going on within. After months of the weekly trips and good reports the space between visits were slowly lengthened until it was necessary for only a yearly visit. Then, one day, five years later the doctor told her with a smile, "I see no reason for you to make this trip anymore, just find a doctor in your area."
Linda and Manley spent ten years traveling the states managing two Christian alternative bands that their sons Manley and Mark were in. (Manassas Junction & Mu5tard ). From churches, outdoor events, rehab centers, prison, groups of more than a thousand to just a handful, they would take the good news in song and testimony. They saw many encouraged and accept Jesus through this ministry.
They now attend Milton Assembly of God in Milton, NH, with Rev. Alfred Weeden Jr. being their senior pastor and are very thankful for such a supportive home church.
God granted Linda the years to be the wife and mother she so desired to be. Then in 2004 her youngest son, Mark, asked her to go to Africa with him. He was returning to Mwanza, Tanzania for the second time. It was here in Missungwi that he helped work in the beginning stages of an orphanage, "Interfaith Children's Center" She had always quietly longed to go to Africa, it was a seed God had planted deep within her heart, and it was very easy for her to say, "Yes, I'll go." Once in Africa, this seed began to grow. God took her heart in His hands and began to squeeze and squeeze. Her heart began to burn within for Africa. She felt the call ever so strong but didn't understand how it could ever come to pass. Her husband was happy to stay right in the states.
After thirty years of construction and real estate, God began to change the desires of her husband's heart. In November of 2005 Manley & Linda left for Kenya, Africa. This was Manley's first trip and he was committed to stay for two months. They called it a "Giant step of faith." After spending time in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Mozambique, and Tanzania the call was evident within both. They see the many needs but know God is greater!
A guiet, shy, country girl, now stands in the power of God before hundreds even thousands and declares her love for Jesus Christ.
Biography
