Pastor gives first sermon after suffering stroke
On Sunday, the Rev. James Michael Martin of Christ is the Answer Ministries sat in his office in the basement of the church on East South Street watching on a small television a room full of people dancing and worshipping, all of them eagerly awaiting his arrival.
Music pulsated in the nave directly above, the drumming and stomping audible through the floor.
“I couldn’t wait for this day,” Martin said. “It just feels so good to be back. It seemed like a century.”
He and his wife, Sharon, began a slow ascension up a narrow stairway toward the pulpit. She followed behind him, gently holding him up as he placed each cautious step.
The drums grew louder and the tempo picked up. Martin paused on one step and wobbled, then steadied himself and waited.
Finally, his name was announced, and the 63-yearold pastor stepped out into a wave of screaming people and onto the pulpit for the first time since having a stroke nearly four months ago, forcing him to relearn everything.
The battle
Martin has been an active evangelist and minister of music in Summit County for nearly 50 years. He founded Christ is the Answer Ministries 24 years ago, and it now includes two campuses.
In the beginning of April, Martin started feeling ill, but he and his family attributed it to vertigo, which he’d had before.
April 8, the day before his stroke, was a typical Sunday — he’d given a service, performed a baby dedication and prayed over a man in the hospital who was in a coma after having a stroke.
A day later, Martin was occupying the hospital bed next to the man he had prayed over.
Martin suffered two major basilar artery strokes — one that Sunday evening and one the next morning. The family eventually learned it was likely Martin had several other smaller strokes in the days prior to that.
Doctors performed emergency surgery to insert stents and clear his artery, which they determined was completely blocked due to poor diet, lack of exercise and stress.
“The doctor told me, ‘Your husband is more dead than alive,’ “Sharon Martin said.
The pastor remembers falling out of bed during the stroke. The next thing he remembers is waking up from a nightmare to a bright yellow light and his wife’s face.
He thought it was the next day.
It’d been 2½ weeks. He tried to talk, but he couldn’t. His wife handed him a notepad.
“What happened to me?” he scribbled.
She explained that he had a stroke and the entire left side of his body was affected. He was in disbelief.
“I had to learn to do everything over again,” the Rev. Martin said.
Martin was in three different treatment facilities over a course of three months, going through intense physical therapy and relearning how to eat, talk and move his limbs.
Along with the physical toll, the stroke took a mental toll on Martin, too, as he questioned whether he’d be able to walk or talk ever again.
“To be honest, I really didn’t think I would be here. I thought it was just over for me,” Martin. “But one day I prayed, and the lord said to me, ‘I’ve got you.’ And I said, ‘OK.’ From that moment, I didn’t really fear anything.”
After a second surgery, Martin progressed quickly, determined to walk again. Little by little, he relearned to chew and swallow, lift his left arm, wiggle his fingers and toes and finally, to walk.
He was released from inpatient rehab June 28.
Since then, he’s been having regular physical therapy in his home. He’ll switch to outpatient sessions Aug. 16.
“It’s a blessing that he was able to come out of it,” said Sharon Martin, who was by her husband’s side since he was admitted to the emergency room. “I can see little changes in him daily.”
The comeback
Monday is the Martins’ 44th wedding anniversary as well as the 24th anniversary of their founding of the ministries, so the Rev. Martin knew Sunday was the day he was meant to return.
The nave, packed with more than 100 people, erupted in noise as the Martins, arm in arm, slowly approached the edge of the stage on Sunday. People raised their arms and shouted praises to the ceiling for Jesus and the return of the pastor.
The Martins each raised an arm and their faces twisted as they held back tears. The crowd followed.
A band played the entirety of the three-hour service, inserting bursts of music between the reverend’s words, which were a mix of stories about his journey and the role God played in it.
Emotions ran high as the crowd of people —many on their feet dancing the entire time — surrounded the Martins to pray over them.
The service carried the same energy throughout its entire four hours. People laughed and danced and wept, some collapsing with emotion.
“We are all so excited he’s returning,” said Yvonne Brooks, Martin’s secretary. “It’s one thing to just go up there and preach about the goodness of God, but it’s another to pretty much live it. Or die it, I should say, and then live it.”
Surrounded by his wife, three kids, nine grandchildren and other family members, Martin slowly worked his way down the steps with the help of a cane and people guiding him.
Though slow-moving and seated for the majority of the service, he took intermittent opportunities to walk, stomp and dance along with the crowd as the driving snare drum and keyboard kept people on their feet. At times, with one person on either side of him, he even surprised the crowd.
“If you don’t have joy, leap for it,” Martin said as he started to jump up and down, the crowd again erupting in cheers for him.
Road to recovery
Since having his strokes, Martin, 63, has a new outlook on life.
He said he’s learned to let go of the little things. He’s also cleaned up his diet and started exercising regularly, dropping 40 pounds in the process.
While Martin was out recovering, his daughter, LaSharra Johnson, and her husband, Leland, assumed Martin’s responsibility of overseeing the ministries.
It’s a responsibility they’re likely to maintain as Martin tries to slow down and reduce stress.
“It’s a legacy. You’ve got to leave some type of inheritance,” Martin said.
The move is a natural fit for LaSharra Johnson, she said, as she grew up in the church and has seen the support of its members — especially in recent months since her dad’s stroke.
“I believe support is a major, major factor to recovery for anybody. If you have that support system, you feel like you can walk on water, move mountains, everything,” Johnson said. “Our motto is ‘We will never be defeated.’ And my dad, he won.”