Laurie
grew up in a small town in Ontario Canada. As a child she grew up in
the church and remained strong, dedicating to serve the Lord
all of her life. She is the oldest of 4 children where music
was just part of home life with instruments in every room.
When Laurie was just 6 or 7 years old she sang her
first song in church with her sister, while her Dad played the guitar.
She and her sister continued to sing together in church and
later her two brothers joined them. When Laurie was about the
age of 16 her home church pastor Rev. Harold House asked her to sing a
solo at church. From there the news spread and Laurie
received frequent invitations each month to sing at churches in the
district. When she was 16 years old, she hopped a bus for the
summer and ministered from church to church across Southern Ontario,
staying at relatives in between Sundays. It was around this
time that Laurie entered Talent Searches in Ontario and won the female
vocalist category two years in a row. Laurie and her sister
also won the duet category one year. The year before she
finished highschool she won a local talent search by audience appeal
(by largest votes) with no supporting fans in the audience singing
Wayne Watson's song "New Lives For Old". This provided her
with a $200.00 gift certificate in which she attended the Christian
Artist's Seminar in the Rockies to sharpen her gift and study
under the guidance of other Christian music industry leaders
and Christian artists in ministry. She cut her first
recording "Sharing His Love" and printed and sold 500 in a matter of
just 2 months.
Upon
finishing highschool, she sought God's direction and moved to Toronto
where she worked at Crossroads Christian Communications. She
met her husband Scott by a divinely inspired meeting while working
there, ( a true story - great for singles and couple events) and they
were married in Toronto at Agincourt Pentecostal Church November 7th,
1987.
From the moment Scott and
Laurie were married they endevoured in ministry. Laurie continued with
music ministry and together they developed a children's ministry, "The
King's Court" with original puppets, characters, stories and
songs all created by Laurie. While expecting their first son
who they named Brandon, they embarked on ministry
filling 36 bookings a year through out Ontario from March to November
every year in addition to music ministry. They had
their second son, Kyle in 1990. From the birth of their first
son, Laurie struggled with the onset of Fibromyalgia and
Chronic Fatigue yet it was undiagnosed at the time. At this
time everything from her childhood came to a head and so severe
depression set in. She struggled to resolve the impact of the
disheartening abuse she witnessed in her family as a child.
Now her time was spent crying while she washed
dishes during the day and writing songs late at night.
Days
of healing were found ahead and she continued to sing and serve the
Lord as she was able through the mysterious fatigue and pain.
God took her through several steps including a series of dreams that
met Laurie in her emotional needs as she continued to write songs.
The songs she had written resulted in an eight song recording
entitled "When You Reached In My Heart".
Scott and Laurie walked
through the bankruptcy of a thriving janitorial business they owned as
well as income lost because of Scott's injury to his wrist and back
from his "day job" at a factory. By 1996 the loss of the
thriving janitorial business which funded the children's
ministry was all behind them. They were left with a stalled,
broken down vehicle which once towed the ministry trailer. It
was apparent the children's ministry was finished.... at least for the
time being. Still struggling with Fibromyalgia and fatigue
she continued with music ministry. It was at this time that
the young Vincent family moved to London. This made it easier
for Laurie to keep her specialist appointments with doctors in the
city. Finally in 2000/2001, a doctor concluded that Laurie had
Fibrimyalgia and Chronic Fatigue. Laurie had been working on
another CD with producer Richard Ash for about 5 years. This Cd, later
known as her most current CD "Love So Amazing" was a catalyst
of faith for Laurie. Even during this time, Scott was on total
disability because of another injury at work. By faith, they
purchased their first home with the Lord's intervention. Laurie
continued to hold on with hope for healing. She used the scripture
"He satisfies your desires with good things so that
your youth is renewed like the eagle's." Psalm 103:5
Laurie
had made up her mind that if she was really called to serve in this
capacity of ministry through music, then God would have to continue
sustaining her and grant her healing. At this time Laurie was
led to open a business called "Ministry Networks". She worked
from her home office, serving other Christian Music artists through
various services such as radio servicing (airplay on Christian radio)
graphic design and web design.
By
this time Laurie had sound tracks of some of the songs she had written.
They were slated to be a part of her CD in the
future. It was about 2001/2002 when Laurie found herself very
quickly rising to appear on television programs such as "Spirit Alive",
"100 Huntley Street" with Rev. David Mainse and "Celebrate" in New
York, along with Miracle Channel programming and "Life and Faith" on
The New PL in London Ontario.
Laurie
was doing several days of ministry with "Spirit Alive" when
she awoke in the middle of the night with intense pain through out her
shoulders and neck. The pastor and his wife staying in the
basement apartment of the host home heard Laurie's restlessness and
crying. They came upstairs and began to comfort her, taking
time to listen and counsel her. After some
time they ended in prayer asking The Lord to heal her.
Laurie
went home a few days later and thanked God for their willingness to
pray for her only a few nights ago. It was about a week or
more when Laurie realized that she was waking up without pain in the
morning and that she had being doing certain activities with a freedom
she hadn't experienced for such a long time. She knew that
The Lord had healed her. Later an examination by her family
doctor proved her right and she went on to tell her story with another
appearance on 100 Huntley Street. She suffered with
Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue for 13 years in total.
Her
current CD "Love So Amazing" was released in 2004 and has
gained momentum since, seeing many hearts touched by the words and the
ministry of this music, because the message of God's Love throughout
the CD is eternal.
There
is so much more that could be said. What God has revealed to
Laurie and the message she shares now when she ministers, has come to
fullness in this season of her life. This was just a brief
summary of the events in one life's journey. The story isn't
finished yet.... but just like your life, you'll have to wait till God
reveals the next chapter.
