The tale of how a wild teenager who became a bearer of the gospel to many best describes Lori Bakker, the second wife of the American Preacher and salesman – Jim Bakker. She is the wife of the infamous television personality who bagged about six years in the federal prison for tax fraud for his former show Praise The Lord (PTL).
Besides being Jim’s wife, she is his co-host on the Jim Bakker’s show and in addition, Lori runs a ministry known as Mourning to Joy Ministry and Lori’s House focused on women. Read on to learn more about this mother of five and grandmother.
Who is Lori Bakker?
The wife of the renowned televangelist originally went by the name Lori Beth Graham in Phoenix, Arizona in the United States of America. According to reports, she is 18 years younger than her husband who was born on the 2nd of January 1940 in Muskego, Michigan. Therefore, that would put the birth year of Lori sometime in 1958.
She isn’t an only child, Lori has a brother known as Mark Graham who is also a member of their flock – Morningside Church. He has been supportive of not just his sister but her husband as well.
Growing up, she was deeply into drugs and alcohol and every whims and caprice that caught her fancy as was the trend of the time. We gathered that in the process of living her wildlife, she underwent five abortions before she clocked 22 years.
Tired of living negatively, in 1989, Lori Bakker chose a better path committing to community services volunteering at prison, women and children’s ministry outreaches among others while actively serving in her local church in Phoenix, Arizona. This is not all we know about her, below are five interesting things you may not have known about Jim Bakker’s Wife.
Five Things You Didn’t Know About Jim Bakker’s Wife
1. Her First MarriageÂ
Lori Beth Graham married as a teenager at the age of 17. However, she claimed the relationship was an abusive one, as the man she had married was constantly beating her. This led to the break of the union after 10 years. She stayed single for a long time attending to ministerial duties at the Assembly of God Church until she met and married Jim Bakker.
2. Lori Beth Bakker’s Marriage With James Orsen BakkerÂ
The lovely woman remarried for the second time at the age of forty (40). This time around, to a man she barely knew in fifty days, on 4th September 1998, in Burbank California, at the home of one of their friends.
Interestingly, everything needed and used at the wedding ceremony down to attires and foods were donated by the couple’s friends. The couple was said to have been very broke then. However, they have made their relationship work despite almost 2 decades age difference and they are still waxing strong.
James Orsen Bakker and Lori Beth Graham met for the first time in 1998 in Los Angeles International Church where they were guest preachers.
3. Lori Bakker is a Mother of 5 Children
Four years into her marriage, the soft-spoken Lori Bakker with the support of her husband adopted five children from Lori’s native town all born by the same parents, Â This brought the total number of Jim Bakker’s children to seven.
He shared 2 children with his ex glamorous late wife Tammy Faye Messner. They are Tammy Sue Bakker Chapman birthed on 2nd March 1970 and her brother, Jamie Charlie Bakker born 18th December 1975.
Out of the two biological children born by James Orsen Bakker, Jay Bakker as he is fondly called towed the career path of his parents. Jay is a liberal preacher of the gospel, author of Son of a Preacher Man: My Search for Grace in the Shadows. The book highlighted the experiences of the young Jay during his father’s incarceration for six years.
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4. Lori Beth Bakker Runs Two Initiatives
After the young Lori Beth finally called it quits with her rough lifestyle, she became a devout Christian. She also began an initiative called Mourning to Joy Ministry targeted at educating, rehabilitating women, teenagers, and youths about the effects of drug abuse and alcoholism.
She further took under her wings ladies who were going through the effects of past abortions they had undergone as well as other issues peculiar to their survival as women. The ministry was founded by Lori sometime in 1994. Lori also later set up another foundation known as Lori’s House, the house offers shelter and a home to pregnant women who are going through difficulties.
5. Lori Bakker is a Co-Host and an AuthorÂ
In 2003, the couple came on television and began hosting a show called The Jim Bakker Show. The show was first aired from Branson, Mo’s a studio City Cafe thanks to their dedicated and giving member Jerry Crawford. Jerry Crawford and wife Dee Crawford out of gratitude to Jim Bakker for saving their marriage years ago helped him relaunch his ministry after he lost everything he owed following his release from prison. Jim served a term of about 6 years in federal prison for various tax fraud at PTL.
She just like her husband who has authored about four books, she is the proud author of a book titled More Than I Could Ever Ask. The book tells of the couple’s relationship journey.
The couple’s ministry experienced a transformation in 2008 after they were relocated to a massive 800-acre property which was again bought by their benefactor Crawford. The property is situated in a rural setting named Blue Eye, Missouri, North of Arkansas line. The property is reported to have been acquired at the sum of about $17 million.