Lakin was converted to Christianity during a revival meeting when he was sixteen and baptized in Big Hurricane Creek.
Although Lakin did not have Cadle's charisma, he was heard in thousands of homes across the United States and thereby became a nationally known Gospel preacher.
[3] In 1952, Lakin began a thirty-year evangelistic ministry, preaching in some of the largest evangelical churches in country.
Even shortly before his death in 1984, at age 83, Lakin still traveled extensively and was one of the most sought after fundamentalist preachers in America.
"[5] Lakin and his wife, Violet, had only one child, a son who was killed at an early age in an automobile accident.