THE REVIVAL THAT MADE WORLD HISTORY

William J. Seymour, a Holiness minister from Houston, Texas was invited here to Los Angeles to lead a Holiness Mission on Santa Fe Street. Upon his arrival he began teaching that speaking in tongues invariably accompanies the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Julia Hutchinson, the owner of the mission, objected to this teaching and ordered Seymour and his supporters to leave. Hutchinson then padlocked the doors and refused to allow them reentry. God placed on Richard and Ruth Asberry's hearts (a Black couple and prior owner of the house) to open their doors. They did, and the meeting resumed. Seymour and his small band of believers began to fast and pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

On April 9, 1906 IT HAPPENED! The group had gathered again with one accord, touching and agreeing, concentrating on scriptures in the book of Acts. No one at this small gathering had clergy credentials nor did anyone have an official pulpit. Each person did have the faith and determination to tarry for the Holy Ghost. Suddenly, all resistance departed and the Holy Ghost came with a force incomprehensible to the human mind. Several members were slain instantly and baptized with the Holy Ghost, and began speaking in unknown tongues. God anointed Jennie Moore (who later married William Seymour) with the gift to play the piano for the first time and to sing in unknown tongues. Another convert was given the gifts of prophecy and the interpretation of tongues. Their shouts were so loud that they attracted the neighbors and a crowd congregated.

As God's Almighty Power began to quake the people out of their chairs and off their feet under the power of the Holy Spirit, a prophecy came forth of great destruction which was soon to come to the land. The saints began pleading with sinners to repent for their ways of sin and choose to walk with God. Less then ten days after that warning, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake occurred. The Spiritual quake and the geological quake occurred only a few days apart. People are no longer shaking from that localized quake in San Francisco but the quake that was felt in the little house is still being felt around the world by those who repent of their sins to walk with God.

The following day, the word began to spread all over the city that people were being baptized with the Holy Spirit as on the day of Pentecost. In a matter of days rapid and enormous growth reached such a peak that the gatherings were forced to move from the inside of this house to the outside front yard. The porch served as the platform, and the yard and dirt road were used for sitting and kneeling. The wooden porch collapsed due to the weight of people crowding on it. Seymour, directed by God, located an old two story frame abandoned building on Azusa Street which was owned and once occupied by First AME Church which had vacated the building in 1903. Seymour secured that structure and the believers move there.

Several very ardent newspaper reporters from the Los Angeles news media described the building as a tumble-down shack. Reporters began to flood the news media with voluminous derogatory stories about the group's activities. One journalist wrote: "a new sect of fanatics is breaking loose, they make weird babbling sounds ...they never dismiss church."

Another reports read: "Disgraceful intermingling of the races, they cry and make howling noises all day and into the night. They run, jump, shake all over, shout to the top of their voice, spin around in circles, fall out on the sawdust blanketed floor jerking, kicking and rolling all over it. Some of them pass out and do not move for hours as though they were dead. These people appear to be mad, mentally deranged or under a spell. They claim to be filled with the spirit. They have a one eyed, illiterate, Negro as their preacher who stays on his knees much of the time with his head hidden between wooden milk crates. He doesn't talk very much but at times he can be heard shouting Repent," and he's supposed to be running the thing...They repeatedly sing the same song, 'The Comforter Has Come.'"

The reporters' descriptions attracted world wide attention, in fact, their reports served as the impetus that promoted the growth of the meeting.

The news continued to spread like wild fire and for three and a half years the revival persisted. Multitudes came from across this nation and many parts of the world to witness and experience the miraculous movement of God. They also came from all walks of life: the rich, the poor, the educated and UN-educated. There was no race issue for the blood of Jesus had washed away the color line.

They came seeking the fullness of God's promises by the hundreds. Some came as candidates for the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. Countless others came to receive healing of their infirmities. The bedridden leaped from their beds claiming their healing. The crippled stood up from wheel chairs; those needing support of crutches and walking canes threw them down and began to walk without any aid or assistance. The sightless screamed, "I can see!" The dumb began to speak in unknown tongues and the deaf became listening witnesses to all of the beautiful sounds. Hundreds were saved as conviction gripped their souls.

As a result of this Holy Ghost outpouring, the Pentecostal movement gripped the world. This was the start of several prominent Full Gospel organizations and they in turn gave birth to various groups. Millions of souls have received the gift of tongues and interpretations since that great revival.

We discovered that both revival sites have inexplicable facets surrounding them which are reflected in the addresses. The house number, 216 North Bonnie Brae, has the same number as recorded in the book of Acts 2:16 which reads "THIS IS THAT WHICH WAS SPOKEN BY THE PROPHET JOEL"

The word "AZUSA" the first and last letters of the English alphabet A Z followed by U S A. The facts are that every state, city, town, and hamlet from A to Z here in the U. S .A. was touched by the 1906 Holy Ghost Revival.

It is time once again for a move of God.