September 1, 2022 · 8:59 pm

Assemblies of God Missions Publications: From Missionary Challenge to Worldview Magazine

This Week in AG History —August 30, 1959

By Ruthie Edgerly Oberg
Originally published on AG News, 01 September 2022

The Pentecostal revival that birthed the Assemblies of God in 1914 brought with it a revival of dedication to the mission that each believer must “go into all the world and preach the gospel.” There was an urgency to take the message to the ends of the earth and, along with that, was born a pressing need to communicate the progress of this effort, along with its needs and concerns.

The first official weekly publication of the Assemblies of God, the Christian Evangel (later renamed the Pentecostal Evangel), began publishing updates and needs from the 32 recognized missionaries approved at the first General Council in April 1914. J. Roswell Flower, the first general secretary and, in 1919, the first missions secretary, also served as the editor of the Evangel and sought to use the publication to bring increased cooperation from the churches in support of the missions effort.

In 1944, under the direction of editor Kenneth Short, a separate quarterly publication devoted exclusively to missions was created. The Missionary Challenge (later changed to World Challenge) carried a format that highlighted a variety of updates from the field, emphasized a field in focus, provided a daily prayer devotional plan, and a prayer list for each missionary’s birthday. It also included a Junior Challenge with a story written specially to communicate to children the need for world missions.

As more departments of the General Council were created, the publication was used to highlight reports and opportunities provided by the Women’s Missionary Council (WMC), Boys’ and Girls’ Missionary Crusade (BGMC), Light for the Lost (LFTL), and Speed the Light (STL).

In March of 1959, World Challenge announced that the missions publication would merge with the denominational weekly, the Pentecostal Evangel, in order to increase the circulation of missionary articles.

However, the Aug. 30, 1959, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel features the relatively new promotions secretary of the Foreign Missions Department, J. Philip Hogan, announcing a new missions publication in an article titled, “Why Another Missionary Magazine?”

The new periodical was called Global Conquest after the new initiative approved by the missions department. Hogan gave three reasons for the decision to return to a separate missions publication: 1) The 1960s promised to be an era of “stepped-up communications” and the voice of missions must assert itself to be heard amongst the competing voices; 2) The commitment of the Assemblies of God was to communicate with each donor what was happening with their investment; and 3) Missions deserved “priority status” so as not to be lost among other reports featured within the larger Evangel publication.

Global Conquest continued as the official missions initiative, along with the free quarterly publication of the same name until 1967, when it was determined that some people incorrectly thought the title implied political ambitions. The name was changed to Good News Crusades, in support of the mass evangelism efforts of city outreaches, also called Good News Crusades, taking place on the field. The publication was changed from quarterly to bi-monthly.

In 1979, missions leaders realized that “crusades” might also carry bad connotations in some parts of the world and Good News Crusades was replaced by a monthly magazine, Mountain Movers. This periodical was sent free of charge to every Assemblies of God missions donor for almost 20 years. Joyce Wells Booze served as its initial editor. Under her leadership, there was a concerted effort to provide short articles written by missionaries on a reading level that would appeal to all ages.

Mountain Movers was merged into the Pentecostal Evangel in 1998, and the first Sunday edition of each monthly Evangel featured solely missions content. This practice continued until the Pentecostal Evangel ceased print publication in 2014.

Without the Pentecostal Evangel, Assemblies of God missions leaders felt it was vital to continue a steady stream of print communication about the needs and concerns of the worldwide evangelistic mission of the church. Worldview magazine was commissioned in 2015 as a monthly periodical to continue to fulfill the imperative of the mission enunciated by Hogan in 1959: to ensure that world evangelism is a priority in the Assemblies of God.

Read the announcement of the publication of Global Conquest on page 7 of the Aug. 30, 1959, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Pentecost in the Philippines,” by Alfred Cawston

• “Miracles in A Missionary’s Life,” by C.M. Ward

• “Reaching the Children for Christ,” by Leonard and Genevieve Olson

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: www.iFPHC.org

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August 25, 2022 · 9:21 pm

How to Serve God in an Era of Social and Racial Unrest: Thurman Faison Speaks Out in 1970

This Week in AG History — August 23, 1970

By Glenn W. Gohr
Originally published on AG-News, August 25, 2022

Thurman L. Faison (1938- ) was one of the early leaders of the National Black Fellowship of the Assemblies of God and served on various committees with the AG. In 1970, Faison shared his thoughts on how best to serve God in a climate of social unrest.

Faison was born in Texarkana, Arkansas. After serving in the US Air Force, he began preparation for the ministry by studying at Eastern Pentecostal Bible College (Peterborough, Ontario, Canada), from which he graduated in 1963. He returned to the United States and served many years as an AG pastor and evangelist and also ministered on WCFC-TV 38, a Christian television station in Chicago started by AG minister Owen Carr. He received a BA from North Central Bible College in 1972. He also earned a master’s degree from National Louis University (Evanston, Illinois) in 1981.

Faison addressed the 1965 General Council, and he has been a guest speaker at various Assemblies of God colleges. In recent years, he has written a number of books, including: To the Spiritually Inclined, Be Spiritually Bold, The Spirit of Man, and As Far as the East Is From the West.

In 1970, Faison (then pastor of Southside Tabernacle AG in Chicago) addressed the annual convention of the Evangelical Home Missions Association (EHMA) on the subject, “How to Reach the Inner City.” That meeting was held in Kansas City in conjunction with the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) convention.

“Climate of Change” was the title of Faison’s message. He did not deal with any specific methods for reaching the inner city. He said, “There are no sure-fire methods of reaching any community.” According to Faison, methods change with the environment. Some things work in Harlem that may not work in Chicago or some other large city.

Faison recognized a changing scene in the Black community, as well as in the rest of the world, with shifting of priorities and the emergence of new concepts. He felt like society was in the midst of “a social renaissance.” People were concerned that they were victims of cultural patterns and preconditioned concepts, a mentality that limited their full participation in society, and which prevented them from taking advantage of certain opportunities in life. He was well aware of cries for change — change in government, change in education, change in religion, and change in relationships.

In light of these challenges, Faison felt the key to reaching the inner city was to deal with the root cause of these problems, which he identified as sin. In a time of riots and civil unrest in America, Faison boldly stated, “The crippling power of any culture is its sin.” He continued: “When you talk about injustice, you mean sin. When you speak of inequality, you mean sin. When you talk about prejudice, you really mean sin.”

He emphasized that in the present crisis, Christians should “view the world in the light of the Scriptures, and not the Scriptures in the light of the world.” He said that one of Jesus’ main objectives was to destroy sin. He gave His life as a ransom for many, that “Whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Faison asserted that faith is vital to the Black community, and that spiritual priorities must not be obscured by shifting cultural currents. According to Faison, the depravity of man and the effects of sin remain with us to the present day. The real problem is not “the system,” but the sin. Before Jesus could tell a certain man in the Gospel of Mark to “rise up and walk,” He first said to him, “Thy sins be forgiven thee.”

A climate of change cannot occur, Faison said, until society rights the wrongs of the past and seeks forgiveness. He declared, “When sins are forgiven and guilt is removed, futility ceases, and a new life begins.” Faison did not suggest that the Church can undo the effects of centuries of complications. Instead, he suggested that American Christians need to “clean our own house where necessary, adjust our attitudes, and begin anew to be about our Father’s business.”

Read “Climate of Change” on page 14 of the Aug. 23, 1970, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Focus on Missions – ’70,” by David Kent Irwin

• “Road to Rehabilitation” (Orange County California Teen Challenge)

• “Circuit Riders of the North” (Arvin & Luana Glandon)

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: www.iFPHC.org

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August 19, 2022 · 1:56 pm

J. Roswell Flower: Pentecostal Pioneer, Church Leader, Publisher, Statesman, Educator

Flower family, circa 1936 (L-R): David, Suzanne, George, Alice R., J. Roswell, Adele, Joseph, Roswell

This Week in AG History — August 16, 1970

By Darrin J. Rodgers
Originally published on AG-News, 18 August 2022

J. Roswell Flower (1888-1970) was elected, at age 25, to serve as the first general secretary of the Assemblies of God. He went on to become one of the Fellowship’s most prominent leaders in its first four decades. When he went to be with the Lord, General Superintendent Thomas F. Zimmerman declared, “The name of J. Roswell Flower was synonymous with the Assemblies of God.”

Flower demonstrated remarkable leadership at a young age. He proved adept at writing and publishing, which gave him a platform in the emerging Pentecostal movement. In 1908, just over one year after his conversion, he began publishing a small magazine, The Pentecost. At the time, he was just 20 years old. In 1910, he gave the magazine to ministry colleague A.S. Copley. He married Alice Reynolds in 1911, and together they began another magazine, the Christian Evangel, in 1913. It was the only weekly Pentecostal periodical in existence.

When the Assemblies of God was organized in April 1914, Flower was only 25 years old. There were many people in attendance who were older and more experienced, yet delegates entrusted Flower to serve as the first general secretary. He also served as manager of Gospel Publishing House and, in 1919, he became the first Foreign Missions secretary.

Flower was an early champion of education. In 1922, he encouraged Pentecostals to support the establishment of a school in India in order to secure “greater and more permanent results for God.” He was one of the original faculty members of Central Bible Institute (CBI), which was founded in Springfield, Missouri, in 1922. In 1923, he proposed that all Assemblies of God missionaries be required to spend a term at CBI, which would allow church leaders to train and get to know the character and abilities of prospective missionaries. Flower’s proposal proved unpopular, however, and he was not re-elected at the 1923 General Council. He instead became Foreign Missions treasurer. Two years later, he was not re-elected to that position.

J. Roswell and Alice Flower moved to Pennsylvania, where they spent the next decade in pastoral and district leadership. In 1929, he was elected to serve as superintendent of the Eastern District Council. He was a regular lecturer at Bethel Bible Training School, an Assemblies of God school in New Jersey. Significantly, he helped Alice to establish a summer Bible school, located on the Eastern District campground, which was the forerunner of the University of Valley Forge. Flower emphasized education because he believed that careful study of the Bible would be essential for the growth and maturation of the Assemblies of God.

Delegates to the 1935 General Council elected Flower to again serve as general secretary, a position he would hold until his retirement in 1959. During this period Flower emerged as a leading Pentecostal statesman, encouraging cooperative efforts among believers with similar faith commitments. He labored to make the Assemblies of God a founding member of the National Association of Evangelicals, and he helped form the Pentecostal Fellowship of North America and the Pentecostal World Fellowship. Flower also was involved in civic leadership, serving on the Springfield City Council and on the boards of various organizations.

J. Roswell Flower’s remarkable leadership flowed out of his rich spiritual life. He and Alice modeled a home life that bore witness to the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit. Alice was a prolific author and preacher, and her sermons, books, and articles on the Christian home were widely read. They practiced what they preached. Five of their six children also entered full-time ministry; the sixth died while in Bible school.

It is appropriate that Flower became the namesake of the archives and museum located in the Assemblies of God national office. The Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center, which is the largest Pentecostal archives in the world, preserves and promotes the heritage of a movement for which Flower helped lay the foundation.

Read the article, “J.R. Flower with Christ,” on page 4 of the Aug. 16, 1970, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “What the Holy Spirit Does,” by Harvey McAlister

• “We Preached in Romania” by Joe G. Mazzu Jr.

• “New Arkansas Teen Challenge Reaching Desperate Youth”

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: www.iFPHC.org

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August 12, 2022 · 1:38 pm

The Mariel Boatlift of 1980: Cuban Refugees and the Assemblies of God

Workers sing and play gospel songs before a service with Cuban refugees at Ft. Chaffee, Arkansas, 1980

This Week in AG History —August 10, 1980

By Ruthie Edgerly Oberg
Originally published on AG News, 11 August 2022

On April 20, 1980, Cuban President Fidel Castro made a surprise proclamation in Havana that any Cuban citizen who was not happy under his regime and wished to immigrate to the United States could depart from the port of Mariel provided boats were available. 125,000 Cubans rushed to take the offer. Many Assemblies of God (AG) ministries were there to ease the difficulties of their arrival.

After the 1959 communist revolution, thousands of Cubans sought to flee their homeland’s restrictive policies. With few exceptions, the Castro regime refused those requests. During the 1970s, as economic conditions worsened, along with political and religious persecution, many Cubans grew desperate. In April 1980, several Cubans rushed the Peruvian embassy to seek asylum but were fired upon by Cuban guards. The embassy refused to return the Cubans to Castro, and soon more than 10,000 Cubans were crowding into the embassy gardens pleading for asylum.

When the April 20 announcement came that dissidents, whom the Cuban newspapers referred to as “criminals, lumpenproletariats, antisocialists, bums and parasites,” could leave the island if boats were ready to take them from the Mariel port, thousands of Cuban exiles in Florida hurriedly rented fishing boats to pick them up. By October, 125,000 refugees had crossed on these boats before the order was ended.

In May of 1980, the Pentecostal Evangel editor, Robert C. Cunningham, wrote in an editorial of the crisis: “As more and more people find themselves victims of oppressive governments, it is good to know there are still some countries where they can find refuge from their persecutors.” In June, the Evangel put out a call for assistance: “The Assemblies of God has launched an effort to provide financial aid for the refugees, sponsors to help in resettlement, and bilingual communicators who live near refugee camps to assist in meeting immediate needs.”

The Aug. 10, 1980, Pentecostal Evangel issue offered a report of the AG effort to aid Cubans fleeing from oppression and persecution. “Like the early settlers of the United States, they are seeking a home in a free land … Can we afford to ignore this great missionary challenge of offering the gospel to needy souls?” commented T.E. Gannon, national director of the Division of Home Missions. He further stated: “Immediately upon hearing of the plight of the Cuban immigrants, the Division of Home Missions began seeking to minister to these people. For evangelism to be effective and successful, it is necessary to reach the immigrants as soon as they arrive. This calls for emergency action.”

Life Publishers, the AG missions press, provided 19,000 Bibles to the camps where the refugees were resettled. CH (LTC) Robert E. Barker, USA Task Force Chaplain, wrote to the AG Chaplaincy department to thank them for their help in securing Bibles for Cuban refugees at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. “It was a thrill personally to watch several Cubans receive their Bibles with great pleasure and enthusiasm. They really appreciate owning their own Bibles! Thank you once again for your concern for these neglected people.”

Many Hispanic AG ministers and laypeople living near the refugee camps in Arkansas, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania worked feverishly to provide ministry, housing, food, and clothing. They also served as interpreters and “pastors” in the camps. Sam Hernandez, a 1968 Cuban refugee and graduate of North Central Bible College, was granted a month’s leave from his church in St. Paul, Minnesota, to go to Wisconsin’s Camp McCoy to be of service. He conducted two to three services a day, discovering that the Pentecostal message did not die in Cuba when the missionaries were forced to leave as he found several members of Cuban Assemblies of God churches among those housed at Camp McCoy.

Adolfo Carrion, superintendent of the Spanish Eastern District, reported that many Cuban refugees were now attending Assemblies of God churches in cities where they were resettled, including one man who was of an “atheistic and communistic persuasion, who was a confirmed materialist” who was gloriously saved and never misses a service. It was found that after years of religious oppression, Cuban immigrants readily responded to the gospel.

Ruth A. Lyon, editor/promotions coordinator for the Department of Home Missions, concluded the August refugee update with an appeal to the Scriptures, “What we do, we must do quickly. And the extent of what we do depends on offerings received. This is one way you can help these strangers within our gates. Jesus said, “I was a stranger, and ye took me in” (Matthew 25:35).

Read Lyon’s report, “Meeting America’s Newest Home Missions Challenge,” on page 16 of the Aug. 10, 1980, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “A Cure for Depression” by Ada Nicholson Brownell

• “First National Men’s Convention”

• “How to Win Your Husband to Christ” by Stephen J. Vaudrey

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: www.iFPHC.org

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August 4, 2022 · 11:33 pm

Lewi Pethrus: Pentecostal Pioneer in Sweden

This Week in AG History — August 3, 1958

By Glenn W. Gohr
Originally published on AG-News, July 28, 2022

A little over sixty years ago, delegates from the U.S. Assemblies of God as well as representatives from many other Pentecostal organizations were preparing for the Fifth World Conference of Pentecostal Churches scheduled to convene in Toronto, Canada, at the Coliseum Arena of the Canadian National Exhibition, Sept. 14-21, 1958.

An article in the Pentecostal Evangel announced that the opening speaker on Sunday morning would be Lewi Pethrus, the well-known pastor of the Filadelfia Church in Stockholm, Sweden. Even though Pethrus had hosted the fourth Pentecostal World Conference in Stockholm three years earlier, it was important to introduce him to the readers of the Evangel.

Lewi Pethrus (1884-1974) was a former Baptist pastor in Sweden who became the leader of Pentecostalism in Sweden. The article gave an overview of his highly successful ministry. It said at that time he was 74 years old and the pastor of “what is believed to be the largest Protestant church in Europe.” His church was organized in 1910, starting with 29 members. By 1958, according to the article, the church had an “adult voting membership of 7,000 and has a major responsibility in the support of 400 overseas missionaries.” The building could seat more than 4,000.

In addition to his preaching activities, the article said Dr. Pethrus, in 1916, “initiated the publication of Evangelii Harold (Gospel Herald), a religious weekly with a circulation of 60,000.” It was reported that in 1945, in collaboration with Karl Ottoson, a Swedish industrialist, Pethrus “founded Dagen (The Day), a daily secular newspaper which in 1958 had a circulation of 25,000 and was sold on newsstands throughout Sweden.”

He also founded the Filadelfia Church Rescue Mission, the Filadelfia Publishing House, and the Filadelfia Bible School.

In an effort to assist Christians in money matters, in 1952, Pethrus took the lead in establishing a savings and credit bank which could help to finance many church projects. Pethrus also won a moral victory in 1955 when the Swedish government radio system held a monopoly on broadcasting. They reserved the right to censor content of religious broadcasts and also forbid the establishment of any private radio station. Lewi Pethrus took steps to organize an independent radio association to broadcast from Tangier, North Africa. The government tried to block his efforts, but when the matter was discussed in the Swedish Parliament, after much debate, he received approval to use this radio station to send broadcasts into Sweden.

IBRA Radio (now IBRA Media), international Christian broadcasting and media group founded by Lewi Pethrus, currently broadcasts Christian programs to more than 60 countries, including Sweden, in 100 languages.

Lewi Pethrus continued as pastor of the Filadelfia Church until his retirement later that same year in 1958. He remained an active voice in the Pentecostal movement until his death in 1974 at the age of 90.

Read more about Lewi Pethrus in “Swedish Leader to Preach at World Conference,” on page 15 of the Aug. 3, 1958, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Crisis in the Classroom,” by Charles W. H. Scott

• “Pentecostal Outpouring in Rangoon,” by Glen Stafford

• “A Man With a Jug of Water,” by Victor R. Ostrom

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

A pictorial report of the “Fifth World Conference of Pentecostal Churches” can be found in Oct. 26, 1958, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel on pages 8-11:

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: www.iFPHC.org

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July 29, 2022 · 6:09 pm

Don Wilkerson: Cofounder of Teen Challenge

President Gerald Ford (left) greets Don Wilkerson (right).

This Week in AG History — July 30, 1972

By Glenn W. Gohr
Originally published on AG-News, July 28, 2022

Don Wilkerson, who cofounded Teen Challenge with his brother David, has been actively involved with the ministry for almost 65 years. The well-known addiction recovery ministry was founded in 1958 by the two brothers, just after David Wilkerson began his monumental evangelism of gangs in New York City, which ended with a citywide crusade where several of the gang members were converted.

Teen Challenged opened the doors of its first facility in Brooklyn, New York, in 1960. Beginning in 1971, Don Wilkerson served as its executive director for 16 years. Don Wilkerson also served as executive director of Teen Challenge International for 26 years.

Among his other duties, Don was instrumental in developing the residential rehabilitation and discipleship program that has been a success in changing lives for many students of the Teen Challenge program. He helped develop the biblical curriculum that eventually became the standard teaching for the Teen Challenge program. The Brooklyn Teen Challenge Center became the inspiration and model for similar programs to be launched across the United States.

The Teen Challenge ministry rose to prominence with the publication of David Wilkerson’s book, The Cross and the Switchblade, in 1963. The book was released as a movie in 1970, and played in some 5,000 theaters across the United States.

In 1987 David and Don Wilkerson founded Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. After meeting in temporary quarters, the church leased the Mark Hellinger Theatre building on West 51st Street in 1989 and purchased that building two years later. In its new location the church has grown to a weekly attendance of 5,000.

In 1995, Don Wilkerson founded Global Teen Challenge and served as its executive director for 13 years (1995-2007). He helped to plant new Teen Challenge centers around the world and helped train leaders and workers. Global Teen Challenge now has 1,100 centers in 114 countries.

In June 2008 Don returned to lead the Brooklyn Teen Challenge Center in New York where Teen Challenge began over 60 years ago. His brother, David Wilkerson, passed away in a car accident in 2011. In 2018 the name for Teen Challenge USA was changed to Adult & Teen Challenge. Don is now retired from Brooklyn Teen Challenge and is president emeritus of Adult & Teen Challenge.

Don Wilkerson has authored and coauthored a number of books, including Bring Your Loved Ones to Christ, Called to the Other Side, A Coffee House Manual, Counseling by the Scriptures, The Cross is Still Mightier Than the Switchblade, Dear Graduate: Letters of Practical Advice from Don Wilkerson, Fast Track to Nowhere, The Gutter and the Ghetto, My Story: Confessions of a Hope Pusher, and Within a Yard of Hell.

Fifty years ago Don Wilkerson shared a testimony of a Teen Challenge resident named Joe who went to a scheduled court hearing and was sentenced to prison because of a previous crime he had committed. Joe had been in the Teen Challenge program in Brooklyn for two months, and it was assumed that the judge would allow him to stay in the program. Once the news reached them, all the staff and the young men in the program began to pray for Joe’s release. The court-assigned lawyer was Jewish, but he knew that Joe had accepted Jesus Christ and that it had made a difference in his life. He did not need to go to prison. The judge was unwilling to change his mind, so the lawyer took the case to a higher court. Everyone at the Teen Challenge Center continued to pray.

Four weeks after his sentencing, the state Supreme Court agreed to hear Joe’s case (and in the meantime he had won four cellmates to Christ). At the hearing, one of the Brooklyn staff members was allowed to approach the bench to explain the Teen Challenge program and what had happened to Joe. The judge listened carefully and decided to overrule the decision of the lower court. Joe was released to go back to Teen Challenge. Joe and everyone at the Teen Challenge Center believed God had answered their prayers.

Read “Miraculous Release” on page 24 of the July 30, 1972, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Supernatural Healing,” by Percy S. Brewster

• “The Faith That Brings Healing,” by Harvey McAlister

• “5 Biblical Methods of Healing,” by C.M. Ward

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Photo: President Gerald Ford (left) greets Don Wilkerson (right).

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: www.iFPHC.org

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July 22, 2022 · 7:02 pm

William W. Hays: From Crime and Addiction to Assemblies of God Prison Chaplain

This Week in AG History — July 22, 1962

By Darrin J. Rodgers
Originally published on AG-News, 21 July 2022

William W. Hays (1927-2010) came from a family known for drunkenness and crime, and he lived up to his family’s poor reputation. Addictions and debauchery almost led William to an early grave, but God delivered him and called him into ministry. The ex-convict and former addict became a noted Assemblies of God prison chaplain and evangelist, devoting his life to helping others escape the living hell that he knew well. He shared his story in the July 22, 1962, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

William was raised during the Great Depression in an impoverished community along the Arkansas River near Fort Smith, Arkansas. Moonshine, violence, and prostitutes were a way of life in the community. William started drinking moonshine at age 5. He got into daily fistfights with other children and dropped out of school in the seventh grade. He and his brother, Benny, devoted much of their time to helping their father make whiskey.

William’s mother had died, and his father never took his children to church. The boys had few positive influences, and they lived to satisfy their destructive desires. By age 17, William was an alcoholic. “I lied, cheated, and committed crimes,” he recalled, in order “to get the money for another drink of alcohol.”

At age 17, William fell in love with a lovely young girl, Edith Mae, who had been raised in a Christian home. He was attracted to her “clean way of living.” After a whirlwind courtship, they married a few weeks later, on the condition that he would stop drinking. But he could only fight the urge to drink for a few days, and he again succumbed to what he later described as the “demon forces” of alcohol. 

William had difficulty holding down a job and could not provide for his growing family. “I would leave my wife and children with nothing to eat,” he wrote, “and would awake from an intoxicated stupor to find myself hundreds of miles from home in some cheap joint or on Skid Row with the lowest characters.”

William’s wife, Edith Mae, spent much of the first 14 years of their marriage in tears and in prayer. She had six children in eight years. William was unstable. When he returned home from wandering, he would show tenderness to her and their children. But the next moment he might be wild and rash.

His life got even worse. William became addicted to morphine, and, at age 25, his body began to waste away. One more tragedy made life unbearable. His brother, Benny, who had been living in squalor with a prostitute, was murdered with a shotgun at close range. Seething with anger, he tried to find Benny’s killer, but was unsuccessful.

By age 31, William’s body was giving out. His nerves were shattered, his body was emaciated and addicted to alcohol and heroin, and his spirit was deadened to the world. He ended up in a state mental institution, where doctors gave him a few days to live.

William’s oldest daughter, Phyllis, called a Pentecostal Holiness Church preacher, Walter Brown, who came to his bedside. William, sensing this was his last chance, responded to Brown’s fervent prayers. “I began to cry to God for salvation,” he recounted. “Soon the tremendous load on my heart was lifted. I knew the power of the omnipotent God was working to set me free.”

Almost immediately, William’s condition began to improve. Brown helped to disciple William, teaching him how to follow Christ and to be a faithful husband and father. Brown warned him that he must take certain definite actions, or he would not experience lasting change. “You must study the Bible consistently and earnestly, and regularly attend a church,” he insisted. As William did this, he was able to overcome the temptations to return to his former addictions and lifestyle.

The new Christian felt compelled to share his testimony. He went to his former buddies on Skid Row, and they initially laughed at him. The road back to health was a struggle, but as William made progress, people took notice. When his former associates saw a lasting change in William’s life, they wanted to know more.

William read the Bible voraciously, hungry to know God. He sensed God’s call into the ministry and, in 1962, was ordained by the Assemblies of God. He pastored several churches, started rescue missions in Fort Smith and Oklahoma City, and then became director of the Teen Challenge center in Fort Worth, Texas. William felt a tug to prison chaplaincy, in part because his brother spent two stints in the Arkansas State Penitentiary, which was known as the “hell hole of the penal system.” He helped to lead a successful prison reform movement, which made prisons safer in Arkansas. He also engaged in chaplaincy work in dangerous prisons in Mexico. In his later years, he served as coordinator of prison and jail ministries for the Oklahoma District Council of the Assemblies of God.

William W. Hays was an unlikely candidate to become a minister, much less a prison chaplain. But when God changed his life, his early years behind bars and on the wrong side of the law became an asset for his new calling.

Read William W. Hays’ testimony, “Delivered from Dope and Death,” on pages 8-9 of the July 22, 1962, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “All May Prophesy,” by Donald Gee

• “New Church for Navajos in California,” by L. E. Halvorson

• “No Birth Certificate,” by L. Nelson Bell

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: www.iFPHC.org

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July 15, 2022 · 5:28 pm

C. M. Ward Interviews Florida Governor Reubin Askew: An Example of Integrity During Political Scandals

This Week in AG History —July 13, 1975

By Ruthie Edgerly Oberg
Originally published on AG News, 14 July 2022

Charles Morse Ward (1909-1996) is known in the Assemblies of God as a great preacher but he was also one of its most prolific writers. His role as the speaker of the radio program, Revivaltime, provided a platform for printing of sermons, tracts, booklets, and interviews. He previously served as editor of The Pentecostal Testimony, the official publication of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, and he also wrote columns for the local newspaper when pastoring in Bakersfield, California.

Ward’s published interviews on a diverse range of characters, including Colonel Sanders, of restaurant fame. He interviewed scientists, professors, hotel magnates, journalists, businessmen, astronauts, and a circus ringmaster for the Revivaltime tract series.

In the July 13, 1975, issue of The Pentecostal Evangel, Lee Shultz, radio announcer for Revivaltime, reported on Ward’s interview with Reubin Askew (1928-2014), who had just been reelected to his second term as governor of Florida. The race took place during the height of the Nixon Watergate scandal and distrust of government officials was high.

Born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, Askew’s parents divorced when he was just 2, due primarily to his father’s struggles with alcohol. He never saw his father after age 10 and his mother struggled to raise six children alone through the Great Depression, moving to Pensacola, Florida, in 1937. Askew sold magazines, shined shoes, bagged groceries, and sold his mother’s homemade pies to help supplement his mother’s income as a waitress and seamstress. His mother insisted that he attend church and instilled a love for righteousness that would serve him well.

After graduating from high school in 1946, Askew served as an army paratrooper and then as an intelligence officer in the Air Force during the Korean War. After earning a law degree from the University of Florida, he married Donna Harper in 1956 and won election to the Florida House of Representatives in 1958. He then served in the Florida Senate and in 1970 was elected governor on the Democratic ticket.

Askew, along with Jimmy Carter, was one of the first of the “New South” governors and supported school desegregation, intentionally helping black Floridians to re-enter the political system a short time after the passage of the Voting Acts Right of 1965. He appointed the first African-American to a state government position since Reconstruction, the first African-American to hold a cabinet level office in modern Florida history. He also named the first African-American state supreme court justice at a time when this was not politically expedient.

In Ward’s interview with Askew, the governor highlighted the high importance of prayer in his personal life: “I went through a period between my election and inauguration which probably was the most difficult time of my life. There were pressures. I was trying to form an administration. There are strong temptations to lean toward flesh — toward political expediency. I needed help, and I found help at the Throne. Prayer had always been a very important part of my life. I prayed more earnestly about what to do and how to do it. I would not attempt the burdens of this office without a relationship with Jesus Christ.”

When Ward asked about the political climate of 1975, Askew responded that it had become “a heavy, spiritual burden” that credibility be restored to every level of government. He said that the challenge for our nation in this hour “isn’t finding those with innate ability to provide answers. It is, rather, finding those with strong convictions, willing to seek answers.”

Governor Askew worked hard to live up to his standard of transparency in governing and leading by example. By all accounts, his marriage was a happy one and, unlike his father, he remained faithful to his wife throughout their marriage, leading both of his children to Christ at an early age. Throughout his life, Askew refrained from smoking, drinking, swearing, and gambling.

Askew was a member of a Presbyterian church. However, Ward believed that everyone, regardless of religious affiliation, could benefit from Askew’s example of a faithful public servant in the midst of an era of political crisis.

When Askew died in 2014, it was remarked that at a time of government scandals he established a reputation for personal integrity. His nickname around the statehouse was “Reubin the Good.” While that moniker began as cynical and derisive, one of his political opponents admitted that “he has established a kind of morality in office that causes people to have faith in government.”

At his death, Askew was ranked by the Tampa Bay Times as the second-best governor in Florida history. The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University rated him one of the top 10 governors of the 20th century.

But C.M. Ward gave him an even higher honor: “I saw Jesus in this man.”

Read Lee Shultz’s article, “When the Governor Talked, the Park Became a Chapel” on page 20 of the July 13, 1975, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel and the expanded interview on “The Governor Who Prays,” a Revivaltime miniature tract.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Nothing Short of a Miracle” by Samuel M. Buick

• “Marks of the Millennium” by Ian McPherson

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: www.iFPHC.org

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July 7, 2022 · 9:30 pm

100 Years Ago: Mexican Refugees in Texas Minister to African Americans

This Week in AG History — July 8, 1922

By Darrin J. Rodgers
Originally published on AG-News, 07 July 2022

The small town of Edna, Texas, was home to an early Assemblies of God congregation of Mexican refugees, whose members engaged in evangelistic work to African-Americans, even while their own legal status was uncertain.

This fascinating story of cross-cultural ministry came about because of an emerging social crisis. Over one million refugees from the Mexican Revolution came to the United States between 1910 and 1920. Many of the newcomers lived in makeshift camps, rife with disease and crime, located along the borderlands. Overwhelmed by this humanitarian crisis, local residents often did not know how to react. Social and political tensions flared in Texas and elsewhere.

Assemblies of God churches and ministers, seeing the unfolding tragedy, committed themselves to offer physical and spiritual assistance to the newcomers. Many Mexican refugees accepted Christ and formed small Asambleas de Dios congregations across the borderlands.

American Assemblies of God leaders were able to assist refugees who faced significant challenges. In one instance, Isabel Flores, a prominent Pentecostal leader among the Mexican refugees, was arrested in May 1918 and incarcerated in the Jackson County jail in Edna. The reason for the arrest is unknown. An account published in 1966 in La Luz Apostolica simply stated, “It was wartime, and the officer did not speak Spanish and Isabel did not speak English.” Henry C. Ball, an Assemblies of God missionary to the Mexicans, came to the aid of Flores. Ball traveled to Edna, where he spoke with the authorities and secured the prisoner’s release.

This brush with the law demonstrated that it was advantageous for Mexican immigrants to work with Americans. Earlier that year, Flores and Ball together had organized the Latin American Conference (later renamed the Latin American District), which brought existing Mexican Pentecostal congregations into the Assemblies of God.

Ball’s status as a native-born American, however, did not prevent him from encountering problems. The Assemblies of God, like many other premillennial American evangelicals, took a pacifist position during World War I. Ball’s work with Hispanics and his church’s pacifism caused government officials to view him with suspicion. Ball was arrested in Brownsville, Texas, on suspicion of being a German spy, but he was soon released.

As superintendent of the Latin American Conference, Ball traveled extensively and ministered among the Mexican immigrants.

In 1922, Ball returned to Edna, Texas, where he found an unexpected surprise. In a July 8, 1922, article in the Pentecostal Evangel, Ball reported that the Hispanic congregation maintained an active outreach to African-Americans, despite the language barrier.

The congregation met for worship in a private home located about three miles from Edna. Ball noted that about 30 Mexicans gathered for worship in a large room, and that an additional group of African-Americans joined them. The African-Americans, Ball observed, “have learned to sing the Spanish songs with the Mexicans, even though they know very little Spanish.”

Ball stated that the African-Americans “are anxious to hear Pentecost preached in their own language.” He lamented that “a white man could hardly preach to them in this part of the country,” presumably referring to Jim Crow laws that prevented whites and blacks from mixing.

The Mexican refugees could have used their own plight as an excuse to keep to themselves and to concentrate on building up their own community. But this marginalized group instead reached out to others who were likewise excluded from the benefits of mainstream American culture. Instead of dwelling on what they could not do, they found an area of ministry in which they had an advantage over white Americans. The Mexican immigrants were not subject to Jim Crow laws and could freely minister to African-Americans. When the Mexican immigrants sought to share God’s love with others, their seeming cultural disadvantage became an advantage.

Read the article by H.C. Ball, “The Work Prospering on the Mexican Border,” on page 13 of the July 8, 1922, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Whose Faith Follow: Important Lessons Learned from a Pentecostal Revival [Irvingites] of Nearly a Hundred Years Ago,” by A.E. Saxby

• “Very Fine Needlework,” by Grace E. Thompson

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Read about the arrests of Isabel Flores and H. C. Ball in “Historia de los Primeros 50 Años de las Asambleas de Dios Latinas,” on pages 2 and 12 of the April 1966 issue of La Luz Apostolica.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: www.iFPHC.org

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June 30, 2022 · 2:20 pm

Nazi Rocket Scientist Wernher von Braun Converted to Christ, Interviewed in 1966 by C. M. Ward

C.M. Ward interviews Dr. Wernher von Braun (center) in his office at the Space Center headquarters in Huntsville, Alabama, May 9, 1966. Lee Shultz (right) looks on.

This Week in AG History — June 26, 1966

By Darrin J. Rodgers
Originally published on AG-News, 30 June 2022

Wernher von Braun (1912-1977), one of Nazi Germany’s leading rocket scientists, became a pioneer in America’s space program following World War II. But it was von Braun’s conversion to Christ that captured the attention of Assemblies of God radio preacher C.M. Ward. Ward interviewed the scientist in 1966, during which von Braun described the relationship between his newfound faith and his lifework in science.

Von Braun’s interest in rocket science had been sparked by a desire to explore space, but he came to regret that his work was being used to cause tremendous destruction of human life. He had developed the V-1 and V-2 rockets, which allowed Germany to pummel Allied targets up to 500 miles away during World War II. The rockets, manufactured by slave labor, indiscriminately killed thousands of people.

Sensing disloyalty, the Gestapo arrested von Braun in 1944 and charged him with espionage. Von Braun’s work was deemed essential to the success of the war effort, so Nazi leader Albert Speer intervened and ordered the release of the scientist. When American soldiers marched into central Germany in May 1945, they found that von Braun had organized the surrender of 500 of his top scientists, along with plans and test vehicles.

Von Braun and his German scientists were relocated to the United States, where they became indispensable to the development of American military and space programs. Von Braun’s life had changed drastically within the course of a year. But it was in a little church in El Paso, Texas, that von Braun experienced a spiritual transformation that would change him from the inside out.

In Germany, von Braun had been nominally Lutheran but functionally atheist. He had no interest in religion or God. In Texas, while living at Fort Bliss, a neighbor invited him to church. He went, expecting to find the religious equivalent of a country club. Instead, he found a small white frame building with a vibrant congregation of people who loved the Lord. He realized that he had been morally adrift and that he needed to surrender himself to God. He converted to Christ and, over the coming years, became quite outspoken in his evangelical faith and frequently addressed the complementarity of faith and science.

C.M. Ward’s 1966 interview of von Braun took place in Huntsville, Alabama, at the George Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA), where he served as director. Von Braun contrasted the large empty cathedrals of Europe to the large numbers of churches he found in Texas, many meeting in temporary buildings, pastored by “humble preachers driving second-hand buses,” who led “thriving congregations.” The German scientist was impressed and noted: “Here is a growing, aggressive church and not a dignified, half-dead institution. Here is spiritual life.”

Ward published von Braun’s story and his thoughts on faith and science in an article in the June 2, 1966, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel, as well as in a 15-page booklet, The Farther We Probe into Space, the Greater My Faith (Gospel Publishing House, 1966), of which almost 500,000 copies were published.

Read the article by Lee Shultz, “Revivaltime Speaker C.M. Ward Interviews Dr. Wernher von Braun,” on page 26-27 of the June 26, 1966, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Circuit-riding Chaplain,” by Richard D. Wood

• “I Discovered God in the Manned Spacecraft Center,” by David L. Johnson

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: www.iFPHC.org

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