April 11, 2025 · 1:17 pm

The Hurst Family Legacy: Assemblies of God Pastors, Missionaries, and Educators

D. V. Hurst, Wesley Hurst, Sr., and Wesley Hurst, Jr., circa 1950s.

This Week in AG History — March 20, 1960

By Ruthie Edgerly Oberg
Originally published on AG-News, 10 April 2025

When Wesley R. Hurst Sr. (1884-1973) applied for credentials with the Assemblies of God in 1934, he could not have known the influence his family would carry within the movement both in the United States and around the world.

Hurst was raised in a Baptist church in Wisconsin, which his great-grandfather founded after coming to the United States from England in the 1860s. As a teenager, he was disappointed in some inconsistencies he saw in the lives of the church people. He was drawn more to the rough crowd of lumberjacks at the sawmill where he worked. His mother consistently prayed for him, and he eventually married a godly woman and God blessed them with a daughter.

But in 1911, his wife died of tuberculosis, leaving him with a two-year old baby. This began a very trying time for the young man, now working for a creamery company in Saskatchewan. Disturbed by news of the war in Europe, Hurst returned home in late 1914. He began reading his Bible late at night when no one could see him and going to church with his mother.

Finally, in December, an old preacher gave an invitation at the end of his sermon: “Anybody here want to give your heart to the Lord, raise your hand!” Tired of the life he was living, Hurst raised his hand and surrendered himself to Christ. He laid down his tobacco can and worked to quit swearing. He began to read book after book about living the Christian life.

In July 1915, he went to a Methodist meeting and the evangelist asked if anyone wanted to surrender their life to the Lord to be “a preacher or a missionary or something like that.” Again, the young Hurst raised his hand. By January 1916, he had his trunk packed for Aurora College in Illinois to study for the ministry.

While attending school, he married Frieda Wendtland, the daughter of a lay preacher in the Advent Christian Church. In addition to his daughter, Phyllis, four more children were born to Wesley and Frieda: Pauline, Wesley Jr., Duane, and Ruth.

In 1921, Hurst was ordained with the Advent Christian Church and pastored small rural churches in Illinois, Minnesota, and Nebraska. While pastoring in Illinois, he was given a book by James McConkey, The Threefold Secret of the Holy Spirit. This greatly impacted Hurst’s thinking and made him hunger for more of God.

While pastoring in Minnesota, a man came from California and told of a revival being led by a woman, Aimee Semple McPherson. Hurst started reading about these revivals that were taking place around the country. He sent a letter to some friends requesting that they pray that “God would fill me with the Holy Ghost.”

The Hurst family began having prayer meetings in the parsonage. One night after the meeting, a few were sitting in the living room. Suddenly, Frieda began to speak in tongues. They had never heard anyone do this before. A few days later, Hurst also received his baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues.

After this, he was called to pastor the Advent Church in Lincoln, Nebraska. The church soon found out that he was speaking in tongues and praying for the sick. They asked him to cease this behavior, but he did not feel it would be right to stop what God had begun in him. For the next several years, Hurst and his family held tent meetings, preaching this new message of salvation, baptism in the Spirit, and divine healing.

While continuing to hold meetings, Hurst became convicted that his children needed a solid church family where they could grow and serve God. In 1934, he joined the Assemblies of God, securing his ordination with the Nebraska District.

Hurst served the Assemblies of God, pastoring in Cambridge, Paynesville, and Moorhead, Minnesota, and in Superior, Wisconsin. As a pastor in the earlier days of the Movement, the Hurst family learned to live by faith. During the Great Depression, Hurst sent his $3 tithe to the national office of the Assemblies of God with a letter apologizing for his low giving but explained that every spare penny went into keeping the church out of debt.

Once when the food supply was low, Hurst went to the potato bin and shouted, “Glory!” into the box, praying in tongues, and asking God to provide for his family. While he was praising in the potato bin, a man came to the door. “I’m a Lutheran so I’ll never be coming to your church,” the man said, “but I got to thinking you might need some potatoes.” He dropped off two 100-pound bags of potatoes, which meant the Hurst family ate quite a few potatoes for a while.

Growing up in this environment, the Hurst boys — Wesley Jr. and Duane — watched their father preach and pray, seeing God’s faithfulness time and time again. Both attended North Central Bible College (now North Central University) and married fellow students.

Wesley Jr. pioneered much of the Assemblies of God work in Tanzania, East Africa, and later served as the field director for the Far East region of the Department of Foreign Missions (now Assemblies of God World Missions).

Duane served in the national office of the Assemblies of God in the Sunday School and Radio ministries, serving as announcer for Revivaltime radio and coordinator of the Spiritual Life Evangelism Commission. He went on to become the president of Northwest College (now Northwest University) and served as mayor of Kirkland, Washington.

In the April 12, 1964, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel, Wesley Jr. wrote an article about his father’s faith entitled, “A Cherished Spiritual Heritage.” He wrote, “This is my heritage — the Pentecostal infilling, real and sufficient for today and every day. As a member of the second generation in this Movement of the Spirit, I cherish this heritage.”

Wesley Hurst Sr. passed on this Pentecostal heritage to his grandchildren, as well. Wesley Jr.’s sons entered the ministry – Randy Hurst as Communications director for Assemblies of God World Missions (a position his father once held) and Jhan as a missionary to Pacific Oceania. His daughter, Judy, served with her husband, Merlin Mitchell, in ministry at Central Bible College. Duane’s son, Rick, has also faithfully served God. Among Hurst’s great-grandchildren are Pentecostal missionaries, pastors, and faithful Christian businessmen and women, and one great-great grandchild is currently studying for the pastoral ministry.

Before the Hurst family ever left England, John Hurst, an English grocer, saw the state of the church in England and remarked, “The church used to have wooden candlesticks and golden preachers. It seems now to have golden candlesticks and wooden preachers.” He prayed for his descendants — never knowing that God would use his family to produce “golden preachers” for generations to come.

Read Wesley R. Hurst Jr.’s tribute to his father on page 14 of the April 12, 1964, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Does Jesus Really Care?” by Harold Kohl

• “The True Voice of Youth,” by Owen C. Carr

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: https://ifphc.org/

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April 3, 2025 · 11:17 am

Emil Balliet: Respected Assemblies of God Leader in California, Minnesota, and Missouri

This Week in AG History — April 2, 1967

By Glenn W. Gohr
Originally published on AG-News, 03 April 2025

Emil Balliet was a talented evangelist, pastor, teacher, author, and administrator, who held many important leadership positions in the Assemblies of God.

Emil Alexander Balliet (1911-1977) was born in Portland, Oregon, and grew up in San Francisco. His parents, George and Lydia Balliet, attended the 1922 Aimee Semple McPherson meetings in the Coliseum in San Francisco, which seated 10,000 people. A number of people were healed at these meetings, and there was a feeling of expectancy for more of the Holy Spirit.

The Balliet family had been part of a more formal church, but after the McPherson meetings they began attending Robert and Mary Craig’s Glad Tidings Temple. Emil Balliet was saved in a children’s meeting at Glad Tidings. All of the family was saved and received the baptism of the Holy Spirit while attending this church.

Emil Balliet and Gladys Arnesen, who later became his wife, met when they were teenagers at the church. The Arnesen family had also been profoundly influenced by the McPherson meetings, and Gladys’ sister, who had a doctor’s report that she was totally deaf and nothing could be done for her, was prayed for at the meetings, and God healed her. This revolutionized the Arnesen family and their faith.

Emil Balliet and Gladys Arnesen became better acquainted through regular church events, and both were musically gifted. Arnesen accompanied Balliet on the piano at his first violin recital. Feeling called into ministry, they both attended Glad Tidings Bible Institute (later Bethany University).

After graduation from Glad Tidings, Balliet traveled with Dr. J.N. Hoover, who was looking for an assistant. For the next two years they traveled, holding evangelistic services in churches in the United States and Canada. Balliet served as music director, playing his violin and singing as well as developing preaching skills. While traveling with Hoover, it is reported that at one service they encountered a man who was demon possessed. Hoover held onto his head while Balliet and four other strong men held him by the arms and legs as the rebuked the demon in the name of Jesus Christ and commanded him to come out of the man. The man was marvelously delivered after their prayer.

Balliet was ordained in 1932 with the Northern California-Nevada District of the Assemblies of God, and he married Arnesen later that year. They had four children.

It seemed that every few years, Balliet was led into a different path of ministry. He pastored the Alexandria Assembly of God (Alexandria, Minnesota) from 1932-1933, and Fergus Falls Assembly of God (Fergus Falls, Minnesota) from 1933-1935. From 1935-1947, he served as the district secretary of the North Central District and the dean and head of the music department at North Central Bible College (now North Central University). While serving as dean at the college, he was “highly respected and loved for the desire which he stimulates in each student’s heart to be more like the Master.” He also was an instructor in New Testament, Typology, and Homiletics.

Balliet was a songwriter, violinist, and pianist. Two of his compositions include “Christ is the Answer” and “Broken For You.” In their ministry, many times the Balliets would play a piano and violin duet together.

While directing the music department at North Central Bible Institute, Balliet said, “Music has played a big part in our Pentecostal work … Music never meant as much to me as when I came into Pentecost, because it brought something real which the Holy Spirit can give you.” Later, while living in Springfield, Missouri, Balliet composed the “C.A. March” which was used for many years by the Christ’s Ambassadors Department.

From 1947-1952, Balliet served as assistant district superintendent of the Southern Missouri District and pastor of Central Assembly of God (Springfield). Attendance at the church reached 1,100 under his leadership. Balliet also witnessed the healing of a member, Esther Whetsten, who was healed of tuberculosis during a Lorne Fox meeting held in Springfield. Balliet had called for an ambulance to bring her to the service. He also served for a time as the administrative assistant in the Foreign Missions Department. In these capacities, he ministered directly with the executive leadership of the Assemblies of God and many others in leadership roles.

While pastoring North Hollywood Assembly of God in California from 1952-1958, he also served as a member of the Foreign Missions Board for the Assemblies of God. In 1953, North Hollywood Assembly was second place in total missions giving for the Assemblies of God.

In 1957, he was honored to present the new Melodies of Praise hymnal to the General Council floor. At North Hollowood Assembly, the church saw growth under Balliet’s leadership, and he also hosted a TV program every Sunday afternoon. From 1959-1970, he pastored First Assembly of God in San Diego.

From 1970-1975, Balliet served as president of Southern California College (SCC) in Costa Mesa, California (now Vanguard University). As president of SCC, he sought to strengthen the relationship between the college and its constituency. He initiated plans for an administration building to face Fair Drive, and a master campus plan was designed.

Balliet was a prolific writer. He wrote a history of the Southern California District for their 50th anniversary in 1970, for which he did personal interviews with notable leaders such as Willard C. Peirce, J. Roswell Flower, A.G. Osterberg, and L.E. Halvorson.

Balliet also wrote a 13-lesson Sunday School quarterly on the Book of Acts. Quite a number of his articles appeared in the C.A. Herald and the Pentecostal Evangel, including a series of articles on great hymns of the faith and on important topics such as Communion, baptism, and weddings.

While pastoring Central Assembly in Springfield, Balliet was chairman of the Radio Committee of the Assemblies of God. He was a speaker on Sermons in Song and assisted in the formation of the Revivaltime radio ministry, serving as a narrator for the nationwide broadcast. He also traveled for ministry in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa at various times, plus Japan and Micronesia for teaching opportunities.

Balliet had an impressive educational background. In addition to Glad Tidings Bible Institute, he attended the University of Minnesota, Central Bible Institute, and the United States International University in San Diego. He held a bachelor’s degree in Music Education, a B.A. in Bible and Theology, and an M.A. in Education.

Teaching, administration, and preaching were his areas of specialty, but Emil Balliet’s ministry, which spanned 45 years, encompassed a variety of roles and experiences which endeared him to students, parishioners, and also the Revivaltime audience. His was privileged to minister in nearly every district of the Assemblies of God in the United States and in Canada, as well as several countries of the world. Willard Cantelon said of Balliet, “His life was his greatest and most eloquent sermon.”

Read Emil Balliet’s article, “Go Deeper with God,” on pages 2-3 of the April 2, 1967, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Believing and Receiving the Spirit,” by Willard T. Cantelon

• “God Satisfied Their Hunger,” by E.S. Caldwell

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: https://ifphc.org/

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March 27, 2025 · 12:25 pm

Great 1930s Revival in Nigeria Sparked by Pentecostal Evangel Magazine

Mr. and Mrs. Augustus Ehurie Wogu

This Week in AG History — March 29, 1959

By Darrin J. Rodgers
Originally published on AG-News, 27 March 2025

A great revival in Nigeria that led to the formation of the Assemblies of God in that nation can be traced back to a single issue of the Pentecostal Evangel, which somehow found its way from America to Africa in the early 1930s. Histories of the Assemblies of God of Nigeria credit the periodical for sparking a hunger for the baptism in the Holy Spirit among Nigerians.

The March 29, 1959, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel recounted this story of the origins of the Nigerian Assemblies of God. “It is not known how the magazine came into their possession,” according to the article, “but it is known that they were deeply stirred by the accounts of healing and of believers being baptized in the Holy Spirit.”

The Nigerians who first read this “missionary” issue of the Pentecostal Evangel were members of a small Holiness denomination, Faith Tabernacle, which had headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Faith Tabernacle leaders in America told the Nigerians to stay away from the Pentecostals. But as the Nigerians searched Scriptures, they saw that the Pentecostal message was biblical. They started praying, and many were healed and filled with the Holy Spirit. “Overjoyed, these newly baptized believers went from place to place testifying and preaching to all who would hear,” the article reported, “with the result that converts were won and small church groups were formed in various places.”

Augustus Ehurie Wogu, a prominent civil servant with the Nigerian Marine Department, was one of the early converts. Wogu, along with Augustus Asonye, G.M. Alioha, and others, helped to lay the foundation for the young Pentecostal movement in Nigeria.

Nigerian Pentecostals made contact with the American Assemblies of God, which published the Pentecostal Evangel. American church leaders put them in contact with a missionary laboring in the Gold Coast (now Ghana), W. Lloyd Shirer. Shirer helped to organize the Assemblies of God in Nigeria in 1939.

The Assemblies of God in Nigeria has experienced phenomenal growth. In 1959, the fellowship had 293 churches with 14,794 adherents. By 2024, this tally increased to 14,794 churches and outstations with 2,341,668 members and adherents. And all of this happened because someone whose name is now forgotten sent an issue of the Pentecostal Evangel to a place which had no Assemblies of God missionaries.

Read, “Pentecostal Progress in Nigeria,” on pages 22 and 23 of the March 29, 1959, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Resurrection and Missions,” by Robert L. Brandt

• “Ministry on the Danish Islands,” by Victor G. Greisen

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: https://ifphc.org/

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March 21, 2025 · 10:39 am

Raymond T. Brock: Pioneer of Christian Counseling in the Assemblies of God

This Week in AG History — March 20, 1960

By Ruthie Edgerly Oberg
Originally published on AG-News, 20 March 2025

Raymond T. Brock (1927-2001) was born during a time when Pentecostals were often skeptical of using psychology and counseling to address the needs of their community. However, his deep passion for education and his belief in the “wholeness” of the Christian led him to a career spanning 60 years. His work included missionary service, academic instruction, counseling specialization, and, most notably, writing on these areas that he felt so passionately about.

Born in Oklahoma in 1927 to a shoe manufacturer, Brock felt a calling to preach at the age of 13 and immediately began seeking opportunities to fulfill that calling. By the age of 17, he was licensed with the Oklahoma District of the Assemblies of God, and in 1950, he was ordained by the Illinois District. During this time, he married Lynita (Nita) Kennemer and earned a diploma from Central Bible Institute (later Central Bible College) in Springfield, Missouri, as well as a BA in Bible and Education-History from Phillips University, a Disciples of Christ school in Enid, Oklahoma.

Driven by a desire to teach, Brock accepted a position as an instructor at Great Lakes Bible Institute in Zion, Illinois, in his early 20s. Feeling called to primarily fulfill his ministry through teaching, alongside preaching, he completed a master’s degree in educational administration from the University of Tulsa. In 1953, he and Nita moved with their young family to Nigeria, where Brock served as principal of the Nigerian Central Bible Institute and editor of the Nigerian Evangel, while also overseeing day schools for younger students.

In the late 1950s, Brock was invited to serve as assistant professor at Southwestern Assemblies of God College (now Nelson University) in Waxahachie, Texas. During this time, he was able to integrate his teaching and preaching ministry by serving as minister of education at Oak Cliff Assembly of God (now Oaks Church) in Red Oak, Texas.

When J. Philip Hogan was elected as director of the Assemblies of God Foreign Missions Department in 1959, he sought to strengthen the missions program by recruiting some of the brightest young minds in the Assemblies of God. In the March 20, 1960, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel, Hogan announced that Brock, along with Wesley Hurst, Harold Mintle, and Charles Greenaway had joined the national missions team. Brock assumed the role of editor-in-chief of Foreign Missions publications.

Never one to focus on just one task at a time, Brock also became an assistant professor at Central Bible College and began writing a monthly column called “Dear Ray” for the Christ’s Ambassador’s Herald. In this column, youth would write in with questions about the Bible and the Christian life, and Brock would respond with thoughtful, pastoral insight.

As he gathered the stories of missionaries, taught college students, and answered the questions of young people, Brock began to see the need to understand how spiritual and emotional lives intersected, especially in relationships. He moved to California and then Colorado to develop his ministry as a Christian counselor.

In 1966, Brock returned to Springfield, Missouri, where he became the chair of the Behavioral Sciences Department at Evangel College (now Evangel University). In 1972, he earned his Doctor of Education in Counseling and Guidance from the University of Tulsa.

With his new focus, Brock began writing practical books and small-group curricula for churches on topics such as family and personal issues. His works included Dating and Waiting for Marriage, Facing Midlife Challenges, Let Love Be Your Guide, Parenting the Elementary Child, The Christ-Centered Family, and The Holy Spirit and Counseling, among others.

After retiring from Evangel University in 1985, Brock continued his work as a visiting professor at Assemblies of God Bible schools around the world. He also held seminars for missionaries, church leaders, and young people, encouraging them to live as “wholly” Christian in body, soul, and spirit.

In 1993, Richard Champion, editor of the Pentecostal Evangel, revived the “Ask Ray” column from the 1960s Christ’s Ambassador’s Herald, asking Brock to answer readers’ questions about a wide range of human experiences, all through the lens of biblical application. This column ran alongside Stanley Horton’s Q&A on biblical questions. “Ask Ray” enjoyed an eight-year run until Brock’s passing in October 2001. His devoted wife, Nita, lived another 19 years before passing away in 2020.

Ray Brock responded to God’s call at the age of 13 and continued to fulfill that call throughout his life, both in preaching and teaching. He influenced thousands of young people, students, and ministers in the Assemblies of God, teaching them how to apply their biblical beliefs to relationships, while leading emotionally healthy lives.

Read the full article, “Our Foreign Missions Team,” on page 14 of the March 20, 1960, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Let us Take Heed,” by Obie L. Harrup

• “We Believe in the Supernatural,” by Elizabeth Bowman

• “Can We Afford a Liberal Arts College?,” by Paul Hoff

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: https://ifphc.org/

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March 13, 2025 · 10:13 am

Mack Pinson: Pentecostal Pioneer in the South

This Week in AG History — March 15, 1953

By Glenn W. Gohr
Originally published on AG-News, 13 March 2025

Mack Pinson, a pioneer evangelist who helped bring the Pentecostal message to the South, was one of the five men who issued “The Call” to Hot Springs, the 1914 organizational meeting of the Assemblies of God.

Mack Matthew Pinson (1873-1953) lived a hard life as a child. A native of Rome, Georgia, he grew up on a cotton farm. Pinson’s father deserted the family when Mack was young, and his mother passed away when he was 20 years old. He lived with several relatives as the family worked hard to make ends meet.

Pinson’s oldest sister was a Christian, and she died from complications in childbirth. Before she passed away, she made young Mack promise that he would meet her in heaven someday. He didn’t know what that meant. He began to focus on learning more about God, since he had not been raised in church.

In 1893, Pinson attended a revival service at a Missionary Baptist church. At the end of the service, when the congregation was singing “Amazing Grace,” he came under conviction. He prayed a simple prayer, and the peace of God came into his heart as he gave his life to Christ. The next day he joined the church and was baptized in a river.

He began courting a neighbor girl, Mattie Gattis, and they were married on Dec. 3, 1893. At that time, they were helping his uncle with farming, and he and his uncle built them a log cabin to live in.

A year later, Pinson and his wife moved to Jacksonville, Texas. While living in Texas, he came in touch with a Cumberland Presbyterian church, and they let him lead some Bible studies. He began to feel a calling to preach, but he ignored it for a while. He continued studying the Bible and helped with some tent revivals in various places, sometimes doing the preaching. In his travels he met J.O. McClurkan, who was in charge of the Pentecostal Mission Bible and Literary Institute, a Holiness school in Nashville, Tennessee.

McClurkan encouraged Pinson to study for the ministry at his school, so the Pinsons moved to Nashville. Pinson was ordained at the school in October 1903. He continued taking classes at McClurkan’s school and also preached a number of revival services in nearby cities.

Pinson claimed he heard an audible voice that said, “Go to Birmingham, Alabama.” He felt God leading him to go there to hold meetings, and that is where he met G.B. Cashwell, an early Holiness Pentecostal leader who has been called the “Pentecostal Apostle of the South.” Cashwell had attended the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles and then brought the Pentecostal message to many places in the South.

Cashwell preached one night for Pinson and encouraged the crowd to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to begin speaking in tongues according to the formula given in Acts 2:4. Pinson and a coworker, H.G. Rodgers, decided to follow Cashwell to Memphis, Tennessee, to further investigate the baptism in the Holy Spirit, to see if it lined up with Scripture. While praying in his bedroom one morning, Pinson was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in tongues. That was May 8, 1907.

At that time, Pinson held credentials with McClurkan’s group, and he wasn’t sure if they would accept his newfound Pentecostal faith. McClurkan was open to this teaching and allowed him to keep his credentials until the next annual convention. In the meantime, Pinson held revival meetings in North Birmingham, Coffee Springs, and Ozark, Alabama, as well as various towns in Mississippi. Pinson and Rodgers helped to spread the Pentecostal message to Alabama and Mississippi.

When Pinson attended the convention for the Pentecostal Mission in Nashville in October 1907, the secretary refused to renew his papers because of his belief in the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Other ministers also were rejected for the same reason.

Pinson began traveling with N.J. Holmes, a Pentecostal minister in charge of Altamont Bible School near Greenville, South Carolina. Pinson traveled and held revival meetings in Tennessee, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Florida, Louisiana, and Alabama. There were reports of salvations, healings, and people receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

Pinson attended the Worldwide Camp Meeting, a Pentecostal convention held in Los Angeles in 1913. The main speaker was Maria Woodworth-Etter.

Years later, Pinson met a woman who said, “I don’t know whether you know me or not, but I remember you. It was in the Worldwide Camp Meeting that you and Sister Etter laid hands on my head and prayed for me, and I was healed and was filled with the Spirit, and spoke in tongues right there.” Her face lit up as she said, “Praise God, the Comforter still abides.”

From Los Angeles, Pinson traveled to Oakland to work with Carrie Judd Montgomery and helped with a camp meeting at the Cazadero Camp. One of the speakers was Smith Wigglesworth.

While in Arkansas, Pinson spoke at a large camp meeting in Eureka Springs and became acquainted with E.N. Bell. Pinson originated a newspaper called Word and Witness, and he turned the paper over to Bell. This is the paper that issued “The Call” to meet in Hot Springs in 1914 to organize what became the General Council of the Assemblies of God, and Pinson was one of the five men who signed his name to the announcement. He delivered the keynote message, based on Acts 15. Pinson was elected at Hot Springs to serve as one of the first executive presbyters of the Assemblies of God.

Pinson continued to hold evangelistic services, traveling to places such as Arizona, Arkansas, California, Canada, Illinois, Nebraska, New York, and Oregon. He traveled widely and rubbed shoulders with many early Pentecostal leaders, including William H. Durham, Elizabeth Sexton, John T. Benson, Henry and Sunshine Ball, E.N. Bell, J.W. Welch, A.P. Collins, W.T. Gaston, A.J. Tomlinson, W.E. Moody, A.H. Argue, H.G. Rodgers, Maria Woodworth-Etter, and Smith Wigglesworth. Pinson wrote several tracts and articles on scriptural topics. His life was devoted to ministry, and he is remembered for helping to bring the Pentecostal message to the South.

Read J. Roswell Flower’s article, “[Mack] Pinson With Christ,” on page 13 of the March 15, 1953, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “The Temptation,” by Violet Schoonmaker

• “Our Trip to the Orient,” by Mark Buntain

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: https://ifphc.org/

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March 6, 2025 · 12:54 pm

Edmund Hodgson: British Pentecostal Martyr and Missionary to Belgian Congo

This Week in AG History — March 6, 1948

By Ruthie Edgerly Oberg
Originally published on AG-News, 06 March 2025

Edmund “Teddy” Hodgson (1898-1960) was a British Pentecostal missionary to the Belgian Congo, Africa, from 1920 to 1960. He served his Lord and his church as a preacher, teacher, doctor, dentist, carpenter, hunter, husband, father, and friend. Ultimately, he gave his life as a martyr for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Born in Preston, a city in northern England, Hodgson left formal schooling at age 13 and went to work as a delivery boy for a bakery. One day his employer asked him if he attended Sunday School. He replied that he did, but the man then asked a deeper question, “And do you love the Lord Jesus?” The question bothered him and he found no answer to give. Not long after, he knelt with his employer and committed his life to the service of Christ.

Finding that he was gifted with his hands, Hodgson became an apprentice to a cabinetmaker at age 14. At the same time, he became acquainted with students at a Pentecostal Bible school and a pioneer missionary in the Congo. After receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit and admitting his love of adventure, he made a promise to God and to the missionary to consider serving in the Congo.

While still a teenager, Hodgson enlisted in the British Armed Forces and served in front line trench warfare in France in World War I. Though the other soldiers called him “Holy Hodgson,” they respected his natural ability as a crack shot and his fearless leadership. Following orders to move out into no-man’s land, Hodgson was hit by a German shell. He recovered but found his trigger finger useless.

After the war, Hodgson returned to England to rebuild his life. Driven and capable, he soon built a thriving business restoring furniture. There were times when the Congo crossed his mind but, having seen enough suffering on the front lines of war, he believed he could serve God better by making money to give to missions rather than going himself. Then one day the missionary he had met before the war walked into his shop. He asked, “Well, Teddy, what about the Congo?”

Over the next days a battle as fierce as anything he experienced in France took place within his heart. He wrestled with the sacrifice it would mean for him as a young man to leave a promising business and disappear into the darkness of Africa. However, when he finally surrendered to God, it was total. After saying “yes” to God, Teddy Hodgson never looked back.

He sailed to the Congo in 1920 and found that he had to walk the last 150 miles through mosquito-infested swamps. Within a week, he was suffering with malaria. After nine months of pain he was nearly blind and argued with God about bringing him to the Congo and leaving him useless. Finally, in desperation, he cried out, “Lord, either heal me or take me to heaven.” The next day, he was able to get out of bed and he packed his bags to go into the villages to begin his work.

Though his skill in the Kiluba language was limited, Hodgson approached the village chief in Kisanga and asked to speak to the people. After receiving permission, he thought, “Well, here’s my audience, so here goes!” As he began to speak, he felt such an overwhelming love for these people that the words seemed to simply flow from his mouth. When he finished, he thanked them and left.

As he was leaving, two boys who had been helping him build his house in Kisanga followed him with great laughter. They told him how funny it was that when he was speaking to them while working they could hardly understand him but that morning as he spoke they could all understand every word. Hodgson was greatly encouraged at his miraculous provisional help from God. This was the first of many times he found that God blessed and provided all he needed when he made his own resources available.

In the coming years as he traveled from village to village, Hodgson had many hair-raising experiences with witch doctors, angry chiefs, hungry lions, rogue elephants, hippos, and crocodiles. Though his trigger finger was useless, he trained himself to shoot with his middle finger. Over the years, God used his ability with a rifle to win many friends among the villages. Over the years he killed more than 60 marauding lions. He never shot for sport or pleasure, only to protect the people he loved.

Serving in the Belgian Congo for 40 years, Hodgson also buried two wives and was constrained to send his five children back to England for care and education. These experiences pained him deeply and challenged his resolve, but his love for Christ and the people to whom he was called compelled him to continue.

In the March 6, 1948, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel, Hodgson wrote about a great revival that was taking place in the Congo in response to prayer for renewal among the Christians. The revival featured miraculous exercise of the gifts of the Spirit leading to the conversion, infilling, and baptism of well over 1,000 souls.

After the Congo declared its independence in 1960, the atmosphere changed for Hodgson and his fellow Christian workers. The missionaries soon found themselves contained in a small area in Kamina by rebels. Other missionaries from New Zealand, Elton Knauf and his wife, joined them there. Knauf was concerned that he had left in such a hurry that he had been unable to deliver much needed supplies and money to the hospital workers in Lulungu. He was convinced he could travel safely if he went by “the back road.” Hodgson agreed to accompany him.

When they reached Mukuya, they were confronted by a band of surly rebels who were singing one of the songs of the rebellion, “We want no words from the white man’s God!” The missionaries tried to negotiate that they would leave the supplies and return back to Kamina. However, the rebel forces demanded that they march with them. A few Christians in the area heard of the trouble and followed from a distance. After marching for a short time, the Christians saw the rebels stop. They watched in horror as the machetes were raised and Hodgson and Knauf were hacked to pieces before their eyes.

Hodgson wrote in his book, Out of the Darkness, “The Lord Jesus illustrated and commended a Christianity that bent its back, soiled its hands, and blistered its feet in stooping to help fallen man. Just as positively He denounced and condemned a professional religion that passes by on the other side when man’s need is at the greatest. Some are called to be Apostles, but every Christian is called to be an Epistle (a love letter of God, read of men).” Hodgson served God as both Apostle and Epistle.

Read Edmund Hodgson’s article, “A Pentecostal Revival in the Congo,” on page 2 of the March 6, 1948, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “The Test of True Discipleship,” by Robert A. Brown

• “A Mighty Revival at CBI,” by Kathleen Belknap

• “Jeremiah of Anathoth,” by Walter Beuttler

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: https://ifphc.org/

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February 28, 2025 · 4:05 pm

Unsung Hero: Bessie Gager, Pioneer Assemblies of God Missionary to India

This Week in AG History — February 25, 1950

By Ruthie Edgerly Oberg
Originally published on AG-News, 27 February 2025

The name of Bessie Violet Gager (1874-1957), a pioneering Pentecostal missionary, does not typically appear in Pentecostal history books. Her ministry spanned 31 years in northern India, where she quietly but faithfully served with a passion for evangelism and a deep love for the Indian people that never waned, even into her 80s.

Gager was 37 years old when she first arrived in India in 1911 to assist with a mission for lepers in Uska Bazar. After the death of missionary Minnie Abrams, Gager moved to help Abrams’ assistant, Lillie Doll, with the mission in Basti.

Having been in India for just a few months when Abrams died, Gager struggled with the fear that she, too, would die in India: “The devil would say, ‘Yes, you will be buried alongside Miss Abrams.’” In desperation, she wrote letters back to the United States, asking for prayer. Not long after, her debilitating fear subsided, and boldness took its place.

When Assemblies of God missionary James Harvey arrived in 1915, he was deeply impressed by the work of the single female missionaries. He reported back to Pentecostal Evangel readers that the mission was thriving, with around 90 people in attendance and “a spirit of unity and love.” In 1922, when Lillie Doll Maltby’s health required her to return to the United States, Gager was appointed superintendent of the Basti work.

Though she ministered wherever the need arose, Basti, India, remained Gager’s base of operations for the next three decades. The mission was located along a road that led to several Hindu temples, and Gager developed a profound desire to minister to the people who passed by on their way to the temples. She saw them journeying in search of peace, enduring great trials to appease their gods, only to return disappointed.

Seeing an opportunity for a roadside ministry, Gager greeted people on their way to the temple with gospel tracts and then spoke with them again on their return journey. Through this approach, Gager led many to realize that the idols they worshipped could never bring them satisfaction. In contrast, she explained that Jesus, who was tortured for them rather than demanding that they be tortured for Him, could offer peace to their troubled souls.

Despite her initial fear of never leaving India, Gager rarely returned to the United States for furlough. When she did return, it was typically to recruit other single women to join the mission.

In 1927, while visiting the United States, Gager stayed at a mission home in the Eastern District of the Assemblies of God. There, pastors Robert and Marie Burgess Brown encouraged her to consider joining the Assemblies of God. Following their counsel, Gager became an ordained missionary with the Fellowship, just one month before returning to India. She retained her credentials for the rest of her life.

Upon her return to India in 1928, Gager wrote to her new Fellowship, expressing her gratitude for the love shown to her, but sharing her deep desire to remain in India.

“I greatly appreciate the love that was shown me in the assemblies… however, my most earnest hope is that it will not be necessary for me to take another furlough; I feel that I want to stay here until He comes, so that the remainder of my stay on this earth may be spent in telling India’s lost of the only One who can give them rest in this life and a place in heaven when the earthly journey is finished.”

Over the next 10 years, Gager quietly but faithfully served the people of India wherever opportunity arose. In 1938, Gager wrote to her supporters, stating that it was time to turn over the leadership of the Basti work to a younger missionary couple. The new missionaries encouraged her to remain with them as long as she could. Well into her 70s, Gager would set a chair by the road each day to meet pilgrims on their way to the temples, sharing the love of Calvary with them.

By 1948, Gager’s health required her to return to the United States. She moved into the Assemblies of God retirement home for ministers in Pinellas Park, Florida. The Feb. 25, 1950, Pentecostal Evangel reported her arrival, noting that although she was “exhausted by her long trip,” she quickly got up, dressed, and with a handful of tracts, announced she was going for a walk. She continued walking most days, giving out tracts and testifying to everyone she met. It was rare for her to not request prayer in evening devotions for someone to whom she had witnessed that day.

Bessie Gager passed away in 1957 at the age of 83, having told the workers in Florida that she was “as happy in this home as it is possible for me to be anywhere outside of India.” While her name is largely absent from the history books, there are thousands of Indian believers who heard the gospel and accepted Christ through the work of this faithful missionary who never wavered from her commitment to their salvation.

Read the article telling of Gager’s arrival in Florida on page 9 of the Feb. 25, 1950, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Bearing the Fruit of the Spirit,” by Willard Cantelon

• “An Investment in Youth,” by Wesley Steelberg

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: https://ifphc.org/

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February 24, 2025 · 3:56 pm

Albert Norton, Pioneer Pentecostal Missionary to India: Good Works Must Accompany Preaching

This Week in AG History — February 22, 1919

By Darrin J. Rodgers
Originally published on AG-News, 20 February 2025

One hundred years ago, Assemblies of God missionary Albert Norton witnessed the tragic starvation and suffering of countless people in India. He responded to this humanitarian crisis in a Pentecostal Evangel article, in which he argued that Christian preaching must be accompanied by works of compassion.

Norton’s experience in India gave him a different perspective than many other Christians in America. At the time, there was a growing divide within Christianity between evangelicals and theological liberals. In the early 20th century, many mainline Protestant churches were in the process of redefining the Christian faith. New academic theories undermined the authority of Scripture, and a faith in science replaced faith in the God of miracles as described in the Bible. These theological liberals pioneered a “Social Gospel” movement defined by doing good works, even as they left behind the seemingly antiquated notion that “Truth” could be found in Scripture.

In America, evangelicals and Pentecostals often responded to the Social Gospel movement by reasserting biblical truths. Some tried to reform older denominations from within; others formed new, purer churches. Some backed away from social action, concerned that an emphasis on good works could distract from what they believed was the more important duty to preach the Word.

Outside America, missionaries such as Albert Norton were often surrounded by great suffering and felt compelled to minister in both word and deed.

In a 1919 Pentecostal Evangel article, Norton wrote the following bold statement:

“A Christianity that coldly sits down, and goes on its routine of formal work, and allows its fellowmen to starve, or to be obliged to go through all the hard sufferings and exposure connected with famine, without effort to help them, might as well quit its preaching.”

Norton, who was witnessing an unfolding human tragedy, asked that “all missionaries, Mission Boards and Committees, and all Christian Workers to do what they can to save their brothers and sisters in India from dying of starvation or from the kindred train of evils following famine.”

Pentecostal Evangel editor Stanley H. Frodsham responded and devoted the entire front page of the Feb. 22, 1919, issue to the desperate situation in India. He asked readers to send famine relief to Gospel Publishing House, which he promised would “be promptly sent to the field.”

Frodsham provided three justifications for this request to save bodies as well as souls. First, he stated that Scripture required it, quoting Proverbs 19:17 and 24:11-12. Second, he noted that the Methodist church had asked its members to forego luxuries for a few months and to instead provide money for Indian relief. He challenged Pentecostals to do likewise.

Third, he noted that the future of the church depended upon rescuing those who are starving now. He again quoted Norton, “There are young men and women in India today, who were saved as famine orphans several years ago, and now they are filled with the Holy Spirit, and being greatly used in the extension of Christ’s kingdom.” Meeting the physical needs to the starving today would yield preachers tomorrow. He continued, “How unutterably sad it would have been if they had been allowed to die of starvation.”

Early Pentecostal missionaries such as Norton had very limited physical resources to share, but they still recognized the need to minister in both word and deed. When the Assemblies of God, at its 2009 General Council, added compassion as the fourth element for its reason for being — joining worship, evangelism, and discipleship — this was an affirmation of a long-standing practice.

Read Frodsham’s entire article, “Plague and Famine Raging in India,” on pages 1-2 of the Feb. 22, 1919, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Run to Help the Dying,” by A.E.L.

• “Hints Regarding Divine Healing,” by Florence Burpee

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: https://ifphc.org/

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February 14, 2025 · 8:48 am

The Saintly Peacemaker: A. P. Collins, Second Assemblies of God General Superintendent

This Week in AG History — February 13, 1915

By Glenn W. Gohr
Originally published on AG News, 13 February 2025

Arch P. Collins (1861-1921), known as “the saintly peacemaker,” is one of the notable founding fathers of the Assemblies of God. Not only was he one of the five ministers who signed the call to meet in Hot Springs in April 1914, but he served as the second general superintendent of the Assemblies of God. He also was a pastor, Bible teacher, and author.

Collins was a lifetime resident of Tarrant County, Texas, living in Arlington and Fort Worth. He was a Baptist minister for almost 20 years before joining the Assemblies of God in 1914. One of the last Baptist churches he pastored was the North Fort Worth Baptist Church, which also had been pastored by E.N. Bell, the first general superintendent of the Assemblies of God.

Collins was reared on a farm and was saved at the age of 17. He began reading the old family Bible at night and meditated on the Word during the day. He also developed a love for history, obtained a teaching certificate, and taught school for 10 years before he was called into full-time ministry. He attended Baylor University to better prepare for the ministry.

In 1907, he heard about the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Wanting more of God, he began studying the Scriptures, and he prayed fervently before he was baptized in the Spirit on March 13, 1908. He said, “Lord, I want the baptism in the Holy Ghost just like they received in the days of the Apostles, and You will give the evidence.” His wife and children also received the Baptism around this same time. This led to his resignation as pastor of his church and his family being ostracized from their friends.

Regarding support for his family, Collins declared: “Since God, in mercy, has provided for us while I preached only a part of the gospel, surely He will take care of us when preaching a full gospel.” Collins said his family was put to the test, but God always provided their needs.

Before and after receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit Collins realized that he had been following the opinions of men in his Bible study; that he was farther away from God than he realized; that he needed to repent of all pride of flesh and spirit and get back to God; that he needed to learn how to seek God with his whole heart; that he needed to surrender and be like a child and let the Lord teach him; that he needed to have the things of Jesus made more real to him than ever before; and that he needed to have absolute abandonment to God. Once he realized all these things, he felt the peace of God as he began speaking in tongues for the first time and began to walk in the fullness of the Spirit.

Pentecostal pioneer F.F. Bosworth once referred to Collins as one of the wisest and most saintly men in the Pentecostal movement.

Stanley Frodsham, editor of the Pentecostal Evangel, recalled, “The thing that struck me most about Bro. Collins was his Christliness.” He prayed often and sought God’s leading in his life. Many times when an important decision was needed, Collins would stop everything and say, “Brethren, let us pray.”

Soon after the organizational meeting of the Assemblies of God in April 1914, Collins followed E.N. Bell as the pastor of First Assembly of God in nearby Malvern, Arkansas. He later returned to Texas. He served as general chairman of the Assemblies of God for one year (1914-1915). He then served as superintendent of the Tri-State District (Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona) from 1917-1918 and 1920-1921. In 1920, he was also serving as the field representative for the General Council, so he traveled to churches and district meetings in various states.

At the second General Council, E.N. Bell — who roomed with Collins during the General Council — wrote about his friend: “Almost every morning he awakened me with praying and worshiping in the adjoining room. It was not merely a matter of getting something from God. It was a time of great fellowship between his soul and heaven. He would often seem lost in adoration and praise to God.” Bell said, “Bro. A.P. Collins was one of the sweetest-spirited men I ever met. No matter what happened, he usually kept sweet, and was ready to take all the blame on himself for every misunderstanding, whether it was his fault or not.”

J.W. Welch described Collins as “a faithful watchdog.” He was quick to scent danger and would faithfully warn of the same. He sought to keep the Assemblies of God as a cooperative fellowship. He exhorted Pentecostals toward unity with “all the saints and assemblies,” being “one in prayer, one in purpose, one in action, and one in the Spirit of Jesus.”

Collins authored numerous articles published in periodicals, including 81 articles in the Pentecostal Evangel. He also authored a number of tracts. He wrote on topics such as prayer, baptism, cooperation, unity, evangelism, the doctrine of the Trinity, humility, divine healing, divine love, the Second Coming, and revival. He passed away in 1921, while serving as Tri-State District superintendent.

Read A.P. Collins’ article, “Parables, Symbols, Metaphors, Visions and Dreams?” on page 2 of the Feb. 13, 1915, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “The Latter Rain in Portland,” by Will Trotter

• “Pentecostal Notes on International Sunday School,” by Alice Reynolds Flower

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: https://ifphc.org/

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February 7, 2025 · 12:32 pm

100-Year-Old Hoopa Indian Woman Accepted Christ, Healed, Cured of Addiction; Still Testifying at 109

This Week in AG History — February 8, 1930

By Darrin J. Rodgers
Originally published on AG-News, 06 February 2025

When “Aunt” Fanny Lack, a 100-year-old Hoopa Indian woman, accepted Christ and was healed in 1920, she became a local sensation on the Hoopa Indian Reservation in northern California. She was among the earliest Native American Pentecostals, and was almost certainly the oldest. She became a faithful member of the Hoopa Assembly of God and shared her testimony wherever she went. Lack lived for at least nine more years, and during this time she received considerable attention by the press for her longevity and remarkable life story.

Aunt Fanny was revered among members of her tribe for her age, for being a link to their past, and for her Christian testimony. Pentecostals also identified her as one of their own, and her story was published in the Feb. 8, 1930, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Born in about 1820, Aunt Fanny recounted the sacred stories of her ancestors. She herself had lived longer than most everyone else. She remembered, as a girl, seeing the first white men come to her small village. She initially thought they were creatures sent from the Thunder Sky by the Great Spirit. Afterward, she witnessed white soldiers massacre many Native Americans in her village. She survived the massacre and forgave the white men who killed her people.

Sometime later, Aunt Fanny’s husband was hunting with a white man and saved him from being killed by a bear. He shot the bear through its heart with a flint-pointed arrow. The man, grateful for his life, gave a gun to Aunt Fanny’s husband. The gun made him the envy of others in the tribe. Aunt Fanny also learned to chew and smoke “pedro” tobacco from the white men. She became an addict.

Aunt Fanny accepted Christ under the ministry of a Mexican-American Pentecostal evangelist, A.C. Valdez, who visited her reservation in 1920. When she became a Christian at her advanced age, others in the tribe took notice. Before her conversion, she was badly stooped over and was partly paralyzed in her mouth and an arm. After she accepted Christ, she was healed and could stand straight and would regularly walk 8 to 10 miles each day. Numerous articles about Aunt Fanny appeared in newspapers across the United States throughout the 1920s. She shared her Christian testimony wherever she went, according to these press reports.

According to a lengthy 1925 article in the Times Standard newspaper published in Eureka, California, Aunt Fanny walked between five and eight miles to attend services at the Hoopa Pentecostal mission. The mission (now known as Hoopa Assembly of God) affiliated with the Assemblies of God in 1927. The article also noted that Aunt Fanny was able to overcome her tobacco addiction shortly after converting to Christ. The article reported: “Aunt Fanny . . . believes devoutly in healing, and attributes the fact that she is now able to stand straighter than in former years to Divine healing.”

J.D. Wells, an early Assemblies of God missionary to Native Americans, shared Aunt Fanny’s story with readers of the Feb. 8, 1930, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel. At the time, she was 109 years old and continued to present a strong Christian witness. He wrote, “Everyone on the reservation welcomes Fanny for a stay at their home, as they feel that God will bless their household while she is present, and this seems to be a truth.”

Read the article, “A Veteran Enters the Lord’s Army,” by J.D. Wells, on pages 10-11 of the Feb. 8, 1930, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “The Need of the Hour,” by Flem Van Meter

• “Divine Healing,” by J.N. Hoover

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

See also: “Aunt Fanny Lack: The Remarkable Conversion, Healing, and Ministry of a 100-Year-Old Hoopa Indian Woman,” by Matt Hufman and Darrin Rodgers, published in the 2015/2016 edition of Assemblies of God Heritage.

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: https://ifphc.org/

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