March 12, 1906: William Seymour starts meetings at the home of Richard Asberry at 214 Bonnie Brae Street
Dony K. Donev
William Seymour was expelled from the Santa Fe Mission on March 4, 1906, after preaching that speaking in tongues constitutes the biblical evidence of baptism in the Holy Spirit. Outraged by the treatment of Seymour, one of the church members, Edward Lee, invited him to his home, where prayer meetings soon began. Because of the growing number of visitors, the gatherings were moved on March 12, 1906—exactly one month before Seymour himself received the Holy Spirit—to the home of Richard Asberry at 214 Bonnie Brae Street. Ironically, this was the same location where members of the Santa Fe Mission had met in 1905 after being expelled from the Second Baptist Church of Los Angeles for preaching the doctrine of holiness. At that same location, in Richard Asberry’s home, on April 9, 1906, Edward Lee became the first to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Many others were also baptized and spoke in tongues after Seymour and Lucy Farrow laid hands on them in prayer.
The prayer meetings at 214 Bonnie Brae Street gained widespread attention as the number of attendees soon exceeded the capacity of Richard Asberry’s home. Holding services in the street itself attracted crowds of curious onlookers. Among them were representatives of the numerous immigrant communities living in Los Angeles at the time. One such group consisted of Russian “Molokans,” who had immigrated because of religious persecution directed against their extremely conservative beliefs (the so-called Old Faith) and their worship practices, which included dancing, trance states, falling in the Spirit, and in some instances even speaking in unknown tongues. One of the earliest American missionaries to the Balkans, F. W. Flocken, encountered a similar Molokan community in Tulcea and documented in detail his observations concerning their religious beliefs and practices (see notes 25–27 and the 43rd Annual Report of the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1861, p. 48ff).
Most Russian immigrants in Los Angeles in 1906 lived in Boyle Heights and Oaks Lot (the so-called “flats area slums,” a term used to describe the apartment blocks in the ghetto), approximately half a kilometer from Azusa Street. There, at Pecan Playground, tent meetings were held during the height of the Azusa Street Pentecostal revival (1906–1909). The first issue of the newspaper published during the revival, Apostolic Faith, reports that members of the revival were invited to preach in the local Molokan church (see Apostolic Faith, Issue 1). What the Molokans observed in the prayer meetings at 214 Bonnie Brae Street, and later in the Azusa Street revival itself, was nearly identical to the “Old Faith” practices they maintained in their own gatherings. When Ivan Voronaev moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles around 1913, he worked among Russian immigrants who had been eyewitnesses to the Azusa Street revival. /to be continued/
2021 Prayer Meetings and Testimonies
A second round of 2021 elections in Bulgaria is scheduled for July 11, 2021. With this unstable political situation, our churches and adherents in the country are rightfully feeling the time for fervent prayer is at hand. As many other ministries, we have been too holding virtual prayer meetings online. But with everything happening in Bulgaria right now, it was much needed to dispatch team members in various directions as a response to several urgent prayer requests.
Several Mondays in a row now this summer, following the regularly scheduled Sunday services, our people have been gathering to pray and anoint one for another, serve Communion in key locations around the region. With pandemic regulations threatening to tighten once again after the elections, this small window of open air ministry has proven quite beneficial. Several healings were reported from small villages on the rout after prayer for the sick and anointing was conducted. In another place, a meeting place became available with the assistance of local regional government. The committee members that made this happened then requested prayer for their families, businesses and the whole village.
It will be an overstatement to say, that both prayer and answers have been much needed after the last year of pandemic shutdown. We are excited with anticipation for the upcoming Anointed Prayer Communion meetings scheduled for July 4th with a break for the July 11th elections, and then again with special gathering on the 19th. We continue to pray and wait on the Lord for provision of a more central location well our several ministries can gather and operate again independent from the ongoing government regulations.
FGBMFI Meetings in Ruse
While ministering in Ruse, Bulgaria we received a special invitation to meet with the local chapter of the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International. They consist of a group of nearly 50 some Christian businessmen along with their families who have fellowship together sharing common struggles and offering practical advice for applying Biblical principles in the secular market. Many shared their concerns of the economic crises in Bulgaria and the devastating effects that credit lending has taken on the country as a whole.
We were very encouraged of their reception of our ministry, especially through our websites including www.bibliata.tv and evangelsko.info. It is a strange feeling to meet with people for the first time who have been following your ministry around the world online. We remain humbled and give God the glory for how He has allowed us to have such a great presence and influence in Bulgaria.
We were also able to give nearly a dozen copies of our new translation of the Gospels of John and Matthew, which were personally requested. This opened discussion for challenging ones thinking toward a new paradigm of applying the Bible translation in a more open church context.
During their main gathering, we were able to talk to them on the historical presence of Biblical business principle as brought by the puritans within the Bulgarian culture some two centuries ago. We also spoke of the role of the members of the local church in the process of forming Christian identity, providing applicable presence of spiritual fatherhood and reforming the society around us to the standards of God. While there, we were able to go to visit with several at their place of work and pray a special blessing over their businesses.
