What can Pentecostals learn from John Wesley (1703-91), the founder of Methodism? Wesley, an Anglican priest in England, helped to lay the foundation for large segments of the evangelical and Pentecostal movements. Despite living in a nation that identified as Christian, he recognized that most people did not have saving faith. He pioneered new evangelism … [Read more…]
First of two parts. More American women are incarcerated — and being released from correctional facilities — than ever before, providing an unprecedented opportunity for churchgoers to help break a pattern of repeated imprisonment. Nationwide, more than one million adult women are locked up, on parole, or on probation. Overall, women represent only 7.2 percent of … [Read more…]
Tragedy struck when an apartment building near Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, caught fire. Fortunately, no one died; however, the building was completely destroyed. One tenant, July, was a visiting Chinese scholar who had become friends with U.S. Assemblies of God Missions’ Linda Seiler, a Chi Alpha Campus Ministries missionary. Seiler met July at … [Read more…]
A laity-led organization whose key leaders include two men from Assemblies of God churches in Salem, Oregon, soon will expand its outreach beyond the 28 men being mentored. Brothers of Valor (BOV) started two years ago, with key founders that included life insurance agent Sven Anderson, a member of Peoples Church, and Tim A. Davis, … [Read more…]
For decades, Elton Days in Elton, Wisconsin, signaled the time for anyone who had ever called the former bustling logging town “home,” to return for an annual reunion. It is a time of family, friends, food, music, brats (aka bratwurst) and beer. But last year, Elton — now a community of just 125 — ran … [Read more…]
When Bill Moll considered retiring, he envisioned doing volunteer work at the church he attended, Abundant Life Assembly of God, in Cupertino, California. He also contemplated using his considerable work experience as a volunteer in a Christian organization. He had been senior vice president of merchandising at Macy’s West, overseeing more than 250 locations in … [Read more…]
Optimistic and good-natured Floyd Bledsoe doesn’t sound like a man who spent nearly 16 years behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit. Yet Bledsoe, 39, credits Assemblies of God U.S. missionary Donald W. Starnes and participants in the Freedom Challenge program with encouraging him to stay strong in desperate environs. Starnes has served as … [Read more…]
Editor’s note: The following article is reprinted from Assemblies of God Heritage magazine in 1985. Paul L. Kitch, who served as an AG pastor and missionary to Africa, died in 2005 at the age of 94. His son Paul A. Kitch, who also served as an AG missionary to Africa with his wife, Delma, retired … [Read more…]
Candace Payne, a 37-year-old stay-at-home mom and member of the worship team at The Oaks Fellowship (AG) in Red Oaks, Texas, says she has been praying for ways to share Christ with others outside of her church. She had no idea the magnitude with which God would respond. On Thursday, May 19, 2016, God began … [Read more…]
The Mexican Revolution, a decade-long civil war beginning in 1910, changed the North American social landscape. Thousands of displaced people fled the armed conflict and social disruption in Mexico and sought refuge along the borderlands in the United States. It was among these refugees that Henry C. Ball, a young preacher in Ricardo, Texas, planted … [Read more…]