bernard jr. pentecostal research center · ed the pleasant grove revival and received the baptism...

CHURCH OF GOD SummerAXl.2999

A PUBLKKTION OF TIE HAL BERNARD DIXON JR. PENTECOSTAL RESEARCH CENTER

HE TRAIL OF Pentecost to Lhc Bahama Islancls includes the historic outpouring of the Holy

Spirit at the Azuza Street Mission in Los Angeles in 1906.

G.B. Cashwell, a minister of he Holiness Association of North Carolina, went to Los Angeles in 1906, received the Pentecostal baptism, and returned to his home in Dunn, North Caroli- na. . . .A year after Cashwell’s return to the Southeast, in Jan- uaiy of 1908, he preached in Cleveland, Tennessee, at the con- clusion of the General [Assembly] of the Church of God. AJ, Tom- linson, at the time pastor of t hc Church in Cleveland, received the Pentecostal baptism.’ . In May 1.909, AJ. Tomlinson, now

infused wilh the power of the Holy Spirit, conductecl a revival at the Pleas- ant Grove campground in Durant, Florida. R.M. Evans, already rctirccl after an outstanding career as a Methodist minister, attenclecl the revival ancl received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, He surrendered his Methoclist ministerial credentials, gave up his pension and was ordained into the ministry of the Church of Gocl. Over the next few months Evans pre- pared to answer the call of Gocl to. take the gospel and the message of knte- cost to the Bahama Islands.

Edmund S. Barr, a Bahamian national living in Florida, also attend- ed the Pleasant Grove revival and received the baptism of the Holy Spir-

it. After talking with Unrr ahout his missions vision for the Bahamas, Evans came to realize the value of having an association with someone familiar with the islands. Evans raisecl financial support, giving most of it himself, and in Novcmlxx 1909, sent Edmund S. Barr nncl his wife, Rebecca, back to their homeland to preparc for the mission- aiy party which would soon follow,

R. M. EWS and his wife, Ida, cIel~artccl from Miami on December 3 1, 1.909, and Iandecl in Nassau on .January 4, :I.L)I.O. Their foster son, Robert S. Mooreland, and a young

evangelist, Carl M. Padgett, whose father scrvecl as I>astor in Miami, nccornpaniecl them. The missionary party immediately linltecl up with the

Barrs. At that. time the Church of Gocl had 3 total of .I ,OOS members in 3 I congregations, all in the southeastern section of the United States. With so kw rcsourccs in Lhc Church al hoinc, the missionarks wcrc essentially on their own as h ilS financial assis- ~atvx was conccrnccl. They clid,

America, were nnimists, ancl the slaves from Africa brought their native reli- gions with them to the New World. Christianity, however, came fi0m the Europeans ancl the Amcricnn colonists, who had roLld these beautiful islands an nttractive place to llee from religious and political pcrseculion. According to native son Cleveland Eneas,

The first recorcl of a permanent seltlemcnt of people is llm 01‘ he Elcutheran Adventurers who came in 2648, and eslablishecl themselves on the island d Eleuthera. Those came seeking religious rk- dam. They were &mds& hm Europe, and no doubt f~mcIamcii-

Lalist protestants.” Following Britain’s clefcat in the

American War for Independence, snmc ol those who had reniainecl loyal 10 Great Britain went north to Canada while others went south, first to Geor-

gia and South Caroli- na, ancl eventually ended up agaiii under British rule

however, ltecp up an active corrc- sponclcnce with the hcad- quarlers,

The Bahamas to which Barr and Evans traveled was a distinctly Christian country The original inhabi- mm, Arawak Indians who had migrated from South

HISTORY AND HERITAGE 0

Bahamas. These loyalists brought their slaves with them to the islands and grew cotton under the crown’s protec- tion. Eneas continued,

The Eleutheran Adventurers were mostly Methodists and Angli- cans, staunch reformist protestants. The Loyalists were not too different, for they, like their British ancestors, were also diver- sified in their protestant sects as Anglicans, Methodists, Baptists and Presbyterians.’ Over time, these Christian groups

evangelizecl the original inhabitants and the former slaves (slavery was abol- ished in 1833 in British controlled ter- ritories) so that Evans and Barr arrived in an already Christianized country

The motivating force behind the mission of Evans and Barr was their eqeri- ence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. So powerful and energizing was this new force in their lives, they felt it must be shared with all Christians of whatever persuasion. On February 1,1910, Evans sent the following report to The Evening Light rind Church of God EvungeZ:

We . . *immediately hunted up

G.B. Caslzwell preached the Perztecostal nxssuge lhroughout the Southeast [oclllow- ing his visit to the Azusa Street &ivnl. ..*.*..* . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . *... . . . . . . . . . ...* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Brother and Sister Barr, who. . . were making full proof of their ministry And although the usual places of worship were, as a rule, closed to them, yet they hacl rent- ed a hall and were faithfully preaching all phases of the full gospel of Christ including the baptism of the Holy Ghost as indi-

cated by the Bible sign of speaking in tongues, . . . And the Spirit was already moving upon the hearts of the people.

We obtained a cottage and began to co-operate with them immediately; and up to the present time between fifteen and twenty have been converted, five sanctified, and about the same number have received the baptism with the Holy Ghost. . , This is the more remarkable because very few indeed of any church seem to know much of vital God- liness.’ One of the earliest converts was

Arabella Eneas, whose family were people of some means in a society dominated financially and socially by Europeans. Evans witnessed to her that

-See BAHAMAS, ]-xfge 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Christopher Moree, I.iit.D., serves a the Administrative Assiskmt JOY the Church OJ God Depavtmerzt of World Missions.

HISTORY AND HERITAGE .

M. EVANS lived in chtmging times. I-k had the privilege enjoyccl by some gcncmtinns of

1ivil-g in two cenlurics. 1-k lifc Iscgan in the miClCl1~ 0f lhc lli~lClCCllllI CClltU-

ty and briclgccl over into the rwentieth.

The Great Century

By I850 the United States had become a truly conlinental nation with more than lwenly-Lhrcce million pc’n- pk. The growd~ and diversity of the counlry brought many dil’krcnccs 01 opinion on socid issues including the slavery question, whkh erup.ecl ink) the US. Civil War from 1861-1865. During that time, Evans was in his for-

DY GRAN’T M&LUNG

niative dolescent years (ages 14-1.8) growing up in the rural farm commu- ni ty of Live 0ak in the north-central W.X Of Floricla.”

The population growth in the late 1800~ C~JIIC hlII LIW Lwin factors d

url~nnizdon and immigration (two factors also prominent in the spend of LllC PCnlccostnl 111cssagC alicr 1900).

Much of the n:bonk population rise came hlTl the millions of imtnigmnts who snild into New York’s hnrboc (Interestingly the SkIlLW 0l’ Liberty-- ;I gift rYlj171 FwxP-----~;a unvcilecl lhcrc on C~c~olxr 28, 1.886. Just two ~n.oiIths prior rhc Church 01’ God was lqinning ns the “Christian Union” near the North Carolinu-7’clillcssce horcler.) During the yeal: 1.880 about

457,000 immigrants, mostly northern 0ncl wcstcrn Europans, wcrc aclmitrecl to rhe Unitccl States. This figure had nlllllE~ cll~Ul~lcrl hy I.882 wl1cn 789,000 0VCISCxi lICwcl~lll.c~s WCTC

welcomecl. Within ant lifcrimc R.M. lknns

livccl through 11 dcvastnting civil. war, saw his country cmcrge iki a worlcl pw”” ml was contempola~y LO tl1lTc

ovcrscas national revolutions (in Mexi- co, Chin;l, nncl Russia) that. would have regional and world influence in the twcnliah ccnlury. Just a clecnclc prior lo his clcath. (on 0c~olxr 12, 1924) hc WOUICI 1~ arkctec~ with the J.CSL d the

entire, world by the first of two global wars in this century (World War I,

1914-I 919). Evans lived and died in momentous times. “The period 19 14 t0 1929,” S~CI on(: d~~erver, “is a hid

segment of the story of world civiliza- tion, but it is cliKicult to find another period in moclern times fillccl wi.tlz so many significant events.”

One hundred ycn~s prior- to the missionary ministry of R.M. Evans, however, Llic Gocl of all nations was quietly and steadily l~uilcling a missions move- mcnl that would circle into fidl llower within the lifetime of Lhis missionary pioneer. The cmitient missions histori- Xl, IG3l1Ielll SCOLl LWulWx, cnlls the

nineteenth crntury “The C;reat Centu- ry” in the ovcrdl two rhousancl year cxpansian 0r the Christian movement: u-d. JfhllS, Lhe Church Of (%d, alld

the global nclvancc d the modern Pen- tecc~stallCh;7iism~tic Ivlovcmcnt have roots in “The Crrcat Century” that hJW~ “-k Wdd 0f R&f. mHIS.”

Bcginni ng with William Carey and the Unptist Missionary Society (17c)2), do.zc~Is d new missions agencies were rclLdcci t11~~~ght the nineteenth cen~.ury Stcphcn Neil1 says it was, “the great age of socktics.” It was the ten- tury of SOJII~ d the hcttcr known “missionary heroes” in moclern missions history: Henry Mmtyn to India (:I 806); Robert Morrison 10 China (18073; Adonirnm ancl Nancy J~~lson to 13urm

(181.2); David Livinponc co Africa (1841); J , Huclson X~ylor to China (I 854); Mary Slcss0r 10 Africa (1876);

HISTORY AND HERITAGE e

“The Cambridge Seven” to China (18851.”

Evangelist Dwight L. Moody (1837-1899) was one of the better- known nineteenth centuq contempo- raries of Evans. In August 1886, Moody held a summer Bible conference for college young people from across the country at Mount Hermon, Massachusetts. Many students came with a deep burden for missions. By the end of the conference, more than 100 young people had volunteered for missionary service. The result was the birth of the Student Volinteer Move- ment (SVM) with its well-publicized motto: “The Evangelization of the World in this Generation.“’ One of the early student leaders was John R. Mott who, later in life as a Methodist lay- man, would chair the proceedings of the very strategic International Mis- sionaly Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1910-the year of Evans’ missionary trek. The SVM prospered for some fifty years and was instru-

mental in sending 20,500 students to the foreign mission field, mostly from North America. “During the early twentieth century,” says Ruth Tucker, “it is estimated that stuclent volunteers constituted half of the total Protestant foreign m.issionary force” with a strong preference for the countries of China and India.R

While Moody was calling for at least one hundred volunteers in Mas- sachusetts, an inconspicuous and non- publicized meeting was being held hundreds of miles to the south at the Barney Creek meetinghouse in Monroe County, Tennessee, on Thursday, August 19, 1886.” Though the eight

original volunteers (five of them women) for the Christian Union were much like the small streams which converged near them (Barney and Coker Creeks), in time their spiritual successors in the Church of God would flow into a mighty worldwide Pente- costal river of blessing, eventually sur- passing the peak strength of the SVM

which later declined and faded due to theological liberalism in the 1920s.

With liberal developments firmly entrenched in the mainline churches, seekers of a deeper walk and the “higher life” began to congregate in Holiness retreats such as the Pleasant Grove Campground near Durant, Florida where the retired Methodist preacher R.M. Evans and his wife Ida first came into contact with the Pente- costal experience and eventually with the Church of God.‘” Here they would be introduced to a spiritual family that extended north to Cleveland, Ten- nessee, west to Los Angeles, California, and beyond to the wider world of Pen- tecostalism ,

The Azusa Street Lineage The major contribution of the revi-

val at Azusa Street--called “The Amer- ican Jerusalem”-was that through it Pentecostalism was becoming an international missionary movement. The global significance of Azusa Street cannot be overestimated. Strong missionary churches, influential evangelists, new missions societies and entire denominations trace their spiritual heritage back through the “Azusa Street

-

lineage.” The netwark of people who came and went from this revival spread around the world through committed evangelists such as Robert and Ida Evans.”

The Evanses’ “personal Pentecost” came through a series of people connected to the Azusa Street Revival, Like Evans, G.B. Cashwell (1862-1916) was a fomier Methodist minister who had left his church to join the Holiness Church of North Carolina (later known as the Pentecostal Holiness Church). Hearing of the Azusa Street Revival, Cashwell traveled in November 1906 to Los Angeles where he received the Pentecostal experience. Cashwell returned to Dunn, North Carolina, where he began meetings on December 3 1, 1906, that lasted through the mom-11 of January 1907. Among the many ministers of the Holiness churches in the area who were baptized in the Holy Spirit at that time was a young EM. Brilton (1870- 1937) who would have a direct connection to the Evanses in the “‘Azusa Street lineage.“lZ

A year after Cashwell’s revival in Dunn he was invited by A.J. Tomlinson to preach at the third General Assem- bly of the Church of God where on Sunday morning, January 12, 1908, Tomlinson received the Pentecostal blessing during Cashwell’s message.”

By the time Cashwell was preaching in Cleveland (January 1908) one of his “Pentecostal converts,” B&ton, had already preached the full gospel at a meeting destined to be a crossroads experience for R.M. and Ida Evans;

In June and July, 1907, at the Pleasant Grove Campground, two miles from Durant, a preacher named EM. Britton, of North

-See EVANS, puge 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..ll.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .I...... . . . . . . .

Grmt McClung, D.Miss., is CoolzIinator of Educutionfor Church of God World Missions.

HISTORY mm HEIII’IX~ -3

ENNIE BRINSON-RUSHIN ’ was, by all acco~u~ts, the first Chur& (II God missionary in China. Little is

latown of her lik, including birth and death cldcs. Thct? NC, 10 my knowl- edge, no tdkxmxs lo her oulsirlc cllLltdl or G1x1 soLlKc’s. 9x2 was clcnr- ly a powerlid, clctctminccl w0tnan who maintained direct contact with her consritucncy in the Llnitccl Sta~cs x well as li.ccpcnt C(11i7iilLiiliCRLi0l7 through the Ch Wdl 0fGod EvLmgd During ~hosc Icw years of association with the Churd~ (II’ God mission coin- mictee (19 I F&1.927), letters were published and she was discussed in niccl- ings, These sours give some insight into Jennic Brinson-Rushirr’s wd.” For a dozen years her mission worlc was the most exciting part of ~hc Church ol Gocl mission program ant1 the only mission d the Chutdi trl’ God to Asia during whose dccadcs.

ISY DAVID BUNDY

Conversion and Call to Mission The earliest information &our the

Rushins is a letter puldishecl in the

Ev~qgrcl. Brinson-Rushin itd’ormed the C11urc11 cd’ God that she was converted Lhrough the preaching ol a Holiness cvmigelist in southern Georgia. Four KION~E latW, in a Methodist Episcopal Church (South) in Valclosla, Georgia, “while siuing in the congregation the Holy Ghost [ccl1 on me in sanctiljring power. , . . I seemed Lo he envelopecl in the very l~rightness and glory 0T God and ol heaven.” ’ At about the same time she hcgm to feel n “call” to foreign mission. Her inability to respond psitivcly Lo lhe call led to n spiritual crisis. This crisis ~1s resolved when she experienced the Pentecostal. baptism Or the I-101~ Spirir al a house- c1~urd-1 mecling led by Sam C. Perry, apparently about 1907. By December of 1.9 14, Rushin and her Baplist hus-

bancl Roy I? Rushin were on t&e way to China. During an unexpected. layover, Roy Rushin had a belated experience ol Baptism of die 1-101~ Spirir at a Pente- costal mission in Sealrlc:’

Pentecostal Missionaries to the Baptists

The Rushins worked with a still uniclenHiec1 Baptist mission, a selec- tion 0r ministry site insislecl ulmi by R. I! Rushin and in accordance with his Baptisr haclcgrouncl. Jet-de Brinson- Rushiti resisted this localion bur: lost the argument. She wrote: “1 did not want to come to this mission as I kit sure it would mean being put ouL or compromise. , . My husl~ancl had never seemecl so clelcrniinecl aboul anylhing Mm. I knew the power ol prayer and prayed earnestly.“” The impact cd this couple upon the Bapisr mission was significant. In aclclition Lo Chinese

HISTORY AND HERITAGE a

Christians accepting the Pentecostal baptism of the Holy Spirit, the missionaries did as well. She reported, “Of the eight Baptist missionaries here in this mission at our coming five have received this blessed truth and have been put out of the mission. The churches at home are taking action against them, because of what they term ‘tongue heresy”’ 7

Joining the Church of God By the time Brinson-Rushin wrote

these articles for the Evangel, the Brin- son-Rushins knew they would need a new sponsor for their mission work. They had settled in Tsinan, Shantung Province, and there were few ways in which a foreign family beginning a mission effort could earn sufficient funds in China to sustain themselves, a situation complicated by the presence of two children to feed, clothe and educate. They anticipated a total ter- mination of funds from the Baptist mission, The third letter published reported that they were indeed on their own!” With the arrangements finally made with the Baptists in Tsi- nan, it would appear that they inherited both the infrastructure and the problems of the earlier mission effort. Brinson-Rushin reported:

The mission has six out-stations besides the work here in the city Four evangelists and two colpor- teurs and two schools [sic]. A small orphanage is started as the demand for that work seems great. So many beggars here who are children and seem to have such bright minds and could amount to much if rescued and turned in the right direction.” There were plenty of ministry

opportunities. There were no funds to support the inherited ministries dependent on foreign funding. Life became more difficult than it was ini- tially There were some victories. For example, their early language teacher, Ma Hsiu Yi, became Pentecostal and

began work as a “faith” evangelist with no external financial or ecclesial support. Social and humanitarian problems became pressing. Because of warfare and famine, many were des- perate. Famine was widespread. “Many,” she noted, “have appealed to us for help and we have tried not to turn the worthy cases away. . . . Many times we have gone down into our scanty supply and found something we could yet give when we felt we had nothing.“L”

]ennie &in-son-R&n receive61 leer Spirit baptism in u rneehg led by Smn C. Perry.

By 1916, two Pentecostal mission sites were established and they endeavored to become recognized as a Church of God (Cleveland) mission project. The work was “self-support- ing.” Money from the United States during this period amounted to no more than $75 US. For the work to survive, it was necessary to find resources in China. Therefore Jennie Brinson-Rushin worked as part-time secretary to the United States con- sulate in Tsinan to support her family of three children and the mission work. By 1918, the churches had a combined membership of 107.”

However life was always lived on the edge during those years. Rushin, over Jennies protests, sought an alternative site of ministry.

Interlude in the Philippines In 1918, R. l? Rushin felt called to

the Philippines. He wrote from Manila to the Evangel that he was in the Philip- pines and that when the work started it would be constituted in the name of the ‘Church of God.” However, the pri- maty passion of Jennie Brinson-Rushin was ministry in China. After a few months, she wrote, “It is with great pleasure and anticipation that we announce to you our intention to return to China at an early date.. , .our spirits are restless to get back to the land of our adoption.“‘Z There was no doubt that Jennie Brinson-RLtshin felt called to China and was not interested in moving to another assignment. Thus, after less than a year, the Rushin family was back in China at Tsinan, and Jennie wrote, “I love the Sunday school work here in C1lina.“‘3

Being back in China meant facing the problems of contemporary Chinese life with minimal resources. Another letter of Jennie Brinson-Rushin, published in the Evnngcl, commented about rising prices, the development of a preaching point, a Chinese pastor and his converts who wanted to join the Church of God and the need for more missionaries. She also reported on the social condition of their area of China including the plague of grasshoppers that destroyed the crops used for food and fuel. She lamented, “Naturally the price of grain has greatly advanced and what will the poor people do? It seems., . the suffering will be intense this winter.” The problems were recognized as presenting obliga- tions for Christians around the world, immediate concerns for the missionaries as well as a context for enhanced opportunity to present the Gospel.14

Despite the problems, ministry continued, and there were significant


successes, In June 1920, Brinson- Rushin wrote that she and her husband were warranting the minislry Or a Ma I-Isiu Yi in an ordination service. She wrote: “ . . .at the morning service we set apart Brother Ma for the min- istly . , . I truly praised God that He sent us to China.“” Ma woulcl eventually become known throughout China as a gifted preacher, theologian and evangelist. In the meantime in China, Ma continued to preach in inclcpen- dent missions and to evangelize in and

around the village of Shui Pei, Shari- tung Province. The congregations in China continued to grow.lh

Promotion and Raising Funds Despite the problems, the congrega-

tions continued Lo grow. In late 192 l., another fourteen were lqtizecl nncl another congregation establisl~ecl.‘~Thr fruit of evangelism was there for the picking. The converts were, however, too poor to support the church or the missionaries. The decision was made that Jennie Brinson-Rushin should return to the United States lo raise hi&

ancl recruit assislanls. She was wel- comed ancl recommended by Tomlin- son as a convention speaker: “Sister Rushin is true blue Church of God material ancl will be a blessing anywhere she goes.” “‘Despile the enlhusiask response Lo her clekiminecl preaching and lecturing, no significant ~~iou~~ts of

money were raised, although many seemed excited about missions and/o1 committed themselves 10 go lo China.“’ The Evangel printed nume~~ous letters from throughout the soukern United States proclaiming soliclarity with ihc China mission.‘” In Brinson-Rushink wake, the Evangel published articles encouraging a denominational focus on missionszl Occasionally some money was sent to China, but not nearly enough 1.0 meet the neecls.

Interruption of the Mission Financial problems often cause dif-

ficulties between Christians, Such Ilap-

pened between Jennie Brinson-Rushin and the lcnclership of the Church of God. The sources do not provide sufficient data to ascertain the exact nature of rhe debate or misunderstanding. They do not provide data for us 10

clecide who was in the right. stake it to say that both sicles felt betrayed. The decision was made to cease pro- viding funds for the Brinson-Rushin mission in Chinn.

Aker 1927, China was nol listed as a mission field of’ the Church of Gocl. There appears to be no information d3~t thc SLI~X~X~WII~: life d” I.~C

Rushin IYamily. I-Iistorian Char& W Conn laconically stated that she and her churches joined anolher minisl,ry However, i 1 is clear r~olll what is known that, linm 19151927, Jcnnic Brinson-Rushin was crucial to the clevclopmenl and sustenance or the China missi.on ol’ the Church of God and Ihe best promoler d its interesls. Without her enlrepreneurial ellkrts, lhc salary ancl moral support of her husband, and her ability 1.0 mus1cr support in China and the United Slam, the project would not have lasted as long as it did. Perhaps more importanLly she whole-hcarteclly iustilled a passion h mission inlo ihe ch~d7 0r chi cthus.

NOTES

’ Jcnnie Brinson-Rushin, “Tidu [sic], Shan- tung, China,” Chtmh (f God Evangd, Octo- ber 30, 1915,3.

4 Ibid.

HISTORY AND HERITAGE *

she could be healed of her sickness as well as forgiven of her sins. Though a nominal church member, she believed Evans’ message, received a personal experience with Christ, was filled with the Holy Spirit and miraculously healecl of her illness. Later she won to the Lorcl her husband, W.Y Eneas, who became the first black Bishop of the Church of God in the Bahamas.

Like many other converts to Pente- costalism, the Eneas family exhibited profound courage. They were willing to leave established and comfortable churches, to lose long-standing friend- ships, to be estranged from close family members and to suffer the reproach of society, all for a new experience preached to them by strangers from a foreign country Some, again like the Eneas family, also paid a large financial price for allegiance to this new faith. Church of God historian, Charles W Conn, wrote, “The converts suffered considerable persecution, even to the burning of the two homes of Eneas and his wife Arabella.“’

Speaking about early converts such as WY and Arabella Eneas, their son, Cleveland, a prominent dentist ancl civic leader in the Bahamas, wrote,

Mostly they were formerly Meth- odists and Baptists, who had pro- fessed Christianity all of their lives; they knew of nothing else. They claimed that what they knew was all form and no sub- stance. Now they had found a religion that had become a way of life, which impelled them to live as the early saints lived, and tread the path that they had trod.” As the Pentecostal blessing Fell

upon people in the waning years of the nineteenth century and the early years of the twentieth century, adherents viewed it as the latter-day blessing promised in biblical prophecies. Main- line churches in America, however,

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...* . . . . . . . . . . . *,*.***... .,....... * . . . . . *..,.,11..1

opposecl it strongly as a heresy ancl hooligans used it as an excuse to phys ically harm the adherents. It was no different in the Bahamas. Cleveland Eneas recalled his boyhood years in the Church of God:

This effort in living, always brought persecution from the outsiders. . , . In our meetings we rejoiced and we made a joyful noise unto the Lorcl with the cymbal ancl the tambourine. We gave vent to Ihe moving spirit, by shouting, clapping, and singing our pentecostal songs with v&our. For this we were labeled ‘7umpers.” We children in school were ridiculed because we didn’t join in the “ring play”; we didn’t sing the vulgar songs; we didn’t participate in the usual frivolities. We were ostracized, made fun of, and excluded from much.’ Evans and his associates shared

persecution suffered by the nationals. Additionally, they faced the difficulty

having to provide for their own living expenses in a foreign land. Resources of the church at home, as stated above, were insufficient even to support the faltering start and meager efforts, which they had made in the Bahamas. According to James E. Cossy,

R.M. Evans went to the Bahamas at his own expense. There was no Department of World Mis- sions, no missions funds, and no missions awareness in the young Church of God denomination. Most of the churches back home were small, struggling congregations seeking merely to survive and to evangelize neighboring communities. The visions for the world simply had not yet caught on. As a result, he and his wife workecl physically in the Bahamas to provide their support. Lclters written to the church at home seeking support mel with litlle resp0nse.H Another problem faced personally

by Evans was his weakening health. He was 63 years of age and in delicate health when he went to the Bahamas. Cossey continued,

He was not physically strong enough to handle the rigorous tasks of missionary life, and his burclen overwhelmed him! In spite of the fact that he himself realized his health was breaking, he still accepted the challenge. He was consn2ii7ed to share the gospel with others. Evans could not allow himself to enjoy the comforts of retirement while souls still neecled LO hear the gospel. In 1913, just three years after he arrived, his broken health and failing mind forced his return. Although it was n.ot known at the time, later diagno- sis revealed Evans was suffering from arteriosclerosis-hardening of the arteries. His missionary career was over in a few months,

HISTORY AND HERITAGE @

his ministerial el‘l‘ectiveness was

gone. However, he laid 111~ foun- clarion stones upon which a significant international ministry has been built.” Begun iI1 the fires or persecution,

the Church of God today is a strong organization in the Bahamas with congregations on most of the inhabited islancls. Members of the &ur& NC

now found and wield influence throughout the economic, social and

political areas of national life. Jt has been said of R.M. Evans, “I+

was the first of his kind.” Could he have imagined when hc returned I.0 the United Stales in ‘1913, destitute and broken in health, that ninety years after he became the rirst Church of God missionary his church ol choice would be established in I57 countries with more t1-m five milliiln members and perhaps twice that number Or aclherents? Were he alive today, surely he would say that the sacrifice and persecutions, which hc ancl his associates, along with his Bahamian brethren, hacl suffered, were worth it all.

NOTES

‘, Charles W. Corm, Whc The Saints I-ktvc Trod (Clevelancl, Tcnn.: Pathway Ikss, 1959),52.

h Eneas, 5.

’ Eneas, 5-6. * James E. Cossey, “When It All Began,” in

Christopher C. Moree, ccl., bz@ All the W&l: Church of Cod World Missions 75B1 Allniversaty Albttm (Clevelancl, Tcnn.: Church of God World Missions Depart- ment, 1984), 33.

’ Cossey, 34.

-

.

WAS CONVERTED in the early part of 1.913, and six day5 after my conversion, I was gloriously

baptizecl with the blessed I-101~ Ghost. I received the call to preach the gospel soon after this, and in the year 191 S I became a licensed evangelist. I was a pastor of a church at that time with about twenty-seven members. We were a despisecl people and persecutions were very

strong. Sometimes we were stoned, and on several occasions, we were taken to court, but these things only macle us more humble and more determined to see souls born into the kingdom of Gad.

In the year of 1918, I was appointed as overseer or the Bahamas in the place of Brotlze~: Milton Pacl.gett who was 1101

all.owed to come to the Bahamas because of the regu- laiions or w0dd War I. I held this position for a number or years and during this time traveled quite extensively in missions work throughout the islands, establishing a number of churches. On one occa- sion I set three churches in order in the space of three weeks. At the first: place I held services for one week, baptized seventeen in water, an.d set the church in order with seventeen

members. After a week’s meetings at the next place, the church was established with twelve members; at the third place, we set the church in order with six members. The persecutions were fairly strong at times, but we were filled with the Woly Ghost and fire, and great grace was upon us.

I have watched the Church of God here in this portion of the missions Geld grow from a very small beginning to the wonderful success it is

today. There have been some hardships at times, but: the joy of serv- ing the Lord and seeing many precious souls receive salvalion and pray through to the mighLy baptism of the Holy Ghost, fal exceed all the suffering and hardships that we have endured,

I am aclvancecl in

age now ancl cannot travel and con- cluct revivals, but I thank God I still have the fire in my bones and sweet victory in my soul. I am determined to be true and faithf~~l until He says, “It is enough, come up higher,”

Quotedfrom Chrislopher C. Mom, ccl., Inro All the Worlcl: Church of Gocl World Missions 75th. Anniversary Album (Cleveland, Term : Cl~trclz $ God World Missions Deparemenl, 1984), 3.5.


S from page 4

Carolina, preached about the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and about seventy persons received this spiritual blessing. The Evanses were among the seventy” Two years later, the Evanses joined

the Church of God when A.J. Tomlin- son and T.L. McLain visited the campground, arriving on May 21, 1909.”

What Robert and Ida Evans were experiencing in south Florida was spreading like wildfire in “The World of R.M. Evans.” Pentecostal missionaries, says missions historian Gary B. McGee, “went everywhere preaching the gospel” and by 1.9 10 the Evanses were a part of over 185 Pentecostals who had traveled overseas from North America to engage in missionary evangelism.lh Coming out of the heritage of the faith missions movement in ‘?he Great Century” (ninteenth century), many Pentecostals hastily went on th.eir own initiative expecting the soon return of the Lord. Others would form mission societies that eventually con- solidated into denominations. Some, like the Evanses, would go at their own expense with membership con- nections in church organizations. I7

Early Pentecostalism was an “equal opportunity movement.” This troth was demonstrated in the interracial cooper- ation between Evans and his black Bahamian predecessor in missions, Edmond S. Barr. It is fLirther illustrated in the contribution of Pentecostal women such as Ida Evans, a missionary in her own right. Ida Evans (1866- 1952), nineteen years younger than Robert and in her mid-forties when they sailed for Nassau, had actually felt called to missions early in life. Evans’ biographer, James E. Cossey, called her “The Indomitable Mrs. Evans,” and placeecl her missionary contribution sicle by side with her l~usband.‘x Similar honors would go to women such as Rebecca Barr (Edmoncls wife) and to

Flora Bower, a short-term worker from the Evangel office in Cleveland who had helped the Evans-Barr effort in the summer of 1910.‘”

A large part of the dynamic success of Pentecostal missions is due to the effective ministry leadership of committed women who were seen as equal partners in ministry This was particu- larly true at Azusa Street where seven of the twelve members of the “Creden- tial Committee” were women. This committee selected and approved can- didates for licensing.2”

In the year that Ida Evans landed in the Bahamas, Aimee Semple McPher- son, founder of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, began missions work with her husband in China, shortly after a visit to the Pentecostal Convention in Toronto, Canada.2’ In 1910 Lillian Trasher sailed to Egypt where she began her world famous orphanage.ZL Also in 1910 one of the best known Church of God evangelists, J.W Buckalew, received the Pentecostal experience in a revival preached by a female preacher, Miss Clyde Cotton, in Boaz, Alabama2’

Pentecostal missions, in more than any other arena or type of ministry, has demonstrated that on the Day of Pente- cost the Pentecostal experience broke the last barrier of separation between humanity This was the contention of David DuPlessis who said, shortly before his death, “Jesus baptized the women exactly like the men, and I say for the exact same purpose as the men are baptized so the women are baptized.“?”

The Driving Force The driving force and internal moti-

vation that compelled Robert and Ida Evans to the mission field was, in the words of Charles W Corm, the “rcjuve- nating experience he received in 1907”-the Baptism of the Holy Ghost, “Even though his minisuy was supposed to have ended,” says Conn, “the fire of God flamed up in his heart, and he felt that he must go on in His cause.“2s

A year after the Evans’ Pentecostal baptism one of the best (and perhaps one of the earliest) Biblical/theological statements on the interconnectedness of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and the mission of the church was being written by J. Roswell Flower (1888- 1970), a Midwestern Pentecostal editor/publisher. Flower was to become one of the pioneers of the Assemblies of God and founder of the P~WXOS~U~

Evangel, their official literary organ.Z” In an untitled editorial in The Pun~c- cost, a monthly magazine that he first served, signifi.cantly, as “Loreign editor” and later as associate editor, Flower claimed that:

The baptism of the Holy Ghost does not consist in simply speaking in tongues. No. It has a much more grand and deeper meaning than that. It fills our souls with the love of God for lost humanity, and makes us much more willing to leave home, friends, and all to work in His vineyard, even if it be far away among the heathen . . ,

“Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every crea- ture.” This command of Jesus can only be properly fulfilled when we have obeyed that other command, “Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem till ye be endued with power from on high.” When we have tarried and received that power, then, and then only are we fit to early the gospel. When the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts, the mis- sionaly spirit comes in with it; they are inseparable, as the missionary spirit is but one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Carrying the gospel to hungry souls in this and other lands is but a natural result of receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost.27 This remarkable insight of Flower

(who was not more than 20 years old when he wrote it!) signified the symbi-

HISTCIRY AND HIZRITAGE *

otic relationship between the supcr- natural gifts of the Spirit and world evangelization.

The Porch is Passed Froln the time of his mid-century

birth in 1847 until he left f(>r the Bahamas in 1910, R.M. Evans hod seen the transition from the Great Century of Prolestant missionary advance in Lhe nineleenh century 10 the PCWXX~Std

century of the I9OOs, which unfblclccl in great missions power and expansion. The twcnlielh century will be known as “The Penlccoslal Cenkq”

Evans was near sixty-five when hc commenced his missionary journey. After Ihrec procluctivc and founclation- al years he was aldc to pass ~hc larch Lo younger and cal~dde lCi&Ei,

relurning home in 1.9 13.

A Transitional Era “The World of R.M. l%ns” 1x1~

symbolic significance for the transitions that occurred in moclcrn worlcl hiaory and in the expansion of Christian missions between the nineteenth and twentieth cenluries. Robert and Icla Evans had wilncssecl clramatic changes in their country and in the worlcl.

These pioneer missionaries of the Church of God had a long and valiant heritage from “The Great Century” of evangelical Protestant missions, They were not alone since God was raising up a mighty Pentecostal rorce in the earth. This “thircl force” in Christianity was thrust r0t+warcl by the clrivii-rg ~KX

or the power of God experiencecl in New Testament signs and wonders. In the 1910 “World of R.M. Evans,” the God of all nations demonstrated that His mission would continue koln gen-

eration to generation until lhe whole earth is filled with I-Iis gloly.

NOTES

’ James E. Cossey, R.M. Ev~vam: The Firsl cf!IHis

Kind (Cleveland, Term.: Pathway Press, rd.), 19.

’ For more ol Evans’ early Iire and adult ministry, see Cossey.

i , Name i I

1 Aclclress I

[ City State Zip i

1 MAIL TQ: Hal Bernard Dixon Jr. Pentecostal Research Center, z S/F99 260 11 th Street, NE, Cleveland, Tennessee, 37311, I

I


FROM THE DIRECTOR

ROM THE BEGINNING, Pente- costalism has been inextricably connected with harvest. The

Jewish feast of Pentecost was a celebra- tion of the harvest. Worshippers brought the fruit of their labor and gave thanks for the blessings of God.

costal movement

i : ;,c; \

Jesus Christ. &+iZ~~ They

,\ believed

they were experiencing was a sign that Jesus was returning soon.

In addition to their life-changing personal experience, early Pentecostals turned to two biblical themes to explain what God was doing. The theme of the “evening light” permeated the inaugural issue of the Evangel, which was in fact titled The Evening Light and Church of God Evangel. The mastheacl quoted “Pentecostal” passages of Acts 2:1, Acts 2:4 and Acts 10:46, while the first arti- cle highlighted Zechariah 14:7: “But it shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light.” This light was being given in the evening of the Gospel age in order to win the final harvest before the Lords return.

Editor A.J. Tomlinson wrote: The command to go, the command to evangelize is just as forcible to-day [sic] upon us whom the ends of the world have come

as it was when first uttered by our Lord and great Head of the Church. They were successful in the morning light. We must be just as much so in the evening light.... The Holy Spirit was given to the clisciples in the morning to give them power to accomplish just what they did accomplish. He is given to us today for the same purpose. We dare not falter. We clare not quail. We dare not even fear. The time is short. The hawest is

ripe, The sickle must be furbished and put into use. The precious fruit of the earth must be reaped. It must be clone quickly Two articles in that first Evangel

reflected the second biblical theme early Pentecostals used to explain the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Pente- costals noted that the early and latter rains came in Palestine for the planting and final growth of the harvest. Like- wise, the Holy Spirit was poured out in the New Testament for the planting of the church and was being poured out in the twentieth century for the final harvest. They referred to scriptures such as Joel 2:23: “Rejoice in the Lord your God; for he has given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain and the latter rain.. . .” Believ- ing they were experiencing this latter rain, early Pentecostals responded to the vision to reach the world.

One of these Evangel articles was “Latter Rain Revival.” Accorcling to the author, “Since the Pentecostal outpouring of the Spirit in Los Angeles, Califor- nia, in 1906, it has belted the globe, and is flooding every country on the face of the .earth with its power and glory”

David G. Roebuck, Ph.D., is Director ojthe Dixon Pentecostal Research Center and editor OJ Church of God History and Heritage.

Although such claims of worldwide reach were somewhat exaggerat- ed in 19 10; they are less so at the dawn of the twenty-first century Some scholars say the Pentecostal movement and its branches now encompass over 500 million people. Truly the Pentecostal movement has been a mission force in its first 100 years. May it continue to be such a force. May the Church of Gocl. continue to be a part of that force.

CHURCH OF GOD istory and Heritage

Volume 3 * Numbers 1 and 2 Summer/Fall 1999

*.,*.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,.,. <./ .,,. +...,.l..l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

fflurch o]Goa History and i-ieritage is publtihed in the interest of the

Church of God movement. The Hal Bernard Dixon Jr. Pentecostal Research Center callects and preserves Church OF God, Pentecostal and Charismatic documents, records and literature.

STAFF David C. Roebuck, Editor

Wade H. Phillips, Associate Editor Frances Arrington, Consultant

Louis F. Morgan, Archivist Janie Hand, Research Assistant

Frances McCall, Indexer Donice Oakley, Special Projects

Bob Fisher, Designer

BOARD OF CONTROL Paul Corm, James W. Hamilton Sr.,

Lee Storms, Donald M. Walker, Paul L.. Walker

bernard jr. pentecostal research center · ed the pleasant grove revival and received the baptism...

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