by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D. Revival Historian

Welsh Revival (1904-05)

Less than 20 people (17 people) gathered at Moriah Chapel October 31, 1904 when Evan Roberts preached. All present gave their lives to Christ. When these 17 people came to Christ, Roberts knew that the revival he had been praying his whole life for had come.

In less than six months, over 100,000 people got saved and the entire nation was radically transformed. This later became known as the Welsh Revival and released impartation for the Azusa Street Revival. Roberts, only 26 years old at the time, led that first catalytic meeting with less than 20 people present.

Azusa Street Revival (1906)

On April 9, 1906 in a little home on Bonnie Brae St. in Los Angeles, less than 20 people (around 15 people), many of whom were on a 10 day fast, gathered together with one agenda, to be baptized by the Holy Spirit. They wanted to tap into what those at the Upper room waited for. As William J. Seymour preached on Acts 2, the Spirit fell upon them, baptizing several of them in power. A few days later, after their porch fell through because of the weight of the increasing people coming who were hungry for an all-consuming encounter from God, they moved to Azusa Street, Global Pentecostalism was birthed, and the rest is history. But, it all started with a remnant of hungry ones. Around 15 people gathering in a home with no other agenda than to position themselves and call out to God for Him baptize and utterly consume them with the Holy Spirit.

Asbury Revival (2023)

Fast forward to today. On February 8, 2023, in Hughes Auditorium at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky, less than 20 students (around 19 students) remained to linger in God’s presence after a required chapel service where the speaker shared about Romans 12. Other students began to filter back into the chapel later throughout the day. More people continued to be drawn to this well of revival. People gathered non-stop in the auditorium for a few weeks with eventually over 25,000 people came to partake of this well in a town of only 6,000.

This would be the 9th revival since 1905 that was birthed from this deep well at Asbury, many occurring in February. This fire has since ignited many other revival fires around the globe. It has given people permission to linger.

The re-opening of the well of revival at Asbury was catalytic to unstop wells around the globe all at the same time. There was some anointed in this Kairos moment where He used that well as a key unlock and cause other wells to spring up and new wells to arise.  It gave people permission to linger.

In letter to intercessor Frank Bartleman, Evan Roberts wrote:

“Congregate the people together who are willing to make a total surrender. Pray and wait. Believe God’s promises. Hold daily meetings. May God bless you, is my earnest prayer. Yours in Christ, Evan Roberts.”

We don’t need huge crowds; we just need the hungry.

Remember, it was less than 20 people who were a part of catalyzing the Welsh Revival, the Azusa Street Revival, and the 2023 Asbury Revival.

Do not despise the day of small beginnings (Zechariah 4:10). Gather the hungry, pray, seek the Lord with no other agenda than to love Him with everything inside you.

In another letter from Roberts to Bartleman, he says,

“I believe that the world is upon the threshold of a great religious revival, and pray daily that I may be allowed to help bring this about. Wonderful things have happened in Wales [Asbury] in a few weeks, but these are only a beginning. The world will be swept by His Spirit as by a rushing, mighty wind. Many who are now silent Christians will lead the movement. They will see a great light, and will reflect this light to thousands now in darkness. Thousands will do more than we have accomplished, as God gives them power.”

I wonder what would happen if we substituted the word “Wales” for “Asbury” above… They were in Kairos moment in the early 1900s, a special window of opportunity where God accelerated the expansion of His kingdom all around them. We are in another Kairos moment today.

We are alive for such a time as this. We must keep our eyes on Jesus. The Tsunami wave of revival we have been praying our whole lives for has already begun and is upon us. It’s time to lean in for the ride of your life and don’t let Him go.

Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D., taken from Ignite Azusa: Positioning for a New Jesus Revolution

If we have eyes to see, history can prophesy into our future. In a time when we desperately need to SEE MORE of God and understand His heart, learning about the life and legacy of African American, William J. SEYMOUR (pronounced “See” “More”) can open our eyes to give us prophetic vision into rewriting our future narrative. I believe there are keys within the Azusa story that will prophesy into how to navigate through our present storm of racism to unlock a greater destiny.

One of the greatest movements in history was ignited when handful of African Americans met together in a home with their only agenda to encounter more of God. William J. Seymour, son of slaves, blind in one eye, humbly paved the way and was used by God to ignite a revival fire that has since spread around the globe introducing millions of people to Jesus and to the Holy Spirit in a powerful way.

On April 9, 1906, just before leaving for the prayer meeting, Seymour's friend Edward Lee began to speak in tongues after he laid hands on and prayed for him. After this, Lee, Seymour, and the others walked the couple blocks up the street to the Asberry home on Bonnie Brae Street for the 7:30 p.m. prayer meeting. There, a handful of African American saints gathered together because they wanted to encounter God in a greater measure. There were only about fifteen people including children present at the meeting. They had a song, a few prayers, and several testimonies released. Seymour shared the testimony of how Lee spoke in tongues less than two hours before. Even though Seymour had yet to receive the “evidence” of speaking in tongues, he continued to preach about it from Acts 2 that night.

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Acts 2:1-4 (NIV)

Then something happened that they had all been waiting and longing for. God crashed into that meeting like never before. Ruth Asberry’s cousin Jennie Evans Moore, who lived across the street, was resting on a stool, when she suddenly fell to the ground and began to speak in tongues. She is known as one of the first women in Los Angeles to speak in tongues during this time.

 She recalled that it felt like a vessel broke inside of her and water “surged” through her entire being. When this rush came to her lips, she spoke in six different languages that she had seen earlier in a vision. These tongues were each interpreted in English. Following this release, Jennie, who had never played the piano before, walked over to the piano and played it under the anointing while singing in tongues. She recounted the story in an article called “Music from Heaven” in the Azusa Mission’s newspaper called The Apostolic Faith:

For years before this wonderful experience came to us, we as a family, were seeking to know the fulnes of God, and He was filling us with His presence until we could hardly contain the power… On April 9, 1906, I was praising the Lord from the depths of my heart at home, and when the evening came and we attended the meeting the power of God fell and I was baptized in the Holy Ghost and fire, with the evidence of speaking in tongues…As I thought thereon and looked to God, it seemed as if a vessel broke within me and water surged up through my being, which when it reached my mouth came out in a torrent of speech in the languages which God had given me…I sang under the power of the Spirit in many languages, the interpretation both words and music which I had never before heard, and in the home where the meeting was being held, the Spirit led me to the piano, where I played and sang under inspiration, although I had not learned to play.

-Jennie Moore, The Apostolic Faith 1:8 (312 Azusa Street, Los Angeles, CA: May, 1907), 3.

A few days later on April 12, 1906, Seymour spoke in tongues for the first time after waiting upon the Lord and praying with a white brother, not giving up until he “came through” and spoke in tongues at nearly four o’clock in the morning.

Crowds of both black and white people from different churches in the area came to the house on Bonnie Brae Street to see and partake in what God was doing. At one point, the house swelled with people so much that the front porch caved in. No one was injured, but they realized that they had outgrown the house. Within a week, they moved to a vacant building at 312 Azusa Street. 

During a time of heavy racial segregation, Seymour, the leader of what became known as the Azusa Street Revival, created a place where everyone would be welcome regardless of their skin color or nationality. One of the biggest breakthroughs at the Azusa Street Revival was that the walls of race, gender, and age were broken down. Eyewitness and historian Frank Bartleman observed that “the ‘color line’ was washed away in the blood.” This was in relation to racial divides being abolished by the blood of Jesus.

To have people from different races worshipping alongside one another and praying for each other during a time when lynchings were common and many years before Martin Luther King, Jr. came onto the scene is truly remarkable. Seymour’s early leadership team was racially mixed and also included women. Regular participants of the Azusa Mission in the early years included people from various ethnicities and backgrounds including African-Americans, European Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and more. Visitors would come to Azusa and experience such love and humility present in the people. One person said, “From the first time I entered I was struck by the blessed spirit that prevailed in the meeting, such a feeling of unity and humility among the children of God.”

The early days of the Azusa Street Revival were marked by unity, humility, and love regardless of ethnicity, race, or gender. Seymour emphasized the need to develop the fruit of the Spirit, especially love. In 1908, the leadership at Azusa said, “The Pentecostal power, when you sum it all up, is just more of God’s love.” Love was what was needed for this baptism of the Holy Spirit experience to be sustainable. They realized that love heals, love restores, and love is the way forward.

They also wanted more of God in those days no matter what it looked like. They “did not have a thousand other things” they wanted before Him. Nothing was going to stop them from encountering more of Him. They were all in it together no matter the color of their skin. These early Pentecostal pioneers paved the way for us in such a remarkable way. We are greatly indebted to these beautiful saints who said yes to pursuing Jesus wholeheartedly no matter what the cost. Now it’s our turn build on their breakthroughs.

How will we build on the momentum of William J. Seymour and those at Azusa Street, of Martin Luther King Jr., and of so many others who have gone before us? How will we take what they have done for us and go even further in our day? What will happen in our day when love supersedes all differences and we run toward Jesus together with total abandonment? What does it look like to say yes to radical love today?

To learn how to let your voice of justice, love, and racial reconciliation be heard and to make a difference, join our 5 Day Ignite Azusa Challenge that has now been turned into an Ecourse.

Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D., is a Revival Historian, Author, Teacher, Writing Coach, and Itinerant Minister who loves to lead people into life-changing encounters with Jesus and invite them into the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Jen is the founding director of the School of Revival which focusing on raising up leaders to steward the upcoming billion soul harvest. Jen also facilities Writing in the Glory Workshops around the world to catalyze authors to write their first books. She has supported Bill Johnson in his Defining Moments book as well as authored Walking on Water, Ignite Azusa: Positioning for a New Jesus Revolution, Writing in the Glory, Life on Wings, Spirit Flood, and Silver to Gold. She founded Destiny House (2012-2019) and also taught activation classes at Bethel School of Supernatural Ministries (2014-2020). She currently teaches at her alma mater Vanguard University and also at The King’s University in Texas and recently launched The School of Revival. She is ordained by Heidi Baker with Iris Global and received her Ph.D. in Global Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies from the University of Birmingham, U.K.