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My grandfather was born in Missouri about the time of the 1906 Azusa Street outpouring of the Holy Spirit. He had gotten powerfully born again in his late teens among the Methodists who greatly warned him about getting too close to those new Pentecostals. They told him at their meetings they turned out the lights, and start yelling and screaming, and rolling down the aisles.

But my grandfather was hungry for more as he heard about this new move of God spreading across our great land. His curiosity got the best of him, and soon he found himself at one of these "holy roller" meetings. Sure enough, at the end of the service, they turned off the lights.

But he found out later it was to save on the electricity bill. As for rolling down the aisles, the power of God was so strong the people couldn't stand on their feet. After just a few visits my grandfather was gloriously filled with the Holy Spirit. His friends told him they could hear him yelling in tongues for hours as far as a mile away because of the terrain around that little church. He was never the same again.

Grandpa would tell how people would be so drunk in the Spirit after being baptized, that friends and neighbors would have to take them home in horse-drawn buggies and wagons because they couldn't even stand by themselves much less drive. By his early twenties he and my grandmother became "brush arbor" ministers* and even had a revival tent they traveled with that would hold up to 300 people.

When asked, he had no idea how many people had been saved, filled with the Holy Spirit and healed in his meetings throughout his ministry. He was sure it was in the thousands. He held ordination papers with the Assemblies of God denomination for 75 years and served the Lord acceptably all the days of his life.

This is my spiritual heritage. As a third generation Pentecostal on my father's side of the family, and a fourth generation Pentecostal on my mother's side, you can imagine how thrilling it was for me to be invited to be a workshop speaker at the 100th Anniversary of the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles, CA this year in the Children's Ministry Track.

An Amazing Event
I was one of only seven children's ministers worldwide given this honor. It was a celebration as dear to my heart as any I could possibly name. But what made it so special was not merely getting to speak at this event myself where over 30,000 people came from the four corners of the earth. It wasn't only the privilege of getting to speak to the children of the attendees one night and seeing dozens of them filled with the Holy Spirit in the service.

It was not just hearing and seeing numerous well-known, anointed men and women of God who were there to speak and sing and celebrate this great event. It wasn't just getting to visit Angeles Temple where the great Amy Semple McPherson preached and impacted a nation for Jesus. It wasn't the fact that every known branch of Pentecostal and charismatic denomination and stream was there for this time where we focused not on our differences, but on what we share in common.

It wasn't that it was merely a colorful gala of flags and native clothing where nearly every tribe, tongue, and nation on earth had a representative there, and that we celebrated the fact that the Holy Spirit had been poured out across the face of the earth-no one has been left out. It wasn't even hearing that there are now 600 million tongue-talking Pentecostals and Charismatics worldwide in just the first 100 years of this priceless experience and that we are now the fastest growing segment of Christianity.

Passing Down the Power
What drove me to be a part of this grand celebration was the fact the last night was to be a giant Youth Convocation, where children, teens, and young adults were encouraged to come to celebrate this historical event in a service designed just for them. The purpose was so we older generations of seasoned, experienced, dedicated, passionate, and anointed ministers could literally lay our hands on the 10,000 plus youth and children and pass this incredible heritage on to them to carry for the next 100 years or until Jesus comes.

Janzen Frandsen was the keynote speaker for the youth. His message was riveting as he told the Bible account of how when the dead corpse of a man of a younger generation was thrown in the grave of where Elisha's dry bones lay, and that there was still so much Holy Ghost power in the old prophet's bones that the young man instantly came back to life again. He compared that to the significance of us "older" folks getting to lay our hands on these kids' heads and anoint them with oil, and pray over them.

So they lined us elders in rows, great men and women of God such as: Jack Hayford, president of the FourSquare denomination; Steve Hill, evangelist for the Brownsville revival; our beloved Billye Brim; Cindy Jacobs, a leader in the prophetic movement; Steven Strang of Charisma Magazine; Mahesh Chavda; Brian Houston, pastor of Hilllsong in Australia; Ed Silvoso, one of the great leaders in the Argentine revival; and hundreds of others like them, every stream and every denomination of ministers.

They had the thousands of young people pass in front of us as the musicians sang and played "These Are the Days of Elijah." Every so often it would dawn on me what was happening and what I was doing, and I would choke up and the tears would roll down my face. Thousands of young people also had tears streaming down their cheeks because they too understood the significance in the Spirit of what was happening.

If you knew me at all and what my calling in life is concerning children, you would understand why this meant so much to me. I have dedicated the rest of my life to seeing that this younger generation be trained, equipped, and discipled to carry the gospel of Jesus Christ to serve their generation and continue to establish the kingdom of God on earth. I tell people in my conferences that even if I live to be 100, I've lived more of my life than I have left, and it's not about me anymore. It's not about you anymore. It's about passing the baton to the next generation. It's about mentoring and discipling the generation coming up under us.

I was so deeply thankful that in all the celebrating that went on, we elders didn't forget that if we don't pass on our spiritual heritage to this next generation, it will stop with us. There won't be another Azusa centennial. We must pass on our passions. We must pass on our mantels of ministry. We must pass on our spiritual legacy to our seed in order to see this world taken for Jesus.

Putting everything else of this historical event into perspective, this was no doubt the most significant part of the entire 100 year celebration! I am humbled and awestruck that I was allowed to be a part of it. Now...take a minute and go lay hands on your own kids, anoint them with oil, and pray over them.

*Brush arbor: term used when a piece of land was cleared of trees and brush in order to hold revival meetings because of lack of buildings or money for buildings.

Copyright © Kids In Ministry International
All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Author Biography

Becky Fischer
Web site: Kids In Ministry International
 
Becky Fischer, apostolic minister, writer, public speaker, graphic artist, and more, is the founder and director of Kids in Ministry International (KIMI). KIMI is a multifaceted ministry that trains children to walk in the supernatural power of God. It also equips leaders and parents to prepare children the same way. Becky has been in children's ministry for over 30 years, ten years as a children's pastor, and twenty years as the director of KIMI. Along with her international teams, she has trained thousands of children, teens, parents, and children's workers through conferences, Bible schools, mission trips, churches, and resource materials in over 50 nations. Becky herself has ministered in 29 of those nations.
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