Beloved Apostolic Faith Saints:

In the spring of 1906, gathered inside a simple home located at 214 Bonnie Brae Street in Los Angeles, California, a group of people began to pray for revival. It was exactly 120 years ago today—on April 9, 1906—that after ten days of prayer and fasting, several of those who were gathered received the Holy Spirit, with the evidence of speaking in tongues.

News about this outpouring spread quickly, and soon crowds began to gather outside to hear William Seymour preaching from the front porch of the Bonnie Brae Street home. When the crowds became too large for that home, the group found a new location on Azusa Street, where our founder, Florence Crawford, would soon join them. She had been saved before then, but when she joined the Azusa meetings and sought the Lord, she was sanctified and later baptized with the Holy Spirit.

What started as a powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Los Angeles soon spread to Portland when Sister Crawford arrived here in December of the same year. She brought with her the message that the Pentecostal experience of the baptism of the Holy Ghost could be received by saved and sanctified believers. Some people received the Holy Spirit even on her first day in Portland, and during the past 120 years many more have continued to receive the same experience.

For 120 years now, the Apostolic Faith Church mission has been to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Over the years, we have witnessed many lives, once shattered by sin, be transformed—souls have been saved, sanctified, and baptized with the Holy Ghost. From our humble beginning to this day, the Spirit of the Lord has moved mightily—just as He did on the Day of Pentecost when the first disciples were “all filled with the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:4).

Today, as we thank God for the gift of the Holy Spirit, we also honor those who came before us—the pioneers of faith who prayed without ceasing and carried the flame of revival down through the years. Yet even as we celebrate the past, we do not dwell there. Thank God, the Holy Spirit who came on Pentecost, at Bonnie Brae Street, and at Azusa is still moving today. We unite in prayers and stand in expectation of another outpouring of the Holy Spirit to usher the Church into glory.

To mark this 120th anniversary, let us renew our consecration to God and pray fervently that He will rekindle our passion and love for Him as we seek a fresh outpouring of His Spirit. May our generation burn with the same fire of the Holy Ghost and pursue God with the same hunger and devotion as those at Bonnie Brae and Azusa. May we have a purpose to preserve the ancient landmarks that God has established, and may we continue to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 1:3).

In Christ,
Sola Adesope
‍Superintendent General