|
Joplin, Missouri
In the year 1904, Brother Parham reaffirmed his commitment to the Apostolic Faith Movement. He ceased not to travel, and wherever he went, he established Pentecostal works. Through this endeavorment he was able to build a successful network of missions in and around his headquarters in Baxter Springs. Parham took on a burden for the neighboring city of Joplin, Missouri. In the fall of 1904, he pitched a tent on the corner of 15th and Joplin, Street, where he held a seven-week revival campaign. Joplin is located about sixteen miles east of Baxter Springs, and a mere five miles from Galena. Joplin served as the commercial center of the "lead and zinc" district.
Mrs. Belle Deorge was brought to the tent in a wheel chair having been unable to walk for years. After Brother Parham prayed for her, she was wonderfully healed. Mrs. Rosana Trapp was the first person in Joplin to receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost with the evidence recorded in Acts 2:4.
From the very first meeting, a great interest was manifested from the public. Deep conviction came upon the people, and many were soon converted to the Apostolic faith, leaving their denomonational affiliations behind, they embraced the divine healing message that Brother Parham preached, and numerous healings were soon being reported. The revival continued in the tent for about four weeks, then it was moved inside at the "Roosevelt Flats" located at 906 Main Street. This building still stands today.
The Roosevelt Flats, 906 Main Street, Joplin, Missouri
Location for the Apostolic Faith Revival in 1904
According to Parham, the Joplin meeting proved to be such a great success, that it rivaled the one held the year before in Galena, Kansas. Hungry souls congregated from all points, including those traveling from the surrounding states of Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Kansas. The move of God was greatly witnessed and felt during this meeting. Over four hundred were filled with the Baptism of the Holy Ghost, and many were taken to a local creek, and were baptized in the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
With the success of the Joplin meeting, came much "criticism and ostracism" from the local press and community leaders, prompting Parham to have a complete nervous breakdown. His wife (Sarah) wrote, "My husband was taken very sick during the Joplin revival. His physical strength giving away under the stress of constant labors. Unable to eat for some time, he lingered between life and death. His life would have been despaired of had it not been for our trust in God, who answered the prayer of faith, and in love and mercy reached down and touched him by power divine, and restored him to health. God gave him a new lease on life, and he continued on in the service of God, working for lost humanity".
"Though the battle had been hard, and the work strenuous, a great victory had been won for God, and souls, for during the year 1904, many hundreds of people from Carthage, Missouri through Southeastern Kansas, to Miami, Oklahoma, were now believers in the power of the faith once delivered to the saints".
|
