The Lord’s healing power in Brighton, Portsmouth & Bournemouth

Over 1,200 were swept into the kingdom in one campaign held , and 300 gave testimony to the Lord’s healing power. One who attended this meeting writes: ‘Hundreds of people have testified in the meeting to having been healed. People who only a few weeks ago were bedridden, or wheeled about in chairs, are today walking and praising God for His kindness in healing them. Lame ones, who moved only by the aid of crutches, are able to dispense with these. Deaf ones have been made to hear, blind ones to see, fourteen testified to having been cured of cancer, tuberculosis, or tumor’.

Mr. Percy G. Parker wrote of a revival campaign held by George Jeffreys at Portsmouth: ‘Hundreds testified to healing, two at least had been wheeled into the meetings a few days before. One for fifteen years and the other for twenty years had been wheeled about helpless, but lo! they walked before us healed! The useless leg of one had faded to a skeleton. Not only was she instantly healed but her flesh returned as fresh and full as the other. A little girlie of about three years of age had been healed of paralysis of both arms. She held them up before us. Another had been blind in her right eye for many years. Now she sees! Growths, dislocations, deafness, rupture, even sugar diabetes have all disappeared before the touch of the Master.

We are living in the days of the acts of the Holy Ghost – thank God for it! Our eyes are seeing what hundreds of thousands of the redeemed ones have been groaning for. At this last meeting no less than 130 people signified their acceptance of Christ’.

The following is a newspaper clipping from the Bournemouth Times and Directory, by a special reporter, Marion Holmes: ‘If I had gone to the big tent – where Principal George Jeffreys has been holding revival and healing meetings – to scoff, I should certainly have remained to pray. But I did not go to scoff, I went to see if the wonderful cures of which I had heard were really taking place, and to decide – if I could – whether they were due, as some said, to hysterical excitement, or to something much greater and more permanent in its effects. I went, I saw, and I was conquered …. The gift of sight to a boy, who – so I was told – was born blind, was conferred at the same meeting; and I was given the particulars of the healing of a severe and long-standing case of spinal trouble by the grateful patient himself. Cases of cancer, goiter, rheumatism, nerve trouble, curvature of the spine, hereditary deafness, asthma, and numerous others have been cured at other meetings’.

The following incident is one of the after-effects of the revival meeting held at Bournemouth. It is taken from the Daily Chronicle, a London newspaper: ‘After being crippled from early childhood, owing to a diseased hip, Lindley Lodge, aged 26, of Highfield Road, Salisbury, has been cured by prayer. She has cast aside a surgical shoe, a splint, and surgical irons, and now wears ordinary shoes. Miss Lodge has been a patient in Salisbury infirmary about 20 times since she was five years old, and has had a number of operations, yet for the most part she has had to be wheeled in a chair. When last discharged from the infirmary a few months ago she was told that, failing relief of her pain, it would be necessary to amputate the leg. She agreed to this course, but decided to wait until after Christmas. In the meantime, however, a friend communicated with Pastor Fergus Trevor, of Bournemouth, who sent a message that at 3:20 p. m. on a certain day, special prayer would be offered for her. ‘I had heard of a person at Bournemouth being cured of curvature of the spine by prayer’, she told a Chronicle reporter, ‘and just before three o’clock that day I went into my room, took off my splint and irons, and feeling sure that I should not wear them again, I began to pray. Then something happened – I do not know what – but when I came to myself I could walk around the room. That was at 3:25. I flew downstairs to tell my parents. They were dumbfounded’. Within a week Miss Lodge had discarded her shoe, which had a sole 3,5 inches thick, and has worn shoes one of which had merely an extra layer of leather on the sole. The leg which was previously four inches short is now pratically normal’.

Time to move on

As you have seen I have tried to bring you some of the stories of how the Jeffreys brothers were used to preach the Gospel message and include teaching on the subject of the Holy Sprint and Divine Healing. This then lead to the planting of many churches which were called Elim churches.

If you would like to add your story please feel free to email me pandasimpson@taltalk.net

For now I will endeavour to share some stories from around the world.

A vision for Ireland

A vision for Ireland showed a gold ring – representing the first Elim Assembly – out of which came many other rings.

I must mention the vision given to a sister who was a most consistent follower of the Lord, and who most faithful to the Elim work. At the time this vision was given she knew nothing of the plans proposed in Monaghan (the beginning of the Elim work).

The vision consisted of a large, golden ring out of which came a dazzling brightness –brighter than the sun at noonday– and out of the ring ran many other rings in all directions. She prayed to God for the interpretation, and it was given:
”The large ring is the first Elim Assembly, and out of it shall come many other assemblies.” To her it was no idle dream.

Leaving but little impression. It was a vision given by God, one that was stamped indelibly upon her heart, and which was meant to be actually fulfilled. As I write these words my heart flows out in praise and thanksgiving to God, for he has caused it to come to pass! Out of a mere handful of Christians– devoted followers of Christ, who knew something about praying and thirsting for souls
have come workers who have gone forth with the sword of the Spirit, and with the shield of faith, who have walked in the train of Christ’s triumph, and who have reaped the fruit of that corn of wheat that fell into the ground. Lives and homes have been transformed on all hands. The garment of praise from the wardrobe of heaven has been given to many who previously were garbed in the robe of sadness and gloom. The oil of gladness has been poured into mourners’ hearts, and they have been filled with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

YOUTUBE SITE

View a compilation of three Sermonettes by Principle George Jeffreys.
On YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfGFOcMYiF4&videos=M6K2FXvC-kM
1 A Vital Question 2 The Foursquare Gospel 3Look Up! All are taken from 10” 78rpm Elim Records which have been digitally re-mastered.

Also look out for another YouTube Sermonette Never a man spoke like this man by Principle George Jeffreys.

New DVD

I would like to commend a website to you
http://www.garywilkinson.eu/TheJeffreysBrothers/The%20JeffreysBrothers.html

Gary Wilkinson is an independent Christian television producer. He has a passion for bringing the Good News to people through the medium of television.
He has embarked on a project believing the importance of looking back at some of the lives and events that have impacted the church of Jesus in the earth today, to take encouragement from what others have achieved through faith and the empowering of the Holy Spirit to the establishing of the church of Jesus Christ.
On the DVD page of the website you will see a New DVD to be released in May 2010.

There is also a short film to view on YouTube

British Pentecostal Movement in the 20th Century.mov

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMyFjQE7ShE&feature=related

The First Elim Church

IRELAND

In 1914 – the year of the outbreak of the First World War – Christian Convention was held in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The organisers agreed to invite young George Jeffreys to attend. He was then 24 years of age.

At this convention were two leading men of Monaghan, named Alan Kerr and George Allen. Having heard of God’s blessing on the ministry of young George Jeffreys, and now having met him, they decided to invite him to their town to conduct a crusade. This was arranged for the next year – 1915

It was in Monaghan, in Jan 1915, that they discussed their plans, and make provision for the purchase of a marquee in which to hold their meetings. It was from this meeting that the Elim Four Square Gospel Alliance was birthed. The first church was purchased on Hunter Street in the Donegal Road area of Belfast, in June 1915. Through God's grace, the movement grew in number greatly in Northern Ireland, and the U.K. However, sadly its impact within the Republic took a little longer to bear fruit.

NORTHERN IRELAND

The work spread rapidly against great odds and personal hardships experienced by George Jeffreys and his evangelistic team. In some places persecution was fierce because of the direct message that was being preached. It came to be known as the Foursquare Gospel Campaign, because George Jeffreys concentrated his message on the four fundamental truths of the faith: Jesus Christ as the Saviour, Healer, Baptiser in the Holy Spirit, and Coming King.

As a result of all this, Elim was named the Elim Foursquare Gospel Alliance. Later it was to be known and the Elim Pentecostal Church. Throughout Northern Ireland some of the largest halls were used for very successful campaigns and in almost every instance an Elim Church was established.

THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

It was not until 1957 that Pastor Gordon Hills brought the movement to Dublin. It was in the building in Thomas Street that Elim roots in Dublin took root. It was also from Dublin that many of the other churches in the Republic were planted. The first of these was Westport. Westport is, as its name suggests the most westerly port in Europe. It was in this pictureesque village that the Gospel was preached by members of the Dublin church in the years of 1976-7. As a result of these outreaches a church was planted in 1977. Since 1977 the number of churches has grown, and there are now 10 churches in the Republic. These are located in Sligo, Mayo, Leitrim, Limerick, Tipperary, Cavan, Monaghan, Meath, and Dublin (click on map for details).

Elim Ministries in Dublin

In 1991 Pastor John McEvoy recieived a word from the Lord that He was to return to Ballyfermot, after serving nearly 11 years as pastor in the fellowship in Westport. It took over a year for John to settle things in Westport. With the church, he purchased a building in Castlebar, but the Lord had told him he would never preach in it. Indeed, he never did because as the first meeting was taking place John, Vicky and the children were on their way back to Dublin. In 1992 John held six meetings in the West County Hotel, and the fellowship was born. After the initial Mettings in the West County, premises were sought in Ballyfermot. They came in the form of rooms above a florist. This was a less than auspicious beginning, but the Lord was with the church and it prospered.

History of Elim in Ireland

by Pastor Stephen Hilliard
Elim had its beginnings in the town of Monaghan, now in the Republic of Ireland, and grew indirectly out of the Welsh Revival at the start of the twentieth century.
During that Revival, a young Welshman called George Jeffreys was converted and, shortly afterwards, experienced the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. He began to preach, at first in small places near his home and then, as his reputation grew, further and further afield.
While preaching in Sunderland, he was heard by two young brothers from Belfast, George and William Gillespie. They were so impressed that, on their return home, they wrote inviting him to speak at meetings they were organising in Bangor. They thoughtfully enclosed the fare - three ten shilling notes - and George Jeffreys duly arrived in Northern Ireland. Whilst there, he was asked to meet with a group of young men from Monaghan who shared his passion for evangelism and his belief in the power of the Holy Spirit.

A MEETING IN MONAGHAN
Those young men had a deep concern for the spiritual welfare of their native land and had been meeting to pray for revival in an old loft over the bottling store of a public house. On 7th January 1915, they met with George Jeffreys in Knox's Temperance Hotel to discuss how they might reach Ireland with the message of the Full Gospel.
They resolved that night that they would band together, under George Jeffreys' direction, to establish a permanent evangelistic work in Ireland, and would begin by holding a Gospel mission in the town. This they did, in a tent erected at North Street.
Though no church was established in Monaghan at that time, George Jeffreys considered those meetings to be the origins of the Elim Movement. He wrote later, "I regard Monaghan ... as being the birth place of this work." It was there that he first engaged in evangelism with the men and women who were to become his co-workers in Elim.

BUILDING IN BELFAST
After the Monaghan mission, the focus of the work shifted to Belfast. Meetings were held in a disused laundry in Hunter Street, and a congregation was formed, with George Jeffreys as pastor. The building was old and decrepit. There was hardly an unbroken pane of glass, and many of the holes were blocked with rags to keep out the wind and rain, as new glass was too expensive for the meagre resources of the evangelists. The street itself had an unsavoury reputation. Frederick Farlow, one of the young men from Monaghan, wrote, "The surroundings are anything but beautiful, in fact it is situated in one of the worst streets in the city, the name of which has had to be changed several times owing to the sinfulness of its inhabitants."
In 1917, George Jeffreys was officially ordained by a visiting Welsh Congregational minister, Rev. Moelfryn Morgan. Shortly afterwards, a church constitution was drawn up giving the newly formed fellowship the name Elim Christ Church.
Meanwhile, Elim was reaching into other parts of Northern Ireland. In February 1916, George Jeffreys began meetings in a tent in Ballymena. Over a period of five weeks, 120 people were saved and many were baptised in the Holy Spirit. During their time in Ballymena, George Jeffreys and his fellow workers first called themselves The Elim Evangelistic Band.
In July 1919, a disused church building in Melbourne Street at the bottom of Belfast's Shankill Road was acquired and refurbished. George Jeffreys and many of the Hunter Street congregation moved to this new and larger location and the Melbourne Street Church was recognised for years as the mother church of Elim.

THE SPREADING FLAME
Although it had not originally been George Jeffreys' intention to establish a denomination, the Elim Movement grew rapidly and was soon established as a legally recognised charity under the name 'Elim Pentecostal Alliance.'
Meanwhile, the work was extending to other parts of the Province and beyond. By the close of 1920, there were over twenty churches, including those in Armagh, Ballymena, Bangor, Belfast, Cullybackey, Lurgan, Moneyslane and Portadown. In 1919, the first issue of a new magazine, The Elim Evangel, appeared, to spread the news of what God was doing. Those early magazines were basic in format but the contents were exciting - a record of the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit at work in the lives of ordinary men and women. The pages read like extracts from the Acts of the Apostles. New Testament Christianity was alive and well in Ireland.
The issue for December 1920 lists the Elim workers of the day. In Ireland, there were twenty in total, six recognised as pastors, including George Jeffreys himself, twelve described as evangelists, and two deaconesses. In addition, there were three workers in Wales and three missionaries in the Congo. By the close of 1922 the number of workers exceeded thirty, including seven ladies. In a letter written at that time, George Jeffreys commented, "No salary is paid to any pastor or evangelist. Each one has to trust God individually."
Elim's founders knew their work was only part of the new, rapidly expanding Pentecostal movement that was sweeping across the world. God was doing something remarkable of which Elim was a small but significant part. Looking back, we can see how that tiny seed has developed to become the world-wide Pentecostal movement of today, the fastest growing section of Christianity. There are now over 550 million Spirit-filled believers across the world - almost 30% of all Christians.

CROSSING THE IRISH SEA
In the early 1920s, the decision was made to extend across the Irish Sea to England. This was a big step for the leaders of the newly formed Elim Movement. Some feared that England would provide a less favourable environment for their message. However, George Jeffreys readily accepted the new challenge.
The First World War had brought dramatic changes to life in Britain. Many of the old certainties and values had gone forever. Thousands of men had died in the trenches leaving penniless widows and fatherless children at home. Demobilised troops, many disabled in body or mind, came home, not to the 'land fit for heroes' they had been promised, but to unemployment and grinding poverty. The darkness deepened as western society moved into the period of economic chaos known as 'The Great Depression.'
The historic churches and their clergy could offer no satisfactory answers. Many of the latter were unbelieving liberals, denying the fundamentals of the faith, and were seen by ordinary people as no more than an arm of a discredited and uncaring establishment. Church-going, once an integral part of the British way of life, plummeted.
Into this vacuum stepped George Jeffreys and the Elim Movement. They proclaimed a clear message in days of confusion. Unlike the liberal clerics who paraded their unbelief before their dwindling and disillusioned congregations, they preached the Gospel with conviction. They offered a warm, vibrant style of worship that appealed to people alienated from the traditional forms of orthodox religion. They demonstrated the reality of the message they preached by praying for the sick and seeing them healed.
Ordinary men and women could see and feel that the Gospel was relevant to them and they flocked to Elim meetings in their thousands. The early years of that Elim 'invasion' of England were marked by outstanding growth and blessing, and some of the greatest evangelistic meetings Britain has ever seen. During the 1920s and 30s George Jeffreys and his Revival Party filled the largest public halls across the nation, often in the face of opposition from existing Christian bodies.
Frequently, they would arrive in a town without any advance publicity, with no known supporters there, and begin preaching to a tiny handful of the casually curious who drifted in. As miracles of healing took place and the Gospel was preached in power, word would get round and, within days, hundreds would be queuing for admission. This pattern was repeated in many towns and cities.