“A Treasure of Foursquare History – The Romanian Azusa Street” by Garris Elkins

Recently, Jan was rearranging our library. She found a book I thought I had sent to the Foursquare Church headquarters in Los Angeles 15 years ago to archive in the Foursquare Heritage library. But here it was, unsent after all these years, containing a wonderful and undiscovered story about how God’s Spirit moves no matter what cultural or language barriers stand in the way.

In the mid-90's Jan and I were based in Berlin, Germany working for the Foursquare Church as Regional Missionary Advisors to Eastern Europe. I was contacted by a church movement in Romania asking me to come and teach a group of church planters in the eastern part of the nation. After landing in Bucharest, I traveled by train several hours to the city of Constanta on the Black Sea coast and spent the next three days with the pastors. On my departure I was handed a book titled, "The Pentecostal Apostolic Church of God of Romania." The book recorded the history and development of the Romanian Pentecostal churches.

The leaders who gave me the book provided a back-story that revealed the beginning of a supernatural work of God in the nation of Romania. In the early 1920's a Romanian man had traveled to the United States and ended up living in Los Angeles and attending Angelus Temple where he saw Aimee Semple McPherson ministering divine healing. This man sent a letter back to his friends in Romania describing the miracles taking place in Los Angeles. He described in his letter how hands were laid upon the sick and they would be miraculously healed. This letter was read out loud in a small home church meeting in Paulis Village, Romania. The wife of the home group leader was in another room lying in bed, gravely ill. 

After reading the letter in the living room, the entire home group crowded into the bedroom where the sick woman lay dying and placed the letter on her chest. The group laid hands on her and prayed for her healing. The woman rose immediately from her sick bed, completely healed, and went into the kitchen to prepare the home group a meal. The news of this healing spread throughout the nation of Romania, not only birthing the Romanian Pentecostal churches, but it has been described as the "Romanian Azusa Street."

This history was not known to the Foursquare Church and was undiscovered until this book was passed on to me. It is amazing to see how God can reveal an unknown history to us of what He has done in the past to encourage our faith in the present.