This excerpt from Led by the Spirit: The History of the American Assemblies of God Missionaries in the Philippines is the first chapter. Missionary-scholar Dave Johnson has brought together a chronicle of over 300 Pentecostal missionaries serving in the Philippines from 1926 through the first decade of the new Millennium.

The Early Years in the Philippines

As the Assemblies of God in the United States grew, so did their vision to send missionaries to the far-flung corners of the globe, including the Philippines.

The First Missionaries Arrive

The first United States Assemblies of God (AG) missionaries to the Philippines were Benjamin and Cordelia Caudle, who, with their children, arrived in Manila in September 1926.¹ The Caudles came from Kansas. Like many of the early missionaries, neither had any Bible school education, and it appears that they had little ministry experience. Caudle had only been a Christian for about six years before arriving in the Philippines. Yet they had heard the call of God, and for them and those who supported them, that call was sufficient. At the same time, their application for appointment indicates that they were well aware that sacrifice and privation awaited them.2 To what extent they were actually prepared for life in the tropics can only be conjectured.

They settled in Manila and quickly began to work. Manila, a city of at least three hundred thousand people at the time, was the logical choice because it was both the capital and hub of the nation. By the time the Caudles arrived, the Filipinos had been under American rule for twenty-eight years and many had learned English to the point that the Caudles felt it was becoming the lingua franca of the country.3

The Caudles were thoroughly convinced of the validity of the Pentecostal message and had a deep burden for the lost. In an article for the Pentecostal Evangel, the official voice of the Assemblies of God USA, Caudle’s passion for the lost and commitment to Pentecost is revealed:

Do you know that there are many millions of people here that need the Gospel preached to them with power and in demonstration of the Holy Ghost? The Pentecostal message is yet a stranger to the Philippine Islands, but by God’s grace it will not remain so long. For there shall be established in these Islands a lighthouse of the Pentecostal truth where men and women can be free.4

While the claim to be the first to proclaim the Pentecostal message in the Philippines cannot be verified with certainty, it may have been true since the Pentecostal Movement was young at the time. Caudle’s remarks that the Pentecostal message, with its emphasis on signs and wonders, would spread throughout the country, was prophetic, although it didn’t happen as quickly as he hoped.

What can Christians today learn from the successes and failures of Christians in the first fifteen centuries of the breaking out of the Good News of Jesus the Christ? This article by historian Woodrow Walton is an Epilogue to The Gospel In History series.

With apologies to the Gregorian Calendar, A.D. 28 is selected as the date of the Resurrection of our Lord. Fifty days after the Resurrection, at the time of the festival of First Fruits, also known as Pentecost, the power of the Holy Spirit fell upon Jesus’ disciples. They were now His apostles and Peter became the lead spokesman. When Peter proclaimed Jesus as both “Lord and Christ,” there were among his audience visitors from countries bordering the Persian Gulf, lands approximate to the Caucasian and Kurdistan mountains, westward to Libya in northern Africa, and from what is now Turkey onward along the northern Mediterranean coast to Rome and beyond.

This article is part of The Gospel in History series by Woodrow Walton.
Image: The Books of Kells by way of Wikimedia Commons.

The Gospel spread quickly into the Mesopotamian-Tigris plains, northward beyond Antioch, and crossed the Aegean Sea into the Balkans and on to the Italian peninsula. It went westward across the whole extent of the North African coast fronting the Mediterranean. Acts 2:9-11 enumerated thirteen different geographical locales from Elam, bordering Iran, to Cyrene close to present day Benghazi, Libya.

This expansive geography from the Persian Gulf to the western edges of Africa indicates the eventual spread of the gospel from western Asia to the western edges of the Roman empire. The early Christians spread across this expanse within a matter of seventy-two years. The flourishing of individual Christian communities from east to west within a relatively short time occurred without benefit of motorized conveyances. The initial thrust was from Jerusalem to Damascus in western Syria and then along the Tigris-Euphrates valley. The martyrdom of Stephen initiated a spread northward. The ministry of Philip the deacon spearheaded the thrust into the upper reaches of the Nile Valley, Egypt. Out of Libya and Cyprus were the initiators of the church in Antioch, and out of Antioch into what is now Turkey. Who are these travelers who speak of Jesus who is said to be “Lord and Savior?”

That the Christians presented a gospel, not a religion, was a novelty and went against the grain of the dominant cultural mentality who adhered to a belief in gods and different philosophies of life. Who is this Jesus?

The fact that the Christian communities or groupings did not frequent the public baths and other major public arenas of activity raised suspicions as to who they are and what they represented. To use a phrase coined by the late John Stott, these Christians were counter-cultural and represented another way of life by their exclusiveness from the rest of society.

I enjoyed reading this book so much that I read it over a second time and then read separate chapters that were of particular interest. You may want to do the same. The book will give you a feel of Christianity through the ages. And you can return to chapters or sections that are of interest to you.

If you are not a Church historian, this book will be informative reading. MacCulloch not only analyzes the development of the Western Church, but also the various Eastern Churches. He looks at the rise of Islam and its interaction with the culture, growth and relationship to Christianity. MacCulloch also looks at the Roman Empire and its influence on Christianity and how the church used the Roman Empire to spread the gospel.

In regards to the rise of Islam, it is interesting but disappointing that the Western Church did not help the Eastern Church when Islam was converting Christian nations by the sword to Islam. It is to be noted that the Eastern Church did help France when they were attacked by Moslem armies and resulted in France being saved.

MacCulloch suggested that the Pentecostal church in the future will be amalgamated into the wider church. I can see that happening in the west as the line of demarcation becomes less distinguishable with other Christian groups but I am doubtful if this will happen in the third world.

Reviewed by Aldwin Ragoonath

Preview this book: www.goodreads.com/book/google_preview/7903841-christianity

Vinson Synan, “2000 Years of Prophetic Ministry: Read the Stories Behind the Gift” Ministries Today (Sep/Oct, 2004), pages 24-28.

Vinson Synan

Vinson Synan, perhaps the leading historian of the modern Pentecostal movement, presents a two part review of the place prophecy has held in the church. The “centuries of suppression” lasted for about 1900 years, and generally were not very happy or fruitful for the prophetic gifts. The second portion of the review tells of prophecy’s gain in the eyes of church leaders and the laity since the days when William Seymour laid his hands upon and prophesied for the many men and women who had received the “message” at Azusa Street and went forth from there.

Synan has the great advantage of being part of our history and knowing many that played key roles in that unraveling of blessing and wonder in the last 100 years. He touches on half a dozen prophecies that changed the world as well discussing the need for us, today’s leaders, to teach how we are to minister in this great gift to the church and to the world that God so loves. Sound teaching about how one should prophesy is something that should interest all Christian leaders.

Reviewed by H. Murray Hohns

Read the article from Ministries Today archives: http://ministrytodaymag.com/index.php/ministry-today-archives/152-fivefold-ministries/9666-2000-years-of-prophecy [available as of June 24, 2014]

Have you ever been told that the charismatic movement is new and therefore theologically suspicious? Do not believe such rumors because they are not true, as this book clearly demonstrates. Actually, there may not be another book available today that presents such a continuity of the ministry of the Holy Spirit throughout church history. This book handily debunks the old claim that Pentecostal/charismatics are the new kids on the theological block.

This readable history of the charismata offers convincing evidence that Pentecostal/charismatics stand in a long tradition of God’s supernatural power in His people. From the book of Acts, to the time of persecution under the Roman emperors, to the suppression of the charismata with the institutionalization of the church, to the preservation of those gifts among some ecclesiastical orders and movements outside the institutional church, to the rediscovery of the gifts by the Great Reformation, to the Wesleys and the holiness movements that followed them, to the 20^th Century Pentecostal and charismatic movements—Hyatt summarizes the history of the supernatural ministry of the Holy Spirit among God’s people.

Eddie L. Hyatt

As a student of Pentecostal/charismatic history, the most significant highlights for me were: the succinct way in which the institutionalizing of the church under Constantine was presented as the quencher of the gifts; the explanation of the Anabaptists and Mennonites in contrast to the excessive movements that started from the same Radical Reformation; and a more thorough look at the real nature of Charles Parham’s ministry and its impact on the early Pentecostal movement. Two things I would have liked to have seen would be, first, a summary of some of the great research Dr. Jack Deere on the charismatic nature of the Great Reformation (see especially Surprised by the Voice of God from Zondervan, 1998). Dr. Deere makes quite a case for how any history of the supernatural has been suppressed by anti-charismatic religious leaders (Unfortunately, Hyatt seems to make the same mistake as many classical Pentecostals in equating Calvinism with cessationism [see page 112]. Of course, charismatic Calvinists would object to this assertion). Secondly, the locations of historical events and people seemed to move further and further west throughout the chronology. Although this is an excellent beginning, I also long to see a history of Eastern and global Christianity from a Pentecostal/charismatic perspective.

Looking forward, Hyatt tells us the lessons we stand to learn, “History would inform us that the key for the church in the twenty-first century is not to be found in outward form and structure. Both the New Testament and church history indicate that the key for the church is to be found in an inner attitude of faith in Christ and an openness to the wind of the Spirit that blows, not where He must, but where He wills” (p. 191).

I highly recommend this introduction to the undeniable history of the gifts and ministry of the Holy Spirit through all of church history.

Reviewed by Raul L. Mock

Preview 2000 Years: books.google.com/books/?id=_7Rr7vX6TegC

On October 17-19, 1994 the leadership of the essentially all white Pentecostal Fellowship of the North America (PFNA) met in Memphis to confront its racial past and to meet with African American Pentecostals to establish an integrated fellowship. The result was a new organization known as the Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America (PCCNA). As part of that process those present from the PFNA confessed that they had practiced bigotry and exclusiveness in their preference for a congregation and administration of the same color. Five years have passed since this historic event, and it is time to look at the results of the “Memphis miracle” and to take further steps and longer strides to meet the challenge presented there.

I have lived in Honolulu for the past 13 years where white people like me are called “haoles”, and are in the minority—some thirty percent of us who live here have European ancestors. I am on the pastoral staff of the largest church in the State. Our congregation of 10,000 looks like it should for our area, seventy percent of the attendees and the staff are people of color and the rest are white.

Donald J. Evans washing the feet of Bishop Ithiel Clemmons during footwashing service at PCCNA at “The Miracle of Memphis” in October 1994.
Image: Flowers Pentecostal Heritage Center

The Memphis Manifesto challenges all believers to take a look at their own attitudes and pre-judgments regarding race. In light of this, the first point I want to make is that white is also a color, and that everyone in my church therefore is a person of color. I know too that everyone in your church is a person of color, hence the problem we face is not one of color but one of preference. Preference is sin.

My friend Helen W. was a missionary in Liberia for many many years. She left the field in the sixties and came back to Fort Washington, PA to work in the home office of her sending agency. Helen had malaria and could not stay any longer. She went to Liberia as a young single woman and while there met and fell in love with a local man. Her sending agency would not let them marry—he was black, she was white; it would not be good, they said.

I lived near Helen back then. I lived in a white neighborhood and was appalled to learn that Helen spent all her free time in the black areas of Philadelphia. I admonished her, she could get hurt down there. Helen said, “Oh no.” She explained that she had lived for twenty years as the only white woman in the bush of Liberia, a country where white people played a leading role in government. In those twenty years, Helen had learned that you were far safer in the black community than with the white ones who governed and could not be trusted. Helen found crowds of white people frightening. Back in the sixties, I found black people frightening.

On October 17-19, 1994 the leadership of the essentially all white Pentecostal Fellowship of the North America (PFNA) met in Memphis to confront its racial past and to meet with African American Pentecostals to establish an integrated fellowship. The result was a new organization known as the Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America (PCCNA).

As part of that process those present from the PFNA confessed that they had practiced bigotry and exclusiveness in their preference for a congregation and administration of the same color. Five years have passed since this historic event, and it is time to look at the results of the “Memphis miracle” and to take further steps and longer strides to meet the challenge presented there.

I have lived in Honolulu for the past 13 years where white people like me are called “haoles”, and are in the minority-some thirty percent of us who live here have European ancestors. I am on the pastoral staff of the largest church in the State. Our congregation of 10,000 looks like it should for our area, seventy percent of the attendees and the staff are people of color and the rest are white.

The Memphis Manifesto challenges all believers to take a look at their own attitudes and pre-judgments regarding race. In light of this, the first point I want to make is that white is also a color, and that everyone in my church therefore is a person of color. I know too that everyone in your church is a person of color, hence the problem we face is not one of color but one of preference. Preference is sin.

My friend Helen W. was a missionary in Liberia for many many years. She left the field in the sixties and came back to Fort Washington, PA to work in the home office of her sending agency. Helen had malaria and could not stay any longer. She went to Liberia as a young single woman and while there met and fell in love with a local man. Her sending agency would not let them marry-he was black, she was white; it would not be good, they said.

I lived near Helen back then. I lived in a white neighborhood and was appalled to learn that Helen spent all her free time in the black areas of Philadelphia. I admonished her, she could get hurt down there. Helen said, “Oh no.” She explained that she had lived for twenty years as the only white woman in the bush of Liberia, a country where white people played a leading role in government. In those twenty years, Helen had learned that you were far safer in the black community than with the white ones who governed and could not be trusted. Helen found crowds of white people frightening. Back in the sixties, I found black people frightening.

My second point is that fright is a feeling. It does not appear in Paul’s list of the deeds of the flesh or in his list of the fruits of the Spirit. Fright is one way we deal with the unknown, the unfamiliar and the unexpected. Scripture teaches us to fear God, not to fear each other but to love each other. We do the opposite. Doing the opposite to what Scripture urges is sin.

There are many voices today pressing all of us to be tolerant. We are assailed by this thought on a continuous basis. My wife and I were in New York City recently. We were there for fun and relaxation and we saw four Broadway shows. One night we stopped and listened to some sidewalk preachers who were interpreting the Bible to condemn the white and exalt the black. Their message was hardly tolerant, indeed they were filled with hate and not interested in any challenge or discussion of their rhetoric.

N. R. Needham, 2000 Years of Christ’s Power, Part I: The Age of the Early Church Fathers (London: Grace Publications, 1998), 400 pages.

When I originally saw the title and the brief description of 2000 Years of Christ’s Power in a publisher’s catalog, I thought that I had found another historical study of the miraculous and the gifts of the Spirit throughout Christian history. 2000 Years is certainly Church history, but a historical defense of the gifts of the Holy Spirit it is not.

2000 Years was written by a professor of Church history that has lamented the disparity between the two genre of Christian histories that exist: works for scholars and oversimplified works for children. Finding no happy medium that presented a popular approach to Church history, Needham has attempted to do so with this series of volumes. Written such that this series could be easily translated or at least understood by those who have a limited understanding of the English language, this series will likely find its way into foreign English-speaking Bible institutes.

As a popular Church history 2000 Years is excellent. There are no untransliterated Greek words or untranslated Latin. Names often include a pronunciation key, geographic locations are explained such that you will not need an atlas handy. Although Needham is expecting a Western reader, an Eastern-Oriental viewpoint is expressed in such a way that it can be received and appreciated. Explanations of the society of the day and contemporary events are presented so that the Church is rightly understood in its cultural setting. In this first volume, Part 1, many of the misunderstood beliefs or difficulties of the early Church are approached so that they will make sense to any reader. Was Origen a heretic or did he make a lasting contribution to the Body of Christ? What did the champion of Trinitarianism, Athanasius, mean when he spoke about believers becoming God? Was Constantine the Great really a Christian? Why did the fathers of the early Church get so worked up over terms like nature, energy, person, and will? How does the liturgy of the early Church differ from what we practice today? Did pagan philosophy, such as Neoplatonism, affect the theology of the early Church? Each chapter is broken up into readable portions with a list of important Church and political leaders at the end followed by Needham’s own translation of select works from the Church fathers themselves. These readings from the Church fathers are especially valuable to give an introduction to the thought of the early Church.

The pastor or Bible student will find 2000 Years to be an able introduction to the history of Christianity. Many will find it more thorough than any histories they have previously read. The presentation is balanced, approaching the story of the Body of Christ from an evangelical perspective. For these reasons, this will make a valuable contribution to any student’s library.

Reviewed by Raul Mock