AzusaFest 2016 will Announce Bishop TD Jakes as Winner of the William Seymour Award!
Contact: Fred Berry,
Azusa Street Mission,
323-692-7268LOS ANGELES, Feb. 24, 2016 /
Christian Newswire/ -- The William Seymour award will be given during the
April 7-10, 2016 Azusafest celebration! Azusafest is a three-day Gospel music celebration that commemorates the Azusa Street Revival!
Photo: Lou Engle: AzusaNow (Left), Fred Berry: Azusafest (Right)This
year's Azusafest will be held in conjunction with the AzusaNow
celebration in the Los Angeles Coliseum on Saturday, April 9th!
The
Azusa Street Mission will also present the prestigious William J.
Seymour Award. The award is given to a senior leader in ministry who
exhibits the characteristics of the Lord's humble servant, William J.
Seymour. This year's national recipient is Bishop TD Jakes of the
Potters house church in Dallas,Texas! Bishop TD Jakes is a co-founder
of the reconciled church project bringing leaders together for racial
reconciliation.
Fred and Wilma Berry founders of the Azusa
Street Mission & Historical Society have been awarding pastors and
leaders the William Seymour Award since 2006. Prior recipients of the
W.J. Seymour award have been: Bishop Charles E. Blake, the COGIC
presiding Bishop USA; Pastor
Sunday
Adelaja, from Kiev, Ukraine; Dr. Patricia Bailey-Jones USA; Apostle
John Eckhardt USA; Dr. Myles Munroe from Nassau, Bahamas; and Apostle
Sam Korankye Ankrah from Accra, Ghana; Pastor Jabes de Alencar Sao
Paulo, Brazil; Pastor Silas Malafaia in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Al
Hollingsworth of Boss the Movement and Lou Engle of the Call!
Over
a century ago, a partially-sighted African American minister, William
J. Seymour, came to Los Angeles to share the message that the Holy
Spirit still baptizes people with the evidence of speaking in tongues.
His early efforts to preach the Pentecostal message were rejected.
Church leaders were suspicious of his religious doctrine and his
teachings, but he persevered and kept on praying. On
April 9,
of 1906, a powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit occurred within a
small group of worshippers. The news spread and soon hundreds of people
started coming from all over the world to the Apostolic Faith Mission
on Azusa Street in Los Angeles seeking to receive the Holy Spirit. The
Azusa Street Revival lasted over three years and is widely considered
to be the primary catalyst that sparked the worldwide Pentecostal
Movement. Currently, it is estimated that over 800 million Pentecostals
in the United States, Latin America, Africa and Asia can trace their
religious origins to the Azusa Street Revival and Bishop Seymour.
Fred
and Wilma Berry carry on the history of Azusa Street as international
representatives through the Azusa Street Mission. The organizations
mission is to carry the flame of Azusa Street to the next generation
throughout the nations of the world. "There is an expectation of the
fulfillment of William J. Seymour's prophesy of a greater revival
spreading all over the world like unto the Azusa Street Revival," said
Apostle Berry, "It's America's time again - God has chosen this nation
for this hour-and we're praying for leaders to come together in unity
at Azusafest to unlock a catalyst to a great wave of God's spirit for
the Last Days harvest and revival."