Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!
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Everyone knew another meeting place had to be found quickly. The Asbery home could no longer accommodate the crowds. So on April 14, 1906, Seymour and his elders set out to find the perfect place. They wandered around the city near their area until they came upon a dead-end street that was about a half a mile long. It was there, in the industrial business section of Los Angeles, that Seymour found what had once been an old Methodist church.
After its use by the Methodists, the building had been remodeled for a different purpose. It had been divided in half, the top section having been turned into apartments. But a fire had destroyed the floor, and the cathedral-shaped roof had been flattened and covered with tar.
When Seymour acquired the building, the top floor was being used for storage, while the bottom floor had been converted into a horse stable. The windows were broken, and bare electric light bulbs hung from the ceiling. Seymour was offered the building for eight dollars a month.
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As the word got out, people came from everywhere to help restore the building. A. G. Osterburg, the pastor of the local Full Gospel Church, paid several men to help renovate the building. Volunteers swept the floors and whitewashed the walls. J. V. McNeil, a devout Catholic and owner of the largest lumber company in Los Angeles, donated lumber for the cause. Sawdust was placed on the floor, and planks were nailed to wooden barrels for use as pews. Two empty crates were nailed on top of each other to act as Seymour’s pulpit.
It was in this humble, skidrow-like setting that Azusa Street prepared themselves for international revival.
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William James Roop
