Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!
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William Seymour’s thoughts turned to marriage. Jennie Evans Moore, a faithful member of his ministry in Los Angeles, became his wife. She was known for her beauty, musical talents, and spiritual sensitivity. She was a very gentle woman and was always faithful to stand beside brother Seymour. It was Jennie who felt the Lord would have them marry, and Seymour agreed. The couple married on May 13, 1908. After the ceremony, William and Jennie moved into a modest apartment upstairs in the Azusa Mission.
But the news of their marriage angered a small yet very influential group at the Mission. One of the main antagonists was Clara Lum, the mission’s secretary responsible for the newspaper’s publication. After learning of Seymour’s marriage, she abruptly decided that it was time to leave the mission.
A few believers at Azusa had some very odd ideas about marriage. Lum’s group believed marriage in the last days to be a disgrace because of the coming return of Christ, and they severely denounced Seymour for his decision.
It may have been that Clara Lum was secretly in love with Seymour and that she left because of her jealousy. Whatever the reason, she relocated to Portland, Oregon, to join the mission headed by a former Azusa associate, Florence Crawford. When she did, she took the entire national and international mailing lists with her!
This unthinkable action crippled Seymour’s worldwide publication outreach. His entire national and international lists of over fifty thousand names had been stolen, leaving him with only the Los Angeles list. Then, when the May 1908 Apostolic Faith was sent out, the cover looked the same, but inside was a column announcing its new address in Portland for contributions and mail!
The thousands who eagerly read and sent contributions to the newspaper now started sending them to Portland without questioning the change. By the June issue, no article by Seymour appeared at all. Finally, by midsummer of 1908, all references to Los Angeles were omitted entirely. When it became clear that Lum wouldn’t be returning, the Seymours traveled to Portland to confront Lum and ask for the lists. But the lists were never returned.
Without this vital information, it was impossible for Seymour to continue the publication, and an era of Azusa was brought to a dramatic end!
God’s Generals ( William J. Seymour)
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William James Roop