Pastor Sunday Adelaja to receive William J. Seymour award http://www.christianmessenger.in/news/adelaja_150409/674.php April 15, 2009 | 22:45:27 OVER a century ago, a partially-sighted African American minister came from Texas to Los Angeles. to spread the Pentecostal ministry. 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. Then in April of 1906, a powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit occurred within his small group of worshipers. There were physical and mental healings, speaking in unknown languages and many other miraculous and inexplicable occurrences. Word spread and soon hundreds of people started coming from all over to the Apostolic Faith Mission on Azusa Street. 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 600 million Pentecostals in the .United States, Latin America, Africa and ..Asia.. can trace their religious origins to the Azusa Street Revival and Bishop William Joseph Seymour At the Azusa Street Festival on Saturday April 25, Pastor Sunday Adelaja, Senior Pastor of the Embassy of the Blessed Kingdom of God for All Nations in Kyiv, Ukraine, will receive the first International William J. .Seymour Award. This award is given to ministers who exhibit the characteristics of the Lord’s humble servant William J. Seymour. A statement from the award committee said: “This year we will award an international and national recipient: The international recipient will be Pastor Sunday Adelaja who is a Nigerian-born leader with an apostolic gift for the 21st century. In his mid-thirties Pastor Sunday has already proven to be one of the world’s most dynamic communicators and church planters and is regarded as the most successful pastor in .Europe with over 25,000 members as well as daughter and satellite churches in over 35 countries worldwide. The national recipient will be Dr. Pat Bailey-Jones who has created tremendous impact for more than 25 years in over 100 countries around the world, bringing deliverance and salvation to countless thousands. Dr. Bailey-Jones is a lecturer, author, and founder of Master’s Touch Ministries, a mission outreach that has headquarters in .North Carolina. .Los Angeles, and London, England MTM has also founded Y.U.G.O. (Young Adults United for Global Outreach), Global Leadership Training Center, a program designed to teach global strategies that will empower leaders to impact nations, and Sister to Sister, an international outreach to women in foreign countries. Dr. Bailey-Jones has focused her efforts in the 10/40 window, which includes North Africa and the Middle East, an area that is the most populated, but least evangelized in the world. The Azusa Street Festival is a four-day gospel music festival commemorating the Azusa Street Revival. The festival will take place April 23 -26 at .312 Azusa Street, the current location of the Japanese American Cultural .Community Center Plaza (JACCC) in Little Tokyo. The plaza stands on the original location of the Apostolic Faith Mission. Each day, the Azusa Street Festival will feature a guest speaker and music from a different Pentecostal region from around the world. The festival is sponsored by the Azusa Street Mission & Historical Society. Pastor Sunday Adelaja is also the Honorary Chairperson of the festival. Fred and Wilma Berry founded the .Azusa Street. .Mission. and Historical Society in 2006. The purpose of the ASMHS is to educate the public about the historical significance of the .Azusa Street. Mission.and the global Pentecostal Movement’s impact on society.

THE EMBASSY OF GOD FEATURED IN TIME MAGAZINE Time Magazine “Mind & Body Special Issue” includes The Embassy of God in their article that reviews the healing beliefs of religions around the world. The February 23rd, 2009 “Mind & Body Special Issue” of Time Magazine includes a photograph of a few Embassy of God church members, as well as the leader of the Healing ministry, Elena Nemekina, laying hands on an ailed woman. An excerpt from the article reads: “Founded 12 years ago by the Nigerian Pastor Sunday Adelaja, the Embassy of God followers receive the Holy Spirit which allows them to speak in tongues and heal with their hands. One such woman cures an ill church member.” The editorial on pages 80 to 83 of the article, “How the world heals”, by Bryan Walsh, takes a look at the healing methods and beliefs of different religions of the world, including: “Koran reading” of the Muslims, the “Holy Rock” of Shna Ndo followers in Albania, Shamanic rituals in Siberia, “Holy Dirt” in Santa Fe, the Santeria ceremony in Havana, Melasti cleansing of the Hindus, the Velacion “Candle Ceremony” in Venezuela, and the “Holy Water” of the Catholics. In this article, the Embassy of God church was privileged to be listed as the only example of the Christian-Protestant denomination that uses the power of the Holy Spirit to heal. The Embassy of God conducts healing services every Saturday afternoon in their Central church venue where hundreds may gather to worship Jesus Christ and seek His healing for their illnesses. People also receive their Divine Healing at night vigils held every night of the week, especially on Fridays when 200 to 300 people come together. Healings are not only limited to services however, but congregants also pray for the sick in their homes, on the streets, in their work places, schools and wherever they go. Pastor Sunday, during his sermons will periodically pause to release a “word of knowledge” that someone in the audience is being healed of a bodily distress. He says that he feels the pain first in his own body (or sees where the pain is) and then understands that the Holy Spirit is healing someone of this problem in the congregation. It’s interesting to see that even secular magazines, like Time, will notice the power of God in the Embassy of God church and feature the church in one of their editions. One of the largest and fastest growing churches in Europe, with over 25, 000 members and 700 daughter congregations in over 45 countries of the world, The Embassy of the Blessed Kingdom of God for all Nations church was founded by a Nigerian immigrant and former student of the Soviet Union, Sunday Adelaja. BBC profiled Pastor Sunday and Wall Street Journal called him “A Man with a Mission”. Pastor Sunday has also had the privilege of opening the US Senate, prayed at the Israeli Parliament, and is an active participant of the Clinton Global Initiative. We hope this article has been informative and will inspire you to greater heights for the Kingdom of God. May God bless and keep you as you continue in His ways! Much love, The Administration of the Embassy of God church Kiev, Ukraine