Azusa Revival in Indonesia

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More than 75,000 people gathered in Jakarta, Indonesia, for the first international Azusa Street Centennial event, which followed an April observance in Los Angeles. Held Sept. 29-30, the Indonesia meeting not only celebrated 100 years of Pentecostalism worldwide and the movement’s 85 years in Indonesia, but it also brought unity among the Pentecostal churches in the country, organizers said. During the ceremony, the nation’s two largest Pentecostal denominations—the Pentecostal Church of Indonesia and the Bethel Church of Indonesia, which have a combined membership of 8 million people—vowed to demonstrate a new level of cooperation and unity. The two-day event also included a parade of delegates representing more than 70 Pentecostal denominations. There were 250 tambourine dancers dressed in native costumes, 2,000 children displaying national colors in an Olympic-style show, praise and worship, and preaching. “As I ministered during the evening program and extended an invitation for participants to receive salvation, several thousand stood and prayed to receive the Lord as Savior,” said the Rev. William Wilson, executive director of the Azusa Street Centennial and president of the Center for Spiritual Renewal based in Cleveland, Tenn. “This was one of the largest one-time harvests in my ministry. I was grateful and humbled to be involved.” Pentecostalism is said to be the fastest growing Christian movement in Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population.

Study Finds Pentecostalism Is Fastest Growing Segment of Christianity

A recent 10-nation study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that about a quarter of the world’s 2 billion Christians are part of the Pentecostal-charismatic movement. Researchers said "renewalists," which the study used to classify both Pentecostal and similar charismatic groups, was the fastest growing segment of Christians across the globe. The 10 nations included in the study were Brazil, Chile, United States, Guatemala, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, India, Philippines and South Korea. In six of the 10 countries surveyed, renewalists made up a majority of the Protestant population. The study also noted that renewalists typically attend religious services more than once a week and are more likely to pray and read their Bibles daily when compared to non-renewalist Christians. Many have witnessed or experienced divine healing, received direct revelation from God and seen or experienced deliverance from demonic spirits. Researchers said they were surprised to find that in six of the nations surveyed, at least 40 percent of Pentecostals said they do not speak in tongues, leading some to question whether tongues is becoming less of a Pentecostal distinction.

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