David Schoch, a prophet of God

If there's one thing the Latter Rain Movement of 1948 is known for - it's prophecy (but, of course, there is more than one thing!) The LRM was used to restore to the Church the kind of prophecy that strengthens, encourages, and comforts (1 Cor. 14:3) and the kind that confirms gifting in a person's life (1 Tim. 4:14).

The late David Schoch (1920-2007) was a man used mightily in both forms and had a most effective ministry for decades.

Charisma magazine's obituary reads this way:

"David E. Schoch, a prophetic minister who became prominent in the Latter Rain movement of the 1950s and 1960s, died July 19 in his Benbrook, Texas home. Schoch founded what is now known as City at the Cross in Long Beach, Calif., and ministered around the world during 60 years of ministry.... He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Audene; a brother, daughter, son, eight grand children and five great grandchildren."

Schoch experienced the Latter Rain Movement at Immanuel Temple in Los Angeles (pastored by A. Earl Lee) back in 1948. Then in July 1950 he had this dramatic experience at Immanuel Temple:

"A prophet from Ireland named Adam McKeown was in the congregation on the morning that the Lord spoke to us. Pastor [Fred] Poole was speaking. There were about a thousand people in that morning service. The word of the Lord came to this Irish prophet, who began to call different ones by name and he set them into office. I didn't know this man and he didn't know me, but God knows who you are. All of a sudden the word of the Lord came, and he called my name. He didn't even mispronounce it.


McKeown and Poole

"He said, 'I've called my servant David Schoch to be a prophet to the nations, and I'm setting him apart and calling him out from secular life.' And then he prophesied something that was completely a surprise to me. He said that when I was born, my mother had received a phenomenal visitation which had to do with my calling and my ministry. I questioned him, asking whether he had any understanding or any knowledge of what he had prophesied. He said that is all he had received from the Lord. After the prophetic word came, they set us aside and ordained us to the ministry of the Lord.

"I took this man, Brother McKeown, home with me at one in the morning. I awakened my mother, who was living in Pasadena, and said, 'I must talk to you.' She said, 'Alright.' Then I brought Brother McKeown in, and I said to her, 'Tell me what happened when I was born. Did God visit you? Was there something that happened to you concerning my birth?' And my mother started to cry. She said, 'Who told you? I have said nothing to anyone except your father.' My father had died about three years prior to that. I explained to her how the word of the Lord had come to Brother McKeown. Then she told me about a vision God had given her in relationship to the call of God. I prefer to leave that just between the Lord and myself." [Schoch's full account - with much more detail about the LRM at Immanuel Temple - can be read on John Adams' blog, Latter Rain Movement).

Schoch's Pentecostal roots go all the way back to Azusa Street as his parents were baptized in the Spirit in that revival. His brothers Ray and Paul were also Full Gospel preachers.

Adam McKeown's word to David Schoch definitely came to pass as Schoch went on to become a

Dick Iverson and David Schoch

prophet renowned for his accuracy and integrity. Sadly that cannot be said of everyone that prophesied back then. Dick Iverson, the founder of Bible Temple and Portland Bible College in Oregon, wrote the following:

"David Schoch ... and Pastor Reg Layzell ... were two sincere men of God who came out of the 'latter rain' movement dedicated to protecting and keeping pure the fruit of that outpouring. While others twisted, distorted, and indulged in various chicanery, these men among a handful of others, preserved the essence of the Holy Spirit's great gifting" (The Journey: A Lifetime of Prophetic Moments)

Schoch was not a minister who just gave prophetic utterances, though - the man could preach! But often as he paced back and forth across a platform boldly proclaiming the word of God he would suddenly stop and say something like, "If you'll permit me - I've got a word for this couple ... seated right back there behind the man with the yellow shirt ... yes, you - the Lord says ....", and then he would go on to spell out what the Lord was showing him.

Sue Curran

Sue Curran, who founded Shekinah Church in Blountville, Tennessee in 1973 with her husband John, knows that experience:

"We were still in the earliest stage of developing our property and constructing our buildings, and we had only a small congregation working with us. John and I went for a visit to the church in Virginia Beach, pastored by our friends, John and Anne Gimenez. It turned out to be a fortuitous visit, indeed.

"We were entirely incognito in the congregation while Prophet David Schoch was ministering. We had not been introduced. Suddenly, he interrupted his message to point to my husband and me, and he began to speak to us personally in an authoritative, yet comforting, voice. I will never forget his words:

I have a word for the young couple that is standing near the drummer boy. You have begun a work that is very unusual. It is a church, but more than a church. You have land and buildings ... it is more like a community. And the Lord wants you to know that when you return to your charge you will find that He is sending responsible people to help with your ministry. You will find that he has gone before you to prepare for every need. It's going to be a new day for you from this moment.

"That prophetic word of encouragement began to be fulfilled shortly after we returned to our home, and it has continued to be true to this day. God sent professional people who embraced the vision, helping with their skills and financial resources, as well as with their commitment to prayer and to living the commandments of Jesus.

"From that time, Prophet David Schoch and his wife, Audene, became personal friends who ministered with us in conferences and mentored us. We grew to deeply appreciate the accurate, godly prophetic ministry of David Schoch that edified our lives and ministry. Some in our congregation have described his godly character as liquid love flowing over every life he touched, bringing the healing power of God to them" (Define Your Destiny Through Prayer: Your Journey to Divine Revelation).

Once at the Bethesda Missionary Temple during the dark days of recession early in Ronald Reagan's presidency, Schoch challenged the leaders and congregation to band together in intercessory prayer every Sunday morning until the economic stranglehold on Detroit was broken. That was in November 1982 - the very month that economists like Jimmy Pethokoukis tell us the Reagan Recovery began.

In 1961, a young man named Dennis Balcombe believed that the Lord told him that he was going to be used in ministry in Red China - remember that was 1961 he heard that! The prospects for ministry in Red China were not very promising in 1961, not very promising at all.

Two years later, Balcombe started attending the church David Schoch pastored in Long Beach, which was then called, Bethany Chapel:

"The Bethany church conducted occasional prophecy sessions during which prophets would take turns to pray over individuals according to the word they received from the Lord. In one such meeting a prophet said that I had been called 'into full-time ministry'; a second one noted that I was 'to leave the United States and go overseas.' Yet another added that I would be 'ministering to people who have yellow skin and black hair.' And then David Schoch prophesied, 'I see this young man is going to Red China.' What confirmations! Pastor Schoch went on to release spiritual gifts into my life, gifts that included prophecy, healing, and words of knowledge."

In 1966, Balcombe was drafted in the U. S. Army, which was then engaged in the Vietnam War.

"Before I left Long Beach for my inductive courses, David Schoch delivered another prophetic prayer over me, 'You will go [to Vietnam] and you will come back because God is going to send you to Red China to preach the gospel. Not one hair on your head will be harmed'" (China's Opening Door: Incredible Stories of the HOLY SPIRIT at Work in One of the Greatest Revivals in Christianity).

In 1978, Balcombe did begin ministering in Red China! You can hear Dennis tell that wonderful story in this video (including the David Schoch part of the story).

Lastly - though there would be no difficulty writing more - there is the startling word Schoch gave to Dick Iverson's Portland, Oregon church years ago. Iverson writes:

"David Schoch came to Bible Temple for our 'prophetic assembly' in April, 1973, and one morning when he began to prophesy, his word was almost a rebuke to us. 'Rise up and don't profane my word. Knock out these four walls and build as I said.' Then he prophesied that we should go back and listen to what the Lord had already said to us.

"Even as he spoke I thought to myself, 'There's no way we can knock out these four walls.' We had attempted to buy the remaining land behind us and to the side of us but it was not available. Now the Lord was saying to rise up and knock out the four walls.

"Brother Schoch continued, 'Even now the walls are falling.' I thought to myself, 'I sure hope you are in the Spirit, Brother Schoch, because there's no way we can build any more here.' Also, I worried that what he'd said would bring confusion to the people who had supported my efforts to buy out in the suburbs.

"The very same day of the prophecy, one of the Bible college students came to me and said, 'You know, the home that joins our property in the back of the building?' I said, 'Yes,' knowing it quite well as that particular piece of property was critical if we were ever to build more in that neighborhood. The house was on a very large lot and I'd tried to buy it many times. However, since the owners hated the church, they had absolutely refused to sell.

"'Well,' the student went on, 'last night something strange happened. We heard this loud crash like a car wreck and when we went outside to investigate, we discovered that the retaining wall on that property had fallen down.'

"The full length of that retaining wall which had stood in front of the house for probably fifty or sixty years had fallen over onto the sidewalk for no apparent reason. Suddenly I remembered the prophecy, 'even now the walls are falling.' And, of course, the prophet had spoken with no knowledge of what was going on outside.

"I went back into the office and asked our administrator, Warren Steele, to write a check for ten thousand dollars. He looked at me with amazement and said we didn't have ten thousand dollars in the bank. I told him to write the check anyway and I would make sure it was covered. I knew the Holy Spirit had spoken to us and that God was doing something supernatural.

"I walked over to the neighbor's house and knocked on the door. I'd talked to him many times in the past, and he'd always mocked the church while refusing to sell. This time, though, when he came to the door and I asked him again he agreed to sell. Of course, he wanted more than it was worth - fifty thousand - but I gave him the ten thousand as earnest money and within thirty days we'd raised the additional forty thousand from among the congregation. The wall falling down as confirmation of the prophetic word was a rather dramatic testimony as to what the Lord wanted us to do." (The Journey: A Lifetime of Prophetic Moments)

Now, it may appear that I have taken up quite a bit of space merely writing about a man - David Schoch - and the gift of prophecy. That perception will get you accused in some quarters of "lifting up Man" and "being more focused on gifts than on Jesus". To those prone to leveling such criticism, I would gently remind that:

"It was he [Jesus] who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers" (Eph. 4:11, NIV)

and

"the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (Rev. 19:10, NIV).

We praise God for all that he is ... and we thank him for his gifts!

[The video below has the audio of David Schoch prophesying and preaching at Gospel Temple in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the church founded by Fred C. Poole who was mentioned above. This recording, though, was made in 1967 after Fred Poole was deceased and his son John was the pastor. NOTE: the video is distorted in some places, but the distortion does not last long.]

Schoch and Spiers - Latter Rain rally with Layzell ... 1951 · Wed, Aug 29, 1951 – Page 7 · The Chilliwack Progress (Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada) · Newspapers.com David Schoch, Omar Johnson, Max Wyatt (1952) 14 Nov 1952, Fri The Capital Journal (Salem, Oregon) Newspapers.com Poole, Fox, the Schochs, Kelso Glover (Sept 1958) 27 Sep 1958, Sat Independent (Long Beach, California) Newspapers.com David Schoch at Elim (Jul 1959) 04 Jul 1959, Sat Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, New York) Newspapers.com 1964 CONVENTION - Fox, Gentile, and Schoch 31 Oct 1964, Sat The San Bernardino County Sun (San Bernardino, California) Newspapers.com Beall and Gentile w/Schoch (Oct 1969) 04 Oct 1969, Sat Press-Telegram (Long Beach, California) Newspapers.com 3 Schoch brothers together (1970) 27 Jun 1970, Sat Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California) Newspapers.com Charles Green, Leonard Fox, David Schoch (Oct 1975) 11 Oct 1975, Sat The San Bernardino County Sun (San Bernardino, California) Newspapers.com Presbytery convention - Layzell, Schoch, Schuetz (Dec 1976) 04 Dec 1976, Sat Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California) Newspapers.com Pemberton, Schoch, Lea, Boschman, Flowers (Jul 1980) 19 Jul 1980, Sat Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, Texas) Newspapers.com David Schoch in Arizona in 1981 18 Apr 1981, Sat Arizona Republic (Phoenix, Arizona) Newspapers.com Schoch "modern day apostle and prophet" ... Boschmans ... Joseph and Florence Rowe (1983) 14 May 1983, Sat The Sun (Biloxi, Mississippi) Newspapers.com Beall, Meares, Schoch in Charlotte (Oct 1986) 11th anniversary 11 Oct 1986, Sat The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, North Carolina) Newspapers.com Paino, Schoch in Nashville (Apr 1987) 04 Apr 1987, Sat The Tennessean (Nashville, Tennessee) Newspapers.com Schoch in MS (1988) 12 Mar 1988, Sat Hattiesburg American (Hattiesburg, Mississippi) Newspapers.com Hayford with LR ministers (Jan 1988) 20 Jan 1988, Wed Monrovia News-Post (Monrovia, California) Newspapers.com David Schoch and H. L. Chesser ministering in NY (1999) 04 Aug 1999, Wed Star-Gazette (Elmira, New York) Newspapers.com

Thomas Wyatt's multi-faceted ministry

Thomas Wyatt

In his book, All Things Are Possible: the Healing and Charismatic Revivals in Modern America, David Harrell Jr. wrote that in 1948 Thomas Wyatt "predicted the coming of a great revival."

No small thing that prediction, because Wyatt was, of course, aware that there was already revival underway in America. The healing revival, seen in the ministries of William Branham and others, was already making a significant impact.

But, Wyatt was correct, another revival - that would run parallel to the healing revival - was about to make its own impact. In February of 1948, the initial explosion and refreshing from that revival happened in North Battleford, Saskatchewan. Next was Edmonton in October, then Vancouver in November. Pastor Myrtle Beall was in the meetings in Vancouver, and when she returned to her church in Detroit, the revival detonated there in December.

The church Wyatt pastored in Portland, Oregon - Wings of Healing Temple - would also experience the refreshing of the Latter Rain Revival (as it came to be known) when the leadership from North Battleford ministered there in 1949.

George Hawtin

"When [George Hawtin and others from North Battleford] arrived on February twenty four, they found awaiting them some ninety ministers, who had come from Montana, Iowa, Kansas, Texas, California, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Washington, and Canada," Bill Faupel writes. "They had planned to stay four days but found themselves still there three weeks later. Wyatt had a radio program that went out on a network of 64 stations. From that vantage point, word of the revival began to saturate the country" (from D. William Faupel's dissertation, The Everlasting Gospel: The Significance of Eschatology in the Development of Pentecostal Thought, 1989).

Wyatt (1891 - 1964) served the Church in many capacities in the course of his decades-long ministry - radio broadcaster, pastor, evangelist, head of a Bible institute, and international missionary. The radio broadcast, like his church, was called Wings of Healing and it grew to the point that he was able to get on the Mutual Radio Network in 1953, which gave him coast-to-coast coverage of the nation.

The Voice of Healing website says, "Thomas Wyatt may well be regarded as the unsung hero of the healing movement as he remains to this day one of the least known and least documented healing evangelists.

"In truth his ministry preceded all of the major healing ministries and outlasted all but a few. He received the baptism in the Holy Spirit in the 1930s and immediately launched a ministry of pioneer evangelism."

The March 1948 issue of The Foursquare Magazine gave this report concerning recent events at the Stockton (California) Foursquare Church, "Following the dedication services of December 18 a week revival with Dr. Thomas Wyatt of Portland, Oregon was launched. Miracles of apostolic days were the order of the week. Among the scores of miraculous healings which God performed was the instantaneous healing of a Stockton man who had not walked for two years. The man - a Roman Catholic - had spent $20,000 in the last two years to hospitals and doctors. He was carried into the building and when prayed for immediately stood up and walked. Well known in the city[,] the miracle is a tremendous testimony to the healing power of God. Two girls who were deaf and dumb were delivered and many other wonderful healings of internal diseases were manifested. A real revival spirit is sweeping the church and greater are anticipated in the future."

Hugh and Audrey Layzell, in their book, Sons of His Purpose, add, "He was known as an Apostle of Faith, and his message of faith and healing stirred everyone's faith for the signs, which Jesus promised would follow the preaching of the gospel."

Despite that emphasis in his ministry, when Wyatt experienced the Latter Rain Revival he decided to join forces with M. D. Beall, Stanley Frodsham, Fred Poole, and others who had experienced the revival (see the list of contributing editors to the Latter Rain Evangel, displayed on the right).

Faupel points out that Wyatt was asked to give the concluding message in 1950 at the first national Latter Rain convention in St. Louis.

"He disclosed that God had revealed to him it was His desire to bring this Latter Rain outpouring, not only to the North American continent, but to the ends of the earth. Wyatt's message deeply stirred the audience. By the end of the convention, teams of the revival's leaders made plans for missionary crusades to the Holy Land, India, Japan, and Latin America" (from Faupel's dissertation).

Paul Cannon, who graduated from Wyatt's Bethesda Bible Institute in 1953, went on to minister in Ghana and Nigeria. He says this about Wyatt's mission strategy in Africa,

"Dr. Wyatt's vision was to send out 'Invasion Teams' to be as shock troops, demonstrating the power of the gospel with signs, wonders, and miracles. This was to form a beachhead and get the attention of the nation. We would war a war of amazing kindness, demonstrating our love and concern for each member of the body of Christ.This would be done by sending out people two by two just as the Lord Jesus did in the Bible. To start, each team would be made up of one young minister and one older and seasoned minister with a proven record for a while then the young ones were to be put together to carry it on a month later. We believed that this is what the Apostle Paul did" (Paul Cannon in To Redeem a Land: the Story of How the Gospel Came to West Africa).

It's all well and good, of course, to adhere to scriptures and to have strategies. But, in the end, we must consider outcomes. In Thomas Wyatt's case, there were, praise the Lord, great outcomes.

Fred Poole, who pastored a church in Philadelphia, traveled with Wyatt to Nigeria in 1953 and the following is part of the account he wrote,

"On Monday morning we left for Lagos, Nigeria. We drove into the city of Accra, from which point we took our plane for Lagos. We were hailed with a great shout of praise. There were some of the African Pastors who had seen our car and they began to shout and praise God at the top of their voices...The day before, that was just a week after we had left Accra, God had moved as these Africans took up the message of deliverance, and they said that 250 people had been saved in the Sunday morning service, and on the same night there were 30 cases of definite miracles that were reported by the newspapers. Oh how we praised God. The revival still goes on.

"When we arrived in Lagos, we were met by a grand company of missionaries and African pastors and workers. Their expectation was high and they believed God for a mighty visitation. We only had one night there and both Dr. Wyatt and I were almost too tired to do anything. However, we both ministered and then as Dr. Wyatt prayed the prayer of faith, a young Mohammedan man, who had been injured falling from a high building three years previously, was instantly healed. His testimony was that he had been under the care of many specialists in the hospitals but they had failed to help him. They had sent him out eventually with braces around him and he walked with the aid of crutches. Never in all my life have I witnessed anything like it. The young man had never been in a Protestant meeting in his life. He had never seen anyone shaken by the power of God; but as he received the word of faith, he was made to stand on his feet. The Holy Spirit literally shook him from head to foot. He trembled all over; then with a look of amazement and wonder, he started to walk and shout and jump. He took off his braces and began to bend over and touch his toes, shouting and praising God. He was also saved and filled with the Holy Spirit" (Fred Poole in "Signs and Wonders" in Latter Rain Evangel, Volume 2, Number 7, May 1953).

Max Wyatt

His son, Max Wyatt, was also a pastor and missionary.

"Max was a teacher in the Bethesda Bible Institute [in Portland]; an auxiliary speaker on the Wings of Healing broadcast and was the founder and pastor of Faith Tabernacle in Salem, Oregon," Paul Cannon wrote. "He was one of the finest preachers that I have ever known and a tremendous man of God with a marvelous prophetic mantle. He was easy to get along with and found great joy in seeing young ministers excel" (Cannon in To Redeem a Land).

In 1956, Max took over his father's pastorate at Wings of Healing Temple in Portland.

Thomas Wyatt died April 19, 1964 at the age of 72. His grandson, Thomas R. Wyatt, has a ministry of his own called Wings of Healing.

Wyatt begins radio program .. former farmer (April 12, 1942) Tue, Apr 14, 1942 – 4 · Greater Oregon (Albany, Oregon) · Newspapers.com 1952 - Wyatt, Grubb, Frodsham · Sat, Aug 30, 1952 – Page 4 · The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) · Newspapers.com Thomas Wyatt to LA, Max stays in Portland (Nov 1959) Sun, Nov 15, 1959 – 48 · The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) · Newspapers.com