"Although neglected in scholarly literature, the Latter Rain foreshadowed themes that emerged [in] the 1970s to the early 2000s.... Latter Rain participants - ousted by the Pentecostal denominations - became a diaspora of the Spirit" - The Cambridge Companion to Pentecostalism, 2014
don't miss a thing ...
scroll all the way to the bottom and see LARGE, hard-to-find photos of the Pembertons, Earl Lee, Mom Beall, and others!
Moses Vegh addressing the Washington for Jesus rally on the National Mall in 1980
Moses Vegh, who is the head of Ambassador Ministries, has written a new book that is not only a faith-building autobiography but it also provides some of the history of the Latter Rain Movement of 1948.
The Chronicles of Moses: Acts of an Apostolic Journey (available at Amazon.com) tells how Vegh was a teenaged preacher in the late 1940s and met a girl from the Bethesda Missionary Temple in Detroit who would later become his wife.
Betty and Moses Vegh
Moses and Betty Vegh have enjoyed 60 years of marriage and have traveled the globe preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. He pastored Hope Temple in Findlay, Ohio for 27 years and is known to many as a prophet of God. A video of one his sermons from 2012 (which includes six minutes of Latter Rain history beginning at the 18:15 mark) can be seen in its entirety below.
In The Chronicles of Moses here is what he reports about the beginning of the Latter Rain Movement of 1948:
"We had heard the report of a dedicated group of Bible students who had been gathering in a Quonset hut on an abandoned air field in North Battleford, a suburb of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Something supernatural was happening with this unusual group. We heard of the phenomenal outpouring of God's spirit upon about seventy students and teachers who had set themselves apart to fast and pray and seriously seek the Lord for a restoration of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They were given a special emphasis on the revelation of the five-fold ministry in the book of Ephesians.
"Two teachers, Ernest and George Hawtin, were brothers who led the excursion into the vast dynamism that would be poured out on them. Spontaneous revelations came to them that led them deeper than they had ever been before. The stories of divine revelation and subsequent manifestations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, including powerful healings and miracles, are now recorded history. These men of God didn't just have conferences on psychosomatic medicine. They healed the sick. They didn't just say their prayers. They really talked with God."
His book also addresses how the revival exploded in Detroit at the Bethesda Missionary Temple (Vegh was raised just across the river in Windsor, Ontario, Canada):
Mom Beall
"Pastor Beall and her family had heard of the 'Latter Rain' outpouring in Canada. The Bealls traveled to Vancouver, B. C., on the west coast of Canada where the 'Latter Rain' group from North Battleford, Saskatchewan, had gone to conduct prophetic presbytery meetings at a camp. At that meeting the word of the Lord given to 'Mom' Beall, through the prophetic presbytery, was a powerful confirmation of all that the Lord had spoken to her about the 'armory' in Detroit. She returned to her congregation with a fresh touch of God on her life, and revival broke out spontaneously in their basement church. (The new sanctuary was almost completed at that time.)
"The next Sunday, Pastor James Lee Beall, the eldest son of M. D. Beall, led the morning worship service in his customary manner. Suddenly, the whole congregation broke out in spontaneous worship with a new sound from heaven. It was the birthing of the song of the Lord. Many called it the 'heavenly choir.' After this phenomenal outpouring, a new and refreshing atmosphere of worship prevailed in every service. It was characterized by heavenly harmony. This became the hallmark of the revival which bore the title of 'Latter Rain.'"
This is just a sample of what he has to say about the Latter Rain Movement, and of course Moses' book chronicles more than just the Latter Rain Movement of 1948. His ministry has literally taken him across the globe (including meeting and praying with Boris Yeltsin!) He has rubbed shoulders with and ministered alongside not only the Bealls but also Charles Green, David Kiteley, Ern Baxter, Oral Roberts, and many, many others.
Here he describes how you should view his autobiography:
Buckingham
"I often think of our old friend Jamie Buckingham, a prolific writer and speaker, who said, 'When you see me I want you to see a bumble bee. I am like a bumble bee that flits around from flower to flower, gathering nectar, and then distilling it into honey.' I also have gathered much nectar from so many anointed teachers and inspirational writers over the years. What you are getting in these Chronicles is a distillation and compilation of so many 'bumble bee' trips."
The book does not present, though, an unbroken series of mountaintop experiences. Among the many wonderful blessings the Veghs have experienced (and there are many!), Moses also writes candidly about a "serious mistake" he made in Findlay, Ohio and also about the premature death of his gifted son Marcus.
In his endorsement of the book, the 700 Club's Pat Robertson says:
"This is a commentary on the faithfulness of God watching over His word to perform it! This is a 'must read' which I am delighted to endorse."
And in my opinion, those interested in a vibrant piece of Pentecostal and Charismatic history should definitely obtain The Chronicles of Moses: Acts of an Apostolic Journey.
[UPDATE 1/10/2014] ... friends I just learned that Moses Vegh has been diagnosed with an advanced stage cancer and is in need of everyone's prayers ... this article was posted January 4 and the news came out January 9.
[UPDATE 1/26/2014] ... Moses Vegh passed away on January 25 ... videos of the memorial service for Moses Vegh can be seen online (Part One ... Part Two) ... the service was held February 1 at Capo Beach Church in California. A 25-minute video slideshow commemorating Moses' life can be seen here.
[UPDATE 9/27/2021] ... Betty Vegh went to be with the Lord September 26, 2021.
[These remarks were written by the late Moses Vegh to honor Paul Stern after his passing in February 2013]
When I think of our beloved brother Paul, I immediately was reminded of the famous architect, Sir Christopher Wren. He was most noted for his remarkable buildings, including 52 churches that he built during the restoration of London, after the great London Fire. His greatest work was St. Paul’s Cathedral which still stands as a vital monument in London. In fact on Sir Christopher’s epitaph, inscribed in marble in the Crypt of St. Paul’s he wrote: "IF YOU SEEK MY MONUMENT LOOK ABOUT YOU!"
Eleanor and Paul Stern
So today, as we look back down memories lane, I have so many wonderful memories of Paul and Eleanor, his beloved wife. Our first encounter was when the great Latter Rain revival had drawn them to Detroit in early 1948.
We were there when they were commissioned by the word of the Lord to launch out on their missions ventures into Africa. While they were in New York waiting to board ship for Africa, Paul met Lutheran pastor Harald Bredesen (who was passing by on his bike) and ministered to him the Holy Spirit. Harald touched Pat Robertson and many other luminaries of the faith!
We reconnected many years later in Findlay, Ohio, where Paul and Eleanor came to help us lay sound foundations and introduced us to Pat Gruits' catechism. These were awesome days of growth, and we had many years of reciprocation with Paul and subsequently with all the family.
Our journeys included Nigeria, Haiti, Kenya, Congo, and Hungary. Betty and I were thrilled to have them come and live with us in Budapest as they ministered in Romania and Bulgaria. We also reached out to many of the former Soviet nations including: Moldova, and Kiev, in the Ukraine. They taught us SKIPBO!
Paul was a dear brother, always ready to share the Word. We had great times sparring in the Word, and the sparks did fly as we sharpened our axes! Paul’s magnanimous spirit always shone through.
IF you seek his monument you will find it all around you today in: his offspring a rich deposit of his faith and love for his Lord; his undying zeal to carry the Gospel to the nations; and he and Eleanor’s latter adventures in fulfilling their prophetic mandate from their early beginnings in Bethesda in Detroit.
They have opened a great King's Kids home and school in Nairobi, which is now being shepherded by Jon and Molly and a wonderful band of grands and great grands.
Multitudes have been touched by this great general in the Lord’s army, and by his seed that continues to proliferate and to bring forth much fruit in so many places.
IF you still are seeking his monument, keep looking around you from Detroit to Africa to Danville, IL, to St. Louis and Tulsa and right here in Lincoln, Nebraska. The legacy of St. Paul shines forth, and our hearts embrace you Eleanor and your great bouquet of precious sons, daughter, and a vast quiver full of arrows that are destined to hit the mark, traveling a whole lot farther than you and Paul have been.
To God be the Glory!
Revelation 14:13, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints ... that they may rest from their labors....”
The Latter Rain revival that began in North Battleford, Saskatchewan in February 1948 was refreshing and restorative. Pentecostal historian Vinson Synan explains,
The Pentecostal movement was at a low ebb in 1948, with a growing dryness and lack of charismatic gifts. Many who heard about the events in Canada believed that it was a new Azusa Street, with many healings, tongues and prophecies (emphasis mine; quote is from An Eyewitness Remembers the Century of the Holy Spirit).
Ernest Gentile
Ernest Gentile is a veteran author, pastor, and prophet (M. D. Beall referred to him as "a seer"), and summarizes well what is meant when we read about prophecy in the New Testament:
"Explained simply, prophecy occurs when a prophetically inspired person extends his or her faith like a spiritual antenna, receives some divine thoughts from God and then speaks them forth by the power of the Holy Spirit to an individual or group for the glory of God" (from Your Sons & Daughters Shall Prophesy: Prophetic Gifts in Ministry Today).
Gentile's book is a tremendous resource. In the book's foreward, the late C. Peter Wagner wrote, "Your Sons and Daughters Shall Prophesy is one of a kind - a book that anyone who wants to be thoroughly informed about prophetic ministry today should read and digest. It is loaded with excellent research on biblical foundations, prophecy through Church history and the prophetic movement today."
Gentile, who co-pastors in New Mexico with his wife Anna, has also helpfully made available free of charge a 10-page compendium of prophecy references in the New Testament. That document can be accessed at this link.
"Local church prophecy springs from the same anointing and inspiration that causes a person to speak in tongues," Gentile writes in Your Sons & Daughters. "Fluency in personal, devotional 'spiritual language' greatly facilitates the ability to experience inspiration and speak with prophetic unction. Tongues and prophecy are closely allied and have an overlapping effect, since they are both inspired utterance."
Many Christians have been taught to be wary of the type of prophecy that was restored in the Latter Rain revival - the type that Gentile is talking about. Their teachers have told them that it is dangerous because, among other things, it is an attempt to add to God's Word, the Bible. In the following three-paragraph passage from Your Sons & Daughters, Gentile pastorally corrects this erroneous thinking,
I contend (here and throughout the book) that we should expect actual prophecy - that is, direct statements of God's immediate thoughts for a given situation and people, delivered under the impetus of the Holy Spirit. The prophetic anointing brings an electrifying, edifying effect not achievable with ordinary preaching and teaching.
Prophecy comes as a "now word," the present expression of a contemporary God who is truly present and concerned. The truths and principles of the Scripture suddenly focus on a specific audience at a specific place at a specific time. This was brought home to me when a teenage girl told me after a prophetic service in her Oklahoma City church, "Although I've gone to church, I never realized before that God was really that interested in me...."
Prophecy is not meant to replace or supersede the Bible, but when used properly it does make Bible truths more relatable by awakening people to realize God is interested in them, both now and in their future.
Charles Green speaking a Word
A prophecy I heard back in the mid-1970s in New Orleans, Louisiana illustrates perfectly what Gentile is saying. It was at a convention at Word of Faith Temple, pastored by Charles Green.
The prophecy was not a recitation of the events of Luke 5:1-11, but the prophecy's theme was based in that Biblical passage. With many pastors present in the large gathering, Green prophesied to the effect that: many ministers had toiled all night and were discouraged ... and wondered if they should give up their nets ... but the Word of the Lord was coming to them that they should launch out into the deep and let down their nets ... because the Lord was going to give them a great catch (I have not put any part of my greatly-abbreviated account of the prophecy in quotes, and have had to make use of ellipses because four decades later I cannot quote it verbatim, but its highlights, eloquence, and dynamism remain with me to this day - and, no doubt, also to any pastors who came to the convention discouraged but went home and experienced a "harvest" of souls).
In that prophecy, Pastor Green was not in any way adding to the Word of God, but the Spirit was inspiring him to link Luke 5 to the situation of discouraged pastors present. In effect, the same words that motivated Peter to "launch out into the deep [waters]" were now being used to motivate and re-energize a specific group of 20th-century pastors for their task.
Here are links to two more prophecies given by ministers with Latter Rain revival backgrounds (just as Gentile and Green have):
In addition to congregational prophecy, personal prophecy (as in I Timothy 4:14) was restored during the Latter Rain revival. Commenting on the initial Latter Rain outbreak at the church M. D. Beall pastored (Bethesda Missionary Temple), the pastor's daughter, Patricia Beall Gruits, wrote, "Although there had been a revival that began years earlier at Bethesda, this Sunday [December 5, 1948] marked the beginning of what would be known as a Latter Rain Revival - a revival marked by a new sound of worship and the laying on of hands with prophecy" (included in her mother's memoir, A Hand on My Shoulder).
Three examples of this type of prophecy, delivered in prophetic presbyteries, are included below:
Charles Green and David Schoch both delivered prophecies at Bible Temple in Portland, Oregon back in 1973 that dramatically underscore the validity and blessing of prophecy (today, Bible Temple is known as City Bible Church).
Dick Iverson was senior pastor of Bible Temple and president of Portland Bible College at the time and in his book, The Journey: A Lifetime of Prophetic Moments, he recounts how Green had prophesied that Bible Temple should begin a much-needed building project. However, Iverson and his congregation did not seem to be able to get the project off the ground. The following lengthy quote from the book picks up the story where Schoch arrives and was prompted to give a follow-up prophecy to Green's.
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.
Brother Schoch had also prophesied that we were to go back and listen to what God had previously said, and, when we did go back to Charles Green's prophetic word we found it very interesting. The word of the Lord that came through Brother Green was that we were to rise and build for the Lord was going to make us a praise in the city. We then realized our searching for acreage outside the city limits had not been intended by the Lord. We were to be a praise in the city! So we committed ourselves to building where we were.
We immediately launched a fund raising project and began to buy up other properties in the general area, both for parking and for the Bible college. We also began to draw up plans for a new auditorium to seat fifteen hundred people (in The Journey: A Lifetime of Prophetic Moments).
Finally, in the videos below, David Cannistraci and Robert Morris give teachings on prophecy.
Vegh wedding 1953 Tue, Sep 15, 1953 – 23 · The Windsor Star (Windsor, Ontario, Canada) · Newspapers.com
Vegh with John Lloyd (1990) 11 Aug 1990, Sat Tampa Bay Times (St. Petersburg, Florida) Newspapers.com
Moses Vegh, Dean Demos (1978) 09 Sep 1978, Sat The Windsor Star (Windsor, Ontario, Canada) Newspapers.com
Moses Vegh begins Hungarian ministry (Nov 1990) 24 Nov 1990, Sat The Lima News (Lima, Ohio) Newspapers.com
Moses Vegh at Shiloh (May 1988) 14 May 1988, Sat Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California) Newspapers.com
Moses Vegh (Nov 1992) 14 Nov 1992, Sat Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California) Newspapers.com
