The 1st AG Missionary

At the turn of the 20^th Century, the world witnessed the fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit, in what has come to be known as the Pentecostal Revival. Azusa Street became the launching pad of a world-wide outpouring from which the Assemblies of God emerged in 1914. The revival was characterized by speaking in tongues and the gifts of the Spirit, but this was frowned on as heretical by the other churches at that time. The Pentecostals found fellowship among each other with rapid growth, there was need for organization and accountability, for a basis for fellowship and doctrinal stability, and a need to coordinate the missionary effort. This brought together approximately 300 founding fathers and mothers from diverse Pentecostal groups in what became the first General Council of the Assemblies of God. This group met from 2^nd to 12^th April 1914, at Hotsprings Arkansas, USA.

In 1916, the General Council approved the Statement of Fundamental Truths, which is the basis of fellowship even today in the World-wide fellowship of the Assemblies of God.

A young missionary couple, William D Grier and his wife, who had arrived in Ceylon the previous year, and were serving in Kandy were part of the founding group of the Assemblies of God. Thus their work in Ceylon commenced at the same time as the parent body in USA, and is seen as the beginning of the Assemblies of God work in Sri Lanka.

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