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I Will
Build My Church
How the
Lord built the
Emmanuel
Pentecostal Church
Elizabeth,
New Jersey
by Anna
Kalis
for the Thirtieth
Anniversary of the church.
After
having labored for the Lord
in Elizabeth, New Jersey, for
seven years, the Lord brought
about a change in our ministry.
So it was that in the early
months of 1936, He impressed
us with the great need of a
Pentecostal work in the downtown
section of Elizabeth, known
as Elizabethport, an area composed
of a great mass of common people.
Then, as we waited upon the
Lord about this leading, in
one of our morning worship periods
He gave us the verse: ""The
hand of the Lord was with them:
and a great umber believed,
and turned unto the Lord"
(Acts
11:21). Repeatedly the Spirit
of the Lord brought this scripture
to our hearts and we claimed
it for this needy field.
Here
indeed was a great, neglected
area with many souls - fine,
common people! And
as we thought of them, we remembered
Mark 12:37 where it says that
"the common people heard
Jesus gladly!" Wouldn't
they hear His voice again if
we went out in His name? This
section had plenty of religion,
but so little true Christianity!
Our desire was to set up a little
lighthouse that would guide
wayfaring soul - not to a new
religion, but to a Divine Person,
even the Lord Jesus Christ,
who desires to show them the
wonderful path of life which
"shineth more and more
unto the perfect day!"
After
considerable prayer over this
important move, the Lord made
us know that He was sending
us forth. He was sending us
into this place because sin
and the devil were there and
because there were needy souls
whom He loved greatly. This
was the call over our lives!
And with this call, He commissioned
us with this specific word:
"I want
you to do things; I want you
to do things for Me."
So we
launched forth on His command
and promise to seek a place
of worship. My husband looked
at several buildings but nothing
seemed suitable. He realized
we needed Divine guidance for
the right place and claimed
the promise that God would direct
His paths. Then one day while
peering into the window of a
dingy store building that he
thought might do as a beginning,
someone tapped him on the shoulder.
Turning around, he saw it was
one of the brethren of our congregation.
"Come, Brother Kalis, I'll
show you a real place! So it
was he took him to a beautiful,
empty, brick, bank building,
located in the best part of
Elizabethport, at the corner
of East Jersey and Third Streets.
Upon enquiry we found the terms
of the sales were most satisfactory.
Instinctively we knew this was
the Lord's place.
This
bank building had been empty
for four years. Many had laid
up their treasures in this earthly
bank, but early in the Depression
it had failed and now their
money was gone! Some of our
own group had lost their earthly
possessions in it and felt they
had a little "claim"
on the place. Our little group
was thrilled over this miracle.
Every one was of one heart and
mind, eager to put his one talent
to use for the Kingdom. Needless
to say, everything had to be
scrubbed for "there was
much rubbish," but we had
an enthusiastic little group
of young folk that donned their
work clothes, brought their
scrub pails, and sang lustily
- "To the Work"! The
windows were replaced with stained
glass; a platform was built;
a stairway was cut.
Every
day brought a new manifestation
of God's working with us! He
was interested in the "little
things" and helped us so
often! The Lord sent us a painter
who did a real professional
job on the place. He was so
impressed by the joy of all
the workers and confessed he
had never seen anything to equal
it. And he asked us to pray
for him.
Our floor
was part marble and part wood,
and the brethren wondered what
to do. This problem was quickly
solved when we were offered
a two-thousand-dollar carpet
for about five hundred dollars!
It had been reclaimed, due to
default of payment, after being
used for only thirty days! This
gave us wall to wall carpeting
for our main auditorium and
also for the upper room a fine-sized
room for prayer meetings.
Every
day at work also brought added
spiritual blessing to the diligent
workers, for the love of Jesus
burned in each heart and automatically
they fulfilled the command,
"Whatsoever thy hand findeth
to do, do it with thy might!"
This was no chore to theses
young people, for they were
in their first love and felt
like Jacob of old, when he served
for Rachel, "It seemed
but a day!"
But what
was to be done with the bank
vault which was encased in three
feet of solid concrete? Nothing
for the present, but some time
later it was converted into
a baptistry, one of the largest
of its kind, and probably there
is not another one like it.
A neon cross - something quite
new and unusual in those days
- with the church name - Emmanuel
- was installed
above the entrance.
The day
of dedication arrived - Sunday,
March 14, 1936. The auditorium
was full - not an empty seat,
but, more important, it was
evident as the service opened
that indeed God was with us
- Emmanuel! And the marked presence
of the Lord made us one. At
first, we all wept. Then His
presence became so precious
that we just sat in awesome
wonder. After this, the glory
of the Lord fell upon us and
great liberty came over the
entire congregation so "that
in His temple every one spoke
of His glory!" The testimonies
were inspiring, and we were
assured that Jesus had started
a good work this day and would
also finish it! The evening
service was very precious, and
we were blessed with Brother
Gottfried Waldvogel's ministry
who encouraged us to pray and
"march forward."
The building
was there, many nice tan and
grey brick,s but that was not
the church, for the church is
comprised of living
stones.
Now it was our job to pray,
to witness, and to have faith
that Jesus would build the church.
One of
the first stones which the Lord
dug out of this Elizabethport
quarry was dear Mrs. Mason.
She had lost her husband at
sea, and after a long procedure,
the insurance company mailed
her a check which was quite
large, to help her with her
six children. As she wanted
to be sure of the safety of
the check, she hurried to deposit
it in the nearest bank - "People's
Banking and Trust - Corner East
Jersey and Third Streets."
The stately gentleman who waited
on her asked her to take a seat
for a while. He was gone a long
time. When he returned, he said,
"Yes, lady, the check is
good, but I would like to advise
you not to deposit it here."
Mrs. Mason was baffled! First
time she had ever heard of a
bank not taking a good check
for deposit! But she obeyed
and went home. The next morning
the headlines of the Elizabeth
Journal told
the story: People's
Banking and Trust Company Fails!
Now
she understood! The Lord had
His eye on this widow and protected
her! She had been raised in
the Church of England and had
the fear of the Lord in her
heart, and the Lord had watched
over her! From that time on
she always loved that building!
Imagine her joy when years later
she became a living stone, the
same place became her spiritual
home, and she became a joyful
depositor in the bank of heaven.
Today, "Nanny Mason"
is 77 - her love for Jesus increases
- and every one says, "I
wouldn't mind getting old if
I could be like Nanny Mason."
The Lord
was with us as we went out to
canvas the neighborhood for
boys and girls. My brother Frank
Posta, came to help us in the
work. The Lord had laid the
Sunday School upon his heart
mainly. During this time the
Lord blessed us with boys and
girls that knew nothing about
Jesus. It was a great joy to
minister to these precious hearts.
There
is nothing that can quite take
the place of working with "lively
stones." Their simplicity
of faith and trust is surely
rewarding! No wonder Jesus said,
"Forbid them not, for of
such is the Kingdom of Heaven."
We would have missed almost
everything if it had not been
for boys and girls. They have
added spice to our life, and
also have added big folk (their
parents) as some more of the
"living stones" of
the church.
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