This past Saturday, the historic L.A. Coliseum — which has hosted Super Bowls and Summer Olympics, the Raiders and Rolling Stones — witnessed nearly 75,000 people of faith gathered together to worship and pray for the “rain of revival” at Azusa Now. And the rains came.

The event was hosted by TheCall, a Christian organization that, according to its website, “has gathered hundreds of thousands to the churches, fields, and stadiums of America for solemn assemblies in the spirit of Joel 2 — a summons to prayer, fasting, repentance and worship.” Broadcast live on God TV and streamed worldwide, Azusa Now featured 15 hours of speakers and music and prayer, “for the purpose of unity, miracles, healing, and the proclamation of the gospel.”

Christ for All Nations’ Daniel Kolenda was among those proclaiming the gospel, while worship was provided by Bethel Live and Eddie James among others. Over 900 churches and organizations partnered for the event.

Charisma News reports Cindy Jacobs, co-founder of Generals International, brought a roar from the stands when she proclaimed, “This is that which the prophets foretold. I’m getting ready to open up the greatest generation of young evangelists the world has ever known.”

From Azusa Street to Azuza Now

Azusa Now took its name from the 1906 Azusa Street Revival, which ignited the global Pentecostal movement from a little house just five miles from the Coliseum.

That history was not far from the mind of organizer Lou Engle of TheCall:

William Seymour, the catalyst of that great revival, prophesied in 1913 that in roughly 100 years another revival far eclipsing Azusa would come. The fulfillment of Seymour’s word is overdue … or right on schedule. Let us therefore “pray for the rain in the time of the latter rain.” Who knows? Maybe like those who were baptized in the Spirit in the original Acts 2 upper room, we will say, “This is that which was spoken by William Seymour the prophet!”

(Photo courtesy of Living Faith Christian Church)

Rain, both real and metaphorical, dominated the day. Stormy weather kept away many of the 115,000 who signed up to attend, but it could not dampen the enthusiasm of those who braved the elements. Azusa Now linked to the weekend’s United Cry DC 16 gathering of pastors in Washington, DC, creating a “bridge of prayer” across the nation.

Sounding the Shofar at Azusa Now. (Photo courtesy of Kathleen O’Donnell)

The Cry for Unity and Reconciliation

The crowd also cried out for unity in the Body of Christ. TheCall’s Rachel Holden told Christianity Daily the main goal of Azusa Now was to “begin to repair the pain, wounds, and division among different nationalities, denominations and backgrounds throughout the body of Christ. … Our daring hope for Azusa Now is that the body of Christ would begin, even in a small way, to fulfill the great prayer of Jesus in John 17, to make us one as He is one.”

Lou Engle specifically invited Catholic “brothers and sisters” from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to join the event. At one point Engle was joined by Matteo Calisi, a Roman Catholic leader and founder of United in Christ, an organization striving for ecumenism between evangelicals and Catholics. Calisi said through a translator that Jesus “doesn’t care about our differences. We’re not going to be known by our differences … but for the love we have for one another.”

He then expressed his desire to wash Engle’s feet. When that didn’t prove possible, the two men kissed each other’s feet as a gesture of reconciliation.

Unity was also demonstrated through the ethnic and racial groups who took the stage during the day, including Korean, Hispanic leaders and Messianic Jewish leaders.

“120 Drums of Thunder”

The Coliseum grounds shook with the “120 Drums of Thunder” provided by members of the nearly 75 Native American nations represented at Azusa Now. These “First Nations” people had come from across the U.S. and Canada to lead the way at Saturday’s event.

(Photo courtesy of Zac Miller)

Greg Miller is the director of Awakened, a new documentary chronicling the revival bursting out among the Navaho and First Nations tribes. He says having these first Americans so prominently featured is not to be underestimated. “This was extremely significant because they have never been given a place of honor like this before,” Miller told The Stream, “They have recognized their calling and destiny in Christ, and Lou Engle confirmed and supported that by giving them this honor.”

Miller says the drum represents the “heartbeat” of a native gathering, and playing 120 in unison requires “unity” to take place. The “120 Drums of Thunder” came in a vision to Grand Chief Lynda Prince, for “dismantling powers of darkness over the North American Continent as they played in worship to the Creator of the universe, Yahweh.”

(Photo courtesy of Zac Miller)

You can still see Azusa Now, in its entirety, courtesy of God TV: