A year later, Aimee began to hemorrhage internally, leading to an emergency hysterectomy that didn’t go well. In 1912 she married Harold McPherson and gave birth to a son in 1913. Aimee survived, giving birth to a baby girl six weeks after burying her husband on foreign soil. Within months, they both contracted malaria, to which Robert succumbed. In 1910, newlyweds Robert and Aimee Semple sailed for Hong Kong to serve as missionaries. Later known as Sister, McPherson is regarded as a spiritual mother of the modern Pentecostal movement.Īt a young age, McPherson faced several serious struggles. While unorthodox, McPherson overcame various trials to become a pioneer evangelist and pastor, an activist for social justice and compassion, and the founder of the Foursquare Church. The 25-year-old preacher was Aimee Semple McPherson, a young mother and widow who had remarried. Many were convicted, weeping and giving their hearts to the Lord. By the end of the week, the crowd had grown to 500. Soon the meetings were pushed out onto the lawn to accommodate everyone. They arrived by foot, horseback, wagon, and bicycle. They came dressed in overalls and in their Sunday best.

The next night the crowd had multiplied, with people standing outside the mission to hear her preach. That night she preached to a small crowd of 50. Running down the street with the befuddled crowd in tow, she led them through the door of the Victory Mission. The young woman opened her brown eyes, glanced around her, and lept off the chair as she shouted, “People! Come follow me! Quick!” After a while, a man reached up to touch her arm, seeing if he could cause the “statue” to move. The crowd around her grew, along with taunts, questions, and jeers. On a street corner in Ontario in 1915, a young woman jumped onto a chair, raised her arms to heaven, closed her eyes, and stood motionless for a time.

Sister Aimee by Daniel Mark Epstein