Seymour wrestled with his calling and was fearful to answer. In the midst of his struggle, he contracted smallpox, a disease that was usually fatal in that era. He survived three weeks of horrible suffering and was left with blindness in his left eye and severe facial scarring.

Seymour felt that he had contracted the disease because of his refusal to follow the call of God. He immediately submitted to the plan of God and was ordained through the Evening Light Saints. Soon, he began traveling as an itinerant evangelist, relying on his own financial support. In those days, few ministers asked for offerings. And Seymour, like many in his circle, believed that God was his Provider. He believed that if God had called him, then God would support him.

He then began his message from Acts 2:4 on speaking in other tongues. He taught that a person is not baptized in the Holy Spirit unless he or she speaks with other tongues. And he admitted that he had not yet received this manifestation. Nevertheless, he proclaimed it as God’s Word.

At Azusa, the services were so anointed that if anyone got up to speak from their intellectual understanding, the Spirit-filled believers would break out in wailing sobs. This has been illustrated well in a story about a woman called Mother Jones. One man arose to speak, apparently not being led by the Spirit. As he stood and preached, Mother Jones is said to have quietly hurried up to the platform, where she sat at the foot of the pulpit, then stared up at the fellow with icy, foreboding eyes. Finally, she said, “Can’t you see that you aren’t anointed to preach?” Because of this incident, Mother Jones quickly earned a reputation that discouraged any unanointed preacher from standing at the pulpit. It is said that all she had to do was stand up, and the unanointed preacher would run from the pulpit!