Asa Alonzo Allen, born on March 27, 1911 in Sulphur Rock, Arkansas, had a profoundly unhappy childhood due to his parents’ alcoholism, his mother’s infidelity (as a Cherokee Native American), and their severe poverty. To keep him Quiet, his mother would even put alcohol in his bottle when he was a baby. A. A. Allen, as a young boy, often sang on street corners to earn some extra money. A. A. Allen left home at 14 to find a better life, facing poverty and difficulties in his family. He lived a nomadic and sometimes risky lifestyle, hitchhiking, riding freight trains, and working odd jobs to support himself.

In 1934, while driving by the Onward Methodist Church in Miller, Missouri, A. A. Allen heard the sounds of joyous singing emanating from the church. Curious, he decided to enter the meeting. Inside, a woman evangelist was preaching. The experience left a deep impression on him. He returned to the meeting the following night and made a commitment to Christ. This marked a pivotal moment in his life where he began to turn his life around.After his conversion, A. A. Allen moved to Colorado, where he found work on a ranch. During this time, he met a young woman named Lexie Scriven, and the two were married in 1936.He encountered Pentecostalism at a home meeting, experienced a spiritual transformation, and felt a strong calling to preach the gospel. Allen joined the Assembly of God denomination and supported himself by chopping wood during the Great Depression. He traveled to small towns to share the gospel, even though offerings were meager, often just pennies.

In 1936, Allen became a pastor in Holly, Colorado, near the Kansas border. He was ordained as an Assembly of God minister during this time. Through fasting and prayer, he received a list of thirteen things from God, emphasizing total consecration and repentance. God promised him healing and miracles if he followed these instructions.

Everything I do is me. I don’t like taking ideas from people unless they’re the G.O.A.T.

A Boogie wit da Hoodie

He left the pastorate to become a singing healing evangelist, traveling extensively. In Missouri, a blind coal miner was miraculously healed. His constant travels strained his family life with his wife Lexie and their four children due to unstable income. In 1947, he accepted a pastoral position in Corpus Christi, Texas, hoping for stability. The church thrived, but his vision for a radio ministry was rejected, leaving him devastated. He later recognized that the enemy had exploited his emotional vulnerability during this time.

In 1949, William Branham was initially skeptical of the healing revival, but after attending an Oral Roberts tent revival, he felt a calling to the ministry. In 1950, he resigned as a pastor and started holding evangelistic meetings, where people were healed as he preached. Branham also began contributing to the “Voice of Healing” magazine, which was published by Gordon Lindsay. For the next few years, he consistently contributed to the magazine.In 1951, he acquired his first tent, and by 1953, he had gained popularity on radio stations across the US, Mexico, Cuba, and Latin America. In 1955, he was pulled over for drunk driving in Knoxville, Tennessee, claiming he was set up after someone tampered with his drink at a restaurant. Despite paying the fine, the Assembly of God organization asked him to step away from ministry, which he believed was a move to protect their reputation. Consequently, he resigned from both the Assembly of God and the “Voice of Healing” association but continued his ministry.

Allen, an independent minister, founded “Miracle Magazine” in 1956, gaining 200,000 subscribers. He initiated the Miracle Revival Fellowship for ordaining ministers and mission support. Facing criticism, his aggressive style turned flamboyant. He criticized denominationalism as the healing movement fragmented.In 1958, Allen established a Bible school in Arizona called Miracle Valley on donated land. He transitioned to preaching a prosperity message, built a 4000-seat church in 1960, and faced personal challenges like a separation from his wife, arthritis, and a $300,000 tax lawsuit. Nonetheless, he continued his ministry, mentoring young evangelists, and wrote an autobiography, “Born to Lose, Bound to Win,” in 1970 with co-author Walter Wagner.

Allen died on June 11, 1970, in California, where he had gone to renew radio contracts and seek medical help for knee pain. The initial coroner’s report cited a heart attack as the cause of death but later changed it to alcoholism. Allen’s family strongly disputes this claim. Don Stewart’s book “Only Believe” offers insights into Allen’s ministry, and Paul Cunningham, who traveled with Allen in his final years, vehemently denies allegations of alcoholism, certifying this in El Paso County, Colorado.