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From the Edwin Orr Files: In September of 1857
the small congregation of the Old Dutch North Church on Fulton Street in the heart of the lower New York City area, hired
49 year old Jeremiah Lamphier, a merchant with no experience in church visitation. He was to head up the effort to recruit
prayer partners for this 88 year-old church, which had all but shut its doors because of little attendance. Giving up his
trade position, Lamphier took up a $1,000 dollar a year job and began knocking on doors. For months Lanphier made appeals
and met regularly with a small hand full of believers. Then the Spirit of the Lord moved on Jeremiah Lanphier to reach out
to business men like him and invite them to pray. Six believing business men came on the first invitation. One was a Methodist,
another member of the Dutch Reform Church, another Presybeterian, a Baptist, and also a Congregationalist. Twenty men attended
the second meeting and 41 the 3rd . Then on Wednesday, October 14, 1857, the nation was staggered by the worst financial panic
in its history. Banks closed, men were without work, and families went hungry. Lawyers, physicians, merchants, brokers, bankers,
mechanics, and even messenger boys began to come to the prayer meeting, and within a short period of time the meeting swelled
to over 3,000. Then as the panic drew to a close, critics assumed that the crowds would die down and all would return to normal.
But like lightning the Spirit of the Lord began to move, and prayer meetings began to break out all over New York City. Within
6 months out of a population of 800,000, over 10,000 business men were meeting daily for prayer. The Spirit of the Lord would
then begin to invade Philadelphia, Boston, Ontario, and within a year the Holy Spirit would sweep down the coast all the way
into the South to churches of all kinds. Especially to the community of African American believers, who despite the tyranny
of slavery, diligently prayed for God to shake the South with His salvation power. For example at one church, the Baptist
church of Beaufort in South Carolina, they saw over 400 souls come to Christ in a matter of days. The revival ran in the headlines
of every major newspaper for over a year, and in one year over 1 million people were added to the Kingdom. Another example,
the Methodist received 135, 517 new members in that one year, also the Baptist received 92,243. Literally 1/30 of the United
States population came to the Lord in that one year. It all happened because the Lord drew to Himself a few people who were
faithful to seek His face.
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