Wigglesworth worked as a plumber, but he abandoned this trade because he
was too busy for it after he started preaching. In 1907 Wigglesworth
visited Alexander Boddy during the Sunderland Revival, and
following a laying-on of hands from Alexander's wife, Mary Boddy, he experienced
speaking in tongues.He spoke at some of the Assemblies of God events in Great Britain. He also received
ministerial credentials with the Assemblies of God in the United States, where he evangelized
during the 1920s and later.
Ministry
Wigglesworth believed that healing came through faith, and he was
flexible in his approach. When he was forbidden to lay hands on audience members
by the authorities in Sweden, he preached for a
"corporate healing", by which people laid hands on themselves. He also practiced
anointing with oil, and the distribution of "prayer handkerchiefs" (one of which
was sent to King George V). Wigglesworth
sometimes attributed ill-health to demons.
Ministering at many churches throughout Yorkshire, often at Bethesda
Church on the outskirts of Sheffield, Wigglesworth claimed to have had many
prophecies. He also had an international ministry: as well as Sweden, he
ministered in the U.S., Australia, New
Zealand, South
Africa, the Pacific Islands, India, Ceylon, and several countries
in Europe. Some of his sermons were
transcribed for Pentecostal magazines, and these were collected into two
books: Ever Increasing Faith[6][7] and Faith that
Prevails.
He continued to minister up until the time of his death on 12 March
1947.
Healing
Much of Wigglesworth's ministry was focused on faith
healing. He said God had healed him of
appendicitis. Despite suffering from kidney stones which passed naturally in his
later years, Wigglesworth refused any medical treatment, stating that no knife
would ever touch his body either in life or death.
Supporters of Smith said they were miraculously healed with accounts
being described in the popular press and in Pentecostal magazines. There were
reports that people were raised from the dead, including his wife
Polly.
Many people said they were cured of cancer by him. Wigglesworth, whose
only training was as a plumber, described cancer as 'a living evil spirit', and
insisted that many diseases were 'satanic in origin'.His methods often involved
hitting, slapping or punching the afflicted part of the body. On a number of
occasions his approach to persons suffering from stomach complaints was to punch
them in the stomach, sometimes with such force that it propelled them across the
room. When challenged on this, his response was "I don't hit them, I hit the
devil". Responding to criticism over his method of praying for the sick,
Wigglesworth stated: "You might think by the way I went about praying for the
sick that I was sometimes unloving and rough, but oh, friends, you have no idea
what I see behind the sickness and the one who is afflicted. I am not dealing
with the person; I am dealing with the satanic forces that are binding the
afflicted". On one occasion Wigglesworth declared to the sick "I'll only pray
for you once, to pray twice is unbelief." The second night, a man approached the
altar to receive prayer again and Wigglesworth, recognizing him, said "Didn't I
pray for you last night? You are full of unbelief, get off this
platform!" Wiki.
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