Supernatural The Life of William Branham

In January 1950, Branham’s campaign team held their Houston campaign, one of the most significant series of meetings of the revival.^[The location of their first meeting was too small to accommodate the approximately 8,000 attendees, and they had to relocate to the Sam Houston Coliseum.^[ On the night of January 24, 1950, Branham was photographed during a debate between Bosworth and local Baptist minister W. E. Best regarding the theology of divine healing. Bosworth argued in favor, while Best argued against.

January 24, 1950. Challenged by Preachers who did not believe in the ministry of healing, William Branham is once again vindicated by the Lord. This time God allowed the mechanical eye of the camera to catch that vindication.

The photograph showed a light above Branham’s head, which he and his associates believed to be supernatural.^[The the photograph became well-known in the revival movement and is regarded by Branham’s followers as an iconic relic.^[ Branham believed the light was a divine vindication of his ministry;^[others believed it was a glare from the venue’s overhead lighting.

Congressman William Upshaw

In January 1951, US Congressman William Upshaw, who had been crippled for 59 years as the result of an accident, said he was miraculously healed and had regained the ability to walk in a Branham meeting, further fueling Branham’s fame.^[Upshaw sent a letter describing his healing claim to each member of Congress.^[Among the widespread media reports was a story in the Los Angeles Times that described it as “perhaps the most effective healing testimony this generation has ever seen”.^[ Upshaw died in November 1952, at the age of 86.^[

Branham’s meetings were regularly attended by journalists,who wrote articles about the miracles reported by Branham and his team throughout the years of his revivals and claimed patients were cured of various ailments after attending prayer meetings with Branham. Durban Sunday Tribune and The Natal Mercury reported wheelchair-bound people rising and walking.Winnipeg Free Press reported a girl was cured of deafness. El Paso Herald-Post reported hundreds of attendees at one meeting seeking divine healing. Logansport Press reported a father’s claim that his four-year-old son, who suffered from a “rare brain ailment”, benefited from Branham’s meetings.^[Despite such occasional glowing reports, most of the press coverage Branham received was negative

According to Hollenweger, “Branham filled the largest stadiums and meeting halls in the world” during his five major international campaigns.^[ Branham held his first series of campaigns in Europe during April 1950 with meetings in Finland, Sweden, and Norway. Attendance at the meetings generally exceeded 7,000 despite resistance to his meetings by the state churches.^[

In Norway, the Directorate of Health forbade Branham from laying hands on the sick and sent police to his meetings to enforce the order.^[Branham was the first American deliverance minister to successfully tour in Europe.^[A 1952 campaign in South Africa had the largest attendance in Branham’s career, with an estimated 200,000 attendees.^[According to Lindsay, the altar call at his Durban meeting received 30,000 converts.During international campaigns in 1954, Branham visited Portugal, Italy, and India.Branham’s final major overseas tour in 1955 included visits to Switzerland and Germany.

Sources: Wikipedia