Never Too Young to Preach

As a youngster raised in western New York close to the roar of Niagara Falls, Dale W. Everett never imagined God’s global plan for his life. The Assemblies of God evangelist, based in Joliet, Illinois, has seen thousands around the world accept Christ as Savior, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and divinely healed.

His ministry began modestly in 1971 when he was only 15 and still in high school. He says he began traveling with a Midwest singing group during summer crusades and he witnessed miracles. Everett says God called him to ministry at 8 years old and he was baptized in the Holy Spirit a year later at a camp meeting. He attended Niagara Falls First Assembly, where Pastor Jack Piper as well as New York Ministry Network officials mentored and encouraged him

After graduating from high school in 1973, Everett hit the evangelistic trail. He continued traveling after marriage and two children until 1993 when he began pastoring full time and traveling part time conducting short-term crusades. He and his wife Debbie planted a Pentecostal church in Tyler, Texas, in 2003. In 2007, Everett launched his global ministry.

“I heard the voice of the Lord challenging me to take the gospel to the nations,” says Everett, ordained with the AG since 1979. “But I never had a goal of going overseas and there were no invites offered.”

Doors opened unexpectedly for evangelistic campaigns in Durban and Cape Town, South Africa. New speaking opportunities poured in from Kenya, Tanzania, Swaziland, and Burundi. In the past 11 years, he has ministered in 10 countries.

During a June 2018 outreach in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Everett preached to 10,000, including an estimated 8,000 non-Christians following Islam, Hinduism and other beliefs.

More than 3,500 people received Christ as Lord and 2,700 received the gift of the Holy Spirit, he reports.

Three years ago, an imam asked to be baptized in water after giving his life to Christ. He said Jesus appeared to him in a vision, leading to his conversion.

Because some Muslim converts face severe persecution, including death threats, Everett performed the baptism after dark in a local church’s outdoor concrete tank.

“I told the man there was someone else in the water with us, the Lord Jesus,” Everett says. “I told him I will baptize you in water, but He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.”

When the man broke through the water’s surface, he raised his arms and began speaking in tongues.

Following the imam’s resignation from his mosque, he and his family received new identities and passports and escaped to a new country.

People often are healed during the preaching service, usually rising up to acknowledge their healing without being coaxed. Everett invites them to the altar to share their stories. A Muslim man reported a lump on his back disappeared. “It’s the Jesus the preacher was talking about who did it,” he exclaimed.

According to Everett, audiences in Africa reflect a deeper hunger and passion for God than in the U.S. or Western Europe, where people are more analytical.

“Africans are more aware of the spiritual levels of life,” he observes. “And Jesus said it’s the hungry and thirsty who get filled. Yet the miracles are the same in every country.”

Everett held meetings at the Assemblies of God Christian Bible Church in Nashua, New Hampshire, in September, his fourth visit in four years.

“When Brother Dale ministers, there is a very deep anointing and moving of the Holy Spirit,” says Gary A. Stearn, senior pastor. “There is no hype, just the sovereign gift of God. It’s amazing how many people are healed during the preaching.”

Everett, 63, travels 300 days a year.

“God has given me the grace to minister the gospel with signs and wonders without any theatrics," he says. “The plain gospel message is supernatural and enough.”

Peter K. Johnson

Peter K. Johnson is a freelance writer living in Saranac Lake, New York. More than 500 of his articles and short stories have appeared in Christian and mainstream magazines and newspapers, including the Pentecostal Evangel,Charisma, the Saturday Evening Post, Guideposts, and Decision. He also serves as a consultant and contributing editor to a scientific journal.