Excerpt from Chapter 21 of Under His Wings by Carrie Judd Montgomery

In the year 1906 (April 18), the great earthquake came to California. I must tell my readers of the way in which God so wonderfully protected us at Beulah Heights. That night I awakened with a peculiar sense of some impending danger. I did not think of an earthquake, as my husband had lived in California for a long time and he had told me that there had never been an earthquake there which caused any damage. Jesus says, “My sheep hear My voice,” and that night I heard His voice in my heart reminding me of the Passover Chapter (Exodus 12,) and telling me that as the blood of the slain lamb was put on the lintel and door posts of the houses that memorable night, for the protection of the Israelites, He now wanted me by faith to put the Blood of Jesus over our residence, that we might be kept from all harm. My first thought was of evil men who might be trying to gain an entrance into the house. I seemed to take the hand of faith, and put the shed blood of Jesus over the doors and windows. Then the Lord told me to cover the roof of the house likewise, and also the chimney,-then the street, and then the electric light wire over the street. I simply obeyed the leading of the Holy Spirit without understanding the reason why. After all this I was directed to put the blood over the Home of Peace (which was opposite our own residence) and then over the two orphan Homes, half a block above us. When all was finished I experienced a great quietness and Heavenly peace all through my mind and heart, and even through the room, which seemed filled with the Presence of the Lord. Then I dropped asleep. When I again wakened the house was rocking violently and seemed almost as though it were lifting from its foundations. The solemnity of the moment was so great that it seemed that Eternity had come, and that time was no more. My husband said “Half of San Francisco will be in ruins.” My dear mother and daughter came into the hall, and I walked back and forth, saying over and over, “Victory through the blood of Jesus.” This first severe shock lasted for less than a moment, but what a moment! All of our buildings were marvelously protected. At Mills College, less than half a mile from us, the top story of one building fell to the ground. The light wire was broken, but ours strained and strained, but did not break. The large chimney in the center of our house was not damage in any way. This is the only chimney I know of in the Bay Region that escaped injury. Soon fire added horror to the stricken city of San Francisco (across the Bay from Oakland) and from the hills around Beulah we could see it burning for days. I must add, however, that earnest Christians whom I knew in San Francisco were marvelously preserved. We were able to care for quite a number of refugees from the burning city, and when they arrived in Beulah and looked at the hills around us (so beautifully green at that season of the year), they said, “This is like Heaven!” In the business part of Oakland the tops of many stores fell into the street, but this city escaped fire, and only eight people were killed. Dear Mrs. Michael Baxter of London, England, cabled to know if we were safe, and I cabled back this reply, “Safe under the blood.” The small chimneys of the Orphanage building fell without doing any harm, but as our large one was intact we were able to bake all the bread for the children. Even some valuable papers in San Francisco, belonging to my husband, were preserved by the quick action and kindness of a friend who had been receiving his mail at my husband’s office. We did not know of this special providence for several days, and then it seemed very remarkable to us. Many of our Orphanage children were impressed by the solemnity of the occasion and soon afterward we held special revival services in our Beulah Chapel for all who would attend. The children became real soul winners and it was sweet to see how the Lord used them. One would lead another little boy or girl to Christ, and would then bring that one from the Altar rail to testify immediately for the Lord. I have never see anything so blessed and interesting as the way in which the Spirit of God worked among these children at that time.

It seems like a remarkable coincidence that the same year of the great earthquake in California, the Holy Spirit began to be poured out in Pentecostal power. As God’s judgments began in the earth so His special mercy came forth, and the “Latter Rain” began to descend,-first upon some humble people in an obscure Mission in Los Angeles, California, then in other parts of the earth. But of this I will write more fully in another chapter.