Asa Alonzo Allen (1911–1970) was born in Sulphur Rock, Arkansas to impoverished parents who were subsistence farmers. After his father died from alcoholism during his teen years, Allen and his mother moved to Missouri. Allen was always hardworking, but because of his gregarious and entertaining personality, he developed the reputation for his excessive drinking and revelry. However, one day he wandered into a Methodist Church in Miller, Missouri, where he heard the gospel preached by evangelist Nina Depriest and came forward to receive Christ. From that point, Allen was…