If you are active on social media, you have likely seen posts about a revival that spontaneously started among the students on the campus of Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky. During a required chapel service last Wednesday, students heard a sermon about God’s love preached from Romans 12. Afterward, some of the young people lingered to pray and share testimonies, and that began to transform into something that has now been underway for 100-plus hours and counting.
Students are experiencing God’s presence, confessing and repenting of sin, sharing testimonies of their encounters with Jesus the risen Christ, and hungering for more of His presence to consume them and their fellow students on campus.
One Asbury student testified, “Worshipers stayed all night. No one person was in charge. No one dared to get in the way of what God was doing. Reconciliation, forgiveness, and healing were in this place.”
AFA and Asbury University have a wonderful history together, going back to the early 1980s, when they recognized the leadership of my dad and AFA founder, Don Wildmon, by bestowing upon him an honorary Doctor of Ministry degree. AFA is also blessed to have gifted graduates of Asbury University and Asbury Theological Seminary on our staff leadership team.
You can read more about the Asbury revival and follow the progress by visiting the campus publication, The Asbury Collegian.
I thought you would appreciate one account from a young man, Brent Williamson, who traveled to the Asbury revival with his wife on Sunday and afterward filed this report on social media. (This account has not been edited in any way.)
What was it like being at Asbury revival? You didn’t feel like you were at a conference or a normal church service. There was such an unbelievable freedom to worship Jesus. The entire atmosphere was utter freedom. You felt like you were at the Throne in heaven and everyone was around Him. God was in the midst.
At times the instruments would go silent and it was like a holy hush. There was NO upbeat or high intensity music. It was ALL Holy of Holies worship type music. Nobody was in charge. There was no known leader. There was no known worship team. There were several different people who spoke and you could tell they weren’t in charge.
They rotated the singers and musicians every two hours or so. There was a guitar, piano, and beat box. That was it.
They asked if you need to talk to someone to please take it into the lobby or outside. No fancy lighting. Wood seats without cushion. Stained glass windows. The floor was concrete. There were NO words on a screen to sing from. No offerings. I saw puddles of tears on the concrete. It was a wave of the Spirit that hit certain people at different times. The altar was full non-stop with people weeping and also worshiping at it too. The Spirit of God was making the altar call. When Christ is in the midst you couldn’t stay comfortable if there was any sin in your life.
Because there were so many different denominations represented, the chapel team did an amazing job keeping everyone on the same page, and from getting out of order. There was worship, prayer, repentance, public confessions, and testimonies.
I have never experienced anything like this in 26 years of being born again corporately! The Lord spoke loudly I believe…. He doesn’t need any fancy things or big name preachers. God was there to get all the glory…. HE was comfortable!
I honestly believe God is speaking to the church this very thing!! The American church is depending on too many gadgets and personalities. When the lights don’t turn off for four days there’s NO doubt God is tremendously moving.
After 6 hour’s I didn’t want to leave, and you could tell it was the same for everyone there. I believe each day the revival is gaining more intensity. I have studied old time revivals for 26 years. It was surreal because I was now experiencing what I have read for so many years. One of the leaders said “We aren’t stepping into something unusual but something normal!! He also said “Imagine if every church on every street corner was like this.”
The leaders did make calls to die to self. I pray this will spread all over the nation! The Asbury revival may or may not last long. All I know He was there! My wife and I will never forget it. It made an eternal impact on us. Honestly, it’s going to take days to process everything.
Local television news outlets in nearby Lexington have reported on the revival as people carry in pillows and blankets to stay in the presence of God. In 1970, Asbury University experienced a significant revival in its student body that spread to other campuses and impacted the Jesus People Movement of the 1970s.
We are excited about what God is currently doing on the campus of Asbury and ask you to join us in praying that the Lord would fan these sparks of revival and cause it spread to campuses across America. Could this actually be the start of a Third Great Awakening for our nation? Lord Jesus, may it be so!
