The effects of the Asbury University campus revival continue to reverberate a year later.
The outpouring started on the Wilmore, Ky., campus during a regularly scheduled chapel service in February 2023 and continued 24 hours a day for the next 16 days
It spread elsewhere, including to other college campuses such as Lee University, Samford University and Cedarville University. It was the largest revival/outpouring at Asbury since the early 1970s and drew people from other states and even from other countries
“I knew we were encountering something, but it was halfway through the weekend when I was like, this is really special,” Zach Meerkreebs, Asbury’s pastor in residence, told CBN. “The temperature on campus is unbelievable, but what’s exciting is they’re longing for authentic long-term steps, not just 16 days of power and encounter.
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“They’re wanting to pursue holiness. They want to be done with porn. They want to be done with addiction to their phones. They want to be done with those kinds of things. They want to really have an authentic walk with the Lord. and what’s amazing is that’s happening here.”
Asbury President Kevin Brown also has seen a lasting effect.
Students at Asbury kneel in prayer. Photo: Asbury U.
“Our students continue to be hungry,” he said. “They continue to lead. They’ve gone and they’ve shared; we’ve had over 50 groups go to different ministries and churches, both in the United States and overseas.”
Students said God’s presence was evident during the 16 days.
“God turned my world technicolor, and I don’t know how else to describe it, but prayer came alive,” sophomore Riley McChord said. “I mean, I saw physical healing, cancer being removed, I saw physical cancer off somebody’s neck be removed. I saw emotional healing, relational healing and there were two other girls and now my boyfriend and we spent literally every waking moment there. We did not sleep, and we stayed there for two weeks.”
Brown said the younger generation led the movement.
“During those 16 days, there was always Gen Z represented at the altar,” he said. “And the very last day that we had a formal service together, I’ll never forget, someone stood in front of all these students, 1,500 Gen Zers in the room, and said, ‘You will not be the generation defined by depression, anxiety, addiction and suicidal ideation.’
“And to hear a cry come up from that group, someone said, if we had the spiritual eyes to see it, we would’ve seen an altar filled with loosened chains. That’s my heart. That is the heart of the people around me, that this is a burdened generation, but God wants to use them, and we need to invest in them.”
The events last year have also led to a rejuvenation at the school. Asbury saw its largest ever Freshman enrollment for the 2023/24 school year. According to Inside Higher Education, “Total student head count, including graduate and online students, reached about 1,939 students as of last Friday, 300 more students than the 1,639 students enrolled last fall, an unprecedented increase of nearly 20 percent. Meanwhile, the total incoming undergraduate class, including those in dual-enrollment courses, students in nondegree programs and those who stopped out and returned, is the largest the university has ever had. Students represent 32 states and 24 different countries.”
–Dwight Widaman | Metro Voice