A professor who was an eyewitness to the incredible spiritual events at Asbury University last year recently revealed the “outpouring really hasn’t stopped.”
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Dr. Sarah Thomas Baldwin, author of the soon-to-publish book, “Generation Awakened: An Eyewitness Account of the Powerful Outpouring of God at Asbury,” told CBN News the behind-the-scenes details of the Asbury revival, what she sees happening now, and why she believes the impact is still being felt.
As CBN News has reported, a routine chapel service on Feb. 8, 2023, quickly morphed into a phenomenon many have described as a revival; Asbury has officially labeled it an “outpouring,” noting that the student-led event — lasting around the clock for 16 days — “attracted college students from hundreds of other colleges and universities” as well as people from across the globe.
Despite the event ultimately coming to a structured close, Baldwin said “hardly a day has gone by” that she hasn’t heard something about how the outpouring reached people across the globe.
“It’s really exciting,” she said. “And so it’s been many stories from people all over connecting to share their testimony.”
The Outpouring Continues
As for the students Baldwin works with, she said it’s been powerful to see the “spirit of revival” they continue carrying with them and what God is doing in their lives because of it.
Watch Baldwin explain:
Undoubtedly, the Asbury outpouring immediately had a profound impact on the Christian college campus, but Baldwin affirmed the long-lasting and powerful ways the school was transformed.
“Immediately after the outpouring … the months of March and April [2023], at the end of our semester last year, our campus really was exhausted,” she said. “I like to say that the flood of the outpouring came up, and when the waters receded, there was some debris on the beach.”
Baldwin continued, “We were tired emotionally, physically, spiritually.”
At first, she and others wondered what God might be doing. Despite still being excited over the outpouring, she said there was a “subdued sense” on the campus.
A Renewed Fervor
Months later, in the fall, though, she said students returned with a renewed energy and fervor.
“Our students came back with this spirit of revival,” Baldwin said. “And what I mean by that is, lingering after chapel to worship and pray. I mean, they’ve always done that a little bit, but now it’s just a part of our regular campus life.”
And that’s not all. Baldwin said spontaneous worship happens in the afternoons and evenings on campus, summarizing these activities as raising the “spiritual temperature of our students.”
Young people have also been talking about Jesus more frequently and are “praying together in a more elevated way.” Thus, the “spirit of revival” so many saw in February 2023 returned in a powerful way.
The Day the Outpouring Broke Out
Baldwin also reflected on the day the revival broke out, explaining how simply sharing the stories around the Asbury outpouring lifts her spirits.
“In my role as vice president of student life, I’m very involved in our student culture and community and really involved in our chapel program and got to be just right at the center of what was happening from the very first moment,” Baldwin said. “On that Wednesday, Feb. 8, students lingered after chapel. I didn’t think much about it. That happens occasionally on campus.”
But things started to change in the afternoon, when she said more students began to coalesce. Suddenly, the entire campus dynamic shifted.
“The joy, the peace, the movement towards repentance, the confession — it was really sweet,” Baldwin said. “And, from that point forward, people just came and came.”
By the weekend, the outpouring was spreading in regional media. Before long, national outlets like CBN News were covering it, with thousands of people flocking to the small town of Wilmore, Kentucky, to see the events for themselves.
Baldwin and other campus leaders formed a ministerial team to help foster and oversee the events as they continued to grow.
“It was kind of like being put into a lifeboat and we were like, ‘OK, we’re in this together. Let’s ride the wave … until God stopped showing up in this way,'” she said. “We had this shared experience where we saw Jesus be present with our students and it became really the plumb line.”
The Remaining Impact
In the end, the Asbury outpouring was brought to a close as students and the campus returned to normal life, but the lessons have remained.
“When people hear the story of how students lingered, how students were moved to repentance, how they gave testimony, how they confessed sin, how people turned to the altar and turned to Jesus — it’s as though people step into that,” she said of those who learn what happened. “It’s like an invitation and people respond to it.”
As for Baldwin, she said the “great expectancy of the crowds” during the outpouring is something that has remained with her.
“People were really desperate for Jesus,” she said.
And that desperation, Baldwin believes, is why so many young people today seem to be seeking the Lord and grappling with their decisions to discover raw and authentic truth.
“We find ourselves in such a challenging time in the world, and in history, and a dark time in lots of ways,” she said. “And I think that this is a bright light in a dark day and people are drawn towards the hope of Jesus, and drawn towards the cross.”
Baldwin continued, “It’s fair to say that we are seeing desperation. People want something different and they’re ready to encounter Jesus at a whole new level.”
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