A professor who witnessed the incredible spiritual events at Asbury University last year recently revealed that the “outpouring really hasn’t stopped.” 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” and that she hasn’t heard anything about how the outpouring reached people across the globe.
She said, “It’s really exciting. And so it’s been many stories from people all over connecting to share their testimony.” 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. 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. Months later, in the fall, though, she said students returned with a renewed energy and enthusiasm.
“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 powerfully.
In the end, the Asbury outpouring was brought to a close as students and the campus returned to everyday life, but the lessons 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.