Revival!

Here at Stony Brook there is a student-lead worship group that meets weekly—it’s called “Driven”. Also, every Winter they host a “Driven Retreat”, that runs from Friday to Sunday afternoon. The driven retreat occurred Sunday a week ago; about 50 students were in attendance at the retreat, and when they got back, news spread quickly that something mighty had happened at the retreat.

That Sunday evening we had a vespers service (instead of our usual morning chapel, due to the late return of the Driven Retreat) during which some of the students who attended the retreat were given the opportunity to pray. They prayed some of the most heartfelt prayers I have heard from students—thanking God for what he now meant to them, and praying sincerely that God would transform the school!!!

After the vespers service, we still had study hours and then dorm prayer, which itself was amazing. About six students in my dorm went, and they were positively radiant! In particular, one student I would never have expected to be transformed couldn’t stop smiling and fishing for some way to convey to his dormmates the transformation he felt inside!!! I was floored, awed, amazed, overjoyed—to say the least. I even shared that with the students and gave a leap and a shout for joy! It was great! News quickly spread that nearly everyone on the retreat had been deeply moved and/or transformed.

All last week, the students that went on the retreat—and others encouraged by them—have been meeting in prayer and earnestly desiring for God to transform the rest of the school as well. Then, last Wednesday in chapel, nearly 12 students stood up and gave testimony to their transformation—including students from whom no one would have expected such a transformation were standing in front of the whole student body saying that God and Jesus now meant everything to them!!!

So, it would seem, in the words of C.S. Lewis that “Aslan is on the move!”—or, rather, our Heavenly Father is reaping the fruits of his labor and we are getting to see the harvest. Please pray with me that the new-found joy and zeal of these students would not wane, but flourish in the good soil, that the revival would spread, and the harvest multiplied a hundredfold! The faculty also need great wisdom as we are the direct shepherds of these students, and there are some students who don’t quite know what to make of what is going on—I think they’re waiting to see if it will be a lasting transformation. O, Father, let it be! Flow, river flow!

On Wednesday night I also had the opportunity to talk with one of the Christian students in the dorm (who also went on the retreat). We spoke for nearly two and a half hours (till 2 a.m.!!). I think (and pray) I was able to both encourage and advise him.

It’s now a week later and—at least from my perspective—it appears that the excitement has died down. But my prayer is that the seeds of faith that were planted and given life, would now grow and flourish. Pray for the revival to grow and spread and transform the whole student body, even to our very own community!