Revival Stories

The 1995 Brownsville Revival (Part 2)


It was on Father’s Day, June 18th, 1995, that the Holy Spirit was pronouncedly poured out upon the Assembly of God church in plain old Brownsville, Florida. The visiting preacher Steve Hill began by sharing with the congregation about his recent life-changing encounter with the Holy Spirit at a meeting in England. When he later invited people to come forward for prayer, almost a thousand people felt compelled to rush to the altar. It became clear very quickly that God was taking over the meeting and touching those in attendance in powerful ways. There was such strong weeping and grieving over sin and a heightened consciousness of God’s very presence in the room. Revival had arrived!

Steve Hill was asked to stay longer to continue preaching in the revival. He gladly agreed and shared every Wednesday through Saturday evening from the Bible about God’s holiness and the sweetness of the Gospel. Eventually, Steve Hill cancelled all his other prior engagements to stay there and even moved his entire family to settle in the Pensacola area.

As the Holy Spirit continued to demonstrate His tangible presence, visitors started coming from around the city, then the nation, and ultimately all over the world. Hundreds of spiritually hungry visitors could be found lining up before the services began in order to fill up the 2500 capacity sanctuary, with over 5000 people in attendance daily at the peak of the revival. Fresh songs and fervent worship marked each gathering. Men and women, young and old, all were sharply aware of God’s tangible holiness and the terrible reality of how bad sin is. But when they shared the Gospel, it was all the more sweeter and amazing! And after the Gospel was presented, the young woman Charity James would sing the highly anointed song “Mercy Seat” inviting all to come forward to receive God’s abundant mercy.

This revival in Brownsville continued to burn brightly for at least another 8 years. It would ultimately draw more than 4 million guests from over 150 countries to see this remarkable work of the Lord. In that time, the church saw almost 200,000 sinners repent and put their faith in Christ. Tens of thousands of believers found their faith re-ignited and revived. Thousands more experienced the power of divine healing or deliverance from demonic spirits. And vast numbers of pastors came to visit and find their souls refreshed and primed to carry the fire back to their home churches. Eventually, numerous teams of revival leaders were assembled and sent out to various cities across the nation to spark the flames of awakening. In 1997, the Brownsville Revival School of Ministry was founded and began training a new generation of revivalists and missionaries for all nations. Even though sadly there would be some disagreements and division in the midst of this movement, God would fiercely protect the fruit and the legacy of this revival to yield a vast and lasting global impact.


QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS:

  1. When have you witnessed God taking over something you had planned? How did you know it was truly God? Have you ever had to put your own life on hold in order to follow God’s immediate marching orders? What was it like?
  2. What amazes you the most about the Gospel? Why do you think it is needed now more than ever in these dark and confusing times?
  3. What kind of dreams do you have for God? What kind of fruit could God bring about in your life if it were completely surrendered to Him for His purposes? Do you long to see revival among all the nations? What are you willing to do to see this happen?
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