Revival Stories
The 1984 Argentine Revival (Part 2)
In 1984, the Lord used Carlos Annacondia to spark a massive wildfire of revival to sweep across the nation of Argentina. In many ways, Carlos followed successful patterns of other large-scale campaigns of the day: He would build partnerships with local churches in the city before he arrived. He would recruit and deploy large teams of intercessors to pray during the entire time of the meeting. He would give a clear presentation of the Gospel and offer a simple invitation to trust in Christ. And he was not afraid to allow the Holy Spirit to work in healings and miracles in the audience. But there were other aspects that seemed to especially saturate the meetings with God’s very presence and power, that actually escalated the gatherings to full revival levels.
Carlos was only one of many leaders, pastors, and evangelists who would take up the charge to spread the fires of revival throughout the towns and cities and fields, but he had a singular role in setting the tone for this awakening. One key difference in how he led these campaigns was the energetic way he boldly conducted spiritual warfare during the meetings. It was entirely appropriate when one understands how deeply saturated Argentina was with the occult and with witchcraft. The demonic activity in the Argentine cities was off the charts! And Carlos, far from being unaware or naive about it, knew that demons would make every effort to disrupt and distract from the evangelistic meetings.
Prevailing prayer was always vital in these meetings. At some sites, over 1000 intercessors would be gathered to pray under the stage, in two shifts of 500 people each, during the length of the entire meeting. In addition to all the other tools he used to conduct the campaigns, Carlos also set up large 150 feet long spiritual Intensive Care Tents behind the main platform. At some point in his meetings, he would begin to pray with incredible anointing and authority: “Satan, listen to me…!” With these words, he would directly and aggressively confront the evil spirits at work in the crowd. When demons began to manifest, people would fall to the ground or be overwhelmed by demonic activity. Volunteers would help carry people to the Intensive Care Tents, where trained teams of believers would minister to them to help deliver them from the tormenting spirits. This attention to supernatural deliverance became a trademark of this revival.
During the 8 month campaign in La Plata, over 50,000 people were set free and led to Christ. As the revival moved with the campaigns from city to city, there would be hundreds if not thousands or tens of thousands who would turn to Jesus Christ as their Savior. Because the Holy Spirit would move so powerfully, the longer they stayed in a city, the greater the subsequent crowds would be. As word spread of God’s power to heal and set people free, more and more Argentinians would amass to seek after God for themselves. The presence of God moved so mightily that even pedestrians walking outside the meeting places would sometimes be overcome by the Spirit and cry out for God’s mercy.
The revival has now continued on for several decades, through different leaders, and touching most denominations. In 1990, only 200,000 evangelical Christians were in Argentina, less than 1% of the country. Three decades later, there are over 4 million Christians in the nation, more than 10% of the population. Many pastors who participated in the campaigns are now trained to pray for healings and miracles and to wage spiritual warfare. Thousands of Bible schools and training centers have been started and grown significantly. And God has taken the fire of His Spirit and let it jump and spread to local churches across the nation and into other nations around the world, sparking in some cases even greater outpourings of historic revival.
QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS:
- What are some of the things we can learn from Carlos Annacondia about preparing for revival? How do you feel about his emphasis on confronting demons and setting people free during his meetings? How relevant do you think deliverance is for your city?
- Why do you think it is so hard for many Christians to believe in or to get behind the idea of historic revival? In your experience, do you think that there is truly more to what God can do in your city? Discuss 3 aspects of your city that could be transformed by a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit? What unusual things might take place in these areas?