The famous 24/7 prayer meeting at Asbury University has garnered nationwide attention and drawn tens of thousands of participants to the college in Wilmore, Kentucky. However, the event has become so popular the University is being forced to downsize the event due to problems created from the massive number of attendees.
School administrators have claimed the crowds, which they welcome and appreciate their participation, are causing logistical issues for the surrounding town and campus. Therefore, they will have to move the event off-campus. President of Asbury University Kevin Brown said, “We had authorities that had to redirect traffic away from Wilmore. Our town’s institutions and our town’s infrastructure is just not in a place to absorb the influx of the blessed guests that we have had.”
The college determined that Monday would be the final worship service before the event would have to be moved off campus starting Tuesday. The movement began after students refused to leave the school’s chapel following a business-as-usual chapel service. This obviously grew into a nearly two-week-long event where almost 50 thousand evangelicals from all over the country attended.
The event, which initially consisted of only Protestant Christians, managed to bring in other denominations as well. The American Tribune reported:
Up until recently, however, the event has primarily been confined to Protestant Christians. Asbury is a Protestant University and public prayer “revivals” of this sort are much more a feature of Protestant churches than Orthodox or Roman Catholic Churches, which tend to focus more on traditional services and ceremonies than events meant to drum up a high-energy crowd.
Brown said in a statement made by Asbury University addressing the revival:
At the completion of a regularly scheduled chapel service on February 8, 2023, at Asbury University, students lingered to pray, worship, and share. They have not stopped and, moreover, have been joined far and wide by hungry men and women across the world who desire to seek the Lord in this space. Since the first day, there have been countless expressions and demonstrations of radical humility, compassion, confession, consecration, and surrender unto the Lord. We are witnessing the Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
We continue to seek to discern the right balance between orderliness for our university students, faculty, and staff and our campus visitors—and creating space for individuals to have a life-transforming, Christ-centered encounter.
We are also tremendously thankful for the men and women who have worked so hard and diligently to create space for this special move of God. Hosting such a significant moment comes with a cost—and the goodwill and humility of our community has been inspiring. Finally, we cannot fully express the profound gratitude we have for stewarding this outpouring in the life of our school and beyond. Ultimately, we pray that our efforts in these days point to our Savior.
It is amazing and inspiring to see God’s work in full display at such an amazing event. See a video of the revival below which captures the palpable spirit in the air.
The revival at Asbury University is coming up on 250 straight hours. pic.twitter.com/Nx1CTaKSOa
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) February 18, 2023
Note: Featured image is screenshot from embedded video.
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