The two-week Chritian revival at Asbury University may have ended, but its impacts are still being felt around the nation and within the souls of individuals touched by the experience.
One college student, Gracie Turner, shared in the aftermath of the powerful and emotional two-week communion that she had rediscovered her relationship with God, no small feat for someone who until recently had only prayed to not wake up in the morning.
Like many young adults, Turner shared that she had grown up going to church but drifted away from both practicing and believing as she got older. She said that the death of her beloved great-grandmother in 2019 took her away from the message of the Holy Scripture and of her belief in God.
“I had to witness my great grandma, who I love dearly, I witnessed just her being taken away from us,” Turner said of the 2019 passing of her great-grandmother from cancer.
“I was always so excited to come, but everything here dealt with religion. And at that time, the only person I could think of who to blame for my anxiety, depression, sadness, was God,” she said solemnly. “I really resented Him.”
For reasons not shared in the interview, Turner ended up at Asbury – which she says prided itself on the idea of community – but felt alone for three full years. She admitted to only offering a prayer to God when she was in her darkest moments, and that the prayers were not about uplift but about sealing her fate.
“I came to Asbury and the only time I would pray to Him, I would just say, ‘God, it would be really nice if you just didn’t wake me up in the morning,'” she said.
Fox News then described how Turner went from a quiet non-believer to a vocal disciple of God.
For three years, she wanted nothing to do with religion. When others prayed during Chapel, she simply sat with her head up. There was no singing from Turner, no worship or sound at all.
On the first day of the revival this month, Turner recalled the Chapel felt different, but it also felt kind of like the mandatory Chapel students do every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. She noticed some people staying after and considered staying herself, but she had classes and physical therapy.
At the therapy, Turner began to cry and told her trainer about her worsening mental health. She had recently sustained an injury and felt she was at her breaking point. At that moment, she received a text from her friend.
“Come to Hughes…something is happening,” it read.
Turner said she went to the chapel and sat in the back. But then something amazing happened to her; she was overcome with emotions and found herself crying and praying, which led to what she described was her talking to God and He to her.
“It felt like God was telling me this is what you’ve been missing,” she said of the catharsis.
Turner said that she returned to the chapel and at one point felt compelled to go on stage and share her testimony of faith.
“I am not the biggest public speaker. I hate being on camera,” the college senior admitted. “I hate talking in front of people. Even if it’s just one person. But I felt like God was telling me you need to get up.”
“For the longest time, I had resented God. I wasn’t a believer. And I just kept thinking all these people are going to hate me. Because they’re all here for God and I’m getting up here telling my story,” she continued.
Turner recalls that countless people began praying over her, hugging her, and crying together. She says that countless more reached out to her as she made her way back to her seat.
“People were telling me you don’t know how many people you saved with that testimony,” Turner said of the experience.
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