Campus Revival: Enriching Faith

On October 14 and 15, 2024, Blue Mountain Christian University held its annual Fall Revival. During this revival, the chapel period was extended from the typical 30 minutes to 50 minutes. This time extension allowed the opportunity for more worship led by Exalt, and the opportunity for students, faculty, and staff to come forward during the invitation to seek the Lord’s guidance in whatever issues might have been going on in their lives. Each year, Fall Revival allows students to have extra time devoted to focusing on Jesus. Fall revival also provides an opportunity for the chapel speaker to beckon lost souls to make their way to Jesus Christ.

In preparation for the campus revival, campus organizations like the Baptist Student Union, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Koinonia, and the Ministerial Association worked together in order to cover the revival in prayer. On October 11, the Friday before campus revival, Koinonia and the Ministerial Association held a joint meeting with the purpose of revival preparation. Together, the two organizations joined in corporate prayer for the revival, praying that people who do not know Christ would come to know Him and that the revival would minister to the hearts of all who attended. Bradley McBrayer, a member of the Ministerial Association, shared that the MAs and Koinonia worked together to play and sing worship music during their joint meeting, helping to set the atmosphere for prayer and earnest seeking of the Lord.

This year, the speaker for the campus revival was Dr. Andrew Chesteen, the Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church in New Albany, Mississippi. Throughout both days of revival, Dr. Chesteen shared the gospel with students. He shared the good news of Jesus, as well as personal testimonies of God’s faithfulness. He highlighted everyone’s need for a savior. After his sermons each day, Exalt led the chapel attendees in a song of invitation, inviting people to come to the altar and accept Jesus Christ, or to recommit to Him.

The same campus organizations also helped during and after revival. Bethany Brown, president of Koinonia, the on-campus Women’s fellowship and Bible Study group, shared, “Volunteers from Koinonia helped form the student counseling group for revival. A total of 5 women from Koinonia led gospel conversations with students who came down during the altar call both days. They attended counselor training with Mrs. Tracy Moser alongside other student volunteers. The group met as a whole to pray for revival decisions prior to each service.” In addition to this, the BSU held a campus revival debrief on Tuesday night at 5:00, serving as a time to further break down what students heard at the campus revival.

It is clear that the campus revival had an impact on many students. Lily Smith, a sophomore at BMCU, shared, “The campus revival caused me to look deeper into myself and my faith. I found parts of myself that I had been holding from God. These realizations have enriched my walk with Christ." This shows that while the revival may have only lasted for two days, the impact that it made on students is long-lasting and inspiring to their faith.