The spirit moving at the D-Now event is part of a larger revival spirit that is reportedly spreading among regional colleges, helped along by the lightning fast communication of social media.
At Grace Chapel church in Pickwick last Sunday, MaKaden Barnes gave testimony that the Spirit moved greatly in chapel at Blue Mountain College, and there are reports of similar experiences.
After nearly two weeks of spontaneous and continuous worship, the “revival” at Asbury University in Kentucky had its last public service on Monday.
The outpouring of prayer began on February 8 following a “regularly scheduled chapel service” at the Christian university.
“Students lingered to pray, worship, and share,” University President Kevin J. Brown wrote in a statement. “They have not stopped and, moreover, have been joined far and wide by hungry men and women across the world.”
Brown went so far as to say the morning service that day was “very ordinary” and “unremarkable.” But what started with about a dozen students eventually grew until “something special,” thanks in part to images of the worshiping going viral on TikTok.
“It has absolutely been social media that is the mechanism that people found out about this,” Mark Whitworth, Asbury University’s vice president of communications, told the outlet.
Similar events have been reported at other college campuses on social media.
Gatherings at Samford, in Birmingham started February 15th and have been mostly student led, said campus pastor Bobby Gatlin, with guidance from his team in the Office of Spiritual Life. He estimates that crowds have reached 1,000 with multiple reports of students growing closer to Christ and three confirmed salvations.
On Feb. 16, students gathered again at 1 p.m. and remained until 1 a.m. They did so again Friday (Feb. 17), staying throughout the day for prayer before a worship service held at 3 p.m. Saturday (Feb. 18) brought additional photos and videos on social media of those gathered at Reid Chapel.
Jennifer Shipp gave testimony at Grace Chapel of the Samford experience after talking to her daughter there, Cate Rivers Shipp.
Locally, area churches will be open on Saturday nights to allow students to meet to worship, in hopes of helping them grow. Next Saturday night, The Station at 1689 Southwood Drive, Iuka, will be open at 6:30 p.m.