CAMPUS REVIVAL SPREADS

Taylor University in Upland, Ind., Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minn., Crown College in St. Bonifacius, Minn., and Cornerstone College (formerly Grand Rapids Baptist College) in Grand Rapids, Mich. Meetings that had been scheduled in advance, such as the National Student Leadership Conference at Taylor University, and Beacon '95, a New England student conference, both of which were held April 7-9, 1995, served as catalysts to spread the revival still further. Mike, a student at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, wrote on April 10, "Some students from Wheaton came to Gordon College this past Friday to speak about what's been going on there as part of Beacon '95, an annual conference of New England college students hosted by Gordon. After a period of praise and worship followed by an excellent message on Matthew 7 by John, the Wheaton students were invited to share. Several student leaders cam forward to confess their own pride in praying for revival on campus for other students and recounted how they had been humbled to see the need for revival in their own lives. After they finished, a steady stream of Gordon students and, later, visiting students came forward to confess sins or share what God had been touching their hearts. I an everyone with me were deeply touched and met privately with one another afterward to confess some deep sins to one another and rededicate our lives to the Lord. Classes have been cancelled this Tuesday at Gordon so that the entire campus can meet together. . . . I'm seeing a widespread hunger for God and willingness to take up the cross that I've never seen before."

The revival at Taylor University was prompted by some students from Wheaton and Asbury who went to Taylor to share testimonies about revivals on those campuses. According to one Taylor student, "word spread like wildfire throughout the campus," and an evening service was held at 8:00 pm on April 9, about five hours after the previous meeting had ended. "I went there, expecting little, and wanting nothing. I stayed until 1:00 am; it went until 4:00 am. I have never felt so filled with the Holy Spirit, nor have I [before] been able to see my fellow students through the eyes of God [as I have now]. . . . I absorbed this love and radiance of God for 5 hours, and it felt like 15 minutes. God initiated the giving up of addictions, attitudes, and practices. It was real, it was not forced. Never will I forget this weekend, and how God has broken me, and the people around me."

By May 1, revival had come to Iowa State University, Colorado Christian University in Lakewood, Co., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., Indiana Wesleyan in Marion, Indiana, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Mass., Judson College in Elgin, Ill., George Fox College in Newberg, Oregon, Multnomah Bible College in Portland, Oregon, and Colorado Christian University in Lakewood, Co. (NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL RELIGION REPORT [1 May 1995], vol. 9, no. 10, pp. 2-3). At Iowa State on April 10, about three hundred members of several Christian organizations on campus waited for several hours in order to go to the microphone to confess sin, repent and pray after hearing from four Wheaton students about what had happened on their campus. The meeting lasted from 8:30 p.m. until 5 a.m. the following morning. On April 13, at Southern Baptist, John spoke at a chapel service, and when the 1,000 students were dismissed, hundreds of them, along with some faculty and administration members, went forward to repent of sins, including bitterness (ibid).

A detailed account of the spread of the college revivals to Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minn., Asbury College in Wilmore, Ky., Trinity International University in Deerfield, Ill., Gordon College in Wenham, Mass., Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, Mass., Cornerstone College in Grand Rapids, Mich., Taylor University in Upland, In., Judson College in Elgin, Illinois, Hope College in Holland, Mich., Iowa State University, George Fox College in Newberg, Ore., Multnomah School of the Bible in Portland, Ore., Trinity Christian High School in Elmhurst, Ill., Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Ill., Messiah College in Grantham, Pa., Columbia University in New York, N.Y., the University of Wisconsin--Stevens Point, Yale University in New Haven, Ct., Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, Ill., a Baptist church in the Chicago area, and Greenville College in Greenville, Ill., has been written by Matt in the seventh chapter of ACCOUNTS OF A CAMPUS REVIVAL: WHEATON COLLEGE 1995, edited by Timothy and Lyle (Wheaton, Ill.: Harold Shaw Publishers, 1995), pp. 139-170.