In 1992, David Yonggi Cho prophesied: “I am going to send revival to the seaside city of Pensacola, and it will spread like a fire until all of America has been consumed by it”.
Well, this might have seemed like ordinary words to many but all it needed to be made manifest was fervent prayers as every notable revival has always been preceded by extraordinary prayer. This was true for the Brownsville Revival.
In August of 1992, John Kilpatrick, the senior pastor of the Brownsville Assembly of God, being hungry for a revival, decided to make use of Sunday evening services, to focus specifically on prayer.
The prayers were centered around Spiritual Warfare, Revival, Souls, Families / Homes, The Nation, Healing, Pastors, Schools, Ministries, The Peace of Jerusalem, Children and Catastrophic Events. Over the next two years, he talked constantly about bringing revival to the church, even going as far as to say he would leave the church if it didn’t want the revival. Two years of prayers were finally answered on the 18th of June 1995, a Sunday which was also Father’s Day, Invited by Kilpatrick, Evangelist Steve Hill was the guest speaker. By the time, the sermon ended that morning, Hill made an altar call for prayers and a thousand people stepped forward. Kilpatrick was not left out as he too was overcome by the presence of God and was slain in the spirit for four days. The morning service at Brownsville usually ended at 12noon, but on this particular day it continued till 4 pm. The evening service went on for more than five hours. They could see with all the evidence by the help of the Holy spirit, that a genuine revival was just starting, Hill stayed on to preach the night services and even going as far moving his family over. Many who attended these services renewed their faith during these sermons. To accommodate the thousands of people who would arrive before dawn and wait in the church parking lot for a chance to enter the church building, some even staying overnight camping just to guarantee their entry into the sanctuary, the church had to open its doors for Tuesday to Saturday evening revival services every week.
By 1997, it was now normal to have very lengthy services and altars packed with hundreds of people of different ages, races and socioeconomic standards. As the revival went on, the testimonies of people who were now saved increased joined by testimonies of great manifestation of healings.
In Steve Hill’s words, “We’re seeing miraculous healings, cancerous tumors disappear and drug addicts immediately delivered.” John Kilpatrick reportedly had this to say concerning the Revival “Corporate businessmen in expensive suits kneel and weep uncontrollably as they repent of secret sins.
Drug addicts and prostitutes fall to the floor on their faces beside them, to lie prostrate before God as they confess Jesus as Lord for the first time in their lives. Reserved elderly women and weary young mothers dance unashamedly before the Lord with joy. They have been forgiven. Young children see incredible visions of Jesus, their faces a picture of divine delight framed by slender arms raised heavenward”
Effects of the Revival
- It was focused and centered around Jesus being the Saviour
- Close to 200,000 people were converted.
- At its peak, the revival brought in 5,500 people per night for 6 years.
- A total between 2.5 million and 4.5 million people in attendance from more than 150 nations.
- Tens of thousands had their faith restored.
- It made a great impact on marriages and family as a whole.
- Addictions were broken and Homosexuality / Lesbianism were renounced.
- Many demons were cast out of thousands of people.
-Over 10 Deliverance Prayer teams were raised. - Services were conducted from Tuesday to Saturday with seats never being enough.
- There were diverse testimonies of physical healings.
- In 1997, the Brownsville Revival School of Ministry started with 125 members. Towards the end of 2000, there were more than 1,000 members.
Students from this school have gone on to do missionary work in 122 nations. - Thousands of pastors were trained.
-Thousands of pastors who visited Brownsville returned to their homes renewed. This renewal then led to other several mini-revivals. Hallelujah!