Revival Is Coming // March '23 Update
It’s old news at this point of the incredible outpouring of the Holy Spirit that took place at Asbury University in February. Thousands upon thousands of people pilgrimaged to Wilmore, Kentucky to soak up this movement of God. After this took place for several weeks, similar movements started breaking out on other campuses in the area, and other nations around the world.
Is revival coming? That’s up for debate. But I’m choosing to believe that it is. Revival is coming. And God is using this next generation of college students to revive our churches and awaken our nation—and our world.
What many don’t know is that we as a church have been praying for revival to break out for the last year. I do not think it’s a coincidence that we are starting to these stirrings take place. Furthermore, we have been praying as a church for God to bring revival to our university, city, and region.
And God is doing it.
At the beginning of March, I got to talking with Sydney, one of our student leaders, about revival. And she is sensing a similar movement of the Spirit. Many of our students are. There is a deep hunger for God in this next generation, and we are starting to see seeds planted in our university this spring.
I don’t know when revival will occur, or what it will look like. But all I know is what God told me in my time of prayer:
“Be ready. It’s coming.”
And that is exactly what we are preparing ourselves for.
Sunday Services
Our Sunday services continue to see growth and momentum! We wrapped up our Love Aint Easy sermon series, and began our Easter series called The Offices, where we explored the threefold-office of Jesus as prophet, priest, and king. And of course, we themed it around the hit TV show, The Office.
As a church in a college town, we’ve chosen to leverage the transient nature of our community by praying over and sending out those who are transitioning into the new things God has in store for them. We got to send out out first congregant this month!
Shirley Mensah is an international student from Ghana who joined our church since launch day. She wrapped up her work in Vermillion, and will be heading to Austin, Texas this summer to start her PhD program in Computational Geoscience to research ways to produce clean energy in oil and gas to reduce the amount of carbon emissions that happens during the process of oil exploration. An amazing work indeed! We couldn’t be more stoked for Shirley.
We also got to dedicate Ainsley Ruth Kardas to the Lord! Ainsley is our church’s second baby dedication, and is the youngest daughter of Damian and Amanda Kardas—two of our best friends in the world who have been with us at the very beginning of the planting process.
Our First Missions Trip!
We also took our very first missions trip as a church this month! We had a team of 8 people journey to Juarez, Mexico to build a home for a family in need with our missions partner, Casas Por Cristo. Simply providing a home like this can break the cycle of poverty in a family for generations to come. After the home was complete, our team got to pray over the family and the home, dedicating it to the Lord. Our team had an amazing time, and we already looking forward to our next trip to Juarez next March over USD’s Spring break!
Vision Night
Our month of March ended with an incredible event we held, called Vision Night. On a Thursday evening, we invited our church family together for dinner (all around round tables with fancy center pieces) while we celebrated everything the Lord has done in Resilient Church so far!
One of the highlights of the night was a panel, where we interviewed four Resilient attenders of how God has worked in their life since joining Resilient Church. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room as they shared their stories!
I wrapped up the evening with message dreaming about where God wants us to go as a church. We believe he’s leading us to chase 2 things: Spiritual Revival and Community Revitalization. I already talked about our sense of revival that is brewing in our region. But we’re also dreaming about what it looks like for us to revitalize our community. What does it mean to be the best church for the city? How can we impact Vermillion in such a way that the community would miss us if we were to disappear? These are the questions we’ve started wrestling with, and are excited for where the Lord is bringing us!
To watch the video with the panel and message, check out the video below! Or you can listen to the event on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Prayer Requests
- Continue to pray for what the Lord wants us to do over these next few years, as we chase revival and revitalization. We don’t want to be a church that’s large; we want to be a church that lasts. Pray that the Lord shows us what long-term sustainability for Resilient Church looks like
- Pray for our community involvement. That the Lord will give us partnerships and open doors to make a lasting impact in Vermillion.
- Pray for revival. That we can begin see culture shift on USD’s campus, in Vermillion itself, and in our entire region of southeastern South Dakota.
- Pray for our college students. It’s April 10th as of this writing, and final projects and exams are all on the horizon. Pray that they all can have peace and calm in the midst of this busy season.
That’s it for this month’s update! As always, thanks for your continued prayers, support, and advocacy as we chase what the Lord has for USD, Vermillion, and our region!
– Jake