Published June 15, 2008 04:30 am - On Father's Day of 1995, revival broke out at a church in Pensacola, Fla. Over the course of five years, it would reach millions across the globe. Thirteen years later, visitors from the North Country are still talking about what they experienced and say they are looking forward to God's next big move.
North Country residents look back at Brownsville Revival
'I've never been hit so hard by the power of God'
By RACHAEL OSBORNE
Staff Writer
It seemed an unlikely day for God to move.
On Father's Day 1995, the Rev. John Kilpatrick, pastor of Brownsville Assembly of God Church, couldn't preach -- he was grieving the loss of his mother.
Standing in at the Pensacola, Fla., church was Steve Hill, a missionary-evangelist from Huntsville, Ala., and former drug addict and criminal.
The man's blue eyes were piercing; his excitement for Jesus, contagious as he preached Psalm 77:11-12 and detailed his recent trip to Holy Trinity Church in Brompton, England, where revival was sweeping across the city.
"I've seen more miracles in the last six months than I've seen in the past 15 years in the ministry," he told the congregation of more than 1,000 that Sunday morning. "I'm coming to you today with an incredible excitement. "¦ The Lord's going somewhere today, and I'm going with him."
When the message ended, hundreds streamed to the altar for prayer.
The service lasted six hours.
Crowds flowed into the church for evening worship, and the missionary-evangelist prayed for them again from 6 till 2 in the morning. Among those there were Bonnie and Russ Urban, who had moved from Plattsburgh to Pensacola.
"I don't think Steve even touched me," Mrs. Urban recalled about receiving prayer that night. "It felt like lightning. I could even hear the crack of it, and I just went back (and fell to the floor). I've never been hit so hard by the power of God."
visitors, visitations
Word soon spread about the manifestations, and millions -- including reporters from CNN, Newsweek and Time -- traveled to the Panhandle city, curious about what was going on.
"People started calling from other states," Mrs. Urban remembered.
At one service, Hill said in a recent interview with the Press-Republican, a man carried in his wife, who had lived under a cloud of deep depression for seven years.
--¦ the spirit of God came upon her and by the end of the service, she was totally transformed," he said. "She went on to play in the choir."
Classifieds
Print this story
E-mail this story
Post to del.icio.us
