Revival. The word that has swept the news for weeks. It gained momentum across social media platforms and has more than one meaning.
For Asbury sophomore Asher Braughton, it was an “ignition of a flame” inside his heart. He called the encounter “life-changing.”
For the first time since Braughton has been at Asbury, thousands of people flooded the campus “truly and solely just to sit at the feet of Jesus,” said Braughton. “It feels that this revival came and hit at a time when every single person needed it.”
Braughton described this experience as “a gathering of people from the entirety of the United States of the world, flying and driving just to truly be a part of this experience that we’re feeling now.”
Braughton expressed that this semester has personally been rough. “Mentally, physically and emotionally,” he said he was not doing the best he could be. God through the revival helped him “to forgive others when forgiveness is needed,” he said. He’s also learning to forgive himself and “move on from things” in his past.
This surge of outpouring began in Hughes Auditorium on Feb. 8, 2023. It didn’t officially conclude at Asbury until Feb. 23, 2023, when the university began sending people out to expand what God was doing.
Braughton was reminded the love of God is not limited to Hughes.
“The same God is with us in our dorms, with us when we’re on vacation, with us when we’re home,” he said. “He’s the same God no matter what.”
He said it’s a constant reminder and testimony. “I was here,” he said. “I was able to witness the way that God is moving that if He’s able to do it here, that He’s able to do it anywhere.”
The news of this revival spread fast, hitting social media networks worldwide. The hashtag #asburyrevival has over 24.4 million views on TikTok.
Braughton said that being able to share what is happening on campus “has really been incredible.”
However, not all the feedback from social media has been positive. But Braughton believes “we just have to stay true to what we truly believe in what we know and what we feel is happening.”
“It’s been a blessing to get to see how the Spirit is moving through people,” he said. “To see how not only my life has been changed, but hundreds of other students, as well as thousands of other community members coming in from all across the world…. we’re experiencing Jesus either for the first time or in a way that we’ve never experienced Him before.”