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Revival!

Little marked Father’s Day 1995 as more than routine. Families filed into the Brownsville sanctuary to celebrate dad’s special day. Visiting missionary-evangelist Steve Hill approached the pulpit to detail his recent Holy Spirit encounter at Holy Trinity Church, Brompton, England, his contagious enthusiasm sparking anticipation. Soon Hill invited attendees for prayer, but Father God revealed a different agenda. As members surged forward, God intervened to pour out His Spirit in an amazing visitation that continues today.

The following months featured service followed by service, attendees leaving in the wee hours to glean a little sleep, work a few hours, then return to this powerful deposit of God’s presence. Nightly, Rev. Hill shared fresh, anointed messages and cast his nets, drawing in souls touched by God’s convicting power as teen Charity James sang with urgent appeal the summons, Mercy Seat. Word spread, beckoning the hungry and the desperate from nearby communities, then surrounding states, the nation, and finally the world. Worshipers from nearly every continent flocked to the West Pensacola suburb of Brownsville to receive a touch from the Father.

Rocked by the sudden visitor inflow and awed by this Holy Visitation, Pastor Kilpatrick, Rev. Hill, Pastor’s assistant, Rose Compton, and church leaders strategized to accommodate the sudden response. Leadership scheduled four weekly revival services. Brownsville Prayer, Usher, and Personal Ministry teams, supported by other community churches, mobilized to host the guests. For more than eight years, visitors arrived, hungry, to leave powerfully changed.

Over ten years later, God continues to meet visitors from the nations. Millions have come, hungry to hear from God. Hundreds of thousands have responded to His call to salvation and a commitment to holiness, and a fresh charge has issued throughout the world for holiness and fresh intimacy with God.

Revival Foretold

Prior to revival, several key prophecies foretold of revival coming to America, including the following from Dr. David Yonggi Cho of Korea and Rev. Ken Sumrall, founder of Liberty Fellowship.

Prophecy of Dr. David Yongii Cho

In 1993, Dr. David Yonggi Cho, pastor of the Yoido Full Gospel Church, Seoul, Korea, the world's largest church, conducted a meeting in Seattle, Washington. As he prayed for revival in America, he questioned, "God are you going to send revival to America, or is she destined for judgment?" The Lord instructed him to get a map of America.

He did so, and the Holy Spirit told him to point his finger at the map. As he did, he felt his finger drawn to the Florida panhandle and to the city of Pensacola. "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," said the Lord to Dr. Cho. Dr. Cho shared his experience with others and the word predictably spread to many of the pastors in the Pensacola area.

Prophecy of Dr. Ken Sumrall

Some time later, a Mobile, Alabama, Church of God pastor (70 miles away from Pensacola) inquired of Dr. Cho. "Dr. Cho, there's been a rumor that you have prophesied a great revival in America to begin in Pensacola, Florida. Is there any truth to this?" he asked. "No rumah! No rumah!" said Dr. Cho in his broken English. "Received vision; revival will come!"

Dr. John Hurston, former associate and spiritual mentor of Dr. Cho, attests to Dr. Cho's vision and prophesy. In reporting on the Pensacola revival at the Assemblies of God national convention in St. Louis on August 12, 1995, Loren Triplett, Foreign Missions Director for the Assemblies of God related this vision and prophecy with Dr. Cho in the audience.

In October, 1979, Rev. Ken Sumrall gave the following prophecy at Liberty Church in Pensacola, Florida.

"The time is at hand for a special visitation of the Spirit of God upon you. Heretofore you have tasted of the good things of My Spirit, but compared with the new outpouring the former things will seem as dew and a flood. Sweeping over My people like a glorious tidal wave, all will be effected. Time will be forgotten as meetings will last for hours. Hearts will be melted as My Spirit, like a flame to fire, refines and cleanses. There will be much weeping and sobbing as sin is seen as exceeding sinful and as Calvary's love washes them away.

"Youth, yes, even the very young, will be drunk with new wine and burn with fervor, oblivious to anything and everything but obedience to Jesus.

"They too will fall in divine awe before My feet, and former rebellions will be cast away. This flame will spread like a forest fire. Prayer will be the main event of the church. Hundreds will be converted. Be prepared to baptize 200 new believers at one service.

"Homes will be renewed and love will flow like a river. Singles will lose their lust for marriage and be knit together in a holy communion. Then my Spirit shall guide them in service for Me. Some will be led to marry, but others will lose all desire for marriage and be wholly Mine to spread the Word they have learned.

"Honor My Spirit. Yield to Him. Hear what He says through My proven prophets. New leaders will be needed as a host of new believers will need care. Some leaders who do not respond to My Spirit will be swept aside as I move to lift up a standard against the evil one. For those who hear will come a great refreshing, saith the Lord.

"Be full of My Spirit and ready to obey Him. I will give a new spirit of discernment to the leaders which will reveal the counterfeit and the fleshy. Walk softly before Me and a holy awe will prevail. The critics will not be able to hinder. Theirs words shall be swept away before My wave of love and joy. Nor will one man or a few receive glory. I will move upon broken vessels and the fire of My Spirit will break out in homes where My people meet, who seek My face and walk humbly before Me.

"Old men and young men shall rejoice together. Fathers and sons shall glorify Me together. Though the evil one shall attempt to hinder, I will give you overcoming faith and you shall prevail as My Spirit is honored and obeyed. He shall cause My Name to be lifted up in your midst."

Laying the Groundwork

Brownsville Assembly of God is humbled by the mighty outpouring of God’s Presence since Father's Day 1995. So many miraculous things have happened and all praise belongs to Him.

Prior to God’s visitation, He began laying the groundwork at Brownsville. Throughout the Revival, Pastor Kilpatrick has identified several key areas to preparing the soil for revival, including teaching by Rev. Dick Reuben, a deeper prayer focus, weekly communion services, and ministry by the McGregor’s from South Africa.

Prayer Initiative

Two-and-one-half years prior to revival, Pastor Kilpatrick responded to God’s prompting to make Brownsville a house of prayer in an even deeper sense. He promptly set aside tradition to designate the Sunday evening service as a prayer service, with members responding in true Brownsville commitment. Soon, the concept of a banner ministry became an integral part of the Sunday prayer meetings.

Ten beautiful prayer banners, each serving solely as a contact point for focused prayer for major prayer needs, were beautifully prepared under the direction of member Jennifer Colley. These banners included the categories of Spiritual Warfare, Revival, Souls, Family, Our Country, Healing, Pastors, Schools, Ministries, and The Peace of Jerusalem. The Children's banner and the Catastrophic Events banner were added later

Appointed banner leaders for each banner topic solicited prayer needs during each prayer meeting and led prayer around the banners. After banner prayer time, Pastor Kilpatrick then led the congregation in corporate prayer. God’s power and Presence were so strong in these Sunday night prayer meetings that Brownsville’s Sunday evening attendance began to increase.

When revival broke out, an Intercessory Prayer Team was formed to undergird each service with focused prayer. Their prayers, coupled with the weekly intercessory prayer meetings, now on Thursday evenings, prepared and continue to prepare the way for revival.

Weekly Communion & The Pastoral Blessing

Rev. Dick Reuben, had sown into Brownsville rich teachings throughout the years. As the time for God’s visitation approached, He too played a key role.

Although Brownsville had celebrated a monthly Lord's Supper service for many years, Brother Reuben's teaching led Brownsville into a much deeper revelation and appreciation for Holy Communion. His Golden Altar service so profoundly affected the church that a Weekly Communion Service was instituted and became a vital, meaningful part of each Sunday morning service.

In conjunction with the Weekly Communion, Pastor Kilpatrick shared teaching about the power and mystery of a blessing, opening up from the Word the power found in a blessing. He then prepared and began to pronounce a weekly blessing over the entire congregation. The Council of Deacons also pronounces a blessing over the pastoral staff.

Setting the Atmosphere for Revival

Just prior to revival, the McGregors, South African brothers ministering in powerfully anointed music ministry, visited Brownsville to conduct a series of revival services. The heightened presence of the Holy Spirit during these services led many to wonder what might be happening in the spiritual realm, and when revival shortly broke out, the concensus was that these services has done much to prepare the spiritual atmosphere for God’s mighty visitation. hinder, I will give you overcoming faith and you shall prevail as My Spirit is honored and obeyed. He shall cause My Name to be lifted up in your midst.

Why Brownsville?

While we cannot explain why God has chosen to move in our church and community, we feel that the things described above may have helped to prepare the atmosphere for what He planned at Brownsville. As for the timing of the revival, again God's timetable is not ours. Pastor Kilpatrick had just lost his mother and from a natural perspective, no one would have thought that God would choose such a time to move, but that was exactly what did!

In conclusion, we cannot tell you why God chose this place or this time for such a mighty move of His spirit! All we can say to you is that we, like you, are hungry, and now know that we will always want more of God. We yearn for His Presence and feel incredibly honored that He chose to visit this place. As Pastor Kilpatrick urged our congregation during the early years of revival, we seek to always guard that we would be a blessing to Holy Spirit and that “the Dove would never fly away.