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Dozens of Point Loma Nazarene University students were recently baptized. (Photo by Cole Stark. Used with permission)

American Awakening: Hundreds Baptized in Gatlinburg, Revival Breaks Out at Point Loma University

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In the weeks and months since the "Asbury Awakening," the move of God continues to unfold on secular and Christian college campuses, at youth events, and at churches across the country. 

As CBN News reported, the Holy Spirit continues to spark fires of revival in the hearts and minds of young people.  

Winterfest, an annual youth rally near Gatlinburg, Tennessee, in February saw hundreds respond to the gospel call to be baptized. 

David Schilling, the youth minister for the Hardin Valley Church of Christ, in Knoxville recently told The Christian Chronicle that, at first, the event seemed almost too laid back even for young people. 

This year seemed "less grandiose," he said. The sermons were great, though some sounded like they were intended for an older audience. The worship was powerful. But there wasn't "that larger-than-life wow factor I've come to expect."

Then, during Sunday morning worship service, minister Jeff Walling asked for those who had decided to follow Christ in baptism to stand up and come forward.

And people responded in droves. According to The Christian Chronicle, the stage was packed with nearly 200 souls. 

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As it turns out, "what was missing actually made more room for the Holy Spirit to permeate the experience," Schilling told the outlet.

A second worship service would also see 200 people come forward to be baptized. 

Dudley Chancey, Winterfest's organizer, described to The Christian Chronicle the mass of people coming forward, saying, "This is my 36th year doing Winterfest, and I've never seen that."

'God Is Moving So Much Here'

Just recently, an outpouring among students has also been reported on the campus of Point Loma Nazarene University, a small private Christian school in San Diego, California. 

Cole Stark, who has several friends attending PLNU, told CBN News in a telephone conversation Monday that students began meeting together on Friday and Sunday nights. Stark said a couple of weeks ago one of the Friday night student gatherings went on for "24 to 26 hours with people just people just worshipping and praying."

"It was awesome," he said. 

Stark also reported students have seen healings from diseases such as postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. POTS is a condition in which an excessively reduced volume of blood returns to the heart after an individual stands up from a lying down position, according to the Cleveland Clinic. 

"We saw a healed ankle after a girl struggled to use it properly for the past 15 years," Stark said.

Point Loma Nazarene University students gather at the beach to witness multiple baptisms. (Photo by Cole Stark. Used with permission)

"On March 26, hundreds gathered on the beach at sunset cliffs as dozens got baptized," Stark told CBN News in an email. "As baptisms were happening, an unrelated event released balloons into the sky. After looking at the pictures, we realized that there were 35 balloons, along with a total of 35 baptisms at the cliffs that day."

Asbury Revival Subject of New TV Documentary

Meanwhile, the story of Asbury University's revival in February which led thousands to the small college town of Wilmore, Kentucky, and drew attention from around the world is now being told in a new television documentary. 

Christian Headlines reports the program titled Asbury Revival: Desperate for More will premiere on Redeem TV this weekend. 

The documentary will highlight the story of the spontaneous event and will feature interviews with students, university staff, and other participants, according to the outlet. 

Redeem TV is a donor-supported, ad-free, streaming service with no fees, according to the platform's website

As CBN News has reported, what some have referred to as a potential new Great Awakening within Christian history started as a spark on the campus of Asbury University, where thousands of Christians gathered for two weeks of Spirit-led worship, prayer, and repentance. That unplanned outpouring is raising hopes because a previous revival in 1970 on the Asbury campus was seen as a significant driver behind the Jesus Movement of the 70s.

"What the Holy Spirit started at Asbury spread to Lee University, Samford University, Baylor University, Cedarville University, Texas A&M, Oklahoma Baptist University, Louisiana State University, Regent University, Indiana Wesleyan, and in total over 30 other college campuses. It has also spread to other parts of the world including Korea and the Philippines and continues in pockets," Redeem TV said on its website. 

Produced by 1 Voice Films, Bill Curtis, the documentary's executive producer told Christian Headlines he hopes viewers will be moved as they watch the film. The goal, he said, is that it will "create a hunger in them for revival in their life, in their community."

"Our prayer is that as people see what happened in Asbury that it just sparks a hunger and may continue to poke the coals," Curtis said.

In the trailer for the documentary, as students are shown raising their hands in worship, one man says: "This might be a very small glimpse of heaven. This might be what heaven looks like."

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About The Author

Steve Warren is a senior multimedia producer for CBN News. Warren has worked in the news departments of television stations and cable networks across the country. In addition, he also worked as a producer-director in television production and on-air promotion. A Civil War historian, he authored the book The Second Battle of Cabin Creek: Brilliant Victory. It was the companion book to the television documentary titled Last Raid at Cabin Creek currently streaming on Amazon Prime. He holds an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma and a B.A. in Communication from the University of