What Happened
On October 7, 1973, a team from Life Action Crusade (now Life Action Ministries) made a scheduled week-long ministry visit to the campus of Thomas Road Baptist Church. Their objective was to hold an evangelistic crusade.
The planned crusade began on Sunday night, October 7. Preaching during the first service was founder of Live Action Crusade, Del Fehsenfeld, Jr. Over 50 people were saved that night, and that number included many who had previously professed that they were Christians.
Del Fehsenfeld Jr., founder of Life Action Crusade
The next morning, during the chapel service at the Lynchburg Baptist College (now Liberty University), another sermon, delivered by Ed Hindson, titled “Ten Evidences of Salvation,” led to several more individuals, who had previously considered themselves “Christian,” to make a profession of their faith in Christ.
During the Tuesday evening service, Ed Hindson preached on “Revival in the Family.” This led over 100 families to make a commitment to regular times of devotion together.
Ed Hindson at Liberty Bible College
Ministering on Wednesday during the night service was Del Fehsenfeld, whose sermon was titled “Having a Clear Conscience with God and Man.” With 3,500 in attendance, the response was negligible, leaving the Life Action team, and all involved, a little discouraged.
Thursday, with no scheduled chapel service at the college, the Life Action team had the time to conduct some soul-searching, and they coupled that with fasting and prayer—asking God for a breakthrough.
Spontaneous Eruption of the Conviction of Sin
Without sermons, a movement began on Thursday in the High School of Lynchburg Christian Academy (now Liberty Christian Academy).
A student burst into tears during class, asking to be saved. A student in another class went to the principal, asking how to be saved. And spontaneously, with individuals and classes totally unrelated, dozens of students began to sense the conviction power of the Holy Spirit, leading classrooms to become “counseling rooms.” The principal, Vern Hammond, said:
School has been called off in favor of God!
Before the end of that day over 50 students had been born again.
Testimony Night
That Thursday night there was no sermon delivered, there was simply an opportunity given for people to share what God was doing in their lives. Dozens of young people and adults got in line to tell how God, at this point in time, was working powerfully in their lives and families. This sharing went on for an hour, then an invitation was made for those who felt a stirring of God’s Spirit to go to a different room for prayer. There were 99 that were born again that night.
Mother and sons reconcile
500 Praying for Revival
Following the Thursday evening service, Ed Hindson met with students in the lobby of a dormitory to simply talk. With over 500 students packed into that lobby, the conversation turned to prayer, and specifically, prayer for revival.
Following that prayer, the conviction power of the Holy Spirit came upon the students. Those making a decision for Christ at that time were still being counseled at 2 a.m., and groups of students in different locations met to continue praying till the next morning. There was spontaneous singing, as well as weeping, heard throughout the dorms.
Nightly student prayer meeting
Revival’s Power Was Spreading
By Friday morning the electrifying power of God’s Spirit was sensed throughout the college and academy. The 10 a.m. chapel service continued for 2.5 hours, with testimonies being given by students. As the testimonies were continuing, students would spontaneously stand and go to the prayer room.
The decision was then made by the college and academy to cancel anything if it came into conflict with what God was doing.
Friday evening’s sermon resulted in around 100 adults making a profession of their faith in Christ. The counseling rooms were filled with people weeping, expressing the joy of their salvation. Those not in the counseling rooms were rejoicing at what they were seeing happen, which was the power of God being manifested right before their eyes.
Nobody Wanted to Leave
As in every revival, when the manifest presence of God is sensed, nobody wants to leave. During this revival it was no different. People wanted to stay in the sanctuary, or at least continue in fellowship with others, worshiping in songs, praying, or sharing stories of what they were seeing God do.
On this Friday evening, following the service, over 1,000 students gathered for prayer and fellowship in several different locations.
Spontaneous student prayer meetings
Evangelistic Compulsiveness
As students became increasingly aware of God’s power flowing through their midst, they also became convicted of their responsibility to share the Good News with others. This was not a drudgery, or an action resulting out of duty; it was a compulsive act of love, with them becoming deeply concerned for the eternal destiny of those who did not know Jesus.
Students began calling their unsaved family members, or even driving to their homes, with one student driving 1,200 miles to share Christ with his wife’s parents. The love for Christ drove the students to engage in passionate and persistent evangelism.
As evangelism spread throughout Lynchburg, Virginia, the church office was continually filled with those wanting to be saved.
Church Alive with God’s Presence
On Sunday morning, October 14, 1973, after a week of passionate prayer and evangelism, and after seeing Jesus save hundreds of souls, Thomas Road Baptist Church was red hot—aflame with excitement—and an air of expectancy had everyone on the edges of their seats!
The Sunday School classes on this day set the lessons to the side and during that time students of all ages listened to testimonies of those who had just made a profession of their faith in Christ during the previous week.
These testimonies led to even more people being born again and many others coming under the Holy Spirit’s convicting power. That morning there were about 250 who had made a profession of their faith in Christ.
The televised church service that morning was not as polished as normal, and it was noticed throughout the nation. People knew something dramatic had transpired. The church office began receiving letters asking what was going on.
Student praying during the revival
Thirteen Consecutive Days—October 7-19, 1973
There were nightly services for thirteen days, and all combined, there were 683 who made a profession of their faith in Christ, and nearly all of them were baptized.
After the Life Action team left, the revival continued, with occasional “outbursts of revival” occurring in the church, as well as in the chapel services on the college campus.
Source
► Glory in the Church: the Coming Revival by Edward E. Hindson
The postscript in this book, written by Dr. Jerry Falwell, is the only document we could find that recorded this revival.
Return to List of Revival Stories
Chet & Phyllis Swearingen:
Office: (260) 920-8248
romans1015@outlook.com
Beautiful Feet
P.O. Box 915
Auburn, IN 46706
