eNews – Transforming Revival Defined

One of my tasks in this new era is to go back through conference messages that didn’t get transcribed and to make them available on the Aglow website. I was drawn to a message George Otis Jr. spoke to Aglow at the 2013 International Conference in Orlando, Florida. The title is Transforming Revival Defined.

As I worked on the document, I found myself weeping several times as I read through transformation testimonies. I know this is what God has in store for each community where Aglow is established. You and I have the incredible opportunity to be instrumental in being part of transforming revival. With that in mind, I’d like to share a few crucial points George gave as he spoke.

In the opening remarks, George spoke about the Hebrides revival. He said that the people would work all day, come home, and then go to the church service. When that service was over, they would go to a second one until the early hours of the morning. Then, they would go to Cottage Meetings that often lasted until 5 or 6 in the morning. Then they would go to work. In interviewing people who were part of this great revival, they told George, “We never remember once feeling tired during those years. We never remember being cold because the Presence of the Lord was with us and He strengthened us and He warmed us.”

They mentioned the cold as the revival lasted for 4 years, and the winters there are brutal, and when they went to the Cottage Meetings, the homes could only hold between 20-25 people, and the rest stood outside in the fields. The windows in the home were opened wide so they could hear. This was in a brutal winter in the early morning hours, yet the testimony was, “We never remember being cold because the Presence of the Lord was with us. He strengthened us and warmed us.”

Interwoven with the testimonies of community transformations are statements that paint a vivid picture of what transforming revival actually is. I’ll whet your appetite with the definition of transforming revival. “A transformed community is a neighborhood, city, or nation whose values and institutions have been overrun by the Grace and Presence of God. It is a place where divine fire has not merely been summoned; it has fallen. It is a society in which natural evolutionary change has been disrupted by an invasive supernatural power. It is a culture that has been impacted comprehensively and undeniably by the Kingdom of God. It is a location where Kingdom values are celebrated publicly and passed on to future generations.”

I want to challenge you to read about Almolonga, Guatemala; Cali, Colombia; Julio Ruibal and his 40-day fast; a blind lady in Botswana; and then finish your reading with the story of The Flood Blessings of Algodao., Brazil. That is the story that I’ve wept every time I’ve told it or read through it. Even now, my eyes are teary.

After you are done reading the stories, go back through and highlight the 3 points George gives on prayer being key and then asking hard questions about how we pray. I am certain that you will find renewed passion to look at your community again and see what God sees every time He looks at it. He sees a transformational revival that changes it forever, and He has placed YOU there with great purpose. Here is the link to the full transcript. I will work with Rick Allen AFTER the virtual conference to get this message up on Aglow’s YouTube channel. I know that teams will want to watch it together.

Everything we have done in Aglow has been amazing, and the future that lies before us will bring transformational change into the communities of the world.

Kathy Sanders
Director – Strategic Resources and Projects
Aglow International
425-775-7282 Direct 425-275-0210