Recently, a massive evangelical event was hosted at the Texas A&M University Corpus Christi campus. The event drew approximately 1,500 students and led to 62 baptisms. The event was organized by New Life Young Adults, a ministry associated with New Life Church. The ministry geared toward college-aged individuals is also a student organization recognized by the university.
New Life Young Adults Pastor Tarik Whitmore explained how he preached a message from Isaiah 6 at the event, which spoke about “conviction, cleansing, and commissioning that follows a genuine encounter with God.” He added, “This was followed by testimonies from students and former students — sharing how God saved them, set them free, healed them physically, and is now using them to change the lives of others.”
“As the altar was opened, there was an invitation given to profess faith in Jesus through water baptism, receive prayer for healing and receive prayer for the baptism of the Holy Spirit,” the pastor continued, illustrating the process for students who sought to profess their faith in Jesus Christ.
Whitmore further explained that they saw “many touched by the power of God,” where some of those who got baptized “spontaneously weeping and trembling,” with some doing so “as they were coming up out of the waters of baptism.”
“The night continued with students and young adults sharing testimonies in real-time of salvation, healing, deliverance, and being filled with the Spirit,” he told the Christian Post. “The night concluded with a commissioning of those who wanted God to use them on their college campus — All declaring, ‘Here I am. Send me!’”
The organization hosted a similar event last year, drawing roughly 1,000 students and over 100 baptisms. However Whitmore explained the difference this year, stating, “We saw an increase in physical healings, deliverance, and people receiving a baptism of the Holy Spirit,” he said. “We had many who were baptized last year in attendance. And many who attended last year were leading and serving at this year.”
The Christian Tribune reported on a similar event that recently took place at Ohio State University, where members of the football team organized an event to worship God and baptize students in the name of Jesus Christ. The event garnered so much press that Reverend Franklin Graham commented on its success.
Graham wrote, “Wow! This is the kind of news we need a lot more of! Ohio State Football players led an ‘Invitation to Jesus’ event on campus and shared the life-changing truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Nearly 2,000 people attended Sunday evening and dozens were baptized. Praise God for each heart that was transformed!”
“It was all about sharing their faith in Jesus, which started with everybody coming together to worship, and the energy was amazing. Each of the players went up to share their stories of how their relationship with Jesus has changed their lives and how much God loves each and every person in the crowd,” one commentator said about the event. “Courageous attendees took a leap of faith to come up front and pray a prayer to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And it only gets better, late into the night, with everyone taking notice, person after person made the decision to get baptized, which is a public profession of their faith, and lives are going to be changed forever.”
Featured image credit: New Life Church / Facebook