REVIVAL IN LEICESTER (16) - REVIVAL UPON REVIVAL

A year ago, revival came to Leicester. It was during the Chroma Church Leaders Gathering at the beginning of the year. The presence of the Holy Spirit was so thick, it was hard to stand. People had to be lifted out of the meeting, unable to walk. Others felt the presence of the Holy Spirit even as they parked their car in the car park. None remained unaffected.

Through the year that has followed, the Holy Spirit has continued to move. We’ve seen oil on hands as a common experience, some of our ladies having oil dripping off them. There have been angels seen regularly – some guarding doors, others entering into worship with wild dancing. Children have seen angels in their bedrooms, guarding them. In the children’s meetings, the sound of heaven has been heard.

We’ve seen 115 people walk to the front of the Sunday meetings over the year to give their lives to Christ. On top of that there have been hundreds on the street and in the youth and children’s meetings. 51 have been baptised. As Rachel says in our New Year message (from about the 1 hour 20 minute mark here) salvation isn’t a prayer, it’s a person. Jesus has been good to us in our times together. 115 times.

People of other faiths have started turning up to meetings, hearing that there’s healing to be had. Whole families are coming to Christ through healing encounters. Sikhs and Hindu’s have come to faith this year, some having dreams of Jesus that brought them to the church.

We’ve seen people give their lives to Christ where addictions have instantly lifted off them and they have remained free. We’ve seen new believers devouring the Bible, reading through the whole book in a short time.

The most dramatic healing was of a young lady with a heart condition. The doctors were unsure she would live, and certainly would not be able to work. She and her parents joined in the meetings online and the day we prayed for heart conditions, she was healed. Today she is active and has her first job.

There have been many other healings from the young to the old, sometimes happening in the worship without any prayer or particular emphasis.

Worship has been a key to the revival this year. ChromaWorship have been sensitive to the Holy Spirit and have consistently led us into God’s presence. Their heart for the Lord has been recognised too and they are beginning to lead in large international gatherings around the world.

The start of the revival in January a year ago caused us to start a weekly Revival Prayer meeting on Tuesday nights. These have been especially precious, with an overwhelming sense of God’s presence causing fear and reverence one week, outrageous praise on another. The weekly meetings have gathered others from other churches, including significant leaders of church networks. One of these leaders who had been particularly involved in the Toronto Outpouring in the 1990s commented that the revival was ‘like Toronto but more mature’. We’ll take that!

As 2022 was a year of revival, so for 2023. Revival upon revival. Every age group, every background, every nation represented. Revival has come to Leicester.