Embers of revival fire still burning in North Carolina

Embers of revival fire still burning in North Carolina

By Mark Ellis, Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

BURLINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA (ANS -- October 25, 2016) -- He hadn’t set foot in church for 12 years, but got caught up in the revival that hit Burlington, North Carolina this year and became one of its primary evangelists. He’s been preaching almost every night since the revival “officially” ended, but God is still moving and many are responding.

“We’ve seen over 300 people saved over the last 4-6 weeks,” says D.R. Harrison. “All the sparks from the Burlington revival have overflowed and broken out in other areas. People are getting saved, people fired up for God. It’s been amazing to see what God’s been doing.”

Last May revival arrived in Burlington at New Hope Baptist Church and lasted through July. Pastor Randy Hobbs had invited evangelist C.T. Townsend to spend a week in his church, and as the power of God fell many were saved and the revival stretched on in a borrowed tent that held 3500 people — filled to capacity every night.

D.R. Harrison happened to own a video production company in Burlington. A few weeks into the revival, he was surprised to receive a call from evangelist Townsend, who wanted editing of some videos for a message.

His video editing led to a dramatic encounter with God. “For the first time in 12 years, the Holy Spirit started dealing with my heart while editing those videos,” he recounts.

On his smart phone, Harrison began to watch a live stream of the revival service and the power of the Word and the Spirit overwhelmed him. He got down on his knees and cried out to God for salvation.

He was born again and “everything I had been taught in my youth made sense for the first time,” he says.

C.T. Townsend allowed Harrison to share his testimony at one of the events, which led to many more speaking
engagements as he answered God’s call to share the Gospel.

“The only reason the (revival) meeting shut down (in July) is because we couldn’t keep the tent any longer. The man needed the tent back.”

“On the last night of the meeting 62 were saved. The tent was packed full. The power of God was so real. It was just unbelievable. It broke our hearts to shut it down. We tried every angle to keep it going,” he says.

However, a new tent to accommodate 6500 people is currently being made and will be completed by February 2017. They hope to set it up once more in Burlington and re-launch the revival meetings in May.

Photo captions: 1) C.T. Townsend preaching at Burlington revival 2) Many nights the tent overflowed. 3) D.R. Harrison sharing his testimony. 4) Mark Ellis being welcomed to the set of “Windows on the World” by ANS founder, Dan Wooding.

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About the writer: Mark Ellis is Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net), and also founder of www.GodReports.com, a website that shares stories, testimonies and videos from the church around the world. He is also co-host for “Windows on the World” with ANS Founder, Dan Wooding, which is aired weekly on the Holy Spirit Broadcasting Network (http://hsbn.tv).

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