NEWS:
Students initiate spiritual movement - Krause revival spurs campus prayer meetings
By Dane Mohrmann
SPORTS EDITOR
During the last four weeks, the EU students saw the start of a new semester. However, a fresh group of classes were not the only new thing on campus this month.
A student revival of sorts began, initially taking the form of spontaneous prayer meetings in Krause Hall. Several students were involved in these meetings, which began the first week of classes.
The first meeting, which was completely student initiated, spawned a desire for more, which led to several more prayer time. These meetings spilled over into Spiritual Emphasis Week, which took place Sept. 9-11.
Andrew Matrone, junior, was responsible for calling the meetings in Krause, which were not scheduled in advance. Matrone and Brandon Shank, husband of Burgess RD, Casey Shank, took turns speaking throughout the meetings. According to Matrone, it was the hunger of the students and their passion for more that led to the success of the prayer times.
“There was no worship or hype. It was purely men of God seeking God in a way they had never done before. Lives were changed, people were healed, and people were delivered from things that had been holding them their entire lives,” Matrone said.
Spiritual Emphasis Week, with speaker Danny Duvall, spanned the second week of classes, and saw the overflow of the prayer meetings as the students participated more actively than usual. “I think it was just an extension on what God was already doing. It was good for all of us to come together and unite as a campus. But I feel like God was going to keep working whether it was Spiritual Emphasis week or not,” Matrone said.
Sustaining such a spiritual movement is a matter of convergence according to Sidney Griffith, Campus Pastor. “I would say that any revival is sustained when God’s Providence and our faithfulness converge,” Griffith said.
Matrone agreed. He said that the movement was far from over but needs student hunger and faithfulness to sustain it.
“I think that what has been going on in Krause has challenged people, but I feel like God has something special for this campus.
It has been crazy to see, but people are going after God with all they have, and what has been going on … has just been the fruits of that,” Matrone said. “I’m excited to see what else He has for us.”