More than 300 Christians from different denominations in the Collegedale, Tenn., community gathered on the campus of Southern Adventist University for six consecutive evenings in May to pray for an outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit.
Held at Iles P.E. Center, the “It’s Gonna Rain” revival was a collaboration between University departments, including the School of Religion, the Office of Ministry and Missions, and Alumni Relations, along with local Seventh-day Adventist churches and Christian ministries, such as the SuCasa Spanish-American Church, Light Bearers Ministry, and Jesus for Asia.
“The Bible tells us that we need the latter rain in order to take the Gospel to the ends of the Earth before Jesus returns,” says Kris Eckenroth, Alumni Council president at Southern and director of retro ministries. He felt God’s calling a few months ago to call the institutions together. “We know He’s coming back soon, so there’s no time to waste.”
The emphasis of the Week of Prayer was petitioning God as a body of believers for the profuse power that comes from being filled with His Spirit, following the scriptural command from Zechariah 10:1.
Joseph Khabbaz, who serves as vice president for spiritual life and chaplain at Southern, was a facilitator for the prayer time. “I was truly blessed by the sincerity of the prayers and the collective yearning for God’s presence to be more fully known and experienced in our lives,” he said.
In her prayer group, Beth Snyder, associate professor in Southern’s School of Nursing, said she “felt the presence of the Holy Spirit as we praised God together.”
Plans are in place to bring the community back together for another prayer event later this year. “We keep telling people this was just the beginning,” said Eckenroth. “Our desire is to see the momentum from the revival keep going and growing, by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
South Atlantic | August 2025
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