Seeking Revival In The New Year

IMG_2582Throughout campus at IWU, faculty and students are praying for revival. Spearheading this prayer effort, Student Body Pastor, Reverend Dr. Jim “Umfundisi” Lo, is encouraging students to seek sensitivity to the Lord and His leading. Formerly the Dean of the Chapel, Lo is heavily involved in spiritual formation across campus through his position as IWU Campus Pastor and Professor of Religion (Intercultural Studies). This position outlines different responsibilities than his previous job and allows Lo to become more intricately involved in campus spiritual formation and pastoral ministry.

“Being Dean of the Chapel required that I attend to the logistics of having services three times a week,” Lo explained. “It was a lot of technical work.” Serving as the Pastor of Students allows Lo to concentrate on supporting the community spiritually, especially in prayer. Referencing a recent sermon he gave in a chapel service, Lo emphasized the need for the community to focus on the power of prayer to pursue spiritual growth. Lo articulated his belief that the Indiana Wesleyan community could be on the brink of a revival if individuals committed themselves to actively seeking the Lord through prayer.

“So many people have come to me, saying that they believe that God has something to say to them, but they sense something is in the way,” Lo mentioned, emphasizing the value of prayer and the eminence of revival. This spiritual rebirth, Lo explained simply is as, “Reviving my heart to hear what He calls me to do.”

Lo explained that he sees the campus as expectant, ready to hear what God wants to say. With the impending Summit services next week, Lo hopes that the time of spiritual emphasis will result in a spark of revival. In preparation, Lo and a team of prayer warriors are interceding on the behalf of the students who will be in attendance.

“It is our prayer that the students at IWU not become enamored with the lights or the music or the emotions of Summit. Rather we hope that people will take the time to meditate on the words of the songs and truly spend the time pursuing God and what He has to say to them,” said Lo. He explained that this could look different for different people. Some might sense sins for which they need to repent; others might find God giving them vocational direction. “We are praying to see sins released, and commitments made to surrender to whatever God has for individual lives,” Lo stated.

This year, Lo hopes to see revival diffuse through the IWU family and into the community of Marion as well. “If revival ignited at IWU it should reach the greater community,” Lo stated. “I strongly sense that God does not want us to focus exclusively on our personal spiritual growth. He wants us to reach others.” To introduce this idea and theme for the IWU community, Lo invited Marion officials to visit IWU before the Summit services so that they could be prayed over. As Lo mentioned repeatedly, prayer will be vital for the effectiveness of the Summit services and the revival we are hoping for.

 

Written by Katherine Arch, Story Teller for Alumni Relations. Katherine Arch is a Senior English major at Indiana Wesleyan, and a member of the Track and Cross Country teams. She is passionate about sharing people’s stories and celebrating their unique divine potential in written form. Katherine also operates a website called “Join the Ranch” at jointheranch.weebly.com. It is about pursuing God’s purpose for her life and vocation.

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