Brownsville Revival, Pensacola Outpouring History

Story of the Brownsville Revival Part 1 of 2

Attendance exploded, guiding Brownsville to a third, then fourth sanctuary. Ministries emerged, ranging from the “Glory House” prayer ministry to radio, missions, and bus outreaches, and Christian education through both a Christian academy and a Southeastern Bible College extension.

Growth, a strong prayer commitment, and an expanding missions emphasis became church hallmarks. As the Rev. John Kilpatrick assumed the pastorate in 1982, Brownsville surged forward in even greater growth and outreach, finally leading to the construction of its fifth and current sanctuary in 1991.

Through the years, Brownsville has become known as a church of integrity, where holiness is preached, prayer is central, and a heart for the nations is keynote. Led by Pastor Kilpatrick, a 2-year prayer initiative for revival began in 1993, culminating in 1995 in what is now called the Pensacola Outpouring or the Brownsville Revival.

Revival!

Little marked Father’s Day 1995 as more than routine. Families filed into the Brownsville sanctuary to celebrate dad’s special day. Visiting missionary-evangelist Steve Hill approached the pulpit to detail his recent Holy Spirit encounter at Holy Trinity Church, Brompton, England, his contagious enthusiasm sparking anticipation. Soon Hill invited attendees for prayer, but Father God revealed a different agenda. As members surged forward, God intervened to pour out His Spirit in an amazing visitation that continues today.

The following months featured service followed by service, attendees leaving in the wee hours to glean a little sleep, work a few hours, then return to this powerful deposit of God’s presence. Nightly, Rev. Hill shared fresh, anointed messages and cast his nets, drawing in souls touched by God’s convicting power as teen Charity James sang with urgent appeal the summons, Mercy Seat. Word spread, beckoning the hungry and the desperate from nearby communities, then surrounding states, the nation, and finally the world. Worshipers from nearly every continent flocked to the West Pensacola suburb of Brownsville to receive a touch from the Father.

Rocked by the sudden visitor inflow and awed by this Holy Visitation, Pastor Kilpatrick, Rev. Hill, Pastor’s assistant, Rose Compton, and church leaders strategized to accommodate the sudden response. Leadership scheduled four weekly revival services. Brownsville Prayer, Usher, and Personal Ministry teams, supported by other community churches, mobilized to host the guests. For more than eight years, visitors arrived, hungry, to leave powerfully changed.

Over ten years later, God continues to meet visitors from the nations. Millions have come, hungry to hear from God. Hundreds of thousands have responded to His call to salvation and a commitment to holiness, and a fresh charge has issued throughout the world for holiness and fresh intimacy with God.

Revival Foretold

Prior to revival, several key prophecies foretold of revival coming to America, including the following from Dr. David Yonggi Cho of Korea and Rev. Ken Sumrall, founder of Liberty Fellowship.

Prophecy of Dr. David Yongii Cho

In 1993, Dr. David Yonggi Cho, pastor of the Yoido Full Gospel Church, Seoul, Korea, the world’s largest church, conducted a meeting in Seattle, Washington. As he prayed for revival in America, he questioned, “God are you going to send revival to America, or is she destined for judgment?” The Lord instructed him to get a map of America.

He did so, and the Holy Spirit told him to point his finger at the map. As he did, he felt his finger drawn to the Florida panhandle and to the city of Pensacola. “I am going to send revival to the seaside city of Pensacola, and it will spread like a fire until all of America has been consumed by it,” said the Lord to Dr. Cho. Dr. Cho shared his experience with others and the word predictably spread to many of the pastors in the Pensacola area.

Story of the Brownsville Revival Part 2 of 2

Groundwork

Brownsville Assembly of God is humbled by the mighty outpouring of God’s Presence since Father’s Day 1995. So many miraculous things have happened and all praise belongs to Him.

Prior to God’s visitation, He began laying the groundwork at Brownsville. Throughout the Revival, Pastor Kilpatrick has identified several key areas to preparing the soil for revival, including teaching by Rev. Dick Reuben, a deeper prayer focus, weekly communion services, and ministry by the McGregor’s from South Africa.

Prayer Initiative

Two-and-one-half years prior to revival, Pastor Kilpatrick responded to God’s prompting to make Brownsville a house of prayer in an even deeper sense. He promptly set aside tradition to designate the Sunday evening service as a prayer service, with members responding in true Brownsville commitment. Soon, the concept of a banner ministry became an integral part of the Sunday prayer meetings.

Ten beautiful prayer banners, each serving solely as a contact point for focused prayer for major prayer needs, were beautifully prepared under the direction of member Jennifer Colley. These banners included the categories of Spiritual Warfare, Revival, Souls, Family, Our Country, Healing, Pastors, Schools, Ministries, and The Peace of Jerusalem. The Children’s banner and the Catastrophic Events banner were added later.

Appointed banner leaders for each banner topic solicited prayer needs during each prayer meeting and led prayer around the banners. After banner prayer time, Pastor Kilpatrick then led the congregation in corporate prayer. God’s power and Presence were so strong in these Sunday night prayer meetings that Brownsville’s Sunday evening attendance began to increase.

When revival broke out, an Intercessory Prayer Team was formed to under-gird each service with focused prayer. Their prayers, coupled with the weekly intercessory prayer meetings, now on Thursday evenings, prepared and continue to prepare the way for revival.

Weekly Communion & The Pastoral Blessing

Rev. Dick Reuben, had sown into Brownsville rich teachings throughout the years. As the time for God’s visitation approached, He too played a key role.

Although Brownsville had celebrated a monthly Lord’s Supper service for many years, Brother Reuben’s teaching led Brownsville into a much deeper revelation and appreciation for Holy Communion. His Golden Altar service so profoundly affected the church that a Weekly Communion Service was instituted and became a vital, meaningful part of each Sunday morning service.

In conjunction with the Weekly Communion, Pastor Kilpatrick shared teaching about the power and mystery of a blessing, opening up from the Word the power found in a blessing. He then prepared and began to pronounce a weekly blessing over the entire congregation. The Council of Deacons also pronounces a blessing over the pastoral staff.
                                                                            

Setting the Atmosphere for Revival

Why Brownsville?

While we cannot explain why God has chosen to move in our church and community, we feel that the things described above may have helped to prepare the atmosphere for what He planned at Brownsville. As for the timing of the revival, again God’s timetable is not ours. Pastor Kilpatrick had just lost his mother and from a natural perspective, no one would have thought that God would choose such a time to move, but that was exactly what did!

In conclusion, we cannot tell you why God chose this place or this time for such a mighty move of His spirit! All we can say to you is that we, like you, are hungry, and now know that we will always want more of God. We yearn for His Presence and feel incredibly honored that He chose to visit this place. As Pastor Kilpatrick urged our congregation during the early years of revival, we seek to always guard that we would be a blessing to Holy Spirit and that “the Dove would never fly away.

A School Was Born

With revival came the fruit of revival, hundreds of thousands of souls committed to a fresh walk with God. Hungry seekers relocated to Pensacola to dwell in the constant atmosphere of God’s presence. The need became clear: A vehicle to disciple and equip the new believers. In January 1997, the Brownsville Revival School of Ministry (BRSM) opened its doors to a 125-member pioneer class.

A Forerunner Church

In October 2003, as visitors continued to visit the Revival and reports flowed in of God’s Spirit moving throughout the globe, Pastor Kilpatrick resigned his 22-year pastorate to answer God’s apostolic call. Fulfilling prophecy by known prophets in recent years, Brownsville became known as a forerunner church. By overwhelming majority, in 2003, the Brownsville membership elected Pastors Randy and Suzann Feldschau to lead Brownsville into pioneering the apostolic ministry that is emerging in these last days. In April, 2006 Pastors Randy and Suzann tendered their resignation, answering the Lord’s Call to return to their home state of Texas to pastor.

In late summer of 2006, after seeking God for many months, an overwhelming majority vote of the congregation brought Dr. Evon G. Horton to be the new Senior Pastor.   Prior to coming to Brownsville, Dr. Horton pastored Mississauga Gospel Temple in Canada and was President of Master’s College and Seminary in Toronto.   Pastor Evon is on the Canadian and U.S. Board for Benny Hinn Ministries and also Bill Hybels Ministries.   He is a bridge to different denominations, governmental officials, and the lost and hurting.   The new season at Brownsville has begun!

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