More than 1,200 people have given or rededicated their lives to Jesus in just three weeks in Reading, UK.
The Gate Church in Reading has been leading a mission outreach alongside evangelist Tommie Zito since May 29, which has equipped evangelists and hosted morning and evening prayer gatherings. During the days members have been sharing the gospel on the streets. And people are responding.
"It is not like anything I have ever seen or experienced before," said Yinka Oyekan, pastor of The Gate.
They had planned for a "cultural shift in the church" and maybe a handful of new Christians, but "we are finding that hundreds of people are happy to pray to give their lives to Christ on the streets of Reading."
This could lead to "full blown revival" in the town, he said. "[It] is not a technique, it is not a program, it is not a church growth plan but something from the Lord".
It all started when the general secretary of the Baptist Union, Lynn Green, had a sense from God that he wanted move in Reading. She contacted Oyekan around 12 months ago, and this mission outreach called "Awakening in the UK – Encounter at the Gate" was planned.
Yinka similarly had a prophetic dream from God about revival 15 years ago and leaders in the city have been meeting weekly to pray.
"I saw a river flowing like a waterfall onto the street from the roof the church building we occupied at the time, [and] above this cascading river was the cross," he said.
This last week "can only be described as the manifestation of that lucid dream – I began to see angels everywhere."
"I am beginning to believe that this current outpouring, "The Turning", could be God's own cultural revolution, If we steward this well, I believe that we could see over 1,000,000 people prayed for on our streets with many giving their lives to Christ," he wrote on his Facebook page.
"Conservatively if we mobilise to bring this outpouring to the over 1000 cities and large Towns (and hopefully villages) in the UK we will change the consciousness of the nation from being unsure about Christianity to being open, supportive and embracing if it. It will affect our moral values as a nation, and bring a fire into thousands of churches."
