Pensacola is the westernmost city in the north section of the state of Florida known as the Florida Panhandle. Adjacent to this city, the small community of Brownsville grew and flourished. What isn’t commonly known is that from 1979 onwards, several prophecies had arisen that foretold of a Holy Spirit outpouring being released upon the area of Pensacola. They would speak of a fire starting in Pensacola that would set the whole nation ablaze. In addition, extensive prayer began emerging in Brownsville as early as August 1992. The Brownsville Assembly of God, under Pastor John Kilpatrick’s leadership, began to set aside Sunday evenings for focused prayer, centered on various themes but always with a heart for revival. As people sensed the presence of God during these prayer meetings, more and more believers attended.
On Father’s Day, June 18, 1995, Pastor Kilpatrick invited a guest evangelist Steve Hill to speak at the Sunday evening gathering. Steve Hill was no stranger to revival. He had been significantly touched by the same revival fire that had come out of the Toronto Blessing. It turns out Steve would be given the extra opportunity to preach at the church’s morning service that day in 1995. As Steve closed up his first sermon, he invited people to come forward to the altar for prayer. Unexpectedly, 1000 people surged to the front. Even Pastor Kilpatrick was markedly overwhelmed by the acute sense of God’s manifest presence in that place.
The moving of the Holy Spirit was unmistakably strong as revival began to break out in their midst. Throughout the room, men and women from every walk of life would weep over their sins and fall to their knees in repentance. Some folks would see supernatural visions, while others would cast off restraint and dance joyfully over their salvation. As the Gospel was preached, many would trust in the Lord or re-commit themselves to follow Him. The service, which normally ended by noon on Sundays, lasted to 4PM. And when the evening service started, it lasted almost 6 hours in total. Those in attendance realized that their prayers had been finally answered as God set in motion that day one of the largest local church-centered revivals to arise in America’s history.
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