Bruce McIver

In the 1930s America was plunged into the Depression, which brought most families to the brink of financial despair. There was little incentive to dream and plan for the future. The problem was "survival — now." In the early 1940s we found ourselves engaged in World War II. Again, the word was "survival." By the mid-1940s the Depression was behind us and there was evidence that the war would soon end. For the first time the current generation of young peo

College enrollments doubled, dormitories were renovated, and new classes were added to curriculums. Weary war veterans received loans and grants as an encouragement to pursue their education. They brought to campuses their own experiences of pain and hardship, discoveries and insights, and hopes and dreams for the future. General MacArthur asked for a thousand new missionaries to go to Japan, and hundreds of students across the nation, with little thought of the practical, indicated their willingness to respond. It was an exciting new day of hope.

In this milieu a small group of students at Baylor University began to pray for spiritual revival. We prayed for a new day and new commitments, but we had no agenda. We were not evangelists with a program; we were ordinary students with concerns. The more we prayed, the more we saw evidence that God was ready to answer our prayers. After months of praying we scheduled a revival near the campus. in April, 1945. Students with almost no preaching experience brought the messages. Four thousand people attended the services nightly and 500 public commitments to Christ were made. No one was more surprised than we were. God seemed to take 18- and 19-year-old students, not yet dry behind the ears, and work miracles through them.

To our surprise, invitations began coming in asking us to lead revival services in other cities — Houston, Fort Worth, Dallas, Memphis, Birmingham, Atlanta, Honolulu, and scores of other places. Students from other campuses, in Texas and beyond, caught the vision and soon hundreds of youth revivals were taking place throughout the nation. A movement had begun.

This is not intended to be a thorough history of the Youth Revival Movement. While it is true to history, it is a record of the beautiful, and sometimes ridiculous, ways God used a group of kids to accomplish His purpose. These stories, written for the first time, reflect our immaturity, our mistakes, our laughter, and our tears. But most of all, they reflect God’s power at work in surprising places.

These experiences live on in our hearts. Indeed, in some ways they seem as real today as when we first experienced them more than 50 years ago.

As one of the participants in the early days of the Youth Revival Movement said, "We were riding the wind of God." Enjoy the stories. Listen to the wind . . . and ride with us.