Catalyst for Renewal Ashleigh Graves is a junior applied communications major from Greenwood, Ind.February 14, 2006Last week, God used a very ordinary chapel service to speak to the hearts of a campus and a community. It wasn't something that just exploded—in fact, it built up gradually over the course of a day and was given even greater energy by existing student-led spiritual initiatives like the Asbury House of Prayer. It was so much bigger than just our college, too. I met students from Asbury Seminary, from the University of Kentucky, from Berea, from local high schools and middle schools. I met people from all over Kentucky and from three or four other states. Most of these people had just heard that "something" was going on and came to check it out. God is the ultimate multi-tasker. The significance of what happened last week lies less in the experience itself and more in the things it set in motion. The term "revival" gets thrown around pretty liberally, and I'm wary of using it as a label for anything. A lot of people on campus have referred to last week as a "renewal", and I think that pretty much hits the mark. Whatever you want to call it, the important thing is that those days and nights in Hughes provided a catalyst for renewal, for freedom, for seeking the heart of God. While there was certainly a communal experience in Hughes, God was working in each of us in very individual ways. Some people needed to stay for an hour. Some people needed to stay for four days. God works in mysterious ways, but it takes a lot to get some of us to pay attention.
