Nearly 2.000 students crammed into the Paducah-McCracken County Convention & Expo Center on Wednesday night around one central message: the hope of Jesus Christ.
Illusionist Jared Hall, 270 Collective worship band and evangelist Ken Freeman filled the night with compelling stories and songs. But what happened next could only be a movement of God. Dozens of students came forward to make a decision to follow Jesus.
Scott Thomas, pastor of Lone Oak First Baptist Church, said the Hope for West KY Student Rally was planned and prayed for extensively. They came expecting a big night.
“We’ve had over 60 churches participate. We’ve recruited over 250 decision counselors. You can sense God’s presence,” Thomas said. “We’ve been praying for God to move, and God’s been saying, ‘I’ve been waiting for you to show up.’”
Groups from those 60 churches filled each row as students of all ages sang in agreement of God’s goodness and grace.
Freeman took the stage and opened by having the students touch their forehead and say, “You can know about God without knowing God.”
Freeman explained his troubled past and his own need for God.
“I had nine stepfathers in my life. One of my stepdads beat me with a switch until I bled. By the time I’m 15, I’m in jail. By the time I’m 10, I grab a bottle of aspirin because I wanted the pain to stop. I took my first drink of alcohol at age 9.”
But that all changed when a football player invited him to church, and he made a decision to follow Jesus. He challenged students to be the kind of friend to others that football player was to him.
“God looks at our heart and our faith,” Freeman said as he asked students to open to Luke 5—the story of the paralyzed man Jesus healed. He made the comparison of the paralyzed man’s condition to the paralyzing fear, guilt and shame the students were facing. The answer to both conditions? “Jesus,” said Freeman.
“I believe we’re running out of time. Don’t wait for a tragedy to make a decision. If you were to die tonight, would you be with Jesus?”
Dozens of leaders and students alike were on their faces praying for God to move and convict as Freeman gave the invitation to follow Christ.
Freeman asked students who decided to accept Jesus as their personal Savior to come join him at the front of the stage. When the audience finally opened their eyes after the prayer, they were overjoyed to see 140 people proclaiming their faith in Jesus.
Each person was taken to a counselor where they were prayed for and talked through the next steps for their decision.
Sharon White, a decision counselor from First Baptist Church in Paducah, said she met with a 15-year-old girl who knew she was on the wrong path and wanted to get right with the Lord.
“I could tell her faith was genuine and that she wanted to be saved,” White said.
Tears were shed, and hugs were shared as new believers reunited with their groups during the last worship song. Countless other students could be found on their knees in prayer as friends made decisions.
One girl, Izzy, walked into the event timid and searching. After making a decision to follow Jesus, her demeanor changed and she left feeling “overwhelmingly happy.”
The joy was tangible in the room as the evening ended. Students did not want to leave and were lingering, even singing songs, and wiping tear-stained faces long after the formal program had finished.
“Tonight was an answered prayer in so many ways,” said Megan Poppelwell, a student ministry volunteer at Westside Baptist Church in Murray. “We had four students make professions of faith, and I saw our students pay attention in supernatural ways— and not because of the way the Word was taught, or the worship was done, but by the way the Spirit was moving. Tonight was for sure a catalyst for conversations and life change among our students.”
All the students were asked to invite their families, friends, sports teams, classmates and neighbors to Hope for West KY Revival on Sunday night at 6:30 at the Paducah Convention Center to hear the rest of Freeman’s story. To know more about this event, visit hopeforwestky.org.
Evangelist Ken Freeman encourages people to come forward and pray at the Hope for West KY Student Rally at the Paducah-McCracken County Convention & Expo Center. (Kentucky Today/Robin Cornetet)
