Revivals Are Coming To College Campuses
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It's Live in the Bream with the host of Fox News Sunday, Shannon Bream. All right. We are welcoming someone back to Living the Bream who had amazing things to share with us that are happening on college campuses all across our country. Tanya Pruitt is the founder of Unite Us, and she had a vision when she was counseling, mentoring, sharing with kids at Auburn University.

That was kind of the spark that set all of this in motion as she had a real heart and saw the needs of young people in this generation. That was September of last year. They had this huge gathering. People came to know the Lord. They came to find hope and strength. And this thing has now caught fire across the country. And we can't wait to have an update from her. Tanya, welcome back.

Well, thank you so much. It's such an honor to be back on with you, Shanna. And we were talking about the things we had seen in last academic school year. And I know that you said so much more was coming this fall. And man, it's been campus after campus. I watch these videos. I hear these testimonials. And it blows me away that you have thousands of young people showing up and hearing a message of hope. Tell me about the latest.

You know, I have to say this first. All of this that's happening can only be explained by the hand of God. I mean, it's just bigger than any of us.

We have a very small team, and the fact that we are taking revival to different college campuses across the nation with such a small team, major productions, and thousands and thousands of students showing up, I just, I sit back in awe sometimes, and I'm like, wow, God, like, this is not even possible without you. We can only explain it by you. So, but we have seen over 70,000 students gather on 11 campuses representing over 300 universities in this last year.

I think we have documented over 5,000 salvations, far more than 2,000 baptisms. And it's just remarkable. And I'll tell you, I think one of the things that blesses me the most is the testimonies that come out of these, where we're hearing students who are saying, "Hey, I came into the event because a friend invited me. I was ready to end my life. And I left the event wanting to live my life."

And they're just they're getting connected with local churches being discipled. It's just also beautiful. It really is. And like you said, the beautiful thing about something like this is, you know, it's beyond yourself. And I mean, that's one of the greatest things that we can believe God for the impossible, because it doesn't matter about us. It is not counting on us.

And because he pulls off these things that we couldn't explain, it allows us to point people to him. And what a beautiful thing to see these kids. And so I listen, every generation, there are new struggles. There are new challenges for young people.

And I just, I look at, as I'm sure you do, and we've talked about at young people these days and say, man, they've got the social media, they've got the Instagram perfect life. They've got the disconnection of human relationships and all kinds of things. These are young people who were scarred by COVID years that took away their high school experiences, many of them. And there's gotta be so much hurt that you see from these, these young people when they show up.

You're exactly right. I mean, you hit the nail on the head. I'm telling you, I have the opportunity, which is one of the biggest blessings in my life,

of going into sororities prior to the events and just extending a personal invitation to the sorority girls. And one thing I'll say to them is, I can go on your social media and you look incredible. Everything looks amazing. But if I spend about 10 minutes with you, I find out it's not that amazing. And a lot of times behind your pictures is a lot of pain that nobody sees. Sure.

And it's like the whole there'll be 400 girls in the room and it's like it just goes silent, you know, because every girl in the room can relate to that of you look, you see what I allow you to see. But nobody's seeing what's really going on in my life and everything.

We have a generation, I feel like, that is probably battling the most anxiety, depression, suicidal ideations, probably in a long history. And like you said, a lot of that, I think, is due to two different things. But COVID definitely had a role in them spending a lot of time isolated and then just spending time with their phone. And their phone became their

the thing that they just spent all of their time on. And I think it can mess your mind up in a sense and cause a lot of anxiety. And so we're seeing these students who are, they just want truth and hope and the phone is not the answer. And I think too, it creates a lot of comparison and addiction. And so we bring these revivals to college campuses and we're seeing students coming out saying, Hey, I've been addicted for 10 years.

And I just want to be clean and they'll get baptized and come out. And then we'll hear testimonies of how they're walking out of addiction into new life. And now in a community with other people like them who have gone through the same things they've gone through, but they're walking it out together. And God's just doing miraculous things in cities across this nation. Well, yeah. And you make such a good point, this idea of community, because I think we can all, if we're, if we're trying to live in the Instagram perfect world and bubble and maintain and manage our

That public image, it's really hard to find other people and admit you're struggling and to know that you've got supportive either people who've walked through things and so they can be a great source of wisdom and comfort in that or they need help too. And it sounds like that's part of what's happening at these gatherings. Yeah.

Absolutely. That is exactly what we're seeing. And I'll tell you the incredible thing we had. I think our last three, Ole Miss, Florida, and Texas A&M, at the end, Pastor Jonathan Picluda did an altar call after Jenny had, she did an incredible illustration where students see visually like she's

She takes ropes and she kind of binds a student and just lets them see like this is what it feels like sometimes, but you can break free from that. They do a confession time. But for the last three events, JP gave an altar call. And I will say we have documented over a thousand students per event just making a decision to follow Jesus, coming forward, getting baptized, coming

And then, like we said, plugging in, finding that community and walking it out. It is so amazing. And I'll say this. We have had with these different 11 campuses, it has ignited something across the nation where universities in the north, in the west, in the Midwest, deep south, all over are begging. We're desperate for revival on our campus. Would you please come? And so for Unite, we are...

very prayerful and just trying to manage the demand. We want to get to as many of these universities as we can. We want to bring hope to this generation on their college campus. And it's a beautiful thing.

to be on your campus with other students that you go to school with and see them worshiping and giving their lives to Jesus and getting baptized and hearing their story. It's just all unreal. Well, yeah, I mean, and I guess that's like we talked about. I mean, when it is unreal, you know that something else is going on. That is something divine in a lot of these ways. And so I know these students,

Many of them will then go share within their friend groups, within their specific study groups and those kinds of things. But I imagine that you hear of people taking this to their families, too. I mean, when they go home and where they're from, that that's got to be part of the spreading hope that's coming from this, too. That's so true. And I'll tell you one story you made me think of is.

When we went to the University of Georgia, there was a whole group of students that came from West Georgia to that event. And I got contacted by one of the cheerleaders there. And she said, my whole cheerleading team went to Unite Georgia. And she said, while we were there, five of my cheerleader friends got saved, got baptized. And she said, we came back to West Georgia, went to cheerleader practice, thought it would just be a normal practice, but it broke out in worship.

And we, it broke out in worship and prayer and confessions in our gym. Like we had no idea. And she said, and it's continuing to go. And just as those stories are so amazing. And then I had a guy testify to similar to what you're saying of how his mom had passed away and his dad had been in prison for many years and he had so much unforgiveness towards his dad. But he said, I came out of Unite and

And just something happened to me where I made a decision to forgive my father. And I'm going to have a relationship with him from this day forward. And it's stories like that, that you're just like, you know, only God can do such things. And getting the students to these events is the biggest thing. I mean, if we can, if we can find ways to get them there, then God does the work. We'll have more Live in the Bream in a moment.

Start preparing for your future at Liberty University and join thousands of LU alumni like Shannon Bream. From a flexible K-12 online academy to doctoral level programs, Liberty University has a range of educational opportunities to match your needs. If you're looking for an accredited K-12 school, Liberty University Online Academy provides a flexible,

biblical-based curriculum. For a college degree at the undergraduate or graduate level, choose from Liberty University's 700-plus programs online and on campus with scholarships and financial assistance available. Whether you choose to study residentially on Liberty's beautiful Lynchburg, Virginia campus or

or enjoy the convenience of one of our online programs, today's the day to start pursuing your world-class Christian education. Right now, as a listener of the Live in the Bream podcast, you'll get your application fee waived when you apply at liberty.edu forward slash Shannon. That's liberty.edu forward slash Shannon. Check out Liberty University today.

I want to be careful about this because listen, I grew up in a Christian environment, in a Christian home. So when people say salvation or getting saved, I know a lot of people are sort of weirded out by the Christian language where they don't know what that means or how that could ever apply to them, why they would be interested in that. So tell us what you mean when you use that kind of terminology.

Yeah. So we present the gospel, a message straight from the word of God and that Jesus died on the cross for your sins. He was raised to life and he wants a relationship with you. And so we present that and students have the opportunity to receive Christ and to walk out the Christian life and to get plugged into a local church to learn more and

and to go through discipleship and find out, you know, just what the Bible says about you and who you are and who your identity is and a believer. And so that is our message. And we take that to every campus.

And so many students respond to that. And then we want them to dive deeper, of course, and get in a local church where they can learn more about it. A one night event is great, but there's so much more to it than that. We want you to live it out, walk it out and continue learning and growing in that.

Yeah. And I think, you know, for some people who have a negative concept of religion or they're turned off by it, or maybe they've had a bad experience with the church or a person, or they're just not interested. They don't understand how it applies to their life. I love that people hear the message is one, not a condemnation, but of redemption. I mean, it's, it's hopeful and it's,

Full of love and, you know, that really the Christian community is about supporting each other, reaching out to people, regardless of who they are, we're called to do that. But within that community to finding for some people, I think the supports the family, the help that they don't know is they're waiting for them.

That's right. And I think through these events and then other events like what's happening at Ohio State through their football team. And then honestly, what's happening all over the world, we're seeing Gen Z and other global, all over the globe, like all over the world, just experiencing this. They're showing up, they're hungry, and they're taking it to the next person. And like you said, to their families. We have moms and dads who contact us all the time saying,

what happened to my child at the University of Alabama. I can never thank you enough for what you did because it has brought our family closer together. And so, yeah, there's so many different aspects to it. And, you know, I will say I've shared on a couple of podcasts of

The greater vision that God gave me and the night before Auburn's event of Unite Auburn, Unite other college campuses, Unite the nation. I feel like we're seeing that. I feel like our nation, through all of this, through these students coming together on their campus, and we go beyond that, we reunite churches. So the students come together, but we also connect with every local ministry and every church in every city we go to and invite them to come together together.

And so we're just seeing such unity within the school, within the city, and then now across the nation. And so it's such a blessing to watch God's people come together and just do this together. And I have to say this for anybody who's wondering, because so many people I've heard, so many people say, there's no hope for Gen Z. They're too far gone. Like they're too messed up. And I will say this.

Revival is happening and Gen Z is leading the way and they're going to lead us in the greatest revival our nation has ever seen. It's happening. Yeah. I mean, I think back to Asbury College, too, that kind of gave people that glimmer of what could be and that young people were young.

and that they were searching and that they were completely capable of being devout and leading the spark for revival for maybe the rest of us. So with all of that in mind, it is beautiful to watch these videos. I got to tell you that I do start crying when I watch them because I'm just so moved by seeing young people with a sense of hope and relief and joy on their faces. Like there is another way and there is hope and there is hope

acceptance and there is, you know, a good path forward, regardless of whatever you are walking through, whatever you've been through. I just love seeing that excitement and that joy on their faces as they, you know, accept Christ and find this joy.

exciting redemption story. So tell us moving forward, what is the plan? Because I know, like you said, and the last time we talked to you, like we have all these schools that want us to come and you're mentioning that again today. How do you see this continuing in the short term and the long term? That's a great question. And I honestly...

Ask God that every day. It's like, you know, as long as you're opening doors, as long as you're making a way, as long as these schools are asking, we'll continue going like this is on God's timetable and we're just being obedient.

But I will say we have hundreds that are wanting us to come in. I right now currently I'm working with about 15 different university student teams. And so I will connect. The students will reach out after they reach out. I will form a group of students in that particular city and on that campus. And then I work with them and we go through a checklist to make the event happen. Right now, I have about 15 student teams working.

across the nation. And I know for sure we have, I think, six locked in for the spring. And then just trying to decide, do we want to go to 10? I mean, like, is it possible? And you hate to ask that question because it seems like nothing is impossible. How we did six events this last semester, week to week with as many as 10,000 students showing up and we had like a week to plan it is just, like I said in the beginning, it's all God. It's a major production that

That would take a year to plan and we're doing it in weeks. And so you can't explain it. And God's moving. And so thousands are coming forward for salvation and we're planning it in a week. So all credit to God. And I'll say...

I think the balance right now is, God, do we expand this thing? Do we do more or do we keep it with six and then just try to push the others to the fall? That's kind of where we are. But we have some exciting schools we're going to and we have not announced yet, but that will come out. Our Instagram is Unite Us and we will be making those announcements, those universities that we're going to. Super fun. We're so excited, so pumped for what's coming next. And then too, I will share a little bit. I have seen, even in the beginning,

a greater vision for Unite the Nation and what that looks like. And so, and to me, what I see is a greater gathering of students from all over the nation coming together in one place. So we hit these different campuses, but then we will have a greater gathering where students from every campus and all over the nation will join together for one great gathering. Okay. You mentioned your- 2025.

Tell us where we can find out what's going on. If students want to get involved, if they want to find out about bringing you to their university, what are the best ways to connect with what you're doing? Yes. On Instagram, we're at Unite Us. And then our website is uniteusmovement.com. And they can go there and just see, they can get plugged in, volunteer, reach out to us about coming to their school, all of those things. So yeah.

And that's usually where the students reach out to us, where we first get connected is through our website. Okay. And what do you need? Are there people from the outside that can help? Do you need resources? Do you need prayers? What are some things that would be helpful to the efforts that you guys are doing? That's a great question. And I will say another thing that's going on that people may not even know about is we have

prayer teams of moms, prayer teams of dads, prayer teams of students at every campus we've been to and every campus we're going to. So we have this network of prayer going on all across the nation. We just did a Unite Day of Prayer and social media fast right before the election, and it was beautiful. And we had thousands of people joining us to disconnect from social media and just take time to pray. But we will always ask

Anyone who can take time to pray for what God's doing on college campuses, not just in Unite, but just with students in general across the nation and for families. And I do always try to challenge moms and dads to rise up and be spiritual leaders and mentor these students. You wouldn't believe how...

they need it. And this whole movement started with me mentoring two or three girls, you know, and realizing the pain that they're going through and how much they, you know, they have moms or they have a dad, but sometimes they're away from that and they just need a spiritual leader to rise up. And so I would challenge moms and dads to do that. But prayer, obviously we can always use donations if anyone's interested in doing that. We are blessed in that people just come to us and give and

And we're able to afford to do this. So all that is such the hand of God. And we're very, very thankful. Well, and I love that you mentioned how this all started and reminds us to be faithful in our little things and whatever our sphere of influence is, our home or wherever. I mean, those are such important assignments that we're on wherever God has put us. And I love that.

In your particular case, in this particular season, it's a very big assignment, but we know you do it with great love and humility as does everybody who joins you in these efforts. Tanya Pruitt, thank you so much for the update. And we look forward to what is coming next with Unite Us. Yes. Thank you, Shannon. I appreciate you having me on. Listen ad-free with the Fox News Podcast plus subscription on Apple Podcasts and Amazon Prime members can listen to this show ad-free on the Amazon Music app.

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