United By Faith, Through Grace
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It's Live in the Bream with the host of Fox News Sunday, Shannon Bream. This week's Live in the Bream, if you have been frustrated or angry or upset or confused about what you have been seeing on college campuses, we have something that I think will lift your spirits and give you hope where people are coming together. They're working together against all kinds of different backgrounds and coming to find hope, to find joy, to find peace and

Thank you so much.

And if you've been hearing stories about revival and things happening on college campuses, these mass baptisms, Tanya is behind that. And her team, as they go from campus to campus, trying to bring a message of hope to people. And we're seeing young people respond by the thousands. And this is just the beginning. So we wanted to find out what the heck is going on. Tanya, welcome to Live in the Bream. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be on here to share what God's doing on college campuses.

So, listen, your husband is one of the coaches, basketball coaches at Auburn, and that's where this started. Did you know with that first event or gathering that you tried to put together there at Auburn that it would spark something much bigger? You know, with the first one, I didn't, not going into it. I had only seen a vision for what God was going to do at Auburn.

But I will tell you, coming out of that event, I had a greater vision where I saw it spreading across college campuses, across the nation, and then even something larger that I feel like is coming as a result of all of these smaller gatherings on campuses. But no, when we went into Auburn that first night, we were just expecting for something to happen in Auburn.

So it's been truly miraculous seeing what God has done as a result of that first night at Auburn University. So tell us about that first night at Auburn. What ended up happening based on what you had expected? And maybe you did have, as you said, a vision or some sense of what was coming. But how did that play out?

If it's okay, I'd like to tell you a little bit about what started the vision and how it got started. I was mentoring college students at Auburn University and leading a college girls small group. And I'll say this often, I am mentoring students or even just if you go on a student social media page, you're going to see students.

great pictures. It looks like everything is wonderful and they look so happy. And I can spend about 10 minutes with them and find out everything is not great. And behind those pictures is a lot of pain that we don't always see. And so I

I started sitting down with these girls and hearing one story after another and was hearing things like, "Hey, I'm isolated in my closet all day, and I don't want to go out with people. I'm isolated. I'm full of so much anxiety. I'm pulling my hair out, and just praying God doesn't let me live another day because I can't cope with life. It's too hard." And I was hearing one story after another, and I think I sat down at the table.

and heard one story about something that happened to a precious student. And her story was so bad that

It got my attention to the point where I think I stood up and I said, "You know what? I refuse to sit here anymore and hear the stories of students who are battling so much with depression and suicidal thoughts. I'm going to do something about it." And I started leading prayer on Auburn's campus. We started with five students. It ended up being about 200 in a few weeks. And during those prayer gatherings, it's like I just saw a vision of thousands gathered in Auburn's arena worshiping together.

And I shared it with every campus ministry leader, every pastor in the area, with our coaches, with our administration at Auburn. And they were all so excited on board. Let's go. Let's do it. And we started promoting it. We got there on September the 12th. We had no idea how many students would show up. We didn't sell tickets. We didn't have registration. I just knew the vision I had seen. And we got in the arena and I think we had over 5,000 students show up for that gathering.

And thought we were going to end the night with worship music from Passion Music. And it turned into just a spontaneous baptism. We had one student reach out and say, I have to get baptized tonight.

And from that, we were like, hey, everybody come over to this lake. We're going to baptize this student. You're welcome to come watch. We had thousands of students show up for that baptism and over 200 got baptized that night. It was incredible. Wow. Wow. And that was just the launch. I mean, you went to my alma mater, Florida State, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee. And I know you're announcing more coming for the fall. Yes.

That's right. But my goodness, what do you think is happening with students? I mean, you've had, like you said, such a pulse in working with these young women and people on campus and hearing the hurt, the isolation, the confusion. I mean, I've always, I can say in my personal life, the times that have been the toughest, darkest for me have been the deepest spiritual growth for sure. Is that what you think is happening with young people?

I do. And, you know, I'll say a lot of what came out of COVID, I believe, led to isolation. There was a lot of time where students were alone during that period, which caused them...

To the next thing that I feel like is causing a lot of anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts is the phone and spending so much time on social media and on their cell phones. And really during COVID, that's what they turned to because there was not a lot of interaction with people. They were on their phones the whole time. And I think just the phone leads to comparison. It leads to addictions. It leads to other things. So when I mentor these students, I hear a lot about comparison. Yeah.

I hear a lot about the things they're addicted to and can't get free from. And then I hear a lot about body image, things like that, that they struggle with. And so I think for them, it's like they need truth spoken to them first.

And they're desperate for that. And then they also need to hear there's hope. You know, I can get out of this closet and I can walk in a place where I'm relationally free and able to be in community again and be around people and live an effective life. And so that's what we feel like we bring. We bring truth. We bring hope.

in these messages that we were taking to these campuses. And we offer them three things, salvation, freedom. If you're battling and you're dealing with suicidal thoughts or addictions, we're here to help guide you through that. And then connection. So don't leave this event, a one night event and go back into where you were. We want you to connect with a ministry or local church where you can live this out, a lifelong discipleship. It's just been beautiful.

We've had students who have come in who were contemplating suicide or battling strong addictions who are now serving in their local church and leading high school students. Testimonies have been extremely powerful. And I will say FSU was one of the most powerful things I've ever been a part of. I will tell you, I think they said that we had over 60% of the students were nonbelievers.

We had 310 get baptized that night, and I would say probably 1,000 came forward for salvation. Wow. Wow. I mean, so many of the big spiritual movements that have happened over time have been with young people. And we think about what happened at Asbury and how that felt very much like the spark of something.

And we know that when young people get on fire about something, whatever it is, I mean, it really can sweep the entire culture and you guys aren't stopping with where you've been. Before we move on, I do want to touch on something that you touched on. You talked about follow up because it's, you know, people can have an experience and be there, but if they don't have a part of community or somewhere to follow up and to grow and to find others who are sharing their faith and their hope and

it can be a dead end for some people. So tell us a little bit more about how you talked about connecting with local church and making sure that these young people who have been a part of this will have support and help and community moving forward.

Yeah. So one thing that we do prior to our events is reach out to every campus ministry leader and every college pastor in the city. And we invite them to a luncheon where we gather and share the vision with them, give them an opportunity to participate and be a part of this.

And then we offer an opportunity at the event for them to set up a booth or a table where they can interact with students as they come in and as they leave to say, hey, we want to invite you to our church or our ministry. Be a part of us. And then we also do...

a QR code at the end where students can give their information. And in that way, we can communicate things to the church. So if the student says, hey, I'm a Catholic student or I'm interested in a non-denominational church or a Baptist church, whatever it is, then we connect them with that church and say, hey, this student is interested if you could reach out to them. Or we offer the student also their information or here are all the Baptist churches in the area that you could get connected with. And so

We've had churches contact us and say, thank you. Our students have been in overflow since the event. We can't even get enough chairs in the room.

And so, yes, that, and then also I'll tell you about your school, FSU. So amazing. My student team that I worked with there actually took all, I think they had like over 800 names that they had gathered. We could have close to 5,000 students come, but everybody doesn't necessarily share their names, but we had over 800. That student team of five sat down the day after the event. We probably didn't get finished with baptisms till after midnight. They got up early the next morning and,

And personally called, divided those names by the five, personally called every single student on that list and followed up and told them,

That they were loved and that they were so glad they attended the event and answered any questions that they may have. And how can we follow up and make sure that you get involved in a community in the city? And so it was just a really powerful thing. And we've had so much interaction with students from the follow-up aspect of what we do, even counseling to a certain extent with some of our team members. So it's been beautiful.

Wow. Okay. And you're already looking forward. So tell us about fall. I've heard about Arkansas. Are there others coming together? What should people know if they are on a campus somewhere and hope you're coming?

Yeah, so hopefully they're following us on social media because that's where we make our announcements. We are going to Arkansas September the 19th. We have two other schools locked in that haven't been announced yet. I will go ahead and tell you, I won't say the dates, but I will tell you that we are going to Mississippi State and University of Florida are both locked in for the fall. I'm talking to, I think right now, I have seven different teams of students that are in the process of securing a date for

And, you know, for our team, we're just trying to figure out how in the world are we going to pull off this many events in one semester. But, you know, we did five this past one and it worked and God just kind of goes before us and takes control. And we just trust him and obey and walk in it. And it's been extremely powerful. And I would just say excellent in every way. And the testimonies that come from it, you know, just let you know that God's hand is definitely in it.

But yeah, we have we could do as many as 10 in the fall. We'll probably do more like six to six or seven and try to push the others to the spring. OK, well, it is amazing to hear from the young people today.

on the other side who come from a lot of different places whether they had no faith maybe they were just curious or maybe their faith had gone stale or they weren't fully committed or wherever they were on the spectrum it's been a beautiful thing to see and hear from them about how

This has given them hope back in their lives. It's given them purpose. It's given them connection with other people who share their faith and a way that they can all move forward. You mentioned social media. So I want to make sure we get all of that out so people know where to find you. Yes. On Instagram and Facebook, we're on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. And it's Unite Us. That is the name of our social media account. And then you've got the web as well.

Yes, uniteusmovement.com. And I will say we get, we've had so many requests. It's one of those things where we just kind of trust that the team that is contacting us, because we never go after schools. They always come to us. That's kind of how we have done it in the past. And I would say we probably have about 50 universities right now that are reaching out. You know, we're desperate. Please come to our campus. We want to see God move and

We're trying to be strategic in how we can get to each one, but typically we'll start with a team who are a university that has a strong student team that's ready to go in place and can get the ball rolling as far as securing the event space and all that.

It's exciting. I'll tell you, we just, when you go on the website and you look at all these, you know, please come unite the West Coast. Please come unite Nashville or the city of New Orleans. Like, we're desperate. It's a beautiful thing, and we don't want to stop. I mean, we don't want to miss anything. So we're trusting God to continue. Yes, the momentum.

We'll have more live in the Bream in a moment. Cut low on Fox business is now on the go for podcast fans. Get key interviews with the biggest business newsmakers of the day. The Cutlow podcast will be available on the go after the show every weekday at Fox business podcasts.com or wherever you download your favorite podcasts. So again, we're talking with Tanya Prod, who is the founder of Unite Us. If you've been seeing these stories and images and hearing about all these different campuses where young people are showing up and

committing their lives to Christ, getting baptized, finding hope. That's where this started with Unite Us. And as we talked about, it spread hopefully to many other campuses. I've got to ask you, you had this idea and this vision about Auburn. So to now see all of these young people and just sort of the joy that it's giving them and to hear their stories,

What does it do to you, to your heart, to your mind to watch this? What feels very much like a revival among young people. And clearly there's a hunger for more people to get involved in what you're doing. But what is it like for you to watch this unfold? You know, all I can truly say is it is completely humbling to know that I played a small part in this. And

you know, through a vision that I saw as a single vision initially to spread into a great movement, a great move of God and for it to affect so many college students to see them come in one way and leave another and come in with one story, but leave with a greater story and, and,

I feel like this is just the beginning. If the vision that I've seen progresses as I've seen it, it's all going to lead to one greater gathering that's going to take place in 2025 where these college students from all across the nation will come together in one large gathering. Where are you going to put all of them? My goodness. This has got to be a big stadium or something. It's crazy because

the vision that I saw is really impossible. And so it truly would take a miracle. And I've kind of seen the people who would be involved in it and,

It's probably a vision that I'll share at a later time. It's not that I have to figure it out. I can't figure any of this stuff out. God moves how He chooses to move in miraculous ways. But I will say what I saw was in Washington, D.C. And it's not anywhere that anything's ever happened before. So it would take a miracle. But I am just trusting God in all of it, how He chooses to use, how He chooses to move. You

You know, we just obey and we keep moving forward and then allow him to go before us. That's been the thing. We, we, we, our, our scripture that we stick to is Exodus 33. Um, if your presence doesn't go before us, don't send us. Um, and God said, my presence is going before you. And so, and we've seen them do it time and time again. Um,

But yeah, I'm super excited for 2025. I'm super excited for what God has coming. And I do believe He is strategically opening doors at certain universities that are going to be key in this greater gathering. So maybe you and I get on a follow-up call later and talk more deeply about that. I would love to know about what's coming to D.C. But to your point here, what would you say to someone else who, because I find that

God specializes in doing the impossible because then we can't take the credit. So it gives us a little bit of relief in knowing that, okay, if this is going to be of you, you will open the doors. As you said, Exodus 33, you will go before. But to somebody who is feeling called to maybe something in their own life, it's not a nationwide project, but something that seems a little intimidating or impossible, but they feel God's call to that based on your experience and

How would you counsel people who feel that there is something God is asking them to do? That is a great question. And I would say to them, Esther, I use Esther 414 a lot, but Esther was an orphan girl. She should have never even been in the king's palace, but she became the king's wife. And she also stood before the king in a moment when she should have been killed because

But taking that stand in front of the king led to the saving of a great nation. And so I would say to them and even me, and when I'll say to you, why me? Why would God choose me? I come from a background where I had nothing as a little girl. I had nothing. I had, you know, I could tell you stories that would blow your mind and everything.

But I do believe, you know, God has his hand on people. And if we will, first of all, I think it's super important to even get alone with God and get in the presence of God so that you can hear him. And when he speaks to you, if you can step out in faith, even when it doesn't seem right. And I'll tell you this, too. A deeper part of what's happened in the journey of the last five years of my life is something that I'm sharing in a book that I'm writing. Fantastic. When can we expect that?

Well, it's in the beginning stages. I've written almost half of it. But it pretty much just kind of goes through the journey of the last five years of my life. And if I can just take a moment, my oldest daughter got a call from ABC's The Bachelor asking her to come on the show. And so she calls me and she's like, Mom.

ABC's The Bachelor just called me, but I would never go on their show. And typically, as her mom, knowing she wants to marry a pastor, and we've been in the church our whole lives, and I would say to her, you know, you should start now. Is there a pastor bachelor? Yeah. Is this Christian bachelor? Yeah, she's joined us on the podcast, too. We loved having her. Yeah. But my response to her in that moment was,

Maddie, we don't close the door without praying because God can take a very unlikely beginning and turn it into an extraordinary ending.

And who are we to decide how God chooses to work? And by her taking a stand for her purity and faith on national television from 10 million people, which led to a platform that now we're, it's crazy to me the connections that have been made since her going on the show with us and helping lead this revival. It's all, and the message that we take on these college campuses has a lot to do with purity and

making good choices when it comes to sexual sin, things like that, and getting out of bondage, things like that. So I think it's all dots connected. It's all puzzle pieces that have been put together for a much greater story that you'll hear about and how all of this has been connected. And God started with her going on that show.

And now she's traveling with us all across the country to these events where we're seeing students that she's already had an impact on come to know Jesus.

Yeah, we just can't predict. In the situations that we're put into, all we can do is walk faithfully even when it's terrifying and trust that the Lord has got a plan. And clearly He is working that through you to bless and impact and save so many young people who are desperately looking for all the things you talk about, truth and hope and joy and peace.

Again, this week we've talked with Tanya Pruitt, the founder of Unite Us. You can find them under that tag all over social media. Unite Us are their accounts. And also uniteusmovement.com if you want more on the web. Tanya, God bless you. We look forward to all that is coming. And we thank you for joining us on Live in the Bream.

Thank you, Shannon. It's been great. Thank you for having me. 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. I'm Guy Benson. Join me weekdays at 3 p.m. Eastern as we break down the biggest stories of the day with some of the biggest newsmakers and guests. Listen live on the Fox News app or get the free podcast at GuyBensonShow.com.