The miracle of Jena
- Apr 15, 2008 - 3
In this season of ugly racial accusations, the viciousness of which in many cases has not been experienced in decades, it’s inspiring to hear about people of different colors and backgrounds coming together for the common good—and to know that Jesus Christ is the reason.
Jena, Louisiana, was the scene of boiling racial tension just last year. A series of incidents at the local high school culminated in an assault against a white student, and six black students were arrested. Never shy about exploiting a situation like this—and seldom interested in the details—national news media descended on the small town and stirred the bad blood that already existed.
Before long, racial/religious con men like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and David Duke got involved, and both the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Panthers were making threatening statements. The bright lines between the races in Jena became even more well-defined, and bridging those lines appeared hopeless.
Into the growing maelstrom stepped Midway Baptist Church, a struggling Louisiana Baptist Convention (LBC) church that was just getting by with an interim pastor by the name of Bill Robertson, who also happened to be the LBC pastoral and leadership director.
Robertson asked the church members to schedule a revival and led them to begin praying several weeks before services started. On the second night of the revival, a woman stood and said she knew God’s Holy Spirit had called her to come to the altar the night before but she hadn’t stepped out. She wanted to confess her disobedience and said she would be coming at the invitation time that night to “get right.”
Robertson told her not to wait, that the invitation to come to God is always open. People began to move out of the pews and flood the altar.
“There were tears, sorrow and repentance,” Robertson recounted. “A spirit of brokenness flooded the room as a community leader stepped up to me and said, ‘Preacher, I’ve been living a lie. I joined this church five years ago, but I’ve never been genuinely saved.’ As I began to lead this man to repentance and faith, other adults began coming to the church leaders and asking for prayer and inquiring how they might be saved.”
At the end of the service, five adults and two adolescents had surrendered their lives to Christ. There had been too many to count at the altar. “The numbers don’t matter,” said Robertson, who did not preach during the service that spanned nearly two hours. “God is working in the church and in the community.”
Word spread about what was happening at Midway, and the small church’s sanctuary was soon overflowing. Services had to be moved to a larger venue. Importantly, African-American residents began to show up for the services and were welcomed along with everyone else who wanted to hear the Word preached.
The church invited Jimmy Young, the pastor of predominantly-black L&A Baptist Church, to preach and bring his church’s choir. Attendance exploded and scores of people of different races answered the altar call each night. Revival has now broken out among the neighboring churches of LaSalle Parish, even transcending denominational lines. The whole area is on fire for the Lord.
The Jena Revival, as it has come to be known, is entering its eighth week and the end is nowhere in sight. What Satan meant for evil, God has turned around through His people. Sadly, the news media is largely uninterested in this aspect of the continuing Jena story.
“Basically, what we’ve seen is God’s people getting right with Him and each other,” Robertson said. “God has brought about this revival and as a result, people are being saved, lives are being changed forever, and a true peace has come about, bringing unity to this area like we’ve never seen.”
Unity in Christ. What a concept!
“This is a work of God in the most unlikely place,” Robertson said. “Isn’t it just like our God to do something extraordinary like this so that no man can share in the glory? Community leaders would have to work for decades to bring peace to this community. Our God desires to bring the peace of Jesus into individual lives and this community now.”
“A retired missionary called me the other day from Oklahoma to pray for the revival in Jena,” Robertson said. “This godly man called out to God asking for the revival to sweep across our land one more time. Before he was finished praying, I was on the floor…humbled that God would do such a work and start it here in Jena.”
Perhaps, if we really do want revival to sweep our nation, we should join them on the floor. I’m ready. Aren’t you?
Editor’s note: Special thanks to John L. Yeats, LBC director of communications, and Baptist Press for information used extensively in this commentary.
This article is reprinted from the April 3, 2008, issue of The Baptist Record, the newspaper of the Mississippi Baptist Convention.
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission works to improve racial and ethnic relations in America and around the world. To learn more about this important issue, additional resources are available here. If your church is interested in purchasing materials on racial relations, please visit our online bookstore and erlc.com.
Further Learning
Learn more about: Citizenship, Racial Reconciliation
3 comments (post your own) feed
1 On Apr 16th, 2008, at 2:04pm, MD Johnson wrote:
Why is it that the secular press does not report this?
2 On Apr 16th, 2008, at 7:01pm, Paula Sparks wrote:
Praise God! The Holy Spirit is moving among our people. Oh that He would be able to move all across our nation and in the hearts of His people to truly worship Him and get our eyes back on Him. I am praying for revival, or His soon return. Thank you for this article.
3 On Apr 17th, 2008, at 12:11pm, Bill wrote:
Praise God for His unspeakable riches! What seems impossible to us, is nothing for our God!