The Flashlight Revival

linda evans shepherd | lindashepherd.com

It was a hot June day when I pushed open the glass door of the Christian bookstore and felt the rush of cold air.

I was a sophomore in college and days away from leaving for my summer mission trip to serve as the youth director at a church in a tiny West Texas town near Uvalde. I soon selected a hundred-pack of Bill Bright’s

As I dropped the booklets into my camera case, I prayed God would put them to good use. But once I got to LaPryor, Texas, my booklets stayed hidden away. Every time I’d reach for my camera, I’d see my booklets and feel disappointed that I hadn’t found a chance to share them with anyone. I’d pray, “Lord, give me the opportunity to share these with those who need to know You.”

Near the end of my summer, I was in charge of taking a group of girls to the Alto Frio Baptist Camp along with a child who’d been my biggest challenge, a rebel disguised as a sweet blue-eyed twelve-year-old named Kathy.

Camp turned out to be fun. The facilities were a bit primitive, but the camp itself was filled with open-air worship, teaching, crafts, and games.

But it was the time in our screened-in air bunkhouse that my girls and I enjoyed the most. We’d jump into our pj’s and climb into our bunk beds, only feet away from the other bunkhouses filled with mostly sleeping girls and their mother chaperones. My group would whisper until the moms would shine their flashlights through our screen door.

“You girls are making too much noise. We can’t sleep.”

“Sorry,” I’d answer before trying to get my giggling pack to quiet down. But one night, my girls couldn’t stop giggling, and soon the mothers surrounded our bunk house demanding, “Quiet down!”

We whispered our goodnights, and just as the girls drifted to sleep, Kathy whispered into the darkness, “What does it mean to be saved?”

I grabbed my camera case, pulled out one of my gospel booklets, and as my sleepy girls huddled together, I led Kathy through the steps that would introduce her to a saving relationship with Jesus.

By flashlight, we read John 3:16. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

I whispered how Jesus died on the cross for our sins and was resurrected from the dead so we could know God.

When I talked about how Kathy could place her faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of her sins, I led her in a simple prayer:

“Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the doors of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be.”

Kathy gushed, “Oh, I didn’t know I could have God’s Spirit inside of me. This is wonderful!”

The girls and I quietly cheered and suddenly we were surrounded by flashlights attached to angry moms.

“You girls must pipe down or face demerits,” the women in pink sponge curlers demanded.

“One of our girls just got born again,” I stammered.“That’s nice. Now, time to go to sleep.”

The next day, when the girls gathered for the morning assembly, Kathy stood up and strode to the front of the room. “I have something to say.”

The stunned worship leader stopped singing, and Kathy addressed the audience of two hundred girls. She said, “Last night I got Jesus in my heart, and it changed my life. If you don’t have Jesus in your heart, you need to get Him now.”

One little girl raised her hand. “How did you get Him in your heart?” she asked.

Kathy pointed at me. “Linda had a little booklet in her camera case that explained it. I prayed the prayer and asked Jesus to come into my heart.”

Suddenly, the entire assembly of girls began to weep while the pianist softly played the hymn “I Surrender All.” The worship leader stood and announced, “It’s time to get Jesus into your heart. Talk to your counselors to find out how.”

One of the formerly angry moms knelt next to me and asked, “Do you have any more of those booklets? I need five.”

I opened my camera case and handed the woman five booklets, and she hurried back to her girls and began to read it to them.

I looked back and realized a line had formed. “I need ten,” the next mom told me. Another said, “Can you spare eight more?”

And so it went, as mom after mom made her request for booklets. When I handed out the last booklet, I was worried that I had run out, then I realized, there was no one else in line.

The room was filled with weeping, as all around me, the mothers led approximately 100 girls to Jesus with the booklets. I could only sit back and take the moment in, knowing full well that God had answered my prayers.

He had made sure I had exactly enough booklets to ignite a revival.

As I read the reports of the devastating news from Uvalde, I can’t help but think of those little girls, now moms and grandmothers. I hope they still have their booklets and the faith to share the love of God with the hurting.

May God ignite another revival of salvation and comfort.

And if you’ve never found a personal relationship with God through Jesus, pray the prayer above to start your journey.

Salvation prayer from Bill Bright’s Four Spiritual Laws Classic Evangelism Tract © 1964, 1994 Campus Crusade for Christ, Inc.

Linda Evans Shepherd is the founder and CEO of AWSA (Advanced Writers & Speakers Association—awsa.com). Her latest book is Prayers for Every Need, from Baker Revell.