Changed Hearts & Prayerful Revival at UW-Whitewater

Luke Francis, the Campus Staff Minister at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater (UW-Whitewater), knows what it means to long for something. As a student, he organized daily prayer meetings to intercede for campus. But usually, he prayed by himself. 

Though he was disappointed, Luke reflected, “One of the things that the Lord was teaching me is that sometimes slow change is what lasts. It isn’t always about getting people to do things right away because it’s a heart change that has to happen.”

Today, 11 years later, Luke is finally seeing that heart change. “Students are willingly, eagerly meeting to pray every day,” he said. “And they’re praying for things they’ve never seen happen before on campus.”

Luke identified three common themes his students have been praying for: more people coming to faith in Jesus, the chapter growing in numbers, and their fellowship becoming more diverse.

God has answered those prayers. More hearts are changing. During the fall of 2019, 13 students committed their lives to Jesus in just one large group meeting. The chapter is growing in diversity, including a growing Black Campus Ministry (BCM), and students are catching a vision to reach new corners of campus they had never considered before.

“I believe that prayer leads to revival. First, it starts with personal revival,” Luke said. “But then it moves beyond that to where our heart for the campus grows, and we desire for other people to know Jesus in the way we know him.”

Watch the video below to hear more about God’s transforming work at UW-Whitewater.