Group will host Oklahoma City tent revival
An Oklahoma City woman envisions revival sweeping through the metro area.
Mary Walbert decided to host the 4th Street Tent Revival with the hope that her vision will come to pass.
The event will be at 6 p.m. Sept. 29 at vacant property at NW 4 and Shartel Avenue, with permission from the property owners.
Walbert, who is United Methodist, said she has enlisted a group of friends to help her coordinate an ecumenical evening of praise and worship and Christian faith testimonies. She said her goal is to see may people accept Christ, be healed and experience other miracles.
“We will have testimonies and there will be lots of praise and worship — that's our focus. And then, I'll be ready as God leads,” Walbert said.
She enlisted the aid of several people who have been meeting with her for years to pray together. Walbert said some of them she knows from attending worship services at First United Methodist Church of Oklahoma City and currently The Christ Experience, a Methodist congregations that meets in the First United Methodist-Oklahoma City building at 131 NW 4. Other she met at various Christian gatherings and events over the years, including a homeless
ministry that evolved into what is currently known as Friday Night Alive at First United Methodist-Oklahoma City.
Texye Fernandes said she was excited when Walbert began to plan the revival because she knew that her friend felt led by God to put it together. “This tent revival has been on her heart for years and it's coming to fruition,” Fernandes said.
Another friend, Brenda Thornton, said it will be good to have a corporate worship experience outside the four walls of a church building. “We do believe God is doing a new thing,” she said.
Sandy Springer agreed. “We've been waiting to do this all our lives so here we go,” she said. “I love the Lord and I'm looking for a move of God where we are all worshiping him, people are getting healed and lives are getting set free.”
Springer said she also hopes the tent revival will attract some people whom the traditional Church has turned away for one reason or another. The event is open to the public and Walbert said she would love to see the revival continue for several evenings as the Holy Spirit draws people to the event.
Pat Dawes said the event's date has significance because Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, begins at sundown on Sept. 29.
Meanwhile, Walbert and her friends have been going to the revival site for prayer in the weeks leading up to the event. “I'm anticipating God doing something wonderful,” she said. “It's for salvation of souls but also for the Church. I want to say `Wake up Church!'”