Students get opportunity to preach, evangelize in churches through Revive the Nation initiative

During the spring reading days at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, students were sent out to churches across the country during the week of spring reading days, March 15-22, to put into practice what they have been learning of evangelism and preaching on campus.

For years, Revive the Nation (RTN), which is led by Carl Bradford, dean of Texas Baptist College, has been an initiative dedicated to spreading the Gospel by equipping and deploying students to preach and minister in churches across the United States. It offers students with an interest in pastoring the opportunity to receive real world experience in evangelism, sermon development, and community engagement, while serving the churches they visit.

This year’s participants included Joshua Okoye and Houston Arledge, both of whom are currently pursuing degrees in evangelism with aspirations to become pastors. They each said their involvement in RTN has given them valuable experience in preaching, mentoring, and connecting with different communities.

Okoye, a second-year Master of Divinity student with a focus on evangelism, is originally from Houston and first became involved in ministry during his time at Texas State University. He attended a Baptist church and quickly found himself drawn to leadership within the youth and college ministry. Encouraged by mentors, he decided to attend seminary to act on his call to ministry. Once at Southwestern, he was encouraged by Bradford to participate in RTN.

“Whenever I got here, after I took [Dr. Bradford’s] contemporary evangelism class, I switched my emphasis over to evangelism, and he was like, ‘You should try Revive the Nation. It’s an opportunity to preach and to be evangelistic with your preaching,’” Okoye said.

Through the initiative, Okoye has had the opportunity to evangelize in different communities over his last two spring breaks, delivering sermons from the pulpit and leading Bible studies. In 2024, he traveled to Kentucky, where he ministered in two small church settings, preaching to a diverse congregation and leading a youth devotional. This year, he was sent to Lovington, New Mexico, where he engaged with the local church community, preached a sermon, and connected with local firefighters through a devotional meeting.

Joshua Okoye ministers to a church through preaching and devotionals during Revive the Nation.

Okoye said he enjoyed the focus on one church this year, and the ability to “do ministry in one context, and to kind of focus and learn what kind of ministry that they’re doing and help minister to them and uplift them and help encourage them and their ministries.”

Okoye’s RTN experience has contributed to his understanding of ministry beyond the classroom. By stepping into different church environments and communities, he said he has gained insight into sermon preparation, the spiritual needs of congregations, and the importance of viewing evangelism as more than simply an academic exercise.

“This is an assignment from God,” Okoye said, “and you’re being sent to preach, to declare the Word to these people. And it’s something that they need to hear, not necessarily from me individually, but as a vessel that God is sending. And that has really helped me understand the importance of it.”

Similarly, Houston Arledge, a senior on track to finish his advanced Master of Divinity in December, found immense value in participating in RTN. He is passionate about discipleship, mentoring, and bringing people closer to their faith, and through this program he was able to travel and preach to various groups of people in Plainview, Texas, sharing messages of revival and evangelism.

“One of the things that was great for me is the opportunity to get to walk through evangelism training with church members who love Jesus, are passionate about the Gospel, but maybe don’t know how to talk to their neighbors or their friends about it,” Arledge said.

Arledge said that engaging with churches outside of his home environment has helped him understand the unique challenges and opportunities different congregations face. By immersing himself in local church communities, he has learned to adapt his sermons to diverse audiences and refine his approach to pastoral care.

“Meeting with church members, they were going through hard things in life,” Arledge said. “Whether it be a loved one who is sick, or whether it be wrestling with their own cold ministry or their own life purpose, and kind of getting to counsel them through some of that and then reinvigorate them to go do evangelism as well.”

Both students said Revive the Nation not only benefits the students, but also the churches they serve. Many congregations, particularly in smaller towns and rural areas, may not have the resources or leadership to organize revival events.

“It was cool to see that people are people everywhere and everybody needs the Gospel, and every Christian sometimes needs encouragement,” Arledge said.