The Unite US revival movement sweeping college campuses made a rousing stop at Samford University, where a crowd surpassing 3,500 gathered to pray and worship. More than two hours after the event concluded inside the Pete Hanna Center, student baptisms were still taking place at the adjacent football stadium.
“God moved at Samford University,” UniteUS founder Tonya Prewett wrote on Instagram. “So many students were set free from years of unforgiveness, secret sin and addiction. The testimonies are pouring in. We baptized students until after midnight! To God be the glory!”
Prewett, a wife and mother of three, offered students her testimony of being called to launch Unite US in 2023, amid Gen Z’s alarming rates of loneliness, suicide, porn addiction, parental neglect and mental health issues.
“People often say there's no hope for your generation, but you are the hope,” Prewett said. “You are leading us in the greatest revival our nation has ever seen. And I’m here to tell you that Unite will never stop fighting for you, for your generation, because you are worth fighting for.”
Unite’s mission borrows from Galatians 5:1—“For believers to experience true freedom from sin and burdens on their hearts”—and Prewett implored students to embrace God’s pledge of forgiveness for all who authentically repent.
“Some of you have been stuck in the same sins, the same trap, for so long,” she said. “You had excuses, but I’m asking you tonight to let go, to get free.”
Prewett offered powerful testimony, along with Jonathan Pokluda, lead pastor of Harris Creek Baptist Church in Waco, Texas. The husband-wife musical duo of Cody Carnes and Kari Jobe bookended the event with a worship concert.
Samford’s campus pastor Bobby Gatlin said the university was honored to host the Unite movement that continues to impact college campuses across the country.
“The entire event was clearly centered on lifting up the name of Jesus, with powerful worship and a strong call for students to go all-in with their faith, holding nothing back,” Gatlin said. “Worshipping with thousands of students from Samford and across the Birmingham area in our basketball arena was a powerful reminder that God is moving in this generation!”
Gen Z’s Awakening
Pokluda met Prewett in 2023, discovering her to be “one of the most faithful people of prayer,” driven to impact Gen Z. Unite was merely a fledgling idea back then, uncertain if its debut event at Auburn University would make a ripple. When 5,000 students turned out, including 200 who opted to get baptized, the spark was struck.
Nearly three years later, Unite’s evangelism has spread to large universities, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Ohio State, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Florida State, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, UCF and Baylor. Prewett said Unite has reached 27 campuses and more than 170,000 students, with organizers celebrating 26,000 attendees giving their lives to Jesus.
“Tonya Prewett is someone who I’ve seen weep for a generation, someone who has been called by God to spearhead a revival that we haven’t seen in over 55 years — not since the Billy Graham crusades,” Pokluda said.
Pokluda challenged the audience to go all-in for Jesus, arguing that functioning on auto-pilot through “dead religious acts” leads to the same end as full-on defiance of God.
“Rebellion can keep you from going all-in with Jesus but so can your religion, so can you performing for God,” Pokluda said. “God doesn’t need your performance. You thinking you need to perform for him, it’s not an act of faith. It’s actually a lack of faith. You're not God’s party trick. He wants you relying on him.”
Pokluda warned of Christians believing they’re capable of managing their sin—a self-delusion that indicates “you’re really drowning in your sin” and turning back to habits that destroy them.
“Jesus is the savior. Think of him like a lifeguard,” Pokluda said before offering a closing prayer.
“Father, we can’t do this on our own. We don’t have what it takes on our own. We have to be completely and fully dependent on you. I pray You help everyone here know that they have eternal life.”
