Religious revival event ‘FM72′ to hit Waco in March

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - Religious revivals are popping up across the country, including in Waco.

From March 19-22, Baylor’s annual FM72 event, which stands for Fountain Mall, 72 hours, will take place at the fountain located in the middle of the university’s campus.

The history of the event dates back as early as 1945, when Baylor students prayed for revival for 90 straight days, and Baylor turned it into an annual event in 2019.

Students and campus leaders have been preparing for the three-day long, uninterrupted prayer event with prayer sessions hosted every Wednesday morning at the chapel in Baylor’s Student Union building.

“It’s pretty much just large worship services at night, numbering probably a thousand people or more, and then the prayer tents open all night, students filling it all night, and making Fountain Mall loud with prayer and worship,” Becca Terrill, a Baylor student, told KWTX. “And that’ll be going on for 72 hours at least… sometimes more.”

The 72-hour prayer event comes as similar revival movements touch other universities. A service at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky lasted for nearly two weeks, attracting people from around the country.

One of those in attendance to witness the movement was the pastor of Harris Creek Baptist Church in McGregor, Jonathan Pokluda.

“The students just continued to linger and to worship from there and it became this national revival that has really shut down this small city, university town in Kentucky,” Pokluda said. “So I felt like my heart was strengthened, and I was encouraged.”

Pokluda says he hopes a similar thing can happen here in Waco.

“Being here in Waco, in a university town and with a lot of Gen-Z, I hope God captures their hearts and turns their hearts to him and there’s a renewal of a pursuit of holiness and living out the gospel in our day to day lives,” Pokluda told KWTX.

That hope is shared by Baylor’s Baptist Student Ministry director, Will Bowden. He wants FM72 to impact attendees beyond the event’s three days.

“What we’re expecting and hoping is that it doesn’t just stay a cool worship service,” Bowden said. “But from this prayer, continued prayer, we’ll start seeing people going and sharing and saying, ‘ya know, I was gonna go be a lawyer but I think I’m supposed to go do something more.’”

Although FM72 is hosted on Baylor’s campus, event organizers say it is not a Baylor event. All people, ministries and universities, both in Waco and in surrounding communities, are welcome to attend.

Copyright 2023 KWTX. All rights reserved.