Wave of revival sweeping through SA schools — KZN principal

500 children respond to Jesus after students share testimonies

A new wave of revival is sweeping through schools as God is moving among the youth of South Africa, says Matt Hogarty, principal of Oasis Christian Academy in Howick, KwaZulu-Natal.

He says that as a result of what God has been doing at Oasis, a team from his school was invited to minister at a Government school in Pietermaritzburg earlier this month and about 500 learners there committed their lives to Jesus and there was a powerful time of ministry during which children opened up about issues of abuse and trauma in their lives.

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Since last month Gateway News has reported on a growing prayer walk movement at Port Elizabeth schools with reports of healing miracles and changed lives; a powerful move of God at a Uitenhage Christian School that has impacted a neighbouring Government School and spread to a Christian school in Alexandria; and an outbreak of revival at a Christian school near Tzaneen in Limpopo.

Great awakening
“God is stirring up hearts all over our nation and I believe we are positioned for one of the greatest awakenings the church has ever seen, and our children are going to lead the way in this. Now more than ever, is the time for families across our nation to ‘get their house in order’ and begin passionately crying out for more of Him,” says Hogarty.

He says Oasis school started in 2008 with a vision to train up a generation of young revivalists who will radically shape their world for Jesus. The school currently has 60 learners and 6 teachers who are serving this vision.

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“We have been actively teaching and releasing a supernatural lifestyle since the school began but over the last few months there has seemed to be a fresh momentum in this, where students are encountering God in powerful ways, lives are being transformed, and God is visibly moving in students’ lives,” he says.

He says a Prophetic Training Conference hosted by Oasis Church, Howick, in early May was a catalyst in revival that is being experienced in other areas. God moved powerfully at the conference with many testimonies of healings and breakthroughs and one group that experienced a major shift was a group of 15 students from The King’s Court Christian School near Tzaneen, who came with their Bible teacher, Andrew Mullek.

“Some were baptised in the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues for the first time. Others encountered new levels of worship and healing (physically and emotionally) and their lives were set on fire,” he says.

Describing developments at his school from the time of the prophetic conference, he says: “Some of our students were involved in serving at this conference and were used to give prophetic words to the delegates who attended the training.

“At this time, however, God was also doing a greater work in them and they began to see Jesus in a whole new way. There were times of passionate worship where students were encountering God and fire tunnels where students were being prayed over for the fire of God to fill them and ignite them again. It was a powerful time that continued for the next few days and in particular at our next mid-week School Assembly on 8^th May where we began to lead the whole school in worship to see Jesus. The Holy Spirit broke out in the hall and many kids were weeping in the presence of God. Some received healing from God in areas of trauma, abuse, death of loved ones with many students lying on the floor shaking under the power of God.

Cry for lost
“One young Grade 6 student had a powerful encounter where Jesus led her in a vision to see hell and the torment of people in hell, and she began to release a cry for the lost like I have never witnessed in my life. Students were prophesying over each other and the group for the first time as well as receiving healing from God in their bodies.

“This has continued through lots of our assemblies (each one being different though as God moves), and teachers have noticed a visible difference in their student’s lives. Our Grade 1 teacher said that ever since God started to move she can hear her students quietly worshipping in their desks while they work and there has been a definite peace permeating classrooms. As a principal, my heart from the beginning has been ‘we want all that God has for us and more.’ We were created for revival and what I am seeing, is children worshipping Jesus with complete love, freedom and sincerity. I love the passion that is being stirred up and some of our senior students have moved boldly into living out God’s purpose for their lives. Buhle Khoza (Grade 9 student) said “It is amazing to watch my friends around me encountering God for themselves”, and another student, Kean de la Hunt-James (Grade 5) said ‘I feel like I’m getting to know God in a new way.’ “

Hogarty says that Oasis school received an invitation through Rashieda Naidoo, leader of Mothers Who Care, to address a group of approximately 500 students from Grade 4 to 7  at Scottsville Primary School in Pietermartizburg on Wednesday, June 12.

“I went along with eight students from Oasis Christian Academy and shared about the value God has placed in our lives and encouraged students to get back to seeking God’s plan for their lives. Our students shared their testimonies of how Jesus had changed their lives. One of the students who shared about her restoration after ‘God took a broken girl, who had been raped, and showed her an indescribable love’ paved the way for an altar call where virtually every hand in the entire school went up and students committed their lives to Jesus.

“We then gave an opportunity for students to receive ministry/prayer and there was a stampede of students who came forward. As we began to pray for students the Holy Spirit began to move powerfully. Students were breaking silence on issues of abuse/trauma in their lives, and God was ministering powerfully to them. Many students were in tears as the love of God began to be revealed to them and one student remarked ‘each one was so open and hungry for the Holy Spirit’. Since then we have had a team follow up through the SCA at the school and are hoping to take some of our students back next term to minister to the children.”