The Coming Pittsburgh Revival

This  compilation of prophetic words was originally released in 2005 and updated in 2006. A number of additional words have been given since that time and hopefully we can update this again soon.

We have found that many people in the Pittsburgh area are not familiar with a number of these words. My hope is that they will be a source of encouragement and prayer focus for believers around the city. There is a growing sense that something big is on the horizon.

I am sometimes asked to define "the city of Pittsburgh." It seems that people don't want to be left out. Personally, I don't believe The Pittsburgh Revival will be confined to the city limits, but is for all that call Pittsburgh home.

I also believe that God is directing me to get these words into the hands of the pastors in the surrounding area. Please pray for receptive hearts, as I believe that God is also saying that it is time to call pastors together.

The Argentina Connection
The earliest known prophecy that we are aware of was related to us by Lila Terhune, who was the prayer coordinator at Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola, Florida during the revival that began on Father's Day 1995. She related the following story to Renaid and me personally when she was in Pittsburgh around 1997. On her way to Pittsburgh, she had stopped to visit a retired missionary named Ed Miller, who had served the Lord in Argentina prior to the revival the came to that nation. He tells how there came a point that the Bible school students he was with cancelled classes to seek the Lord. During one of these meetings, a young male student was caught up in the spirit and began naming cities where revival would come in the last days. He did this in the local language of each city. Brother Miller said that they didn't have tape recorders and didn't think to write things down. Not knowing Lila's itinerary, he told her that the only two places that he could remember were Toronto and Pittsburgh. This word, from Argentina, came forth in 1951.

The Brownsville Connection
Another word was related by John Kilpatrick, who was the pastor during the revival at Brownsville. We heard this word on tape from a message spoken at Covenant Church of Pittsburgh in either 2001 or 2002. Pastor Kilpatrick was relating the journey into revival and told of an intercessor who called him around 1990, about 5 years before the revival began. The intercessor said that he was moving to Pensacola to "drill in the spirit," because God had spoken to him that revival was coming to that city. Brother Kilpatrick said he didn't believe him. The intercessor said the Lord had shown him and others that revival was coming to 4 places - Canada, Pensacola, Sacramento (CA), and Pittsburgh.

Pennsylvania, the Keystone State
During the 2005 Holy Spirit Seminar at Greater Works Outreach, a word came forth from Lance Wallnau that God had wanted to use the city of Philadelphia, but "the apostolic anointing that was there was taken out in it's youth" so that it could not do what was intended. The enemy then tried to destroy it in Pittsburgh, but the church here has prevailed. It went on to say that what happens here will be taken to Harrisburg, the rest of Pennsylvania, and then to the nation. This agrees with other words given by people such as Dutch Sheets and Chuck Pierce that PA is the key to the nation. (We are the "keystone" state.)

The Ghana Connection
In August 2005, we met a pastor from Ghana. Some of you heard him at the Signs & Wonders Gathering. Pastor David Afriyie first came to Pittsburgh in 2001, for another purpose. But while he was visiting, the Lord gave him a vision and spoke to him about a "large" revival that is coming to Pittsburgh. Pastor David has been returning each year since 2001 to pray for this revival.

A Call to Pittsburgh
During the 2006 National Day of Prayer gathering in Washington, DC, Dr. Henry Blackaby, the honorary chairman, stated that he and others believe that there are 3 cities in America that are "ripe for Holy Spirit revival." They are Charlotte, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh.

What Will the Emphasis Be?
Before we had heard any of these words, God put it in our hearts to pray and believe God for revival in our city. We have learned that each revival has a different emphasis. What God did in Toronto was different than what He did in Pensacola. What He did in other places was different still. So, several years ago I began to ask God what the emphasis would be in the revival that is coming to Pittsburgh. His response to me has been confirmed by many, and I will recount a few of these below. What the Lord spoke to me was that the coming revival will emphasize God's healing power.

One of the first people I heard that confirmed this was James Goll, a prophetic voice in the body of Christ. James was visiting Pittsburgh and declared that the prophetic destiny of our city is healing and reconciliation (which is one aspect of healing).

Another confirmation came from John Mulinde of Uganda. The story of God's working in Uganda is told on the second Transformations Video. He is one of the people that God has raised up in that nation. Renaid & I first heard of him in France, and than in Berlin. Christians from all over Europe travel to Prayer Mountain in Uganda to seek the Lord. John and his wife came to Pittsburgh in June 2004. We had the opportunity to meet him and attend most of his meetings. In the first service, John shared the vision that God had given him for America. In subsequent meetings, he elaborated on the things the Lord showed him regarding Pittsburgh. One of those was the healing well that resides in our city. As if to confirm this, his wife received a healing during their visit of a condition she had carried in her body for several years, despite all of the prayer going up from Prayer Mountain. 

Pastor David has also proclaimed healing will flow from this revival. Many of those speaking about revival refer to the healing well that was flowing during the ministry of Kathryn Kuhlman. We personally believe that the well of healing is not here because of Ms. Kuhlman, but that she came here because of the well. Even in the natural, Pittsburgh has had many medical breakthroughs and "firsts."

Re-digging the Healing Wells of the Past
Many in our city have been praying and "re-digging" these healing wells. In the spring of 2005, the Lord spoke to me to, "Proclaim the opening of the healing wells in Pittsburgh." We have been doing this in various meetings since then. It's a step of faith to release a word like this. However, as I looked at the beginning of the ministry of Jesus in Luke 4 (quoting Isaiah 61), I saw that He began "proclaiming" things that were getting ready to happen, before any miracles had taken place.

Pittsburgh Get Ready!
I know that many of us have found ourselves in a major spiritual battle. I believe one of the reasons is the magnitude of what we are praying for. I don't think we understand how big this thing is that God wants to do. John Mulinde spoke to us that, "this is bigger than you realize." It seems the Lord reminds me of this often. Habakkuk 1:5 says, "Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days-You would not believe if you were told." I believe one of the reasons God has not revealed all that He is planning, is to keep us out of unbelief. I believe the Lord showed me that what we are contending for has "international ramifications." It seems from church history that other revivals have had that. Why would Pittsburgh be any different?

A final word that the Lord has been speaking to me about is "unprecedented." Renaid keeps getting the scripture, "Eye has not seen, ear has not heard" (1 Cor 2:9). A number of people believe that this will be a sustained revival, not a short lived one. Some may know that William Penn spoke of a "Holy Experiment" and Pennsylvania being "the seed of a nation." He also said that "the nations are looking for a precedent."

 
I believe the Lord is telling us to get ready, that this is much bigger than what we realize, and that He wants to do this far more than we want Him to. Please keep praying, believing, expecting. In some ways, we believe it's already begun!