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What would you do if God showed up when you least expected it?

On February 8, 2023, there was a spontaneous outpouring of God’s love on Asbury’s campus, leading many to wonder: “What’s happening here?” and, “Is this real?” Now, you can witness the event through Sarah Baldwin’s firsthand account of what happened when God showed up and decide for yourself what you think it all means.

Everybody wants an encounter with the divine. But it can be tempting to try to manufacture religious experiences, make God into what we want God to be, or manipulate the movement of God in our lives.

So, what happens when God shows up organically and unexpectedly, on an average day on a college campus…and changes everything?

On February 8, 2023, a Gen Z-led chapel at Asbury University sparked an unplanned, unproduced outpouring of God’s love that would ultimately draw thousands of people from around the world to the tiny town of Wilmore, Kentucky, all in search of something – to satisfy their curiosity, to find hope, to meet God.

Meanwhile, those who watched from a distance wondered: “What’s happening here?” and, “Is this real?

In Generation Awakened, Sarah Baldwin, Vice President of Student Life at Asbury, gives a firsthand, day-by-day account of the Asbury revival: the tangible presence of God’s love; the intersection of the human and the divine; the complex decisions that stewarded the movement; and the stories of freedom, healing, and reconciliation that poured out of Hughes Auditorium during those two remarkable weeks in February. 

As you read, you will be transported into the room with Sarah, giving you a chance to witness what happened for yourself and decide what you think it means. This book isn’t an explanation; it’s an invitation – to go on the journey as it unfolded and to, perhaps, have your own encounter with the divine in its pages.

For anyone who wants something to believe in, who is longing for something bigger, who desperately hopes that God is not only real but is loving and good…prepare to be surprised, amazed, and have your faith restored by the authentic presence of God.


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Sarah Baldwin

Rev. Dr. Sarah Thomas Baldwin serves as the Vice President of Student Life at Asbury University in central Kentucky. Sarah has served in Christian higher education for almost 30 years as a student affairs professional, university pastor, and vice president. Sarah holds an M.Div from Asbury Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry in Leadership from Portland Seminary and is an ordained elder in the Free Methodist Church. Sarah serves as co-pastor of a "microchurch" in Wilmore, Ky.  She is a frequent speaker, preacher, and retreat leader. Married to Clint Baldwin, they have three children, Madi, a recent college grad, Kai, age 10, and Emily, age 6.

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Reviews

What people are saying...

Just as the world watched what seemed to be religious stability collapsing beneath scandals, cynicism, and skepticism, something happened among Gen-Z students on a campus in Kentucky. This volume, by one of the closest observers of the Asbury revival, shows us what happened, and why it ought to shake us, whatever our generation, out of complacency and despair. The Spirit is still on the move, and pays no attention to our forecasts and blueprints. In an era of diminished expectations, this is the book we need.

Russell Moore
Russell Moore
Editor in Chief, Christianity Today

With every outpouring of God’s presence, people often line up to ask, “Where’s the fruit?” In this delightful, joy-filled book, we discover the fruit of God showing up at Asbury University. By the time you finish the last page, you’ll be longing for more of Jesus, His presence, His Power, and His goodness in your life. This is a gift of writing you won’t want to stop reading.

Margaret Feinberg
Margaret Feinberg
author of More Power to You

What happened at Asbury University in February of 2023? As word of a never-ending chapel service spread like wildfire across social media, the world couldn’t understand what was happening. For generations of people so far removed from the Great Awakening or The New Divinity, no context could help the curious scores of questioners understand. In her first-person account, Sarah Baldwin explores the mystery of what was lavishly unleashed in Kentucky and is still rippling through the world today.

DT Slouffman
DT Slouffman
Director of Content, Redeeming Babel, television producer, 10-time Emmy Award winner

It is hard to believe, but this book tells a true tale. God showed up at Asbury University unexpectedly at (of all places) a chapel. God always does that—showing up unexpected in the least anticipated places. What this story shows us is that God is not done and will leave no generation without a witness. It is an honor to endorse this book. But it is all the more an honor to endorse its author—my friend Sarah Baldwin—who has faithfully stewarded what God has been doing at Asbury since everything went down. Hold on to your horses. This story is almost unbelievable.

A.J. Swoboda, Ph.D.
A.J. Swoboda, Ph.D.
professor of Bible and Theology at Bushnell University and author of The Gift of Thorns

Considerable commentary on the Asbury Outpouring has originated from non-proximate voices. In Generation Awakened readers will get to experience Sarah’s first-person account of the beauty, complexity, hunger, peace, and transformation that marked those historic 16 days in February, 2023. This is a book of hope and encouragement—a detailed narration of the holy imagination and selfless hospitality that fostered a spiritual unfolding unlike anything we have seen in the 21st Century.

Kevin J. Brown, Ph.D
Kevin J. Brown, Ph.D
President, Asbury University

Of all the books and articles written about the 2023 Asbury Awakening/Outpouring, Generation Awakened by Sarah Baldwin is unique in that it represents a vibrant, eye-witness account of the entire sixteen days from one of the central leaders inside Asbury University. This breathtaking account stirs all of the original divine moments, celebrations, emotions and questions which we all experienced during those unforgettable days, including her reflections about how this awakening continues to stir Gen. Z, and a church in desperate need of awakening, in profound ways.

Timothy C. Tennent
Timothy C. Tennent
President, Asbury Theological Seminary

You'd be hard pressed to encounter such a vulnerable and accessible encapsulation of what unfolded in Wilmore in early 2023. I found myself unexpectedly stirred as I read. If you longed to experience the events in person but could not--or if you are frankly skeptical about the whole affair--this quick book might just be for you.

Andy Olsen
Senior Editor, Christianity Today

Carefully written by the person in the front lines of the story, Dr. Sarah Baldwin’s Generation Awakened is the honest story-telling of one of the great movements of the Spirit in our day, the 2023 Asbury Revival. Baldwin weaves together the extraordinary manifestations of God’s presence, the abundance of spiritual and physical healings, with the interminable basic necessities of big crowd logistics from maintaining porta potties to protecting access to the microphone. This story is real and feels real. It is all the more holy as God visited a small campus to bring all peoples, especially Gen Zers, to himself. To God be the Glory. 

Dr. MaryKate Morse
Dr. MaryKate Morse
author and mentor for those called to lead like Christ
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A firsthand account of an astonishing encounter with the divine

Discover what it was like to be in the room when God showed up, through this can’t-put-down eyewitness account of the Asbury revival.

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