Young Christian Ministry Takes Jesus to the Streets
Young Christian Ministry Takes Jesus to the Streets: Instead of going to the movies with their youth group, a group of twenty-somethings with Slavic ancestors is responding to a pastor’s invitation to get beyond the four walls of the church and share the gospel on the streets of their city.
Every Sunday night for five years, a youthful group of Americans with Ukrainian and Eastern European backgrounds went out to announce the good news of Jesus in Sacramento, California.
Set on fire by the Holy Spirit, these young messengers of the gospel brought their peers to Jesus, even transforming the spiritual climate of downtown Sacramento, yet they understood there was more to them than soul-saving.
In their tight, conservative church, teaching these new believers in Jesus the fundamentals of following Him proved challenging.
So another pastor in Sacramento recommended they form a church for folks who had found Jesus through their outreach since 2018.
As “churched kids,” they wondered if another one was needed and asked the Lord to reveal His plans to care for the new believers Christ birthed on the streets.
A son of the pastor who encouraged the group to take the good news of Jesus to the streets, Ivan Katrenyak saw the need and organized the United Church to disciple, train, and send followers of Jesus to proclaim His salvation.
The United Church then birthed Jesus March, a ministry of United Revival Ministries, both under its auspices.
The ministry has hosted 125 prayer and worship events, connected with 200 churches, commissioned 6,500 evangelists, and introduced thousands of people to Jesus since its formation five years ago.
By the end of this year, United Revival will have brought Jesus March and evangelism training, worship and prayer, proclamation of His name, altar calls, and baptisms, along with thousands of people, to nine cities, including Seattle and Portland.
Both cities produced spiritual fruit and resistance during the months of June and July this year.
“Four thousand people came to the Jesus March in Portland, where Antifa and protesters following Twitter calls to keep the city and culture anti-God produced a counter demonstration of more people than anybody imagined,” said Vadim Semenchuk, a Jesus March team leader.
Yet, the United Revival tore down the enemy’s walls around the two cities with Jesus March, much like the Israelites crumbled Jericho’s fortifications after seven days of marching around and shouting at them. (Joshua 6:4-5)
“In the same way, when we march around cities, something breaks, and wherever America goes, the world follows,” Semenchuk said.
In Seattle, a woman was delivered by Jesus from an unwanted addiction to alcohol in June; then she drove to Jesus march the next month in Portland, where she spoke to Pastor Katrenyak after 17 days of sobriety.
“I think Jesus loves the city that’s most broken, like Portland, Seattle, or even Denver,” Semenchuk said.
Four cities—Seattle, Sacramento, Santa Monica, and Dallas—have hosted their second Jesus March this year, but, through prayer, leaders added four more, believing the Holy Spirit confirmed the new locations are keys to shifting spiritual atmospheres.
In addition to Phoenix, Tampa, and San Francisco, Denver hosted Jesus March on Aug. 12, when 4,000 people signed up, confirming a vision of God cutting off the devil’s hand over the Mile High City.
On the eve of the march in Denver, the United Revival team met a group of teens hanging out in a city park. They prayed for a young man who had severe pain in his back. He felt the power of the Holy Spirit come on him, and then the pain left.
Their curiosity heightened by the healing, the group agreed to hear the gospel, and every one of them gave their hearts to Jesus.
The next day, 7,000 people gathered in Civic Center Park before the march. Later, after worship and a gospel presentation, 500 people came to the altar for salvation and deliverance, and 130 were baptized in water.
Denver’s Jesus March has been a significant event in the fight against demonic forces, with leaders believing that the transformation will take more than just a one-day event.
The event, which took place near government buildings and a Masonic Temple, saw thousands of people receive Jesus and be healed through prayer.
Jesus March prioritizes evangelism, teaching people how to proclaim the good news of His salvation. At least 6,500 people who attended the Jesus March or a United Revival worship and prayer event are now commissioned to preach the gospel.
The next step for United Revival Ministries is to host a conference in Sacramento on Sept. 21-24. The youth-led team of leaders is submitted to pastors, overseers, and elders who keep the team on track.