“One of our ministry team leader guys came to me and said that revival is going to happen through Pelham High School (PHS) and it’s going to come through that coach,” said Donnie Sisk, student pastor of First Baptist Church, Pelham. “At that time, he didn’t even know Brett.”
That was a year ago.
Brett Burnett, athletic director and head football coach for PHS, at one point felt called to be a youth pastor but instead he chose football.
After one of Sisk’s youth ministry leaders pointed to Burnett as who would start revival for PHS, he, Sisk and others began to pray for Burnett.
About a year later, Sept. 22 to be exact, Burnett came to work only to discover there had been a party the night before with some of his athletes involved. Even though he had countered similar days in the past, this particular one was his breaking point.
That night at home, while his family was sleeping, Burnett went into a room, put his head in his hands and cried.
He had been disobedient. God had told him that there needed to be revival, but he had not done anything about it.
The next morning, Sisk, who serves as the football team’s chaplain, showed up at school. Burnett took Sisk to a bench following practice and told him there needed to be revival.
“He told me God revealed to him we needed a revival for our students, that they needed a relationship with Christ,” Sisk said. “I agreed. I asked him when this was going to happen. He told me before the Thompson game — that was only 12 days away.
“I told him it took 12 months to plan something that big; he told me God told him to do it,” Sisk said. “I said ‘OK, let’s do it.’”
The revival, called The Awakening, did take place in 12 days only because God did it and God used Sisk to make it happen, Burnett said.
“All I did was finally open my mouth, and God, through Donnie, did the rest.”
And, most importantly, people committed and recommitted their lives to Christ. About half of Burnett’s football team made decisions during The Awakening.
“I believe this is the beginning,” Burnett said. “I don’t believe God has done all this for just The Awakening to happen. And we’re ready. Wherever God wants us to go, we’ll go.”
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