November 8, 2025
TIFTON, Ga. — A few years ago, Pastor Ashley Roig of Salem Baptist Church sensed God calling him to organize a tent revival. “I did not know what it would consist of,” he said. “I did not have the resources financially to put it together.”
Roig prayed about it for several years before Tom Hocutt, associational missionary for the Mell Baptist Association, asked him to serve as chairperson of the association’s Evangelism Missions Team. Roig shared his vision with Tom, and they began planning to make the tent revival a reality. The date was set for Sept.19 to 21.
Initially, the team thought a $30,000 budget would suffice, but hosting the revival ended up costing around $42,000. More than $43,000 was raised as God provided. Fifteen churches donated money for the tent revival, as did some businesses in Tifton.
Much prayer and planning went into preparing for the tent revival. Two teams from the Mell Association did the bulk of the planning, beginning in January for the September event.
The Evangelism Missions Team, chaired by pastor Roig and supported by pastors Glenn Ford, Tom Hocutt, and Van Lindsey, worked alongside the Encouraging Strengthening Team, chaired by Pastor Jason Loggins, to oversee logistics and coordination.
Steve Davis, Lindsey, and Jeffery McClendon built and put up the frame that held the advertisement banner for the tent revival. Yard signs were made, and numerous churches distributed them in various places throughout the community. Invitation cards that read, “This could change your life,” were made for churches to hand out.
The tent was set up at American Legion Fairgrounds, and one thousand chairs were placed under the tent in anticipation of those who would come and hear the gospel.
Steve Foster, evangelism catalyst for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, trained the altar workers on Saturday morning, Aug. 16, at Calvary Baptist Church.
On Sept. 9, a combined choir practice was held at Brookfield Baptist to prepare the choir that would sing under the tent. Sixty-one people came to the choir practice, and even more showed up to sing under the tent. On Friday night, more than 80 people joined the choir, and 85 sang in the choir on Saturday.
More than 100 greeters, security team members, ushers, and parking attendants attended a special training event at Eastside Baptist Church on Sept. 11.
Hocutt asked Don Pirkle, a former missionary to Gaza known as a man of prayer, to recruit a team to pray during the service. Pirkle sat in a smaller tent behind the main tent and prayed during the entire revival. In addition, two men walked and prayed in circles around the tent each night.
A prayer meeting was held under the tent on the evening of Sept.18, the day before the revival began.
Hocutt said, “I am praying and hoping for a move of God that no man can understand.”
Foster praised the team's training and preparation. "The Mell Baptist Association had a vision to bring the churches together to reach lost people with the gospel, and they were intentional," he explained. "They were intentional in trusting God to provide the finances. They were intentional in their preparation. They provided training in personal evangelism and training for decision counselors. They were intentional in making prayer the foundation of all that they did."
Ultimately, he concluded, "They were intentional in preaching the simple gospel message to those who attended. "
After months of prayer and planning, the long-awaited revival began on Sept. 19 under a huge tent at the fairgrounds.
At Friday night's revival meeting, Roig shared a personal and powerful testimony, reading from Ephesians 2. Sabrina Carter followed on Saturday with her testimony, and Jaime Harvey shared his on Sunday night. The testimonies were shared before the preaching.
After the first night of the revival, pastor John Smith said, “It was great to see that many Baptist churches working together for the cause of Christ. The atmosphere was exciting and full of expectation.”
On Saturday night, dozens of people responded to Smith’s invitation, packing the front and the aisles. “God loves the whole world,” he told the crowd, “but that doesn’t mean the whole world is going to heaven.”
Sunday night also saw a tremendous response. Tim Williams preached a gospel message to the nearly 900 people present, and nine came forward to profess their faith. Three others were counseled, and the altar was full of those who committed to witness for Christ.
"When churches work together to apply biblical principles, plowing through prayer, sowing seeds of the gospel through personal evangelism, and then harvesting through attractional events, we see God do amazing things," Foster said.
On social media, Hocutt expressed gratitude for the hard work of the volunteers who made the event possible. “I want to thank the hundred people who volunteered lots of their time and effort to make this event a reality,” he wrote. “To God be the glory!”
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