Revival LA - New TogetherLA Partner

Together LA is a movement of local churches, ministries and organizations working together to love our great city, which is why we are thrilled to introduce our newest partner, Revival LA. Born from a vision God gave Dustin Lang in 2016, Revival LA is a movement to build gospel-centered culture in Los Angeles particularly among the younger generations.

We recently sat down (virtually) with Revival LA’s founder and vision caster to learn more about this movement and how they are engaging with Los Angeles.

TogetherLA: How did Revival LA come about? 

Dustin Lang: Revival LA came together in 2016 as a culmination of two strong convictions God placed on my heart. The first was the belief that the church needed a spiritual revival especially amongst younger church members. The second pertained to the pivotal global role that LA played. Populations were moving into cities. And LA was one of the most influential cities in our world. If revival broke out in the church of Los Angeles, this would have a global impact.

TogetherLA: What is your vision through this movement?

Dustin Lang: We want to unify believers, especially Gen Z and Millenials, to make an impact on our city. We believe that our call is to bring alignment to the body of Christ so that we can begin moving as one. To accomplish this, we hold prayer gatherings, conversation nights regarding city-relevant topics, and a vision conference to instill Kingdom mindsets in the LA church.

TogetherLA: Tell us about your partnerships?

Dustin Lang: We act as a gathering place for believers in Los Angeles. So we STRONGLY believe in partnership. We are always looking for churches, parachurch ministries, or Christian-led businesses to partner with. A win for us is believers linking arms together to influence culture in Los Angeles.

TogetherLA: What do you hope the spiritual state of LA looks like in the future?

Dustin Lang: 5 years down the road, I hope that the church is more united in its pursuit of discipling younger generations to influence our communities.

TogetherLA: How is Revival LA working to renew the city?

Dustin Lang: We are gathering and connecting believers to make an impact on their city. In all of our events, we are intentional about creating space for attendees to build relationships. If you look at many of the fastest growing organizations in the world, they don't necessarily do that much. But they provide a platform for people to do what they're passionate about. Think YouTube, Instagram, and Amazon. We aim to do something similar. We provide space, focus the conversation, and allow attendees to do the rest.

TogetherLA: What does success look like for you?

Dustin Lang: Success is inspiring one of our attendees to begin praying for the city and bringing the gospel into their workplace. We also love seeing collaborations form amongst our attendees!

TogetherLA: Have you encountered struggles as you have gotten Revival LA off the ground? 

Dustin Lang: Too many to name! But that comes with the territory. We wanted to build church unity in a city where this had not traditionally been done. Anytime someone starts anything, there's going to be struggle. But I must say the biggest struggle was fighting against discouragement. Whenever things didn't go according to our plans, we had to learn that God was doing something better. The more we remembered this, the more we were able to persevere and see God open more and more doors.

TogetherLA: How is God transforming lives, and LA, through this movement?

Dustin Lang: Testimonies are always the most enjoyable part of ministry. It shows you that God is at work in the present day. We have heard of individuals who have mentioned the impact that Revival LA has had on their prayer and praise life. One attendee of last year's Vision Conference even said, "I've been to church for so many years and never praised like this." We also have many mention that they've never prayed so hard before - at Revival LA, we like to pray loud and proud. We've also heard stories of physical healing and broken addictions. 

And while we are so grateful for stories of God moving in people's personal lives, the stories that really capture our attention are of people who experience a shift from inward faith to outward faith. When we see believers take ownership of our city, we know that we have accomplished our goal. We have been told by some that Revival LA has been the reason they now have a burden to pray for LA. We have even heard one story of a high school attendee who committed to staying in LA because she felt God had called her to make an impact on this city. We’ve also had stories of individuals who have felt convicted to help others better engage with Scripture, one through the medium of art and the other through music. 

TogetherLA: What is LA’s greatest need and how do you see God using COVID-19 to make His name known?

Dustin Lang: The greatest need in LA is for the church to raise up the next generation of gospel-believing, culture-shaping believers and we are seeing God's fingerprints behind COVID-19. He is bringing the world's attention to Himself. He is bringing the church back to its original form. And He is bringing the gospel to the ends of the earth. Here is a video where we address this very topic.

TogetherLA: In your ministry goals, you focus on gathering together and partnering. Given the drastic changes COVID-19 has brought about, how has moving online affected your events?

Dustin Lang: The online gatherings are working well. We are definitely aware of the Zoom fatigue our world is experiencing. However, when we hold events that are relevant to our city, people will show up. We held a Mental Health Conversation Night in May where we only advertised it a week and had to close up registrations in a few days because of Zoom capacity limits. If there is an event worth attending, people will make time for it.

TogetherLA: How are you getting the word out about Revival LA? 

Dustin Lang: Word of mouth and social media. People can fill out their information here and we will send them email updates! We're always looking to add to our team and the movement!

TogetherLA: What excites you about partnering with TogetherLA? 

Dustin Lang: It's funny. When I first heard about Together LA, I immediately thought: "That's what I feel called to do... but for younger people." We love TogetherLA's vision to bring churches, ministries, and organizations together to love our city. We want to do exactly that for the Millenial and Gen Z populations!