Abigail DeJarnatt
Within a semester of starting college in 2019, nearly half the people I graduated with from my tiny, Christian high school jumped off the deep end–some fell into the LGBTQ+ lifestyle, some crashed the party scene, and some rejected God entirely. One girl I had gone to school with since the fourth or fifth grade said Christianity was outdated and irrelevant.
It broke my heart. I didn’t understand how they were so easily knocked off their foundation–but what God began to show me is that they never learned how to stand. The Christians of my generation have been spoon-fed postmodern and progressive Christian lies on TikTok and Instagram, but haven’t been equipped with how to combat them. They only know how to talk about their faith within the context of the church and don’t know how to effectively wield the Sword of the Spirit in the spiritual battle that is raging in our nation.
Counteract USA’s mission was born in June 2021 with the purpose of equipping Christians to push back against ever-changing cultural and political ideologies with the grace and truth of Scripture. We do this by establishing small cells of Gen Z believers across the country who meet weekly to discuss the issues of our day, always going back to what the Bible has to say about them. We build rapport with one another through these discussions, practically applying our faith to the world around us, and thus developing Biblical, critical thinking on sociopolitical issues. Our vision for Counteract USA is that each cell member would be able to skillfully engage their spheres of influence for Biblical truth and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
And God is moving–quickly and overwhelmingly–in and through Counteract USA. What started with five girls in a coffee shop in Springdale, Arkansas, is growing into a movement of hundreds of young men and women across the country. We’ve traveled to Washington, D.C. to march for life, hosted a sold-out conference in May 2022 featuring Abby Johnson, and have seen members moved by God to pursue careers in the intersection of Christianity and politics. Our leaders are speaking to audiences across the country, as we’re writing our own curriculum, engaging young adults on social media, launching a podcast, and so much more…
But, something we never expected in the months leading up to 2023 was that God was preparing us for an outpouring of His Spirit unlike anything most of us had ever experienced.
In January, our Northwest Arkansas leadership team began to feel inexplicably drawn by the Holy Spirit. We all come from different denominational backgrounds, yet we all felt this same sense of urgency and desire to encounter Him in new, real, deeper, and more intimate ways. As God began to move in our team, with Northwest Arkansas (NWA) acting as a sort of hub for Counteract USA, we started to talk about what total surrender and obedience to the Holy Spirit might look like in Gen Z. After the revival at Asbury, we wondered, “Would it be contagious?”
Because our generation is desperate for something deeper than surface-level, shattering the status quo of casual Christianity. We’re desperate to see the Church resuscitated and on fire, alive and engaged. We’re desperate for change and ready for revival. We’re ready for the Spirit of God to fall upon this place.
And He has. He is.
One by one, our NWA leaders began to surrender to the call and filling of the Holy Spirit, and in a few short months, we’ve seen His overflow. After Counteract USA meetings, we’ve seen young adults give their lives to Jesus and be filled with the Holy Spirit. We’ve prayed and worshiped into the early hours of the morning. We’ve witnessed God deliver our friends from strongholds of sin and fear, and prophecies upon prophecies have been proclaimed over our leaders and the ministry God has set into motion here. Some of our leaders and members have seen visions from the Holy Spirit come to fruition–and He has so much more in store.
It’s Ephesians 3:20-21 in real time: God is doing far more abundantly than all we could ever have asked or thought possible. None of what we’ve seen can be explained apart from the power and movement of the Holy Spirit. All we can do is say, “Yes,” doing our best to surrender and be obedient as He leads, staying in step with Him and walking through the doors He opens.
And right now, some of those doors look like speaking to young adults across the country, encouraging them to gently and respectfully engage in uncomfortable conversations, pointing everything back to the Word of God. Other doors look like developing curriculum to come alongside and equip leaders to apply Biblical truth to the critical, hot-button issues of our day.
Because our world is desperately searching for answers, and we have the Answer. They’re looking for hope, and we have a Living Hope–our only hope–and His name is Jesus. Our Counteract USA mission verses for 2023 are Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek,” and 2 Corinthians 3:12, “Since we have such a hope, we are very bold….”
The calling God has given us at Counteract USA is very clear: we’re not a political action group, and we’re not a Bible study. Rather, we’re a ministry that seeks to embolden believers to stand firm for the truth of the Word of God in their everyday conversations in their everyday lives–because we believe that the conversations that change culture happen in the classroom, the workplace, at home, and with friends. We want what God is doing in Northwest Arkansas to happen everywhere. As we build these iron-sharpens-iron communities where like-minded believers can talk, worship, and do life together, our prayer is that a boldness for the Word of God overflows into all aspects of their lives–and that’s where change happens.
That’s where revival happens.
(Counteract USA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. For more information, please visit counteractusa.org)
Abigail DeJarnatt is the founder and CEO of Counteract USA, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a goal to equip young Christians to apply Biblical truth to cultural and political conversations. Her “why” is to see the church engage culture for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Abigail was born and raised in Northwest Arkansas, where she currently lives and does full-time ministry with Counteract USA, traveling, speaking, writing, and encouraging believers to be bold for the Gospel.
