When I heard that Charlie Kirk had been shot, I started pulling up as many news sources as I could. Every couple of minutes, I refreshed the page, hoping for news saying that he was in the hospital and stable. I started praying over and over that he would be okay, that he would survive, that his family would not lose a husband and father.

Eventually, I found the video of the shooting and watched it, hoping for a clue as to whether he had survived. I felt worse. It looked awful. When President Trump posted, saying Charlie Kirk had died, I didn’t believe him. I didn’t want to believe him. Maybe he didn’t know all the facts. Maybe he just thought Charlie had died. Then all the news outlets started to report about his death. It must actually be true, I thought. To my surprise, I started to feel a lump in my throat. I had never cried before when someone I didn’t personally know had passed away. Why did this time feel so different?

To begin with, I’m a college student. I’m the age of Charlie’s target audience. He was known for speaking on college campuses to encourage young Christian conservatives like myself to stand up for the truth. For at least a year, I’d been watching more and more videos of Charlie Kirk speaking and debating. While there were some interactions I watched where he came across as a little sarcastic or abrasive, I was quite impressed with Charlie’s overall ability to stay calm, despite the seething anger of many of those he debated.

As someone who had been passionate about the pro-life movement since middle school, I learned a lot from his pro-life arguments. He asked the pro-choicers who encountered him, “What species is it (the baby)?” Of course, they had to say human. And from that premise, he managed to show how abortion had to be murder.

Watching his videos made me wish that I could come watch him speak and maybe even ask him a question myself. Then this.

The day after Charlie Kirk’s death, my conservative classmates and I wore red, white, and blue in his honor. Everyone was talking about the news, posting about the news, and giving their opinions. There was anger. When injustices happen, there’s always anger. But more than that, there was sadness. We college students had lost someone who made us feel as if we could make our voices heard. Surrounded by the liberal media and people hateful of my faith, I’d found hope watching Charlie’s videos. Young people throughout America found hope watching Charlie speak.

A few days after Charlie’s death, a friend of mine who ran a Turning Point USA (TPUSA) chapter at her college started receiving all kinds of messages. Many people were asking how she was doing, since she’d been so directly involved with Charlie’s organization. But others were reaching out to get involved in the campus’s TPUSA chapter. When Charlie died for what he believed in, a new generation of young conservatives started realizing that what they believed in was worth dying for. And if it’s worth dying for, then it’s worth living for too. So they started to get involved.

People who never attended church before or who had walked away from the faith suddenly started going back to church. They’ve been asking what it was that made Charlie Kirk so passionate about what he believed in. Of course, as a Christian, I know. I may be passionate about politics, but I’m only passionate about politics because I see it as an opportunity to glorify God and advance the gospel.

Charlie used his political debate platform to share his faith and convince people of the gospel’s importance. I still remember watching one interaction with a left-leaning individual, who angrily asked if Charlie wanted her Jewish family members to turn to Christ. She saw that as a personal affront. Charlie responded that he absolutely would. He saw having a relationship with Christ as the most wonderful decision a person could ever make.

Even more than political conservatism, America needs bold gospel preachers and defenders, who willingly make their faith known. Our country needs a biblical revival. Perhaps, with the new arrival of thousands of “Charlie Kirks,” it will actually happen.

Evelyn Elliott formerly served as an intern at The Washington Stand.