(ARLINGTON, Texas) — Years ago, eight people gathered in a home for an hour of prayer. Years later, that small gathering has grown into a movement that brought approximately 80,000 people to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on October 10 for Access 2026.
The gathering drew believers from across the United States and around the world, united by a single purpose: Prayer.
For Nikkita and Darius Barksdale, members of 2819 Church in Atlanta, (the name "2819" is based on the scripture, Matthew 28:19 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit) attending Access was about far more than being part of a massive Christian gathering. It was an opportunity to worship, pray and witness what they believe God is doing in the Church—and to reflect on how their own lives have changed since finding their church home.
“Access is basically just the coming together of all disciples from every walk of life, pretty much everywhere in the country, in different countries, members of our church, and just being able to have that powerful hour of prayer through our church, which is 2819,” Nikkita explained.
The roots of Access reach back to a much smaller gathering.
As Nikkita shared, Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell's father helped establish the tradition of gathering people for an hour of prayer. Before it became a stadium-sized event, it began with just a handful of people meeting in a home.
“He told him, like, whatever you do, make sure you keep that access going,” Nikkita said of the message Mitchell received from his father. “Always keep that availability, no matter what you do in your ministry, moving forward to keep Access going.”
From those humble beginnings, the gathering has grown to 80,000 people.
“That is just crazy,” Nikkita said. “It's amazing.”
'We Could Already Feel the Holy Spirit Moving'
For attendees, the experience of Access 2026 began before they ever entered the stadium.
Nikkita and Darius arrived early, anticipating the crowds. They waited outside for a couple of hours, but the time spent in line became part of the experience.
“People were outside singing. People were outside praying. People were outside just having the best time with each other,” Nikkita recalled.
She connected those moments to the biblical concept of koinonia—Christian fellowship and community—which she said Pastor Mitchell had taught about at church.
“Sometimes we wait in lines at church because it's always very full. The services are packed,” she said. “In the lines, you never know who you might meet, might share a testimony with, might pray with, and make that time go faster.”
For Nikkita, the gathering was already taking shape before the doors opened.
“Before we even got in, it was like we could already feel the Holy Spirit moving through the crowds outside.”
Inside the stadium, attendees watched videos recounting the history of Access and sharing testimonies before the gathering began. Then Mitchell addressed the crowd with a clear reminder of why they had come.
“He was like, you know, this is not a game. This is not for a show, a concert,” Nikkita said. “We're here to pray for this hour. And that's exactly what we did.”
The hour of prayer was followed by focused prayer for a variety of needs, including mental health, restoration and marriages. Worship continued afterward, extending the experience for those who remained.
What began as a gathering centered on prayer became an extended time of worship and fellowship.
'This Is the Time ... for Prayer in This Country'
For the Barksdales, the significance of Access goes beyond the size of the crowd. They believe prayer is not simply an activity Christians participate in when convenient, but a calling that shapes their everyday lives.
“Scripture tells us, and when you pray, not if you pray or if you feel like it,” Nikkita said. “Jesus commanded us to do those things. Paul told us to pray without ceasing.”
“This is our job that we've been called to do,” she continued. “This is part of the Great Commission that we've been assigned as believers of Christ to stay forward and contend for the faith.”
That conviction reflects the broader emphasis of 2819 Church, which has called believers to take Scripture seriously, pursue holiness and live out their faith beyond the walls of a church building.
The church's influence has also extended far beyond Atlanta through its live-streamed services and online community of digital disciples.
But for Nikkita and Darius, the message has become deeply personal.
'You Truly Couldn't Tell the Old Me From the New Me'
Darius said he first discovered 2819 Church while watching short preaching clips on YouTube. The directness of Mitchell's preaching caught his attention, prompting him to watch more and eventually introduce his wife to the ministry.
The couple had been searching for a church home, and they initially followed the church online for approximately three months.
“I was like, I wish this place was close to us, because the Spirit, you can feel the Spirit and the anointing that's on the church and in the gathering through the screen,” Darius recalled thinking.
Then he decided to look up the church's location.
“Lo and behold, it was 20 minutes away.”
(Interview below recorded in 2025 with 2819 Church's Lead Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell, the heart behind Access, and Monika Kelly)
The discovery helped lead the couple from watching online to attending in person. For Darius, the church's message also resonated with his own past.
He said he grew up in the church but drifted away as an adult, carrying what he now believes was an incomplete understanding of salvation.
“I never really understood that until I started going to 2819, started to begin to understand Scripture in context,” he said.
He described a former mindset in which he believed he could live however he wanted because Jesus had died for his sins.
“But I'm truly not understanding that I was living outside of the will of God,” he said. “I was truly doing what He didn't want me to do.”
Looking back, he said he now sees his story through the lens of the prodigal son.
“And I feel like I'm truly like the prodigal son in the story.”
The church's emphasis on repentance, Scripture and a transformed life has helped him recognize what he believes God was calling him toward all along.
“My life has changed dramatically,” Darius said. “You truly couldn't tell the old me from the new me. Like they are two different persons.”
He described a former lifestyle in which he smoked marijuana daily and wanted to remain immersed in the culture and activities around him. Today, he says his priorities have changed.
“Now, I'm in my work every single day. I'm praying every single day,” he said. “I'm focusing and making sure that my time in the things that I'm doing is a reflection of Christ, making sure that I can be a witness for Christ while I'm out and about.”
For Darius, that transformation is not about simply changing outward behavior. It is about becoming more intentional in how he lives as a disciple of Jesus.
'You Don't Have to Be Perfect'
One of the most significant changes Darius has noticed is how his faith now influences the people around him.
Rather than feeling that he must force conversations about Christianity, he tries to live in a way that naturally points others toward Jesus.
“I try to let my light shine and let God use me in the way that He would,” he said.
At work, he now reads his Bible openly. Coworkers have begun approaching him with questions about Scripture, sometimes standing at his desk to ask him to explain what they have read.
“It's like, 'Hey, can you explain this to me? What does this mean? I want to get more into this,'” he said.
Those interactions have become opportunities to share what God has done in his own life.
“I just want to be a light to show the others who may be struggling with the same things that I struggle with, that you too can come,” Darius said.
His message to anyone who feels too broken, too far gone or too imperfect to turn to God is simple.
“It's never too late. As long as you have breath in your lungs, Christ is still here for you.”
He continued, “He'll meet you wherever you at. You don't have to be perfect to get everything together.”
“If He needed you to be perfect, He wouldn't have died on the cross for you,” Darius said. “So just come as you are. I promise you He'll meet you where you are.”
A Renewed Faith and a New Purpose
Nikkita's journey has also been marked by a renewed commitment to her faith.
Originally from New York City, she said she grew up attending a Nazarene church but became less connected to church life after moving to Georgia at 18. For years, attending church was more occasional than consistent.
Finding 2819 helped change that.
The couple married in March and had already been discussing the importance of making church a consistent part of their lives.
“It was the preaching and just the evangelism, like being poured out onto us to make us do that leap, you know, finally just do it and commit to living the right way,” Nikkita said.
Since then, she has become more intentional about understanding Scripture, growing in prayer and allowing her faith to shape her daily decisions.
“My life now is completely different from two years ago, a year ago, since I've been going to 2819,” she said. “And I'm just going to continue moving forward in that direction.”
She also sees her faith influencing how she serves others. As a fourth-grade teacher, she wants the children in her classroom to experience encouragement, kindness and the assurance that they are loved.
“I try to just show God through me, how He's shining through me, through, like, to my kids,” she said. “I try to ... make sure that they know that they're loved no matter what.”
She is also seeking more opportunities to give, donate and help others in practical ways.
For both Nikkita and Darius, following Jesus has increasingly meant allowing their faith to affect not only what they believe, but how they treat people, use their time and serve their communities.
Stories of Healing and Hope
During the conversation, the Barksdales also described testimonies they had heard from people who attended Access and reported experiencing physical healing.
Nikkita recalled hearing about a woman who had been unable to hear in one ear and reportedly experienced restored hearing after attending the gathering.
She also referred to testimonies involving people who had struggled to walk and had used crutches or other mobility aids.
“They leave Access, they have their full testimonies,” she said. “When they get out their car, they're walking back into their homes. It's just been amazing.”
She also mentioned reports of cancer tumors shrinking.
These accounts were shared as testimonies from the gathering and were not independently verified in the interview. For the Barksdales, however, the stories reinforced their conviction that prayer should remain central to the life of the Church.
They emphasized that Access was not intended to be a performance or a spectacle, but a time devoted to seeking God.
Their focus remains on prayer, worship and encouraging believers to pursue a deeper relationship with Jesus.
A Global Community of Digital Disciples
The reach of Access was evident in the people who traveled to Arlington to participate.
Nikkita said the couple met a man from Romania while waiting in line. She also heard about attendees who had traveled from Australia, Canada and Mexico, along with people from across the United States.
“It wasn't just different states, but far countries, far away from here,” she said.
That international participation reflects the growing online community connected to 2819 Church.
For people who cannot attend services in person, the church livestreams services on Sundays at 8 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. EASTERN.
Nikkita explained that people who watch online can connect through the livestream chat and begin building relationships with others in their cities and states.
“See who's in your community, see who's in your state, your city, and try to form groups in that way,” she said.
Some of those relationships have developed into real-world connections, even among people who have never attended a service at the Atlanta church.
For Nikkita, that is one of the encouraging outcomes of the growing digital community: believers finding fellowship and building relationships around a shared commitment to Jesus.
What Comes After Access?
As the Barksdales look ahead, their focus is less on the size of the next gathering and more on what happens after people return home.
At 2819 Church, the congregation is studying the book of Ephesians through a series called In Christ, with an emphasis on examining Scripture word by word and in context.
Nikkita said the goal is to help believers better understand their identity in Jesus and grow in their faith.
For her, the next steps are clear: keep studying the Bible, keep praying and continue pursuing the life she believes God has called her to live.
Darius is similarly focused on prayer, daily obedience and becoming a more faithful witness to the people around him.
Their stories illustrate how a large gathering can become a catalyst for personal change—but also why that change must continue long after the crowd disperses.
Reflecting on the opportunity to attend Access for a second year, Nikkita expressed gratitude for the chance to participate and a desire to keep moving forward in faith.
“We're just continuing to pray that He continues to lead us in that right direction, keeps ordering our footsteps in the right way, and just helping us continue to seek His face every day,” she said.
“I think we're moving in the right direction as one, and we're just doing the right things. We're trying to stay focused on that.”
From a handful of people praying in a home to 80,000 gathered in a stadium, the story of Access is one of remarkable growth. But for the Barksdales, its lasting significance is found in the quieter moments that follow: a Bible opened at a desk, a coworker asking a question about Scripture, a teacher reminding a child they are loved, and two people seeking to make their marriage and daily lives a reflection of Christ.
The gathering may have lasted only hours, but their desire is for its impact to continue in the lives of believers—and in the communities they return to.
As Darius put it, the invitation is open to everyone, regardless of their past:
“Just come as you are. I promise you He'll meet you where you are.”