Revisiting the Welsh Revival during a conference at the Bible College of Wales (Part II).

As I continue my report on our visit to the Bible College of Wales and the nearby birthplace of the Welsh Revival, it seemed apt that my wife and I, along with my son’s family, should visit the famous Alnwick Garden in Northumberland the following week.

For the stunning spectacle of its cascading fountains beautifully reflected the purity and power of God’s presence we had experienced on the Gower Peninsula.

It was also at Alnwick that I came across the following inscription carved into stone: “Only dead fish swim with the stream.”

The likes of Rees Howells, the college founder who played a significant role in the revival, made a huge difference to the world because they swam against the tide, as the Bible urges us to do – specifically, “Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world…” (see Romans 12:1-2).

The cascading fountains of Alnwick Garden in Northumberland, reflecting the purity and power of God’s presence we experienced on the Gower Peninsula the previous week. See Photo Credits.One of his big challenges as he sought God’s leading on personal intercession was when the Lord told him to go hatless in order to reflect a permanent attitude of prayer. This, in 1909, went very much against the grain; in fact, it was unheard of for men to go about without a head covering. And he confessed to having had a tremendous struggle with obeying this particular call.

Fashion enslaves people into ‘keeping up appearances’ rather than pleasing God with acts of faith and devotion. But in this and other ways, Rees learnt to become ‘dead to the world’ and all its influences and expectations; he no longer cared that some would no doubt have considered his strange behaviour as somewhat fanatical (standing up for sexual morality and the sanctity of life is now generally considered unacceptable).

Hatikvah Films, who have already produced a string of inspiring documentaries on Israel’s place in God’s purposes as well as other Christian endeavours, are planning to make a movie called Surrender on the Rees Howells story, according to staff member Stephen Briggs, who also addressed the conference.

The likes of Rees Howells made a huge difference to the world because they swam against the tide, as the Bible urges us to do.

Investments for the Future

Among other participants was former student David Dare, now 80, from Lyme Regis in Dorset, who spoke of life-changing times under the ministry of Samuel Howells, son of Rees. David and his wife Rosemary now host intercessory prayer meetings four times a week.

Further testimonies shared included that of Tara, a seven-times married young woman whose story is told in Gangster’s Girl, soon due out from Penguin Books.

Dr Harry Schmidt, a Bible college principal from Chicago, told the remarkable story of how his wife had led him to the altar twice – initially at the age of 12 when she took him to the front of the rather cramped church to give his life to Jesus. Because there was not much room, he knelt at the corner of the piano stool where he wept buckets as he wiped his tears on the dress of the pianist, who was later to become his mother-in-law!

After falling into disrepair and closing in 2009, the Swansea college site was reclaimed from developers, refurbished and then re-opened in 2015 thanks to a £5 million cash injection from Singapore pastor Yang Tuck Yoong in honour of British missionaries and the revival legacy.

The standard of singing was already high, as you would expect in Wales, but took off into heavenly realms when opera star Huw Priday took the microphone and treated us to glorious renditions of classic numbers including I’ll Walk with God.

Huw believes we are in for a period of great darkness ahead, and that we will need to stand firm in the faith to be ready to care for the many broken people who will flock to the Saviour. Having left a glittering career to commit himself full-time to Gospel ministry, he has an inspiring vision to help reach this generation through classical music.

Bucket-Loads of Blessings

The conference was not short on humour, being graced with the presence of gospel singer Bryn Yemm, a terrific entertainer who had us in fits of laughter even though not actually performing. An award-winning artist who has travelled the world, he has a special love for Israel, having led cruise ship tours from Haifa when he boldly witnessed to Jews about their Messiah.

Linda and I stayed at Nicholaston House, a beautiful Christian retreat some ten miles down the Gower Peninsula, and we had a magical view of the beach at Oxwich Bay. It was a vision of the Gower Peninsula, an area of outstanding natural beauty, that had originally acted as confirmation that I should accept the invitation to attend this conference.

We are in for a period of great darkness ahead, and that we will need to stand firm in the faith to be ready to care for the many broken people who will flock to the Saviour.

A friend with whom we had stayed in Cwmbran, South Wales, before heading for Swansea, had correctly predicted that we would experience ‘bucket-loads of blessings’ and it seemed apt that the long drought was broken by rain – later bucketing down – as we drove to the college via the M4 motorway.

Our Welsh experience finished, fittingly, with a stop to see old friends in Brecon who were missionaries to Bolivia and whose daughters are now following in their footsteps to Colombia and Rwanda. All the family are, like Abraham, still living by faith, not knowing where they are going next, but trusting in the Lord for every step of the way, which had proved to be the theme of the conference.

It seemed entirely appropriate, when we finally arrived back in Yorkshire at the end of our 250-mile journey from Swansea, to learn from TV news coverage of a new hero from Wales, Geraint Thomas, following his epic win in the Tour de France, cycling’s premier event. Will leading the world in this hugely challenging physical pursuit soon be eclipsed at a spiritual level as wells of revival are once more unblocked in Wales?

“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths” (Prov 3:6). We had been on an epic journey ourselves as we continue to discover more about the perfect way to live!

Notes

Additional material sourced from Rees Howells – Intercessor by Norman Grubb, published by Lutterworth Press.

Read Part I of this report by clicking here.

And we uncover its close connection with love for Israel.

Amid great expectancy of a renewed outpouring of the Spirit in the land of revivals, my wife and I were profoundly blessed and stirred by a recent visit to Wales.

We sat in the Moriah Chapel at Loughor, near Swansea, where the famous Welsh Revival broke out on 31 October 1904, and had a real taste of those momentous times as we were guided around the premises by a man whose uncle was a close friend of Evan Roberts, the human instrument used by God as the spark of that great movement.

I also noted the significance of the chapel’s name, as it was Mt Moriah where Abraham was prepared to offer up his son Isaac as a sacrifice and where, close by, Jesus died for the sins of the world at Calvary.

And this was not the only connection with Israel – more of which later.

Recalling the total surrender of those young men (the initial outpouring effectively started with a youth meeting), one of our group prayed “Bend us, Lord!” as she echoed the heartfelt cry of the revival’s 25-year-old leader for God to break their resistance to the Holy Spirit’s power.

It was an awesome moment as we became aware of the great need of our nation (in the UK as a whole) for restoration and reformation. Then we sang ‘Here is love, vast as the ocean’, one of the revival’s key hymns – first in Welsh, then in English.

People of Spiritual Stature and Faith

Our visit there was part of a weekend conference of the UK Fellowship of Full Gospel Churches, an international network of ministers dedicated to proclaiming Christ in all his fullness.

The event was hosted at the Bible College of Wales, which has itself been mightily used in world mission and was a product of the 1904/5 revival. We enjoyed glorious worship in the same room where legendary intercessor Rees Howells and his students prayed through to victory for Britain and the allies during World War II and later for Israel’s recognition at the United Nations.

One of our group prayed “Bend us, Lord!”, echoing the heartfelt cry of the 1904 revival’s 25-year-old leader Evan Roberts for God to break their resistance to the Holy Spirit’s power.

Participants had flown in from throughout the United States as well as from Holland, while others came from across the south of England and Wales – we were the lone visitors from the north.

Although a relatively small gathering with no more than 50 taking part, most of them were men and women of great spiritual stature and faith – at least one had met with US Presidents while others had walked with the likes of Billy Graham and had witnessed God’s miraculous guidance over many years.

Dick Funnell, from New Orleans, shared his extraordinary journey of how God had led him to come and live on the west coast of Wales where he and his Guatemalan wife Gladys now have keys to a small chapel where they have been praying daily for the past 13 years, convinced that revival is on its way.

As we prayed and lifted our hands in worship, we were aware of the crucial part played by Howells and his students who interceded day and night for a nation facing disaster at the time of Dunkirk. Their God-ordained prayers brought us back from the brink of destruction. They also prayed through to victory at the UN for Israel’s recognition in November 1947, having also made provision for Jewish children escaping the Nazi net.

100,000 New Births

A love for Israel was due not only to a proper understanding of the Bible, but also to the part the Jewish people had played in the founder’s conversion. Howells actually committed his life to Christ in America, where he had gone to seek his fortune, and it had come about through a Jewish evangelist, Maurice Reuben, who had paid a huge price for following Jesus, being disowned by his wealthy family and denied his part-ownership of a Pittsburgh store.

Maurice himself had found the Lord through the witness of a man he had asked – because he always seemed cheerful – if he had been ‘born happy’, to which the man had replied that his happiness only dated from his ‘second birth’.

Rees, who was the same age as Evan Roberts, returned to Wales to help with the revival.

Following a powerful encounter with the Holy Spirit, he lived a radical life of faith as he reached out to drunkards and tramps – cutting down his meals in order to identify with them. And he took on formidable challenges such as praying for – and witnessing to – a village untouched by the revival and healing for sick people doctors had written off.

During the 1904 Welsh revival, an estimated 100,000 people were swept into the Kingdom over a four-month period.

Evan, meanwhile, was unschooled as, when his father was injured down the mine, he took his place, aged 11, in order to provide an income for his family.

Later, feeling called to pastoral ministry, he left home to acquire the necessary academic qualifications but before long had a deep experience of the Holy Spirit after hearing a speaker from the Welsh equivalent of the Keswick Convention.

Evan Roberts. Photo: Linda Gardner.He returned to his home village and asked if he could hold a youth meeting to which 16 youngsters turned up. Revival broke out, and services lasted virtually through the night. Miners coming off their shift would join the queues for the chapels; as soon as one was filled they’d tramp off to find the next. Lights would be burning through the night as tens of thousands throughout the principality were convicted of sin by the presence of God and the preaching of the Gospel. It is estimated that as many as 100,000 were swept into the Kingdom over a four-month period as people couldn’t get enough of being in God’s presence.

Impacts Beyond Asking or Imagining

It wasn’t the first time Wales had seen revival – Howell Harris and others had led a similar movement in the late 18^th Century, and even John Wesley had preached at Loughor in those days. Another revival broke out in 1859 – also touching many other parts of the world.

In fact, it was in the midst of the earlier movement that a hugely significant event took place that was to lead to the foundation of the Bible Society through which the word of God was translated into hundreds of languages and distributed throughout the world.

The event in question was a 26-mile walk over the mountains of North Wales by 15-year-old Mary Jones in order to purchase a copy of the Welsh Bible for which she had saved up for six years. Her extraordinary feat awakened the need for God’s word to become available to everyone in their mother tongue.

One of the effects of the 1904 awakening of dynamic Christianity was that the police and magistrates had nothing to do except help control the crowds queuing up for the Gospel meetings.

What was happening in Wales galvanised the prayers of American saints in California, leading directly to the Azusa Street revival of 1906.

The revival spread across the globe, even touching Asia and St Petersburg in Russia, and it inspired others praying for a similar move in their own localities. This was particularly the case in California, where news of what was happening in Wales galvanised the prayers of American saints and led directly to the Azusa Street, Los Angeles, revival of 1906, the beginnings of the modern-day Pentecostal movement, with a similar outpouring taking place in Sunderland, England, in 1907, led by Church of England vicar Alexander Boddy who had earlier come to witness the work of Evan Roberts in Wales.

The revival produced outstanding leaders including George and Stephen Jeffries and, of course, Rees Howells who went on to found his world-changing Bible College in 1928. One student, a young German called Reinhard Bonnke, graduated in 1960 and subsequently won millions of people to the Lord through his huge missions across Africa and other parts of the world.

A young Billy Graham also visited the Loughor chapel back in 1946 when he is understood to have had a profound experience of the Holy Spirit. Millions the world over benefited from that!

Part II next week.

Notes

Additional material sourced from Rees Howells, Intercessor by Norman Grubb, published by Lutterworth Press.