Evan Roberts and the Welsh Revival of 1904

 by Sherri Stewart

Just an ordinary person can start a revival that spreads to four continents. Evan Roberts was such a man. His beginnings were far from glorious. He grew up in a coal mining community in Wales and quit school to become a coal miner at the age of twelve.

Shortly after his conversion at thirteen, Young Evan heard a sermon that affected him deeply, and he determined at that moment he wanted all that God had for him. Despite his tiresome work in the coal mine, he attended every prayer meeting, every youth meeting, and every other meeting offered by the church. This involved him being at church six out of the seven days of the week. This he did consistently throughout his teen years. 

Evan heard about some of the great revivals that had occurred in other places and became obsessed with the subject. “I could sit up all night to read or talk about revivals.” As a young man he was once forced out of his rented room by his landlady, who would hear him pray and preach in his room for hours on end, and concluded he was quite likely insane. At the age of 25 he woke up one night and found himself in the presence of God. This deep communion went on for four hours, and then he fell asleep again. That same experience occurred every night for the next three months, as God prepared this poor young Welsh man for the great calling that lay ahead.

While at preparatory school for ministry, Evan attended a series of small meetings held nearby by the famous evangelist, Seth Joshua. At the end of one of the services, the evangelist prayed, “O God, bend us.” For some reason these words shook Evan to the core. During a church service soon afterwards, Evan saw visions of himself speaking to the young people at his home church in Loughor. He tried to get the picture out of his mind, but it kept returning. Finally, he agreed in his heart to return home.

His parents were puzzled to see their son home from college, and more puzzled still when he announced he had come to speak to the church and was considering going through the whole country of Wales to preach and win souls. However, the pastor of the home church didn’t quite know what to do with Evan. He allowed young Evan to speak only after the main prayer meeting was over. Sixteen people and one little girl decided to stay and hear what he had to say.

Evan wasted no time in getting to the heart of his message. He declared that they must fulfill four conditions:

 

1.    Confess all known sin to God.
2.    Put away all doubtful habits.
3.    Obey the Holy Spirit promptly.
4.    Confess Christ publicly.
   

By the end of the night, all sixteen young people and adults had confessed Christ. So powerful was this first meeting that Evan was given a second night to share, and then a third. With each passing night more and more people came. By the second week the church was packed out, and the revival was on!

While Evan seemed to be God’s chosen instrument to spearhead the revival, he was not alone. As word of what God was doing in Loughor spread, fervent prayer went forth all over Wales, and within weeks the fires of revival were blazing all through the nation.

The effects were astonishing. Churches which had been only half full were now unable to hold all the people eagerly coming to find Christ. Services which had been formal and lasting an exact designated time were now hotbeds of prayer, praise, and singing. One pastor, when asked about the times of his services, replied, “From six until midnight.” The astonished inquirer said, “You mean you have church from six p.m. until midnight?” “No,” said the pastor. “I meant from six a.m. until midnight.”

Within a couple of months, Wales was a changed nation. Crime was reduced to almost nothing. Often magistrates were given a ceremonial pair of white gloves when they arrived at the courtroom, signifying that there were no cases to try. Taverns were nearly vacant. One tavern owner, sickened by his loss of business, growled at the young people passing his establishment to attend the revival and threw a couple of empty ale pots at the youths.

The Llynfi Valley police court had been averaging 700 cases per week six months before the revival. After the revival was going full force, the average was 2. So radical was the change in the coal miners that there was a slowdown in the mines. The pit ponies, so used to being cursed at by the miners, didn’t know how to respond to a gentle giddyap.

Evan Roberts was modest to a fault. He often refused to allow his picture to be taken, fearing he would take the glory from His Lord. He would never announce where he would be speaking, lest he become too much the “star” of the revival. In one meeting where he showed up, he reminded the congregation of Christ’s promise that where two or three are gathered together, God would be there in their midst. When he asked the crowd if they believed that promise, they heartily responded, “Amen.” To which Evan announced, “Then you don’t need me,” and left the meeting.

In one year, by conservative estimates, around 150,000 souls were born again. The revival went on to sweep Europe, Canada, America, and many parts of Africa and India. Evan Roberts was an untrained young man, but what he lacked in education, he made up for in fervency, humility, and prayer. 

https://www.spiritofgrace.org/articles/nl_2014/extras/00_evan_roberts.html

Selah Award finalist Sherri Stewart loves a clean novel, sprinkled with romance and a strong message that challenges her faith. She spends her working hours with books—either editing others’ manuscripts or writing her own. Her passions are traveling to the settings of her books and sampling the food. She traveled to Paris for this book, and she still works daily on her French, although she doesn’t need to since everyone speaks English. A recent widow, Sherri lives in Orlando with her lazy dog, Lily. She shares recipes, tidbits of the book’s locations, and other authors' books in her newsletter.

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Tricks and Treachery

Was she her sister’s keeper? Leah was all the family Brynn Kingston had left, and she’d made that promise to her mother before she passed away to take care of her little sister. But when she learned Leah was engaged to a man she’d met online—a man who probably didn’t exist at least in the form he presented online—Brynn knew she had to expose the scammer before her sister’s small nest egg was gone. But then she met the scammer face-to-face. Best-laid plans.

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Church History - The Baptists

I grew up going to a small Southern Baptist church, Northwest Baptist, on California Crossing Road in Dallas, Texas. J.W. Matoy, the pastor, was my mother's cousin from Oklahoma. I suppose I played in the nursery in the years before memory kicked in. 

I didn't know Baptists were the most well-known protestant denomination or about the many kinds of Baptists: American, Missionary (the pro-missionaries group that split away from the Primitive Baptists who were decidedly not). And the Independent Baptists that refrained from joining any of the hierarchy associations or governing authorities.

The first Baptists broke away from the Church of England with the belief that salvation should include a public profession of faith followed by being baptized, immersed in water, not being sprinkled as a baby--as symbolized by the disciples’ baptisms (John 3) and from Romans 6, especially the fourth verse.

“Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:4

Those first congregations were known as General Baptists. When the Calvanist Separatists accepted the belief of immersion, they became the Particular Baptists. 

The earliest Baptist church was founded in Amsterdam in 1609, but as more and more pilgrims arrived on the shores of the New World, it wasn't long before the Massachusetts Bay Colony banished John Clark for his belief of the separation between church and state. 

They followed Church of England practices, but Clark moved south to uncolonized Rhode Island and formed the first Baptist church in America in 1638.

By the late eighteenth century, the American Baptists recognized thirty-five 'associations' headed by over five hundred fifty preachers. 

During the nineteenth century, the movement grew to seven hundred fifty churches with more than sixty thousand Baptists spread across the states. All the associations were committed to a principle of autonomy but joining together for the benefit of spreading the Good News of Christ. 

The issue of slavery caused the Southern Baptists to separate from the Northern associations and their growth proved unrivaled. Some churches were more conservative than others and before long, we had the American Baptist Churches, the Baptist General Convention and of course Texas had its own convention. Plus the Independents. 

Strong believers in Biblical authority, Baptists take communion as an act of symbolic obedience with no particular schedule and believe all scripture is divinely God-breathed per these verses in Timothy.

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Baptists strongly support evangelism and missionary work and stand up for religious freedoms. It is recognized they were instrumental in our Constitution’s First Amendment.

No longer affiliated with the Baptist church, I now consider myself a non-denominational. That happened in 1975 during the Charasmatic movement of Holy Spirit. 

I experienced the baptism of fire and that set me apart from the traditional doctrines. The Southern Baptist Association disfellowshipped our little Shady Grove Baptist Church, so we became simply Shady Grove Church. 

It's so exciting that my FIFTIETH TITLE published BITTER HONEY releases tomorrow! It's book 22 in the Lockets and Lace Collection and the story of Samantha Adam's romance.

Readers met Samantha in UNIQUELY COMMON (book 12 in the same collection) when she was only thirteen years old. Now, she'd eighteen and ready to get married and have babies . . . but should she settle?

From the vineyards of Napa Valley to the streets of New Orleans, there's another love story in BITTER HONEY, a more mature romance akin to Hosea's I think you'll enjoy!  

Bio: Award-winning Author Caryl McAdoo prays her story brings God glory! And her best-selling novels are blessed with a lion’s share of 5-Star ratings! With forty-four-and-counting titles, she loves writing as well as singing the new songs the Lord gives her—listen to a few at YouTube. She and husband Ron share four children and eighteen grandsugars. The McAdoos live in the woods south of Clarksville, seat of Red River County, in far Northeast Texas, waiting expectantly for God to open the next door.  

Contact Links :  Amazon -  BookBub -  Website -  Newsletter - Influencers’ Group

The History of Church Camp

by Tamera Lynn Kraft

Summer camps started in the 1880s. They answered the growing concerns of boys growing up in cities. Parents wanted to toughen the boys up and reconnect them with nature. 

Camps ran all summer. The activities ranged from swimming and hunting to playing Indian. Church services connected the boys with God in outdoor services on Sundays but were not the primary reason for camp.

In 1892, the first girl’s camp allowed girls to attend a boy’s camp for one month out of the summer. The first all girls camp started in 1902, Camp Wyonegonic in Bridgeton, Maine.

The first camp to emphasize spiritual growth, also began to introduce boys to nature and outdoor life. In 1885, Sumner Dudley started the first YMCA camp in Westport , New York.

The Bennett Spring Church Camp funded by the American Bible Society started in Lindenlure, Missouri in 1936. In the 1940s and 1950s, church camps began to spring up in every denomination. 

Through the years, church camps have become shorter and more organized. One thing that has not changed is that they have impacted the lives of countless young people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Tamera Lynn Kraft has always loved adventures and writes Christian historical fiction set in America because there are so many adventures in American history. She has received 2^nd place in the NOCW contest, 3^rd place TARA writer’s contest, and was a finalist in the Frasier Writing Contest. Her Novel, Alice’s Notions and her novellas Resurrection of Hope and A Christmas Promise are available on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble.