New Word Alive - the Welsh Connection 2

Here is the second NWA lesson on Welsh Christianity (see previous post)

The Welsh Connection #2
Wales – the Land of Revivals. Many who hear this think of the 1904 revival and some of the emotionalism that accompanied it. However the country has a long history of spiritual awakenings. One of the most influential of these began in 1735 (at the same time as the Wesley brothers and Whitefield in England, were experiencing similar blessings). Daniel Rowland, a curate in Llangeitho, a tiny village in south Cardiganshire, had seen that preaching against sin was an effective way to move people. He became known as the angry preacher, but he was convicted by his own preaching. Before long he experienced grace himself, and became a beacon of light, beginning a powerful preaching ministry which lasted over fifty years. At the same time Howell Harries, an ungodly schoolteacher in another part of the country, was brought to faith. He began to visit houses in the area, exhorting people to trust in Christ. Refused ordination by his bishop, he continued to preach wherever he could. These two, together with William Williams, the great hymn writer, became the fathers of the Methodists, travelling around and gathering the converts into local societies or “seiadau”. People would travel for days from all over the principality, sailing from North Wales and walking miles overland, to hear Daniel Rowland preach. Howell Harries persuaded George Whitefield to begin preaching in the open air – a great turning point in the Methodist revival in England. The effect of these men’s work was a network of societies throughout Wales, and the religious life of the whole country was transformed.
It is said that between 1735 and 1862 a spiritual wave swept through much of the country every ten years or so. As you travel through the towns and villages you will see a multitude of chapels (many now converted to other uses). Wales had become a land of revivals indeed. However the last national revival was in 1904/05. It is easy for the chapel-goers to look back longingly to a different age. But the God who moved this nation then can do so again. What about praying for a new spiritual awakening for Wales in our day?