The Awakening in Wales

by Jessie Penn-Lewis

Watchman Nee called it the "greatest known revival in church history." On October 31, 1904, twentysix-

year-old Evan Roberts, a former miner, returned home

from a ministry training program, having quit at the

urging of the Holy Spirit. That night, he joined sixteen

other young people at a village chapel, and from that

humble origin sprang a spiritual revival that roared across

the hills and valleys of Wales. Thousands of souls were

welcomed into God's kingdom. Even the press could not

ignore the changes occurring, and they eagerly reported

on Roberts' every move.

As suddenly as he had appeared, Roberts vanished from

the world stage, only to reemerge twenty years later. What

happened? How did God work so miraculously?

Jessie Penn-Lewis was well-acquainted with the revival

and its leader. Her clear and concise history of the events

of that time remains a treasure for all those who pray for

revival to return in our day.

Genres: History, Christian, Nonfiction

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Jessie Penn-Lewis (1861–1927) was a Welsh evangelical speaker and the author of a number of Christian evangelical works. Her religious work also took her to Russia, Scandinavia, Canada, the United States, and India.

Reviews

[Pilgrim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jessie Penn-Lewis gives an overview of the Welsh Revival in this book. The principles emphasized in this book for baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire are unity of believers, prayer, experience of death to self, forsaking sins etc. Challenges one to yearn for the christian experience where rivers of living water flows from the innermost being of a believer. Recommend for those who long for the fullness of the Holy Spirit in the individual life and the christian group which they are part of.

[Ryan Middlebrook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Revival literature is a genre all its own. Surely it resembles other Christian writings in its main focus on Jesus and His work in the earth. However, no author – no matter how hard they try – can capture the tone that an eyewitness of a great moving of God can relate. It’s simply because the experience of seeing revival firsthand turns knowledge into understanding. Thankfully, Jessie Penn-Lewis was an eyewitness to the Wales Revival of 1904 and 1905. This little treatise on the movings of the Spirit is a well documented ledger of the awakenings that took place all over this small country. She is able to spread just a little ember of that fire that burned so brightly there; and maybe, this flame of hers will reignite again.

I have a special place my heart for stories of revival. Maybe it’s because I’m looking for one for the world, or maybe it’s because I need one so badly for myself. Either way, to read tales of how Christ moved with power among the world bringing honor to Himself is glorious. I love missionary tales too (you’ll probably notice plenty on this site as time goes on), but seeing the church on a mountain top is always a precious encouragement. There’s a reason why we read Nathan Cole’s George Whitefield Comes to Middletown every October. We’re looking for fresh fire to fall from heaven.

This tract is a relatively basic overview of places, times, and events. There’s a short description of the call of Evan Roberts to the position of primary evangelist for this time. Christian conferences and town prayer-meetings are described. The words she uses are plain, but there is an authority in them. God’s Spirit moves in among the humdrum recollections of this and that. What a lesson for Christian writers who try to write an intriguing yarn or catch readers with a salacious hook. The simple truth is good enough. Penn-Lewis knows that and delivers it without decoration.

It is hard now a hundred and ten years later to see all the fruit that came from this shaking of Wales. The most obvious are the songs. The 1905 Wales revival is known as a “singing revival”. Many of the Welsh tunes are still with us today. They capture the pre-eminence of the message of Calvary and being filled with the Holy Spirit.

Dyma Gariad

Here is Love, vast as the ocean
Loving kindness as the flood,
When the Price of Life our ransom
Shed for us His precious blood;
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten
Through Heaven’s eternal days.


On the Mount of Crucifixion
Fountains opened deep and wide;
Through the floodgates of God’s mercy
Flowed a vast and gracious tide;
Grace and love, like mighty rivers,
Poured incessant from above,
And heaven’s peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love.


7.5 stars out of 10

Red Eagle's Legacy

[Ann Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Missing the Spirit's Reality Today

The Awakening in Wales by Jessie Penn-Lewis was a challenging book that gets you thinking about the Holy Spirit's involvement in God's people. Although the awakening in Wales took place in our past - Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

The fact is this kind of Holy Ghost revival would be very uncomfortable, especially for those who want God to fit a specific cultural mold. But the Lord still has His remnant praying today desire a worldwide revival for God's glory.