Revival in South Africa

  Rees Howells and his wife Elizabeth were called to the mission field in South Africa in 1915 and joined Mr. and Mrs. Hatch who had labored on the field for many years already. Normally, they would have spent much time studying the language and getting used to the culture, but because both Mr. and Mrs. Howells had been involved in the Welsh revival, the Hatches desired that they should work immediately for the goal of bringing revival to Gazaland, where they were posted. They asked Mr. Howells to preach with an interpreter about the revival to all the churches and he agreed.

   After about six weeks of preaching the Spirit began to move among the Christians and one night when a dozen of them had gathered at the Howells house to pray he taught them the chorus, “Lord send a revival, and let it begin in me.” The Spirit was upon them when they sang and they continued singing in the coming days. Mr. Howells recognized a sound he had heard in the Welsh Revival and said: “You know it when you hear it,” he said, “but you can’t make it, and by the following Thursday I was singing it too. There was something about it that changed you, and brought you into the stillness of God.” (Rees Howells, Intercessor, Norman Grubb, p. 186)

    Rees Howells goes on to describe what happened next: “The Sunday was October 10—my birthday—and as I preached Sunday morning you could feel the Spirit coming on the congregation. In the evening, down He came. I shall never forget it. He came upon a young girl, Kufase by name, who had fasted for three days under the conviction that she was not ready for the Lord’s coming. As she was praying, she broke down crying, and within five minutes the whole congregation were on their faces crying to God. Like lightning and thunder the power came down. I had never seen this, even in the Welsh Revival. I had only heard of it from Finney and others. Heaven had opened and there was no room to hold the blessings.

     I lost myself in the Spirit and prayed as much as they did. All I could say was, ‘He has come!’ We went on late into the night; we couldn’t stop the meeting. You can never describe those meetings when the Holy Spirit comes down. The next day He came again and the people were on their knees until 6 p.m. This went on for six days and people began to confess their sins and come free as the Holy Spirit brought them through. They had forgiveness of sins, and met the Savior as only the Holy Spirit can reveal Him. Everyone who came near would go under the power of the Spirit. People stood up to give their testimonies, and it was nothing to see twenty-five on their feet at the same time.” (Rees Howells, Intercessor, pp.187-188)

   The revival meetings continued twice a day for 15 months and all day meetings were held on Fridays. Hundreds were converted and they were looking for more! The revival then spread to other mission stations in South Africa as Mr. Howells was commissioned to preach to all of them over a two-year period. Revival broke out in every single one, although each one was different in one respect or another. Over the two-year period, and the traveling of 11,000 miles, over 10 thousand people we saved and thousands more Christians were revived to live for Jesus more faithfully!

How about you and I? Do we desire to see the power of the Holy Spirit come down on our church? Who is the one that will fast and pray for God to bring His Spirit down among us like “Thunder and lightning?” Who is the one who will stand up in the congregation and confess their sins publicly and repent in abject sorrow for sinning against the Almighty God of the Universe?

Pray:

1.     For God to do a mighty work in my heart. To give me the desire to fast and pray until He comes to me and fills me with His Spirit with power and glory.

2.     That our church will be serious about praying, and that it will become our life breath.

3.     For the power of the Holy Spirit to fill us daily and that we will be obedient to the Spirits leading every day.

4.     That God will continue to be with us and to guide us individually and corporately to be unhesitatingly obedient to all He tells us.