Bwlch-y-garreg (1905)



 Whilst listening to the sound of the Infinite's love raining down on South Wales, many a soul in this area has said - 'Let it come upon me too.' Now we can reveal that our wish has not been ignored. Nothing unusual had been experienced prior to the end of last year. But we believe that some of us are leaving behind the old year with a very different mental attitude from what it has been at such times in the past. We were looking forward to the week of prayer and expecting great things. The new year came in and we set apart a week to call on our God. These were, and have continued for months to be, united meetings – ourselves and the Wesleyans. A conspicuous sentence evident in some of the brothers' prayers was this - ' Let us feel you moving from heart to heart.' We were not far into the new year before realising that the Lord was listening to the supplication. The Spirit of the Lord was felt amongst us in one meeting after another. We will remember the first two weeks of the year as one of the most remarkable periods of our lives. We never heard such prayers ever. Once begun, the meeting was thrown open to everyone to take part according to the urgings of the Spirit, and everything went forward at His pace. People were only welcome to speak during the service if a word [=message] was seething in their souls and they could not hold back. A spirit of prayer and song had fallen on the people. The prayers of the first week were distinguished by a measure of  passion, the prayers of the second week by profundity and unction. We have heard of preaching with unction, but in the week referred to, we had, in a number of meetings, an example of the thing itself. We are not surprised that theologians can say but little about unction. It is not something to describe, but something to receive - something to be felt and enjoyed. It is like God himself, too high for anyone to be able to give a description of it. In January a young sister from Llawrglyn visited our neighbourhood; before that she had been in South Wales for some time, and had received abundantly of the spirit of the revival. She had a warm message to give at almost every meeting. We believe her to be a means of bringing us closer to the Spiritual. In recent weeks a spirit of prayer has been abundantly poured out on the people of Bwlchygareg, an area where a number of our members live. There is an old schoolhouse there which is claimed by the Established Church, but Nonconformists are allowed to [?] make nothing of it to hold prayer meetings and a Sunday School. There were some meetings in this building during the winter, but now they are more frequent and more powerful. One night a brother was praying who had experienced great things in '59.  It was clear that a drop from heaven had fallen on his spirit. A sister from the neighbourhood took part in the meeting. He said a loud Amen, and added – 'carry on, Betsi fach.' Betsi was given help, and we trust strength, to carry on, to conquer with God. Betsi was followed by others at the service, and they have now had many such meetings. We could add some interesting facts about Bwlchygareg, but must refrain. Our young people have had some exceptionally good meetings. We will note one example. This took place on the evening of Sunday, February 12, after the service. When the crowd were about to go out, a comparatively young man got to his feet to say that a meeting for the young people would follow. As the congregation scattered, the brother gave out a verse and began to pray. He was followed by another. A number of the young sisters participated in the meeting. The whole meeting was distinguished by solemnity and intensity of feeling. We believe we have thanked the Lord warmly for blessing us with such a meeting at the end of the Sabbath day. We have accepted 23 as full members. Except for a few of the seed of the church [=?the children of members], they have been brought in through the influence of the revival. Some of them seem like men who are serious about entering into the life. We hope the best for all of them. There are now very few people connected with Saron who are not religious members. There is the occasional one in the neighbourhood who is keeping clear of the revival. We think of them with sadness. The sisters sometimes hold a meeting on their own, and we believe that God causes His holy face to shine upon them. Some meetings take place in houses, and several of them have been very blessed. The revival has provided us with experience for the society meeting, and has produced a crowd of new suppliants [=people prepared to pray in public] among us and we feel great joy and gratitude when we see the progress some of them are making. A host of our members at Saron have felt something during recent months; some have felt 'the thing itself,' while there are others of whom we cannot speak for certain. We want more of the influences which are upon us.

Goleuad - 28th April 1905..


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