Ambergwysian

In 1840, revival came to Ambergwysian located deep in the Cambrian Mountains of West Wales. It happened in a small congregational chapel called, Moriah. The story is inspiring as it teaches and models for us a desperation for renewal.

Revival had broken out elsewhere in Wales in 1840. A group of men from Ambergwysian had gathered and were discussing what they heard about it one evening after a prayer meeting. They were Thomas Price, David Morgan, Roderick Miller, Rees Jenkins, and Isaac Jenkins. One of the five began asking why their community had remained unaffected by the revival taking place elsewhere in Wales.

In the discussion that followed, three questions crystallized. If revival is already going on, and God is in these days pouring out his Spirit, why shouldn’t this also happen in Ambergwysian? Why can’t the revival come about through us? Why delay? Let’s stop waiting and press into God now.

Effectively, the three questions asked were: “Why not here?”, “Why not us?”, and “Why not now?”

Even though it was late and the prayer meeting was finished, these five men stayed and began to pray together and asked God to pour out His Spirit. The first time they prayed around the circle, their prayers felt cold. There was no sense of breakthrough.

They were undeterred. They prayed again around the circle. This time they were encouraged by a sense of warmth and animation in their praying. Yet, there was still no sense of Holy Spirit breaking in and touching their hearts.

Determined to keep going despite it becoming late, and despite the fact that they had work the following day, they prayed a third time.

During this third time of prayer, Holy Spirit came down and overwhelmed them with a powerful sense of the presence of God. They could not contain the immense joy welling up within them. They burst out one after the other with praise to God. They continued to sing and pray together long after midnight.

Meanwhile, their families were getting a little worried. Where were they so late at night? Some of the wives set out to find them. When they came to the chapel, they suddenly found themselves completely overcome with Holy Spirit and joined in with the praise. This continued long into the night.

When the congregation of Moriah joined again the following Sunday for their usual Sunday gathering, Holy Spirit was once again powerfully active. The whole congregation broke out in tears and praise together. Holy Spirit had truly visited remote Ambergwysian.

Revival continued in Ambergwysian for three months. The weekly Sunday meetings were not enough to satisfy the congregation’s hunger for the presence of God. Each evening in the farms across this remote mountainous district, people would walk six to eight miles across the rough terrain to fellowship, sing, and pray together. The whole period was characterized by constant prayer and worship together without any sign of weariness or fatigue amongst the people who were involved as they prayed into the night. The people seemed to thrive in the revival that started with the prayers of five men intent to experience this fire from heaven.

Perhaps, you and I could ask, why not here? Why not us? Why not now?