Evan Roberts and the Welsh Revival

Between 1904 t0 1905 Wales experienced a great revival. While by no means the best known of revivals, it was one of the most dramatic in terms of its effect on the population, and triggered revivals in several other countries.

The ma God chose to use to lead this revival in Wales was Evan Roberts, a twenty-six year old Welsh coal miner. After witnessing a revival in a neighbouring town, he returned to his home village in hopes of preaching the gospel.

The minister wouldn’t let him preach on Sunday or at the Monday prayer meeting, so Roberts took it upon himself to simply preach  afterwards. He ended up preaching night after night, with people staying past four o’clock in the morning.

Over 30 000 people were converted in the first few months, and more than 100 000 came to Christ in less than a year.

Five years later, 80% of the converts were still walking with God. The social change was drastic: judges had no cases to prosecute. Police went unemployed, so they started church quartets.

 Illegitimate  births dropped 44% within a year. Mining operations slowed down because coal miners stopped cursing and the horses couldn’t understand their new language.

Though this revival was short-lived, it certainly had a significant impact on Welsh religious life. The movement spread to Scotland and England, with estimates that a million people were converted in Britain.

Evan Robert’s famous prayer: “Lord bend us.”