Revival Tours in Wales

Wales has experienced so many revivals it has been called ”The Land of Revival”. Different nations can carry different anointings and appointings from God. When you think of Korea it’s prayer, with Argentina it’s spiritual warfare, with Singapore it’s missions and with Wales it’s revivals. During the 18th and 19th centuries Wales experienced numerous outpourings of God’s revival power and in 1904/05 it had what Watchman Nee called “the greatest known revival in church history.” It was a move of God’s Spirit that literally touched and changed the world.

There is a revival anointing on this nation but sadly many of the “wells” have been filled in, however, the flow of revival power is still here and so we invite you to come and help redig some of these wells as we visit many of the places where revival took place, and while there to spiritually drink from their rich revival blessings.

The purpose of visiting is to see the sights but most importantly to understand how and why revival comes and to experience an impartation of its anointing and also to pray that once again God would pour out His Holy Spirit on this small nation so that it may once again touch the world!

Whether you are thinking of coming with a large or small group, we encourage you to prayerfully consider if God is speaking to you about visiting our beautiful land.

Revival blessings,

David and Jan Holdaway

To help people experience Wales and its Revival history we can help visitors make the most of their trip to Wales.

(We do not have any open tours running at present, however if you have a group you would like to bring to Wales please get in touch)

See below for some of the places of the linked to the 1904 / 05 Revival as well as other places of spiritual significance that you can visit.

 

See below for some of the places of the linked to the 1904 / 05 Revival as well as other places of spiritual significance that you can visit.

 

 

 

Moriah Chapel – Swansea (Birth Place of the 1904 revival)

Moriah ChapelEvan Roberts was born and raised in a Welsh Calvinist Methodist family in Loughor, near Swansea. After working in the coal mines and then as a blacksmith, he entered a preparatory college at Newcastle Emlyn, as a candidate for the ministry in 1903 when he was 25 years old. By December that year he knew in his heart that God had planned a great revival for the Welsh community. On October 31, 1904, Roberts gathered a small number of young people together in Moriah Chapel to pray. It was the meeting that sparked the Welsh Revival. Soon, entire communities were transformed as the meetings increased in fervour, strong moves of intercession flooding the services, often lasting well into the night. Wales was in the midst of a sweeping revival that ushered in a worldwide hunger for God that would change the course of modern Christianity and which saw 100,000 people added to the church in Wales.

 

Blaenannerch Chapel, West Wales

Blaenannerch ChapelThe chapel is famous for being the place where the Holy Spirit came upon Evan Roberts during the 9am meeting on September 29, 1904. He prayed, “bend me, bend us” and lay prostrate on the floor for a long time and receiving a great burden for lost souls. By the end of the Revival 100,000 people has been added to the church in Wales and churches all around the world were affected by the Revival. Today, around one quarter of all churches claim a link through to what happened in Wales in the 1904/05 Revival.

We will be visiting these famous churches and praying again for God to pour out His Spirit on Wales and the nations of the world.

 

Florrie Evans and Tabernacle Chapel in New Quay (West Wales)

Florie EvansThe experience of young Florrie Evans in February 1904, was among the first stirrings of the Revival. Following the preaching of Welsh Evangelist Joseph Jenkins at the Tabernacle Chapel in New Quay a young teenage girl Florrie Evans was deeply impacted and convicted. Her experience was instrumental in the first stirrings of the move of God and paved the way for the amazing way God would move in the comings months as the Revival took hold.

 

Robert Jermain Thomas

Robert ThomasRobert Jermain Thomas was born in Rhayader, South Wales in 1839. His father was a minster in Hanover Church in Llanover, Abergavenny from 1848-1884. As part of a devout Christian family he had decided to be a missionary from childhood. Thomas went to Korea after first going to China and became the first Protestant martyr in the country, becoming in the process becfoming a cornersont of Korean church history. After Thomas’ martyrdom, the 1904 Revival in Wales reached Korea in 1907 and swept through the country, changing the nation.

 

Trefeca Community and College, Brecon, South Wales

TrefecaWales is a land of revivals. In 1752, Howell Harris, one of the foremost leaders of the Welsh Methodist revival, established a Christian community there known as Teulu Trefeca (the Trefeca family). This became an important centre for Christian life and revivals in the nation.

 

Rees Howells Bible College of Wales, Swansea

Rees HowellsRees Howells seemed destined for a typical life in a small mining town in Wales. Along with many others, he was caught up in the powerful move of God in 1904-05. He began to realize early on the importance of intercession for sustaining the new converts that resulted from the revival. Howells Rees married in 1910, and soon after he and his wife felt called to be missionaries to South Africa. There, they soon began to experience the same sense of God’s presence as during the Welsh revival. They later felt the call to return to Wales and establish a Bible college. This seemed an impossible task, as all they had was two shillings. After many instances of miraculous provision, they were able to purchase a number of properties and establish a thriving Bible college. A record of accounts from 1939 shows that the college’s income, mostly resulting from gifts, matched its expenses down to the last penny. Through its intercessory ministry and the students who attended this college has touched the world. The college was recently bought by Cornerstone Community Church in Singapore, which has restored the college and is developing a Bible College and revival and prayer centre at the site.

 

Llantwit Major

Llantwit MajorThe town’s name in Welsh, Llanilltud Fawr, is derived from the name of St Illtyd who came to the area from Brittany in France in the 5tLlantwit Majorh century. He founded the monastery of Illtud and the college attached to it, Cor Tewdws, which grew into one of the most esteemed Christian colleges of the times. At peak it attracted over 2000 students, including princes and numerous eminent clergymen, some now revered as saints. It has often been called “the oldest university in the world”.

Because of its monastery and teaching centre it became a major centre for education and Celtic Church evangelism. Scholars such as St Patrick and St David are believed to have spent time there. Here is one of the deep wells of Wales’ rich revival history.

 

Saint David’s Cathedral, Pembrokeshire

St Davids CathedralWales was an early centre for Celtic Christianity in Britain and St David’s has been a major place of pilgrimage in the Western world for over 1200 years. The original monastery of was founded by St David, who is Wales’ patron saint, in the 6th century. The present cathedral was begun circa 1180AD, with additions over the centuries. St David was born close by, allegedly at the spot where St Non’s well now stands. He lived the life of an ascetic Celtic monk, and encouraged his followers to do likewise. He died on March 1 probably in 589 and that date is now a day of national celebration in Wales. The church here was a centre of Christians from all over Wales.

 

 

Ffald-Y-Brenin, Christian Retreat Centre

God has been pouring out His spirit in remarkable ways on those who come to this beautiful retreat centre in Southwest Wales. We will meet with some of the leaders of the centre and spend time praying together for a great grace outpouring on our lives and the nations.

The Welsh Museum of Life, Cardiff

Welsh Museum of LifeThis amazing place gives you a unique insight into Welsh history and culture from Celtic times to the present day. It is one of Europe’s leading open–air museums and Wales’s most popular heritage attraction. During the last fifty years more than forty original buildings from different historical periods have been dismantled stone by stone and re-erected in the 100-acre parkland, among them houses, a farm, a school, a Workmen’s Institute, and two chapels which will give you a taste of how Christians in Wales lived and worshipped in the past.

 

A Chance to experience a Welsh coal mine

The Big Pit is a real coal mine and one of Britain’s leading mining museums. Visitors can go 300 feet underground with a former miner and see what life was like for the thousands of men who worked at the coal face. Many of the leaders of Welsh revival were coal miners, including Evan Roberts and also Rees Howells and coal mining was an integral part of life in Wales for many years.

 

 

Nation Roman Legion Museum, Caerleon

Wales was the furthest outpost of the Roman Empire. In AD 75, the Romans built a fortress at Caerleon, it was one of only three permanent fortresses in Roman Britain. The ruins include the most complete amphitheatre in Britain and the only remains of a Roman Legionary barracks on view anywhere in Europe. Julius and Aaron are celebrated as two British saints who were martyred during the Diocletian persecution in AD 304. The traditional belief that they were martyred at Caerleon caused many churches there and in the wider Newport area to be dedicated to them as well as in the suburb of St Julian’s Newport.

 

Cardiff City & Cardiff Castle

Cardiff CastleCardiff is the capital and largest city in Wales and the tenth largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales’ chief commercial centre, Cardiff Castlethe base for most national, cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for Wales. Cardiff is a significant tourist centre and the most popular visitor destination in Wales. Cardiff was ranked sixth in the world in National Geographic’s alternative tourist destinations.
Cardiff Castle is one of Wales’ leading heritage attractions and a site of international significance. During 2000 years of history, the Castle has been a Roman garrison, a Norman stronghold and in Victorian times was transformed into a gothic fairytale fantasy.

 

Cyfarthfa Castle and Park, Merthyr Tydfil

Cyfarthfa Castle was built by the ironmaster, Richard Crawshay II, as his family home in 1824. It has been called the most impressive monument of the industrial iron age in South Wales. Many of the rooms have been restored to how they might have been furnished when it was a home. You will learn here about Wales’ religious, industrial and social history when Wales was the iron and coal capital of the world.

 

Brecon & the Brecon Beacons

The Brecon Beacons is one of the most beautiful national parks in the UK. There will be an opportunity to drive through this awesome mountain scenery and visit the historic town of Brecon as well as the ancient cathedral. There will also be an opportunity for those more adventurous to climb some of the mountain peaks to pray in some of the highest places in Wales.

 

Wales Largest Shopping Outlet Centre

McArthur Glen Designer Outlet in Bridgend is the largest designer outlet in Wales where you can find all major brands at up to 60% off usual retail prices. There are cafes, restaurants and more than 90 brands on offer with something for everyone including the Clogau Gold shop which sells jewellery made from rare Welsh gold.

Tours

If you would like to visit Wales then please contact us for advice and information.

Flights

Flights are available direct to Cardiff International Airport with KLM.
Coach to/from Heathrow is available by National Express to Cardiff central station.

Accommodation

There is a large selection of accommodation available in Wales from good quality budget to four star luxury.

 

David and Jan Holdaway

David and JanDavid and Jan Holdaway live and minister in South Wales where they were born and lived until the went to Bible College. They will be personally leading the tours and sharing the history of the people, their country and culture and the revival history of Wales. For more information about them and their ministry please visit www.lifepublications.org.uk. For further details of the revival tour including itinerary, travel, costs, accommodation etc please contact them by e-mail at info@lifepublications.org.uk