It was on Wednesday, 7th December, that we started for Wales, in order to see with our own eyes what God is doing in the hearts and lives of a simple people, who are just now bowed before that mighty “wind” that “bloweth where it listeth.” On the morning of Thursday, we left Pontypridd for Ferndale, where the meetings were to be held. The air was frosty, and the morning sun gilded the brown hillsides and the machinery of coal pits with a glory that was only excelled by the shining faces soon to be seen. Ferndale station lies in a valley and we at once climbed up into the village and found ourselves inside a chapel where a prayer meeting was going on. We were in the revival now! One could feel it at once, and as fervent prayer after prayer arose in the Welsh and English tongue – sometimes two or three praying together – a sense of awe and joy came over the spirit, so that tears were not far off. Let me now give some general impressions gathered from the five meetings in all that we attended. What struck me most at first was the prayer. Here stands some young collier, with hands clenched and eyes shut, praying, praying as if his life depended on it; a hymn or chorus is started, and when the last strains have died away, he is still praying aloud, lost to the world around him. Sometimes a wonderful wave of prayer would come over the entire gathering, four or five praying at once, and aloud, and a subdued murmur of prayer swelling through the whole building. God came very near at these times. As to the singing! They sang as only the Welsh can sing. Perfect time, and exquisite harmony, and a sense of intense reality through all. Three-quarters of the congregation were usually men, for shops were shut, and colliers gave up work to sit there, row upon row, with shining eyes and glory-lit faces, singing as if they could never stop. No one really leads these meetings; prayer, singing, testimonies came spontaneously and go on for hours and hours. I am told that Mr Evan Roberts constantly prays that the meetings may go as well without as with him, and, indeed the prayer is answered; for the Holy Spirit is so honoured that He can and does preside, and no man is needed. No photograph that I have seen does real justice to Evan Roberts. As I think of that face, one text comes to my mind, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” In manner he is as simple and natural as a child is. He speaks very quietly, and as hymn and prayer often break in upon his words, he bends his head in silent intercession. The young ladies who sing the Gospel at his meetings have the same simplicity of manner and their singing is very sweet and touching, a real offering “unto the Lord.” The practical results attending this blessed movement are well known. A mighty torrent of grace from the heart of the Father has found a vent at last, and hundreds are being swept into the kingdom.
An account by E Disney
I do not know which chapel these services were in.