In this vlog, Jonathan and Dan explore Mid-West Wales to talk about the 1859 Revival, beginning in Ysbyty Ystwyth. David Morgan (1814-1883) grew up and ministered here. He was one of the prominent figures of the revival. In the middle of the night God blessed him with a remarkable memory, which was taken away from him after about a year and a half, just as suddenly as it was given. His grave is in the local cemetery, and his chapel just down the lane, sadly now a ruin - one of many symbols of the decline of the church in Wales. I got a semi-decent drone shot of a red kite in a tree and flying away. Red kites are the National Bird of Wales, so I'd been wanting to get footage of them for the documentary from the start. They are my favourite birds, not only because they're our national bird, but they're also beautiful and graceful, and I have childhood memories of looking out for them as our family drove from north to south through the mountains and hills in the heart of Wales to my grandparents in Ammanford. They were much more elusive back then, having been persecuted as vermin in the 18th century, to the point where they were only found within the UK in the wilds of mid-Wales (although they also live throughout continental Europe). Happily, in the last 20 years they have grown in number to the point where they're all over England and Scotland, and there are so many in mid-Wales that it's almost impossible not to see several as you drive through.
Next we headed down the valley to Pont-rhyd-y-groes (visible from Ysbyty Ystwyth), where David Morgan went to hear Humphrey Jones (1832-1895) preach - the other prominent figure of the revival. Morgan was sceptical of the revivalist, who had just returned from a revival in America. However, after hearing him on two consecutive evenings, he repented of his prejudice, and the two men worked together holding 'revival meetings' in the surrounding area. There was an awareness of the presence of God, an emphasis on prayer and a new spiritual vitality in the land.
Early on, Humphrey Jones spent a month in Ystumtuen, where we filmed next, and he recorded 100 converts in a month. We filmed what we needed outside, but couldn't find anyone with the key for the church. As we were driving out of the village to leave, I stopped to ask a man if he knew who had the key and he said with a grin, "You're talking to him." He was also a Mr. Pugh, and he kindly let us inside to film. It's an interesting chapel architecturally, only a few in all of Wales are laid out like it.
We finished off the day in Aberystwyth, arriving around 5:30pm. Humphrey Jones ministered in the Wesleyan chapel there during the revival, and sadly he began to go off the rails theologically. We also filmed a scene about David Davies (1818-1890), a Christian businessman who worked his way up from relative poverty to become a dock building tycoon, helped found Aberystwyth University, and became the local Member of Parliament. In all of this, he helped the spread of the gospel by funding church building projects and employing theological students in the summer to share the gospel with his workers. The weather was glorious, and Jonathan was very pleased to be back, having lived there for 6 years. I've also spent August weeks in the past there with friends to attend the EMW Aberystwyth Conference. Hundreds of Welsh Christians descend on the town each summer for this conference. In fact, last year I held a promo event for 'Welsh Awakenings' at the conference, where we showed the first half-hour of the film, and had a Q&A panel with Geoff Thomas, Nathan Munday, Philip Eveson, Gwyn Davies and E. Wyn James.
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Негізгі бет 'Welsh Awakenings' Production Vlog 7: Ysbyty Ystwyth & Aberystwyth (8 July 2021)
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