Displaying items by tag: Wales

Archbishop Andrew John of Wales has emphasised the importance of joint action in addressing the crisis of river pollution. A Church-led summit on river pollution is set for November, bringing together over 70 farmers, water industry representatives, environmentalists, and academics from across the UK. The archbishop acknowledged the complexity of restoring rivers, with competing demands, but stressed the need for cooperation across different sectors. He defended the Church’s involvement in secular matters, emphasising its responsibility to engage with critical issues such as climate change. He also praised athletes in the Paris Olympics, particularly the Refugee Olympic team, as examples of collaboration and mutual support. Archbishop Andrew urged the Church to continue fostering unity and cooperation within its global community and ministry areas. He also encouraged strategic, ambitious proposals for the Church's £100m Growth Fund, designed to support outreach projects over the next decade.

Plans for a network of 27 radar dishes in Pembrokeshire, to protect the UK from potential 'space warfare' will proceed despite local opposition. The dishes, 20 metres high, part of the Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability (Darc), will be developed at Cawdor barracks by the Ministry of Defence. They will track objects as small as a football up to 22,000 miles away, enhancing the UK’s space defence capabilities. Defence secretary John Healey emphasised its importance for national security and local job creation. He highlighted the critical role of space technology in everyday life and military operations. A space security expert stressed the need for improved space domain awareness due to increasing military activity. The radar system aims to provide detailed intelligence on satellites, whose numbers are expected to rise significantly by 2030. Local campaigners have launched 'Parc Against Darc’, citing health hazards and negative impacts on tourism and the skyline.

Wales' first minister Vaughan Gething has announced his resignation just four months after taking office. This decision follows the resignation of three government ministers and his top legal adviser, who called for his departure due to ongoing controversies. Gething has faced scrutiny over a £200,000 campaign donation from a convicted businessman. In his resignation statement, he denied any wrongdoing and lamented the loss of the burden of proof in politics. Sir Keir Starmer thanked Gething for his service, acknowledging the difficulty of his decision. Plaid Cymru called for a snap election; Labour holds 30 of the 60 Senedd seats, so requires support from opposition to govern. Gething was the first black leader of a national government in Europe. His brief tenure was marked by internal conflict and external controversies, ultimately leading to his resignation.

Kyrees Sullivan, 16, and Harvey Evans, 15, died in a bike crash in Cardiff. Shortly afterwards rumours spread across social media that they were being chased by the police when they crashed. The rumour spread like wildfire and sparked a riot. 150 masked vandals set vehicles alight and aimed missiles and fireworks at police, injuring 15. 12 were hospitalised. The clean-up operation will cost about £22,500. The vicar at the local church said, ‘I can't even begin to imagine the amount of pain and grief the family of Kyrees and Harvey will be feeling. It is absolutely vital that communication between the police and community is handled properly. This community is very difficult to police. We have some people who are very antagonistic towards police; a police presence anywhere will wind them up.’ May God’s peace fill the atmosphere in this community and for police enquiries to run smoothly. See

People in Wales were among the first in the British Isles to become Christian, but today fewer than 50% of Welsh people call themselves Christian. What was once a strong Celtic Church is in significant decline. Many Welsh people are ‘Nones’ - persons with no religious affiliation. We know the Holy Spirit can soften their hearts, convict them of sin and the need for redemption and woo the seekers. Some small, evangelical Welsh churches are sharing the Gospel. May God help these churches to grow. May they answer the call of Christ to be His light in Wales. Pray for bold faith and witness by the remnant of believers among the many small dying churches. Pray for the Holy Spirit’s fire among the mostly faithless youth, igniting a new great Welsh revival. Pray for renewed energy and wisdom for those already at work among growing pockets of believers.

The Met Office has issued an extreme heat weather warning (Level 3 Alert) for most of England and parts of Wales, with temperatures building, especially from 16 to 19 July when the maximum could reach 38C. There could be a danger to life or potential serious illness; there could be widespread impact on infrastructure, with road closures and cancellations or delays to rail and air travel. Health minister Maria Caulfield said that a heatwave plan is being actioned; also a NHS hot weather plan is in place. Pray for health and social care workers to pay particular attention to the elderly and vulnerable. Pray for councils and boroughs to conduct welfare checks on vulnerable street people and rough sleepers. Pray for parents to watch young children for signs of heat exhaustion. In England, there were 2,500 excess deaths in the summer of 2020 as a result of hot weather.

Evan Roberts was the central figure in the Welsh Revival, in Wales, often described as one of the purest, movements of the Holy Spirit in the history of the church.

Evan grew up in a coal mining community and quit school to become a coal miner at the age of twelve. At thirteen Evan Roberts received Christ as his Savior. In his teens, he would attend every prayer meeting he could find, often, 6 out of 7 days a week.  He read and heard about some of the great revivals that had occurred in Wales and other places and became obsessed with the subject. He stated, “I could sit up all night to read or talk about revivals.” As a young man he was once forced out of his rented room by his landlady, who would hear him pray and preach in his room for hours on end, and concluded he was dangerous and quite likely insane.

At the age of 25 he woke up one night and found himself in the presence of God. His fellowship with God was so real, he stated:

“I found myself with unspeakable joy and awe in the presence of the almighty God … I was privileged to speak face-to-face with him as a man speaks face-to-face with a friend.”

This deep communion went on for four hours, and then he fell asleep again. He was surprised to find that the same experience occurred the next night, again resulting in an extraordinary fellowship with God that lasted again for four hours. This continued every night for the next three months, as God revealed Himself in dramatic fashion to this young man, preparing him for his great calling that lay ahead.

Even after these experiences with Christ he continued to be burdened for more of God. He spoke with his friends and wrote, “I have built the altar, and laid the wood in order, and have prepared the offering; I have only to wait for the fire”

He understood that fire falls on sacrifice …

Roberts attended a series of small meetings held nearby by the famous evangelist, Seth Joshua. Seth was also a man of prayer and used to prayer walk for hours asking the Lord of the Harvest to send out laborers into his harvest fields.  The Lord answered his prayer by raising up Evan Roberts. Seth prayed at the end of one of the services, “O God, bend us.” These words shook Evan Roberts to the core. Roberts recorded, “I felt a living power pervading my soul… It took my breath away and my legs trembled exceedingly. This living power became stronger and stronger as each one prayed, until I felt it would tear me apart… I fell on my knees with my arms over the seat in front of me. My face was bathed in perspiration, and the tears flowed in streams. I cried out, “Bend me, bend me!” It was God’s commending love which bent me … what a wave of peace flooded my bosom…”

This mighty baptism in the Holy Spirit transformed Evan. Before that time, he was quite serious and had a gloomy personality, but after this he radiated joy. Before he had been a timid and hesitant speaker, but now spoke with an authority and boldness that could hardly be resisted.

During a church service soon afterwards, Roberts saw a vision of himself speaking to the young people at his home church in Loughor and decided to head home. His parents were puzzled to see their son home from college, and more puzzled still when he announced he had come to speak to the church (without being invited by the pastor) and was considering going through all Wales preaching and soul winning. The pastor of their home church didn’t quite know what to do with Evan. He decided to play it safe and allowed Evan to speak only after the main prayer meeting was over. Sixteen people and one little girl decided to stay and hear what he had to say.

Roberts wasted no time in getting to the heart of his message. He spoke about a fullness of the Holy Spirit that was available for Christians, but declared that they must fulfill four conditions:

• Confess all known sin to God.
• Put away all doubtful habits.
• Obey the Holy Spirit promptly.
• Confess Christ publicly.

On that first night, October 31st 1904, his teaching was accompanied with a deep sense of Holy Spirit conviction. By the end of the night all sixteen young people and adults had confessed Christ. So powerful was this first meeting that Roberts was given a second night to share, and then a third.

In one of those early meetings, Evan led the small group of people in what he called a chain prayer. He began by praying: “Send the Spirit now for Jesus Christ’s sake.” He then told everyone else in attendance to pray the same prayer out loud, one at a time. And so the prayer went around the room. After they had all prayed, Evan started a new section of the prayer: “Send the Spirit powerfully now for Jesus Christ’s sake.” Again, the prayer went around the room. Now as it was being prayed, the Holy Spirit began to fall on some of those in attendance. Evan prayed again: “Send the Spirit more powerfully now for Jesus Christ’s sake.” After that prayer went around the room, Evan prayed the final section of his prayer: “Send the Spirit still more powerfully now for Jesus Christ’s sake.”

That chapel meeting went on for hours and hours. Within the next few days, hundreds of people were attending the meetings. Within a few more days, a massive revival swept across Wales; changing the entire culture of the country and spreading to nations all across the earth.

He continued to lead meetings in his hometown each night at nearby churches and saw a total of 65 conversions that week. Some of the meetings in the early weeks of the revival started at 7:00pm and continued on without any breaks until 4:30am the next morning. After just two months of meetings (from November 8 to December 31st 1904), there were over 34,000 conversions recorded. Two months after that, by February 28, 1905, there were 84,000 conversions recorded. It was an average of over 5,000 conversions a week!  From Wales, the revival began to spread to scattered cities in England, Scotland, Ireland, and the Isle of Man. It also spread as far as New Zealand, Madagascar, India, North America and Mexico, along with several countries within Europe, Asia, and Africa.

There was also great cultural transformation in Wales as the revival spread. Shops closed down early so the workers could get a seat at the revival meetings. Bibles flew off the shelves in the bookstores. Longstanding debts were paid off, drunkenness and crime drastically declined, and relationships were reconciled. One night at a football game, the whole crowd broke out singing one of the revival worship songs!  So radical was the change in the coal miners that there was a slowdown in the mines. The pit ponies, so used to being cursed at and screamed at by the ungodly miners couldn’t figure out what to do when their transformed masters spoke kindly to them.”

Over a three-year period, approximately 250,000 souls came to Christ as a direct result of the Welsh Revival.

After these revival years, Evan Roberts stepped down from public ministry and dedicated himself to a life of intercession. He wrote in one of his journals,

"Before men I might reach a limited few, but before God I could reach the whole world!"

For the Supremacy of Christ in all things,

Dr Jason Hubbard – Executive Coordinator
International Prayer Connect

Watch this amazing series of videos of inspiring #teachustopray 15-minute devotionals by Dr Jason Hubbard, documenting ‘The wildest stories of the Praying Church from Acts until 2020’

Cardiff university chaplains decided to organise ‘walk and talk’ sessions after other events were cancelled due to the Covid lockdown and a decision not to allow people from areas of the UK with high levels of coronavirus to visit. Rev David Sheen said that this academic year is more stressful for students than usual, particularly new students who would normally be able to socialise widely and meet new friends but are currently restricted in what they can do. Many are missing home, family, and pets, The ‘walk and talk’ events provide some sort of normality, with the opportunity to talk to chaplains, meet others, have some fresh air, and enjoy being with the dogs they are walking. Self-isolating students are invited to join the chaplains’ daily Zoom 'bring your own coffee’ and 'drop-in chat'.

The Church of Wales said that during the summer holidays youngsters ‘walk the streets hungry’, and a new approach to help is needed. Child poverty was described as the most serious issue facing the Welsh government. Although the church provides food packages, it is concerned that many children are still missing out. The Trussell Trust distributed 5,382 emergency packages last year, and expects the total to be higher this year. 2,500 children have had meals at 56 schools in 16 areas through a government scheme this summer, and Flintshire council has called for others to follow its lead in giving holiday lunches. The church has called for the £1m spent on this scheme to be used to safeguard community-based activity schemes. Many activity schemes are disappearing because of local authority budget cuts. They propose that the food element could be provided by charities.

A campaign to encourage conversation about mental health among children and young people will be piloted in three Welsh schools, with others to follow. It will raise mental health awareness through a programme (using lottery funding) which works with pupils, teachers and parents. One in ten young people experiences mental health problems, with the associated stigma and discrimination often making life even harder. The scheme will work closely with schools to help young people develop the confidence to talk more openly about mental health - at school, with friends, or at home. When Laura was seven or eight she realised that hearing voices was not something everyone experienced, so she kept it a secret and her mental health got worse. At the age of 15 she told her mum; she says that talking saved her. Now she has support from family and friends.