Dear Friends of Wales Awakening:

Sunday morning when I went to the chapel it was rainy and bleak, and for some reason, I parked in the field at the top of the drive to do my reading. After a while, much to my delight, the clouds behind me opened up for a few minutes and flooded the whole recently harvested field with sunlight. We love how the Lord always provides us with special moments when we set aside time to spend with him.

Something similar also frequently happens when we spend time in the word. We can be reading through a passage or thinking about a portion when something is suddenly made alive to us. It may be something we've read many times over the years. But when the Holy Spirit highlights it for us, a whole new area of understanding opens up before us as He reveals more of Himself.

Recently we’ve been reading the story of how Absalom rose up against his father King David in 2nd Samuel. And yesterday morning I found myself detained and tears started to flow as soon as I read 2 Samuel 19:39 that says, "Then all the people went over the Jordan, and the king went over…" I couldn't continue reading for quite a while and found myself overcome with joy and longing in my prayer. The words from Isaac Watts hymn, When I Survey The Wondrous Cross come to mind, "Sorrow and love flow mingled down..."

This became a marvelous picture of revival to me! It is like the Lord coming back to restore a personal and joy-producing relationship with his people, rather than an intermediary organization that so easily forms the dependence of its members on its religious activities. It is the Body of Christ returning to its roots as a Spirit-empowered, life-giving, love-sharing organism rather than the sterility of "membership" in an ecclesiastical organization. I suppose this is "the rest of the story" of what the Lord showed me several years ago in the previous chapters when David was forced out of Jerusalem by Absolom. For the complete picture, you can read "What does the Kidron Brook have to do with me?"

A few moments later it dawned on me that it was September 23rd, the very day that I got radically saved in Northern California. It was way back in 1973, and once again I found tears flowing freely as I remembered with joy and infinite thankfulness the experience of my salvation—the revelation and conviction of my sinfulness and the power of God's saving grace through Jesus. And that added another burst of depth to my prayers, that all might know the grace and power of God's astounding love.

Then the words "prophetic nostalgia" dropped into my mind. When we remember some wonderful experience in our past that makes us long to "be there again", like a particular event, a family gathering, or just a sweet old homesickness, that demonstrates our capacity for a deep yearning. I think God gives us that capacity for His purposes. It's as if all those good things in our lives that can make us nostalgic and long for them are just for practice. Regular nostalgia can't really bring anything back. But "prophetic nostalgia" is applying best and greatest longing we could ever possibly have to the fulfillment of God's glorious promises of His coming kingdom.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."  John 3:16-17

"And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.'"  Revelation 21:3-4

We hope this serves as good fuel for prayer as together we yearn in prayer for revival, 

Dick & Gladys

Dear Praying Friends and Saints:

We are just slowing down after what has been a very busy summer and it is a welcome change. Having had so many visitors and extra activities has left lots of catching up to be done in the garden, but finding time for just the two of us to go for a stroll in the hills has taken the priority more than once.

Looking back now, the last couple of months have been filled to overflowing with the joy of fellowship and the love of the brethren. The evident hunger for God and enthusiasm in prayer of everyone has been a tremendous encouragement for us, and we have been blessed indeed by all who have come.

We realize time and time again that it is God's amazing faithfulness that enables us to keep on assignment here, and we are simply thankful for His grace. We share together with all who have come this foundational truth from I Corintians 1:9, " God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."

Ten days ago we had a couple of errands in Swansea which included a visit to Bible College of Wales. You can imagine our delight when we met a new student there from Guatemala! After a bit of conversation we discovered that her dad had been a student at the Verbo school in Guatemala City when I was the director in the early 1980s.

I remembered her grandfather because he was a pastor who came enroll his four children and pay the fees, etc. One of those sons grew up to also be a pastor, and now here is his daughter enrolled in the 12-week School of Ministry at BCW! It is uch a joy to look back so many years and admire the amazing goodness and faithfulness of our gracious Father!

We had a visitor last week from Tasmania, the island off the southeast coast of Australia. She was finishing up a 3-week visit to the Celtic nations and we had a great time together praying and sharing. She told us about her time at a 10-day prayer retreat that took place there in June.

It was amazing to learn that among the main themes in the forefront of their prayer and prophecy, Wales seemed to come up time after time. She had taken detailed notes, and she shared about some of the visions that people received during that time. We were amazed to discover the similarity with visions that have been received here in recent times as well.

Once again we can only admire how God is orchestrating things around the world, and we are just blown away by His marvelous ways. The more we meet people and hear their stories and testimonies, the more we realize how great He really is. As it says in Ephesians 3:18-19, that we "may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

Dick & Gladys