Dear Friends of Wales Awakening:

We just want to say thank you so much for your continuing prayers and thoughts for us, as we go and come among so many wonderful people. We've met many new friends, and God has opened the doors for us to speak about the love of God, and has arranged countless divine appointments which just leave us with ours mouths open in wonder at his goodness!

While visiting the Verbo congregation in Bluefields, Nicaragua, I shared about the beginnings of the ministry and the great destruction from the earthquake. The Lord made it very clear to my heart that even though people can be living in the greatest of comfort, with all of the benefits of good finances and political freedom, if they don't know Jesus, they are in worse condition than those who were so badly affected by the earthquake of 1976 in Guatemala! The more we travel and see, the more this reality becomes evident and stirs our hearts to deeper intercession for this incoming move of God, which will touch the nations of the earth with God's grace and forgiveness and acceptance, in Jesus' name.

For the time being, I will post things on Facebook and the page will be publicly available if you just follow this link. You will not need to have an account with Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/walesawakening

With our love and blessings,

Dick & Gladys

Dear Friends and praying Saints:

Morning views like this can't help but fill our hearts with admiration for our God's handiwork. We can never sufficiently express our thankfulness for His goodness. In fact, for the last few weeks, I've found myself overwhelmed to the point of tears, and the words of this beautiful song by Bethel Music seem to pour over me.

I love You, Lord
For Your mercy never fails me
All my days, I've been held in Your hands
From the moment that I wake up
Until I lay my head
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God

And all my life You have been faithful
And all my life You have been so, so good
With every breath that I am able
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God...

This time of year is always a treat as the spring unfolds around us, and encourages us to keep our hearts attuned to the many things that remind us of His goodness. There are countless ways that God's goodness surrounds us in our daily lives, and if we were to try and make a list, I'm sure we would soon run out of room!

Another very special manifestation of God's goodness is that we are taking off on a huge and wonderful adventure! In fact, Gladys has already been in Nicaragua for three weeks, and I will be joining her in twelve days! Here she is with our old friend Myra Trolese in Managua where she stayed for her first ten days. With her husband Bob, they led a missionary group from our church in Guatemala to start a work there in 1980. Bob was one of my longest-time friends who went home to be with the Lord about a year and a half ago. You may recall my writing about it back then.

From there Gladys went to Bluefields, on the east coast of Nicaragua, to join more old friends. Ed and Ligia Jaentschke head up the Verbo ministries out there. Gladys used to go into Guatemala City with Ligia from the community we all lived in to study English. She is enjoying fellowship in the many activities of the church there, and being able to speak Spanish with just anybody is a real delight.

Just like these very curious sheep, we wonder what things the Lord has prepared for us on our travels. We will spend the whole month of May in Guatemala visiting Gladys family and old church friends both in the capital and the highlands. And then we fly to New Orleans to visit our son Mike and his wife Lauren and also spend time with many friends and loved ones from what used to be our home church many years ago.

We are thrilled and so thankful for the Lord's provision for this adventure, and we deeply appreciate your prayers that He would give us grace and sensitivity to make the most of every opportunity to "...be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;" (1 Peter 3:15)

Dick & Gladys

Dear Saints and Revival Prayers:

Two weeks ago we had the privilege of praying with friends in the Welsh Assembly building in Cardiff. We were the only ones there and had an extraordinary time of intercession in a room dedicate to prayer. The contemporary design is stunning, and provides a way for the public to observe the sessions without interfering in the proceedings. It gives the impression of being accessible but untouchable, as if to say, "out with the old, in with the new."

Tragically, this legislative body has done exactly that—abandoned a centuries-old traditional Judeo-Christian heritage and exchanged it for a godless and humanistic progressivism. This exalted "transparency" seems aloof to the existence of God's eternal kingdom, and provides a great picture of the power of prayer. Happily there are many Christian members of the assembly, and there is a very active network of people engaged in supporting them and their efforts to uphold standards of godly righteousness amidst a downward trend of atheistic delusion.

This is the increasingly evident condition of the world around us, and should fuel our prayers as never before. Reading yesterday in The Passion Translation of Luke 24:30-31, this portion totally undid me. "Joining them at the table for supper, he took bread and blessed it and broke it, then gave it to them. All at once their eyes were opened and they realized he was Jesus!" Oh, how we need the Lord to open the eyes of the desperately needy people of this world grasping for hope in the quicksand of impending mortality. Ezekiel 12:2 says, "Son of man, you are living among a rebellious people. They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear…" What a priceless gift that Jesus came to bring sight to the blind and to open deaf ears!

The Holy Spirit invites everyone in Hebrews 3:3-8, "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the time of rebellion…" And what we are gloriously seeing now, as the outpouring that started at Asbury continues to spread across the U.S. and other nations with tens of thousands of hearts turning to Jesus, is the fruit of God's own heart reaching down into humanity with salvation and joy.

These past several weeks have been a whirlwind of activity for us, with way more to share than I have room for here. One of the highlights was a breakfast for ministers heard at the Bible College of Wales. You may recall that before the pandemic, there was a conference called Bless Wales that took place in Swansea. And they are organising another for this May, and this precious time of worship in the presence of God was in preparation for the event. You can find more information about it at this link.

Then we were delighted to have our very dear Janet with her two friends from Community Bible Studies come spend a few hours with us. We met and prayed together at our Cilfowyr Chapel, where Janet and her husband John have a generations-old connection. And afterwards we went to the house where Gladys was waiting for us with a delicious Guatemalan style chicken soup.

We are so aware of the workings of the Lord in multiple ways and places with countless "divine appointments" and opportunities to share Jesus. It has all been wonderfully overwhelming, and we are so thankful for His care for us at every turn.

May the words in Exodus 19:4-5 be strength to each one of us as together we serve the Kings of kings. "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine."

Dick & Gladys

Dear Saints and Revival Prayers:

In response to last Friday's email, I was reminded of a powerful prophetic dream the Lord gave me way back in the year 2000. In the light of the present outpouring of the presence and love of God that is happening at Asbury University and beyond, what the Lord showed me seems to provide a broader context of what we are seeing with eyes of wonder and gratitude today. Like in this photo of Cenarth Falls, you can see some white water in the distance as the river is starting to rise!

"On March 9th I had this dreamlike experience that I need to describe, and so ask for grace from the Lord to be able to make everything clear. As I awoke from the dream and continued to see the vision I was astonished beyond words at what I saw. Unable to sleep again, I got up to write this out as best I could.

"I was with the small group of racetrack people that we used to meet with Friday nights at the New Orleans Fairgrounds. We were standing out in the area between the barns and the cafeteria, and someone was asking about a portion of scripture that referred to something coming about that would cause a great stir among the people, similar to things described in the book of Acts where whole towns were swept over by the power of God.

"As we looked together at the scripture, it suddenly seemed evident that the reference was specifically to something happening right in this very spot, and that there was to be a tremendous move of God at some future time. Then as we looked at this closely, it seems we moved just a bit to one side or the other and then someone said, “This is what it is talking about, but here and now.”

"And suddenly that we all realized this to be so, and there was a supernatural filling of this knowledge among us all. What I saw happen at this point was as if our little group had become caught up in the Spirit and we were joined together in an extraordinary way. I was able to see us as if were we somehow like a folded-up paper that began to open itself up into a sort of tent-like structure. Each one of us was a surface or facet of this shape, which kept opening itself up more and more, stretching outwards and upwards and forming a structure like a geodesic dome.

"One curious  feature of this was that it was as if it went unfolding itself within us, and yet at the same time, it was stretching out around us. I was quite aware of myself as distinct from the others, and yet we all were part of one other and whole body. While this was going on, there was also a distinct flowing of energy and revelation taking place that I can only describe as when a piece of thin paper is thrown in a bed of embers in a fireplace, after the paper ignites and burns, the flame dies out and then there is a wonderful scurrying around of tiny sparks through different folds and textures of the paper, perhaps following the grain, or an edge, like a tiny gunpowder fuse burning quickly along to and fro throughout the ash form left by the paper.

"As this took place, it was obvious that we were all enjoying the same excitement as the Lord made Himself known to us each in a special way. As that sparkle of knowledge filled us with awe and wonder, this structure kept growing and extending outwards, and others became aware of it and then part of it as they spontaneously became aware of the Truth, Jesus, just like us. It was as if they were converted instantly to Christ in the face of the overwhelming power of the manifestation, like the jailer of Acts 16 with all his family.

"The process continued growing and reaching out as more and more people were swept into this “house” of open worship and reverence. It was like the folds of paper kept multiplying and opening up more and more until it seemed it must explode inside us, and yet as it did this, the surface just got larger like an enormous tent. I could tell where my place was yet I could also feel myself throughout it all and see from every vantage point at the same time. If you have ever made a large soap bubble, it stretches out farther and farther, the shape adapting to the wind around it, the swirling of beautiful colors as light is reflected and refracted at the same time producing a wonderful moving collage of abstract shapes and hues. The glory of the Lord was upon this growing moving structure and it became larger and larger, spilling out and covering first one barn and then another.

"It was clear to me that this was just the beginning, and the phenomena grew larger and larger, spilling now outside the Fairgrounds and into the surrounding city. I could see forward in time how first the city was eventually caught up into this mass revelation of Jesus, and then the whole area. Also, it was evident that it wasn’t limited to just New Orleans, but that in other places around the nation and the world, similar things were taking place.

"This was a staggering revelation that seemed to well up inside of me more and more as I took into myself the reality of what was happening. It was as if my lungs were stretched to capacity but I just kept breathing in more and more of what I saw going around before me. And not just me, but all of us, like the growing host of witnesses, could see and experience God sweeping over the world with the Knowledge of Himself, as His glory bulged outwards from His body into the world around us.

"The scriptures came flooding to mind, “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” Hab. 2:14; “...But the Lord will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you.” Isaiah 60:2; “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35; and on and on…."
-----------------------

We are deeply stirred by what we see happening, and are humbled and encouraged by the many reports we've read from people experiencing this wonderful movement in person. The bigger picture yet to be revealed is energizing prayer around the world. I have always been impacted by the words of Job 26:14, "Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways, and how small a whisper we hear of Him! But the thunder of His power who can understand?" In other words, "we ain't seen nothing yet!"

Thank you for adding your fervent and expectant intercessions to the global concert of prayer for the revelation of God's glory in the face of Jesus Christ,

Dick & Gladys

Dear Praying Friends and Saints,

After a very cold, grey, and wet winter, February is upon us with a welcome change. It's as if the darkness has given way to the light, our days are growing noticeably longer, and sunshine and blue skies seem to be gaining the upper hand for now. Glorious sunrises and sunsets are refreshing to the soul, and the appearance of green shoots and early crocuses, snowdrops and daffodils mean spring is on the way—a wonderful declaration pointing to spiritual things as well.

This verse in Habakkuk 2:14 clearly says, "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea." This is just one of countless promises of God's plans for this world. And His extraordinary gift to us of making us His dwelling place on earth is beyond compare. In 2 Corinthians 4:7 we read, "But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us." And it is our privilege to share this treasure with those around us. We are just vessels that He has chosen to fill and shine His light into the darkness. And it is all His doing, we only need say "Yes" to His leading.

A recently shared a short video "thought for the day" with The Church Across Pembrokeshire group on Facebook. The focus was this treasure in the dark and confusing world around us. You can watch it at this link if you like, no FB account required.

The central purpose and fruit of this amazing "treasure" of God is revival. And as we press forward in prayer for revival, the well-known section in Romans 8:18-27 provides a massive context in which we co-operate—the whole of creation! And this portion from The Passion Translation brings a marvellous liveliness to the text.

Verses 18-21, "I am convinced that any suffering we endure is less than nothing compared to the magnitude of glory that is about to be unveiled within us. The entire universe is standing on tiptoe, yearning to see the unveiling of God’s glorious sons and daughters! For against its will the universe itself has had to endure the empty futility resulting from the consequences of human sin. But now, with eager expectation, all creation longs for freedom from its slavery to decay and to experience with us the wonderful freedom coming to God’s children."

Speaking of that "wonderful freedom", you may have not heard of what is going on at Asbury Seminary in Kentucky. Last Wednesday evening a regular chapel service began, and it is still going on with the sweet presence of God touching innumerable lives in as many ways. There is a lot of information on social media and the internet, and spirit-led fervent prayer for more outpouring of the Holy Spirit and revival have been multiplied around the world as a result.

Thank you for praying with us that the Lord open the floodgates of His mercies like a vast and gracious tide,

Dick & Gladys

Dear Friends and praying Saints:

We received a card from friends a couple of weeks ago that contained the following excerpt from a poem called God Knows written by Minnie Louise Haskins in 1908. It seems so profound and pertinent I thought I would pass it along. It's apparently fairly well-known here in the U.K. but was totally new to us.

     And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
     "Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown."
     And he replied: "Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the
     hand of God.
     That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way."
     So I went forth and finding the hand of God, trod gladly into the night.
     And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.
                                     (You can read the complete text at this link.)

These words spoke quite clearly to me as we enter into the new year with a great many uncertainties almost anywhere we look. Gladys also had an impression from the Lord that there is going to be a clearer separation between light and darkness than we have seen before. So there is all the more reason to draw closer to Jesus as we continue ahead into 2023. Of course, this has been true since we first stepped into the Kingdom of God by His grace and the blood of the lamb. But perhaps now it is more important than ever.

We have been reading through Ezra and Nehemiah, and there are so many parallels that we see in our own times. It is painfully obvious how our turning away from God and His ways has opened the door for so much disorder, division, and disaster in the nations of the world. Again, this is nothing new. The lesson is that  laws cannot produce godliness, only a changed heart. And that's why we persevere, encouraged in our plea for revival. We are in a growing and good company!

Isaiah says in chapter 60:2-3, "For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the LORD will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you." This is the only real hope for "mankind". His glory transforms us, one by one. And then, as it says in Colossians 1:13-15, "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins."

In Jesus' amazing conversation with Nicodemus in John 3: 6, He tells him, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." The historical collective "mankind" is just flesh born of the flesh — each and every individual will die a natural death until Jesus returns. Meanwhile, however long this dusty old world keeps turning on its axis, His desire and provision is that all "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Matthew 11:29)

Be encouraged as we pray together to see His kingdom and glory become more and more evident in our times as people come to Jesus in growing numbers around the world,

Dick & Gladys