Dear Praying Friends and Intercessors:

You may well have wondered by now if we had fallen off the map! Well, we came pretty close a few times, but here we are back home again after a very relaxing three weeks away. Being somewhat limited in our travel options, we visited the amazingly beautiful north of Wales, where the mountains are really mountains and the Welsh are really Welsh!

Through the pure goodness of God and the gracious hospitality of His precious family, we spent our first two weeks on the Llyn Peninsula in an idyllic little garden cottage just a 5-minute walk from the sea in the village pictured here.

After a couple of months of wonderful weather in the spring, we wondered if that had been our "summer". But thankfully the Lord blessed us with some awesome warm weather complete with a few great thunderstorms and wild winds!

In these mountains directly behind us are the ruins of Britain's largest and most complete Iron Age hill fort, called Tre'r Ceiri. By the time we got to the base of the summit, I didn't think my knees would carry me to the top, but with some rest and encouragement, we made it through one of the gateways into the complex. There are remains of over a hundred fifty dwellings like the one pictured here, and it is surrounded by a massive stone outer wall. Perched atop a 1500-foot mountain, the ramparts are 13 feet high in places and made the place virtually impenetrable. It added a great perspective to Psalm 91:2, "I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.'"

During our first week, Gladys had an amazing dream. There was a massive ancient Chinese army that came marching into a small kingdom. The chief warlord came strutting proudly at the head of the huge column fearsome warriors. His arrogance and contempt for the inhabitants of the land and their king were obvious. Then suddenly, there appeared a huge lion that just glared at this pompous conqueror and then let out a long and thundering roar.

As the first waves of the roar hit the warlord, his armor began to disintegrate and as the blast continued his clothing also disappeared and he stood naked and totally and incredibly humiliated before the lion. He slowly turned around, head down in utmost shame and bent over in weakness, and started back the way he had come in silence. The whole army had also been denuded and humbled and turned to follow their shamefaced leader in absolute silence.

When Gladys told me her dream in the morning, my heart thrilled with the realization that this will be the outcome of revival! All the threats and taunts and lies of the enemy will become idle words in the presence of the King of kings. Jesus overcame the kingdom of darkness on Calvary nearly 2000 years ago and vanquished sin and death forever. And no matter what our circumstances may be, "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." Romans 8:37

We spent our last week between Snowdonia and Anglesey and had a great chance to spend time with old friends and then meet some new ones. It was amazing to see how the Lord kept orchestrating so many encounters throughout our time there. One day while grocery shopping Gladys spied two young ladies and went to say "hello" as she so easily does. They said they were Christians and wanted to share about God's love with her. It turned out that both of them had felt called with their husbands to come to Wales with their families. They only met a year ago after moving here in preparation for the coming revival! So we spent a brief but joyful time in the Tesco parking lot.

One morning last week we were driving around to find a nice place to read the scriptures and pray, and stopped on a hilltop road to look around. An elderly couple came walking past and as Gladys greeted them in Welsh that stopped to chat. It turned out that they were chapel folks, and when we told them what we were looking for they welcomed us to go sit on their terrace while they went for their daily walk around the mountain. So this is the beautiful view we enjoyed during our devotional time, we had a very nice visit with them again two days later.

There were so many very special times during our holiday that we are still glowing in the recollection of the Lord's love that was poured out on us so freely and frequently. Each day brought us its unique places and people. Outside a tiny butcher shop in one town, a man overheard us speaking Spanish and asked where we were from. It turned out he was from Colombia and a believer too and has been living in North Wales with his family for a couple of years.

The final touch for our time away was a wonderful meeting with new friends from the Anglesey Prayer Network. I had actually been in touch with a few of these folks over the years, but never actually met face to face. It was overwhelming to be able to gather together with other like-minded believers for the first time since March, and we both struggled to hold back the tears. They were greatly encouraged to hear the testimony of how God called us here to pray so many years ago now, and of course, we were also encouraged to meet them and learn of their years of labor in prayer for revival as well.

Now we are home again rested and refreshed, and looking forward with anticipation to the good things the Lord has planned for Wales and the nations. And as David said in Psalm 27:13-14, "I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!"

Dick & Gladys