Written by Pastor Yang Tuck Yoong
Understanding, remembering and honouring our past
As far as I can remember, I have always loved history and been a student of it. And history is not there for us to like or dislike. It is there for us to learn from and if we don’t learn from the lessons of the past, then we are doomed to make those same mistakes. History gives us a compass and by history, I mean the history of the church and revival. We are not going to navigate through what God has for us in the coming years if we don’t understand our past.
And it is true that there has been a systematic attempt to destroy nations by doing just that: gradually revising our history and then changing it altogether. Judeo/Christians values are slowly being eroded or removed, and history textbooks no longer mention Judeo/Christian foundations unless they are derogatory. In the same token, the devil is seeking to systematically cut us off from our roots, and if we do not reattach to them soon, we might soon perish.
The fastest way to kill a tree is to cut it at its roots. The quickest way to kill a nation or a culture is to cut off its history. And the same is true for the church- the fastest way to kill the church is to remove its history because once we forget our history, then we have no more bearings for the future. It is our history that gives us our roots and we must remember that we build on the shoulders of those who have labored in the past. Whilst we are to be careful that we are not fixated on our past, we must be careful to also not forget it.
The subject of revival history is vital. The church must not only have a good grasp of our history, but we must also understand that God moves in cycles. And that history is just an indication of how God is going to move. It is interesting that in the New Testament, as we read prayer after prayer, there is an unmistakable pattern we see, and it is this: that Old Testament history is rehearsed repeatedly. For instance, on the day of Pentecost, Peter stood up and, in his message, talked about what God did for Israel and rehearsed history. He understood that it was their history with God that created a platform from which he could now show what God was now doing. Old Testament scriptures were often recited as examples that God was fulfilling scriptures in their day. Biblical history records God’s dealings with His people and it is important because it shows us how God has moved, and what He is seeking to do in our present day and age. The sad thing is – the church today seems to have no desire to understand or learn from history.
Chronicling our journey
In September 2011, a small team of pastors from Cornerstone Singapore, an independent Pentecostal church embarked on a short assignment to Wales. The assignment was to spend time praying at the old ancient revival wells, the very places that revival broke forth in the early 1900’s in Wales. Wales is known as the land of periodic revivals, and they have seen more revivals break forth than any other nation.
Our principal focus was to spend a few days at Ffald-Y-Brenin or “Sheepfold of the King” in the Welsh language, a kind of protestant monastery where people went to seek God in the quiet of the woods. But little did we know that there was a pleasant surprise waiting for us in the seaside town of Swansea. At Swansea, we visited a place called Derwen Fawr, which means Great Oak, and it’s a reference to the great oak tree that once stood in the gardens of the Bible College of Wales that Rees Howells founded and established in 1924.
I would not be exaggerating to say that the course of human history was altered right here on this field. Mr. Howells and the wonderful saints at the Bible College of Wales turned the course of human history. It was this band of intercessors, about 100 of them, who gave themselves to one thing, to pray day and night, and night and day, right through World War II until they prevail over the strongman that was in Adolf Hitler. And all of that was accomplished through the agency of intercession. History truly belongs to the intercessor.
They believed the Holy Spirit in them was stronger than the devil that was in Hitler and through intercession, they could bind the strong man.
They interceded and thwarted much of Hitler’s plans and saw miracle after miracle, which shifted the course of the war. Why was that important? It is important because the war greatly hindered the propagation of the gospel. Satan is always trying to precipitate wars. He wants to precipitate Armageddon because if there is anything that would hinder the gospel of the kingdom from reaching every person on this planet, it is WAR and conflict. Satan is a barbarian at heart and he has come not but to steal, to kill and to destroy and don’t you ever forget that.
But those intercessors were always 2 steps ahead of the enemy. They weren’t fighting in the trenches as soldiers at the frontline, but they believed they had as much a responsibility as any soldier and they won battles on their knees, as soldiers in the heavenlies or what they termed the “Spiritual RAF”.
During the raging battles of the War, students and staff would gather together several times each day for corporate prayer throughout the extent of the war. Mr. Howells told his students: “Don't allow those young men at the Front to do more than you do here.”
They also prayed through the fulfilment of the biblical promises made to the Jewish people when the UN voted in 1948 to see if Israel had the right to be a nation after 2,000 years and again, their prayers prevailed. This and many other stories have made the BCW a hallowed place in Christianity’s history.
Without any fear of exaggeration, when you walk into the estate, you can’t help but sense the wonderful presence of God that still pervades the entire property. The residual anointing of the revival is still here in Wales. It only needs to be fanned and blown upon.
There is so much history and heritage in that site and as we stood there that day, under a little drizzle, we cried and sought God for the future of the site. It is a divine moment in God, one that will change the course of our church.
The next day, we visited another key revival site in the town of Blaenannerch, and it was here on the 31st September 1904, that Evan Roberts, the great Welsh Revivalist cried out “BEND ME” and was baptized in the fire of God. This was really the flash point of the Welsh revival. Shortly after this, Roberts would go to Loughor, which would go on to become the epicenter of the Welsh Revival. In the chapel, we prayed with a couple, Dick & Gladys Funnell, a lovely couple who had been sent by God to Wales to pray for revival and what was supposed to be a 15-minute prayer meeting ended up 3 hours later.
This was where he cried out to God to bend him and this really was the flash point of the Welsh revival. Shortly after this, Roberts would go to Loughor, which would go on to become the epicenter of the Welsh Revival. In the chapel, we prayed with a couple – Dick & Gladys Funnell, a lovely couple who had been sent by God to Wales to pray in the revival. We started by praying over Wales and it ended up a 3-hour prayer meeting.
Dick gave us a clear prophetic word from Jeremiah 32, which is the account of Jeremiah in the court of the prison. Jerusalem was under siege by the Babylonians and King Nebuchadnezzar had surrounded the city. The city was in dire straits and Jeremiah is in prison, thrown in by King Zedekiah for prophesying doom over the city. As he is sitting in the prison cell, the word of the Lord came to him. And the Lord says – “Hanamel, your cousin, is going to come and offer to sell you his property in Anathoth, for the right of redemption is yours to buy it”. We are then told that shortly after this, his cousin came and offered to sell him the property, just as the Lord had said. This is verse 8 – “Please buy my field in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin, for the right of redemption is yours”. Then Jeremiah knew that this was the word of the Lord.
Now this passage of scripture was important for us because when I first heard that the Bible College of Wales was offered for sale, I knew in my spirit that somehow, we had a part to play to redeem the property. But it was only as I stood in the property that I knew that what I was feeling was the word of the Lord. My experience many years ago, as the Spirit of God came upon me, gave us the first right of redemption to the property.
When we returned to Singapore, we reached out to the trustees of the property who were looking to sell it and after about 6 months of negotiations, we finally secured the purchase of the estate
What are the consequences if we turn it down? I cannot even imagine thinking what might be the consequences. I cannot go back on this. Once God has put a vision in your heart, you are ruined for rest of your life until you fulfill what God has told you to do. It is interesting the right of redemption, or the first right of refusal was also given by Lady Ruthen to Mr. Howells. The story was that the Roman Catholic Church was very keen to purchase the property and what could one man do against the might of the Catholic Church? But it is the Lord who fights for us; and the Lord intervened supernaturally in that situation and Mr. Howells got the property. Only those who have put their hands to the plough and cannot look back know what it meant.
Special importance
The revival that broke forth in the principality of Wales in 1904 is of special importance because of the power and influence that it generated. There were many other great moves of God through the ages but most of these other revivals were localized. But two revivals, the Azusa Street revival, and the Welsh revival in particular, had international influence and they are of great interest to me because whether we know it or not, we are prophetically linked to those revivals.
Both revivals went past the shores of the country of origin to impact generations in the nations. I have chosen the Welsh revival as our example because of the deep spiritual connection that the leadership of this church feels towards it. We have this prophetic sense that somehow, what God did in that 1904 revival in Wales and then the 1906 revival in Azusa Street, Los Angeles, is going to have a profound effect on us, 100 years later.
"The Bible College of Wales is our field of lentils."
—PS YANG TUCK YOONG
My experience
When we returned to Singapore, we reached out to the Board of trustees responsible for the college and we started negotiating. It took about 6 months, and it wasn’t all plain sailing. We had some disagreements on the terms of the contract and to be honest, I was a little discouraged. I didn’t know if we could come to an agreement.
During that time, my church was hosting a conference we called “Kingdom Invasion” and on the second day of the conference, Bill Johnson preached an amazing sermon on supernatural courage. To me, it was one of the highlights of the conference. At the end of the message, Bill spoke about Shammah, one of David’s mighty men. We are told that in a conflict with the Philistines, the Philistine army had formed themselves in a troop and the children of Israel were in retreat.
They came to a field of lentils and Shammah, who obviously understood and knew of the historic value of the field, stood his ground right in the middle of that field. His singular act of courage so inspired Israel that they turned from their retreat and came back to the battle front and on that day, God gave a great victory to Israel and Shammah’s name was recorded in eternity as one of the most courageous men in history.
What was special about the field?
For the longest time, I had pondered over the significance of that field. Why would a man defend a field of lentils? Bill then remarked that the field was the very same field David slayed Goliath. So Shammah was defending a field that had much history to it. In other words, that field represented the past victories of God’s people. It represented victory over the enemy. And to God, it carried important historical significance. That just about undid me.
We all stood up and I clearly recall weeping at this point and the presence of God comes upon me like a mantle and I heard the Lord say to me, “Redeem My Field of Lentils” and I knew automatically what He was saying to me. And right there and then, a pastor comes up to me, puts his arm on my shoulder, and says, “Pastor, the Lord is talking to you about the Bible College of Wales.” I was undone. The next day, we called the Trustees to say we were going to purchase the college, and the rest is history. The Bible College of Wales is our Field of Lentils and may we see revival break forth again in the beloved land of Wales.
