Wandering among the Welsh

One of the blogs I enjoy reading is "Exiled Preacher." Guy Davies is a Reformed Welsh Pastor living in England. Of course for anyone living in the United States that doesn't seem like much of an exile. But for him, a Welshman among the English, it is. One of the first things on his web site that caught my attention was this statement:

"The Englishman looks upon the Welshman as a rebel, an awkward individualist, as a man who always wants his own way and is perpetually creating totally uncalled for difficulties" (D.M.Lloyd-Jones)."

The reason that statement caught my attention is because, although my last name through my husband is Larson, his actual nationality is Welsh and Dutch. His father changed the family name from Roberts to Larson many years ago. (And that's another very long story.) But the point is, I am partly English and that description seems to me to fit my husband, and his brother, to a tee. I laughed a long time when I read it. And don't worry my husband laughed a long time too!

Every so often, the exiled preacher creates lists of ten and I particularly liked his one on ten reasons to read John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion:

Ten reasons to read Calvin's Institutes

Both the picture above and the one on the side of my blog were taken in Wales where we were hiking. The scene is near Aberystwyth in Northern Wales where we were staying. Since it was a ten mile hike I stayed at our B&B in the evening but my husband, Brad, went on to meet up with a Welsh choir we had found.

Since my husband not only is a piano tuner but also has a beautiful tenor voice, he sings in our church choir, we found a music store and asked where we might hear a local Welsh choir. After getting the information and a contact, we were told that we could go and hear them practice in the evening.

My husband went, and was invited to have a drink with them at the local pub, after their practice. He had his first taste of whiskey and a great time. Today, about fourteen years later he still orders music from the same music store.

-

One of the great Christian revivals began in Wales in 1904. Here is a quote from an article, "The Welsh Revival of 1904-5" by Oliver W. Price, about the revival:

-

"During the spring of 1904 a young Welshman named Evan Roberts was repeatedly awakened at 1:00 a.m. He met with God until 5:00 a.m. The Welsh revival followed. Churches were packed for prayer meetings. In a prayer meeting for young people, Pastor Joseph Jenkins asked for testimonies. A young girl named Florrie Evans, who had only been a believer a few days, rose and with a trembling voice said simply, 'I love Jesus with all my heart.' The other young people's hearts were melted. A powerful spiritual awakening that brought 100,000 people to Christ was under way."

-

For several articles on the Welsh Revival including this one go to "The Welsh Revival of 1904-05.