ISLAND WAS GRIPPED BY THE AWESOME PRESENCE OF GOD
A small village in the Hebrides was the unlikely starting place for a remarkable outpouring of the Holy Spirit
The young pastor continued to pray earnestly, his trembling voice rising in anguished tones:
"Lord, Your honour is at stake. You're not doing what You promised! I challenge You to pour Your water on this dry ground!"
Suddenly the huge granite building vibrated like a leaf and the old farm where the group were praying visibly shook.
This was just one incident from a significant movement of the Holy Spirit in the islands of the Hebrides during the middle of the last century.
It started in Barvas village (twelve miles north of Stornoway) on the island of Lewis. Two old women, one 82 and the other 84, received a dream from God which showed that revival was coming and their church was going to be crowded again with young people. Although a religious society, at this stage not one young person went to the church.
Church members began to face the real lack of spiritual life and gathered together three nights a week for the next three months, seeking God. One evening, God moved powerfully on this group, as they were praying in a barn, kneeling in the straw. Suddenly, the awesome presence of God swept in and a divine power was let loose.
The minister then invited the well-known Scottish preacher, Duncan Campbell, to come to Lewis for a ten day mission. At first he declined, but his other plans were scrapped and he agreed to come. The ten days turned into two years!
At the end of his first meeting in Barvas parish church, a group went to a nearby cottage for a night of prayer. God broke through again during this time and they lay on the floor, prostrate and speechless. Duncan Campbell recalled later,
"We left the cottage at 3am and as I walked along a country road I found men and women on their faces, crying to God for mercy. There was a light in every home - no one seemed to think of sleep."
The church was crowded when Duncan and others gathered there the next evening. He counted 14 buses that had come from every part of the island, parked outside - even though no one could discover who had told them to come. Most of the people were unsaved. Some were so distressed with their sins that they were unable to make it to the church doors. Duncan tried to preach, but gave up as his voice couldn't be heard above the cries of repentance.
This pattern went on for five weeks and then the revival spread to neighbouring parishes.
Many were finding Jesus, but three quarters of these did so outside meetings! God was working in the fields, on the roads, in cottages, anywhere. Duncan, himself, would travel around in his car from parish to parish, preaching in halls, churches, hillsides, barns and roadsides - wherever people gathered.
Two key features of the revival were the overwhelming presence of God and a deep conviction of sin. The whole community was gripped by a godly fear and all types of people found salvation.
A farmer, on his knees, cried out on one occasion of the Holy Spirit's searchings: "O God, I feel that hell itself is too good for me!'
Another man, feeding sheep in a field, started to tremble and then to weep. He couldn't understand what was happening but soon became conscious of his sin and cried out for God's mercy. A veteran of Dun-kirk, he had seen three vessels go down under him, but had never trembled or wept like this!
"Lord," he cried, "if it's my surrender You want, You have it now!"
A technical engineer, who had no interest in religion, was sitting at his controls, when he saw a fly playing near to a light bulb. He was suddenly faced with a question - "How near am I to being burned?" God moved on him and he slumped to the floor and called on the name of Jesus.
Fishermen out in their boats and labourers on the peat banks, would suddenly stop working and make for the church. During the meetings, the Spirit would sweep through the gatherings causing some to fall "like corn before the scythe" and others to lie under the power of the Spirit for two or three hours.
Before the revival, the Stornoway area had one of the highest drinking rates in Scotland, and 'bothans' (illegal and unlicensed drinking places) flourished. After the revival, one publican commented: "The drink trade on the island is ruined."
As a result of the revival, the churches were filled with young people and many entered the ministry or became missionaries abroad. Drinking houses closed and the main topic of conversation became man's need of salvation.
Duncan Campbell was clear as to the cause of this remarkable movement of God:
"A God-sent revival is ever related to holiness ... It takes the supernatural to burst the bonds of the natural... Only God can make a whole community God-conscious."
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