The Lewis Revival | Born-Again-Christian.Org

by Rev. Duncan Campbell of The Faith Mission

An address given by Duncan Campbell to students at The Faith Mission Bible College, Edinburgh, UK. Transcribed by Colin Melbourne from an audiotape donated by Keith Percival, General Director of The Faith Mission [See Endnote]

Duncan Campbell on the Lewis Revival

Now will you turn with me to the prophecy of Isaiah where we’ll read a few verses from chapter sixty-four. Isaiah chapter sixty-four;

Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence, As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence! When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence. Isaiah 64:1-3 Holy Bible, KJV

I never read that third verse without my mind going back to what actually happened in the Parish of Barvas when God in His mercy visited that parish.

When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence.

Now in speaking of the Lewis Awakening there are three things that I wish to make very clear at the beginning of my talk. First I would say, don’t believe every report that you hear of the Lewis Awakening. Down through the years stories have been told, reports have been given that have no foundation whatsoever in fact.

Revival is still a sign spoken against. There were reports given, favourable of the revival, and reports given that spoke against the move. But facts are powerful things, and we are going to deal with facts this morning.

Then further, I might say, that I did not bring revival to Lewis. It has grieved me again and again to hear people speak about, ‘the man’ or write about, ‘the man that brought revival to Lewis’. My dear students I didn’t bring revival to Lewis. I thank God for the privilege of being there, and perhaps in some small measure leading the movement for about three years, but God moved in the Parish of Barvas before I ever set foot in the island. We shall hear later on how that was very real and manifest before I arrived.

Then further, might I say, what I mean by revival. There are some dear people who speak of a special effort as revival. You’re having a crusade, or a campaign; you’re having some special meetings, and speak about ‘having revival meetings’. My dear folks: that is not revival. The difference between a good and a successful campaign from the point of view of many making decisions, and revival, lies in this fact: In revival God moves in the district, and suddenly the community becomes God conscious. An awareness of God, the fear of God, grips men and women in such a way that now and again work has to be given up, people give themselves to waiting upon God.

I want to read to you a short extract from a report given by the Parish Minister of Barvas. This is what he said,

The Spirit of the Lord was resting wondrously and graciously on the different townships in the parish. You could feel His Presence in the homes of the people, on meadow and moor land, and even on the public roads.

This awareness of God to me is the supreme characteristic, the supreme feature of a God sent revival. It’ll interest you to know that of the hundreds who found Jesus Christ at that time, seventy five percent of them were gloriously saved before they came near a meeting, before they heard a single sermon from myself or from any other minister in the parish. The Power of God was moving, the Spirit of God in operation, and the fear of God gripping the souls of men. That is a God sent revival, as distinct from special efforts, in the field of evangelism.

Now you will be interested to know how this gracious movement began. Now in that connection, to give you the background of the island, I want to read from what appeared in the Stornoway Gazette and in the Inverness Journal.

The Presbytery of Lewis having taken into consideration the low state of vital religion within their own bounds”, Now I want you to note that. “And throughout the land generally, call upon their faithful people in all their congregations to take serious view of the present dispensation of divine displeasure manifested, not only in the chaotic conditions of international politics and morality, but also, and especially, in the lack of spiritual power from Gospel ordinances, and to realize that these things plainly indicate that the Most High has a controversy with the nation.

They note especially the growing carelessness toward Sabbath observance and public worship, the light regard for solemn vows and obligations so that the sacraments of the church – especially that of baptism – tend to become in too many cases an offence to God rather than a means of grace to the recipients, and the spreading abroad of the spirit of pleasure which has taken such a hold of the younger generation that all regard for anything higher appears with very few exceptions to have been utterly dismissed from their thoughts.

The Presbytery affectionately plead with their people – especially with the youth of the church – to take these matters to heart and to make serious inquiry as to what must be the end, should there be no repentance; and they call upon every individual as before God to examine his or her heart in the light of that responsibility which pertains to us all, that haply, in the divine mercy, we may be visited with the spirit of repentance and may turn again unto the Lord whom we have so grieved with our iniquities and waywardness. Especially would they warn the young people of the devil’s man-traps – the cinema and the public-house.

Now that declaration was read in every congregation of the Free Church [Free Church of Scotland. Ed] on the Isle of Lewis. Now I’m not prepared to say what effect that declaration had upon the people of the island, or upon the ministers in particular. But this I do know, that a number of the men and women in the Parish of Barvas took it seriously to heart, especially two old women. One eighty-two, and the other eighty-four years of age, one stone blind. They had at that particular time a great heart concern for God to do something in the parish, and both of them gave themselves to waiting upon God in prayer in their little cottage. One night God gave one of the sisters a vision. In revival, remarkable things happen, we’ve got to understand that. Revival is supernatural; you’re not moving on human levels, you’re moving in divine planes. Here a vision: and in the vision she saw their church crowded with young people. And so moved was she that she turned to her sister and said,

“I believe that revival is coming to the parish, and I’m going to send for the Minister in the morning.”

She sent for the Minister, and told her story, that she believed God was going to visit the parish in revival and the youth of the community would be swept into the churches again. At that time there wasn’t a single young person attending public worship. That is a fact that cannot be gainsaid.

So the Minister listened to the old lady, and took her word as a message from God to his heart, so he turned to her, I’m now quoting what he told me himself, he turned to her and said,

“Now what do you think we ought to do?”

“What!” she said, “Give yourselves to prayer. Give yourselves to waiting upon God. Get your elders together, your deacons together, and spend at least two nights a week waiting upon God in prayer. And if you do that at the other end of the parish, I and my sister will get down on our knees here from ten until two or three o’clock in the morning.”

Remember, two old women. I feel ashamed when I think of this.

So the Minister called his elders and for several nights they waited upon God in prayer. They met in a barn, got on their knees among the straw, and there plead one promise,

I will pour water on him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground.

That continued for at least three months. Nothing happened, but one night while waiting upon God in the barn a young Deacon, rose and opened his Bible and reads part of Psalm 24,

Who shall ascend the hill of God,
who shall stand in his holy place?
He that hath clean hands and a pure heart,
who has not lifted up his soul to vanity nor sworn deceitfully:
he shall receive the blessing of the Lord.

He closed his Bible, and then addressed the Minister and the other Office Bearers who were still on their knees among the straw, and said this;

Very crude words, not so crude in our Gaelic language, but somewhat crude in your English language;

“It seems to me just so much humbug, to be waiting as we are waiting, praying as we are praying, if we ourselves are not rightly related to God.”

And then he lifted his two hands toward the Heavens, and I’m quoting now from what the Minister told me. Lifted his two hands and cried,

“Oh God, Are my hands clean? Is my heart pure?”

And then he fell on his knees with the others, and in a minute or so fell into a trance. Now don’t ask me to explain the physical manifestations of this movement because I can’t. But of this I do know, that something happened at that moment, in that barn, through young Deacon, that let a Power loose that shook the Heavens. And it was then that this awareness of God, gripped the community.

Now I wasn’t in Lewis at that time, as a matter of fact, I was in the midst of a very gracious move of the Spirit of God in Breakish, Skye, where God has been working graciously again. Word came to me asking if I would come to Lewis for ten days, or a ten-days mission. Well at that time I was arranging for a holiday convention on the Island of Skye and I felt it wouldn’t be possible for me to accede to such a request, but wrote back to say that I would put Barvas on my programme for the following year.

Now I cannot take time to tell you how it was that the convention had to be cancelled, that would take too long, but it had to be cancelled and I found it possible for me to agree to go to the island for ten days. So the day came when I found myself in the town of Stornoway, arrived by boat, was met by the Minister, and by one of his Office Bearers. Just as I stepped ashore the Office Bearer came to me and said,

“Mr. Campbell might I ask you a question? Are you walking with God?”

And I was happy to be able to say, “Well, I can say this, at any rate, that I fear God.”

And then the Minister turned and said,

“Now we have arranged for you to address a meeting in the church at nine o’clock tonight, it’ll be a short meeting and we would like just to make yourself known. We’ve intimated from the pulpit, there’s been nothing in the press, nothing has been given out in the way of bills but we’ve intimated from the pulpit that you are going to be with us for ten days, and we would like you to give a short word in the church tonight.”

Well that was my first contact with the people of Barvas. It was a very remarkable meeting. God certainly moved in it, there was an awareness of God that was wonderful. The meeting really continued from nine until four o’clock in the morning. But I wouldn’t say that that was the great breakthrough, although I had to address a meeting at the Police Station between half-past three and four. The people flocked back to the church again, and men and women were crying to God for mercy. I hadn’t witnessed anything to compare with this at any other time during my ministry. This was something altogether beyond human effort. The awareness of God, for instance, a crowd of young people at a dance had to leave the dance and make for the church at midnight. And the church is now crowded, mostly with young people.

Well, that was how the movement began. In an awareness of God: In a Spirit of conviction. Now there were people in that meeting that rose from their beds; they couldn’t sleep, gripped by God. This is the God sent revival, as distinct from anything that you can conceive of on human levels.

God broke through in that way, but the great meeting of that period was on Sunday night, in the Parish Church. The church is now crowded with as many outside as in the church. The Spirit of God was moving in such a way that I couldn’t preach. I just stood still and gazed upon the wondrous movings of God, as men and women cried all over the church, for mercy.

Now remember that we made no appeal whatsoever, in Lewis you couldn’t mention an appeal they would immediately say that’s man’s work, that’s human effort. But when God moves in revival every corner becomes an enquiry room, and souls are crying out after God. I’ll never forget that night. First of all, we pronounced the Benediction – we were in for over three hours – pronounced the Benediction, and I suggested the people should go out, and they went out. But I did mention that if any here were anxious to continue in the church they could come back. As I stood there, this young Deacon came to me and said,

“Mr. Campbell, God is hovering over us, God is hovering over us. He is going to breakthrough in a mighty move.”

And then the doors opened and the Session Clerk came in and said to me,

“Come to the church door and see what is happening. I saw a crowd, there must’ve been at least six hundred people out there, and I would suggest that we sing a Psalm.”

So he gave out Psalm 102: [sic Psalm 126: 1-2]

When Zion’s bondage God turned back: as men that dreamed were we. Then filled with laughter our mouths, our tongues with melody.

And they sang, and they sang, and they sang. And then the whole crowd came back again. Of course the church couldn’t accommodate them now. They’re standing outside, the place is packed, the pulpit steps, the pulpit itself, and I managed to get into the pulpit, there was a young woman lying on the floor of the pulpit, a schoolteacher who had been at the dance, and God swept in, she’s now under deep conviction of sin, she’s crying to God, and I can still hear her say,

“O God is there mercy, is there mercy for a sinner like me?”

And that schoolteacher has found the Saviour; she’s a missionary in the mission field today in Nigeria.

Well that was the great night in Barvas; I remember I got home at five o’clock in the morning, to find the Minister mightily moved. I still see him there in his study on his face praising God for having visited his parish. On the following night, there were fourteen buses at the church, fourteen buses. Word had been sent to the different parts of the island to say that remarkable things had happened in the Parish of Barvas, that men and women were under deep conviction of sin and crying to God for mercy. And strange things happened.

God works in a mysterious way his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm.

That was visible that night, buses came, and in most of them the majority were unsaved. One bus came over sixty miles from Leverburgh in Harris. Just a mere handful of Christian people, but the bulk unsaved. And God swept into the bus, God swept in in such a way that some couldn’t even go into the church when they arrived, so distressed in soul were they, particularly this bus from Harris.

Now that was how it began in the Parish of Barvas. One night I was called to go to the Police Station. About four o’clock in the morning, a young man came to me and asked if I would come along, that there were a great number of people praying to God on the roadside, and in the house. Now he wasn’t a Christian, but he was a God-fearing young man. I’m glad to say that that night he was born again, he’s a missionary today, and doing a blessed work for God. So I went along, and found as he had described, men and women by the roadside, and young and old crying to God for mercy.

It’ll interest you to know that three of the young men that were saved that night are in the full ministry today, and I’m not thinking of the missionary. And the Spirit of God was moving in the midst, meetings were held during the day, held until the small hours of the morning, and on more than one occasion right on through the night.

I remember one night, a minister turning to his wife and saying,

“Wife listen, we forgot to milk the cow last night, and we must get home.”

And that was half-past five.

Well that was what was happening. God was in the fields, and souls were being gloriously saved. Then the movement leapt beyond the parish, to the Parish of Ness. And if it was wonderful in Barvas, for at least a week in the Parish of Ness God swept through. Message came one night to say that the church was crowded at one o’clock in the morning, and asked if I would go down. So, along with some other ministers, I set off and got to the Parish of Ness to find the Spirit of God moving in a most remarkable way. Again, crowded congregations, again crowds standing outside, again the Spirit of God was laying hold of the people. Then kitchen meetings following that meeting. Left the church at three o’clock, went out, met someone who told me that a crowd who couldn’t get into the church were on a field singing Psalms and praying, and I went down to the fields, and I found a congregation of at least three hundred people. God was moving.

I think I should tell you an interesting incident connected with that vision. About, it would be perhaps between half-past three and four, a cottage door opened and an old lady came out. Now it was quite obvious that she wasn’t in favour of the movement. And she walked over towards the meeting and addressed one of the elders, and said this,

“I wish you people would go home and allow people to sleep!”

I can still see that big strong man taking her by the shoulders and shaking her, and saying,

“Woman get away home, you’ve been asleep long enough!”

Yes of course there were interesting incidents in the movement. But what deeply impressed me was something that I saw. A man was lying on the floor, or on the ground, and two or three girls kneeling beside him. And saying to him,

“The Jesus who saved us last night can save you now.”

And the three young girls, I would say, they would be perhaps sixteen or seventeen years of age, saw that man won for Christ as he lay there. There are features that can only be explained in terms of the supernatural. Here let me quote from an extract that appeared in a Church of Scotland Record in May 1950.

The Spirit of the Lord was resting wondrously and graciously on those two townships at that time and His Presence was glorious. You could feel it in the homes of the people, on meadow and moor land, and even in walking the public road through these two villages. On the Saturday night at the end of the service at Barvas Church many were the souls who were openly seeking Jesus as the Healer of their souls, more than at any other service of the awakening. In a short time, they all found peace of conscience, and tranquillity of soul in the Saviour they were so earnestly seeking.

There were people there from all denominations who found the blessing of the Lord, which maketh rich and addeth no sorrow therewith. This special awakening followed Mr. Campbell, as did his helpers, and the converts, to every district in which he laboured, but the awakening was in no place as yet on such a scale, or so effective, as it was in the Parish of Barvas, especially in the township of Barvas, Shader and Arnol.

It was in May of 1950 that the meetings were held in Arnol and blessed things took place in that village. The services in Arnol Church were good and blessed, but the impression one got was that the cottage meetings surpassed them. Often those who had been brought under conviction at the parish services obtained peace and serenity of soul at the cottage meetings. Many a soul cherished fragrant memories of the cottage meetings in Shader, Barvas, and Arnol. Who could forget the one in Arnol which ended with the Shader Blacksmith singing,

Praise God for he is good, for still his mercy’s lasting me. Let God’s redeemed say so. Whom he from the enemy’s hand he freed and gather them out of the lands. From North, South, East and West.

That was Arnol’s outstanding night. It is God alone who can do the work, and it is to be seen in Arnol, and that was the surest proof, bright shining witnesses on the Lord’s side. A place which was as hard as the rocks, and as barren as the wilderness has been transformed by the power of God into a garden of the Lord.

Now we must tell you something that took place at the meeting. In this particular part of the parish we were met with bitter opposition from a certain section of the Christian church. They were accusing me of denying the confession of faith, and that I wasn’t sound in my Theology, because I stressed the baptism of the Holy Ghost as a distinct and definite experience subsequent to conversion. Now those who opposed me were very successful in their opposition. So much so that very few people attended the church in which I spoke, or the other ministers took part, just a mere handful of the people of the community. It’s true that the church was crowded by people coming from other parishes, but so far we did not touch, or revival didn’t come to Arnol. One night the Session Clerk came to me and said,

“There’s only one thing we can do in connection with the situation that prevails here, and that is that we give ourselves to waiting upon God in prayer. And I’ve been to a certain farmer here and he’s willing to give us his home. The church will be cold, so we’ll meet in his home. He’s not a Christian, his wife isn’t saved, but they’re God-fearing and they’re happy to give the farmhouse for this meeting.”

So, I would say about thirty of us met in this house to wait upon God in prayer. There were five ministers including myself, and a goodly number of others, most of them elders from the parish, and from other districts. I felt the going very very hard. I prayed, and others prayed, and I think all the ministers prayed, but one felt that the very powers of Hell was let loose in that house. About midnight, I turned to one of the elders, and said to him,

“I think the time has come when you ought to pray, and lay hold of God. And that dear man rose to his feet, and he must’ve prayed for about half an hour. Of course remember, we’re in revival, and in revival time doesn’t exist, you’re not looking at your clock, and wondering when is it going to be through. He prayed, and then paused for a little while. He lifted his right hand toward Heavens, and said this,”

God, do you know that your honour is at stake? You made a promise to pour water on the thirsty and floods upon the dry ground, and God you’re not doing it.

Your honour is at stake; I wonder how many of us could pray in that fashion. How many of us could approach God with words like that on our lips. This man did. And then he said this;

There are five ministers in this meeting, including Mr. Campbell, and I don’t know where one of them stands in your Presence, but if I know anything at all about my own heart I think I can say this, that I am thirsty for a manifestation of your Power, and you promised to poor water on the thirsty and floods upon the dry ground, and you’re not doing it.

And then after a pause of a second or two, again he lifted up his hands and he cried;

God your honour is at stake, and I now challenge you to fulfil your Covenant engagement to pour water on the thirsty and floods upon the dry ground!

And at that moment that huge granite built house shook like a leaf. Shook like a leaf!

And I immediately went to the Acts of the Apostles where it is recorded,

When they prayed the place was shaken where they were assembled together.

And as soon as this dear man stopped praying I pronounced the Benediction, a little after two o’clock in the morning, and went out to find the whole village ablaze with God.

I went into a house, I was tired and thirsty, to get a drink of milk; and found nine women on their knees in the kitchen, all of them crying to God for mercy. One of them saved that night has written some of the finest Gaelic hymns that we have in our Gaelic hymnbook.

What a wonderful sight one saw the following Sunday, I happened to be staying in the village for the weekend, to see the road black with people walking the two miles to the church. Prior to the movement: four left the village for the church. The drinking house, that den of iniquity, in that particular village was closed that night and it’s never been opened since. Never been opened since.

I was through the village some years after that, and an old elder from the neighbouring congregation met me and said,

“Mr. Campbell, do you see that house over there, windows boarded up, doors boarded?”

I said, “Yes”.

“Well”, he says, “that was the drinking house of the village. And I’m happy to tell you that fourteen of the men who frequented that place before the revival were praying in our prayer meeting last week. Fourteen of them.”

Young folk, that’s revival!

And I would say this; we ought never to be satisfied with anything less than a move of the Spirit of God similar to that. It seems to me that in the field of evangelism today we are just playing, at having meetings. This is God at work. [Thumps the pulpit] And God has promised to send water on the thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground, I believe that God can do it. And oh I pray that today, our hearts may be stirred, to seek after this, with all our hearts. That man knew the secret. The minister reporting at the General Assembly in Edinburgh, he said this,

“We made a profound discovery that night.”

He was asked to say something about the movement at the General Assembly here in Edinburgh and this is what he said,

“I made this profound discovery that a God sent revival must ever be related to holiness.”

Do you believe that? A God sent revival must ever be related to holiness. God’s revival is a holiness revival! Oh we want to remember that.

Now further, I think I ought to mention the scenes that I witnessed in another community. I was asked by this dear old woman to go to this place to hold a meeting, and I said,

“Now listen, I have no leadings to go to that place.”

She looked at me through her blind eyes and said,

“If you were living as near to God as you ought to be He would reveal His secrets to you also.”

And I took it as a word from God, and I said,

“Well now, would you mind if the Minister and myself spent the morning in prayer with you here in the cottage?”

Oh she said, “Yes, yes, yes”.

So to make a long story short, we met and along with our sister we knelt in the room waiting upon God in prayer, and she began to pray first. And in her prayer she said this,

“Lord, you remember what you told me this morning that you were going to save seven men in this village who would become pillars in the church of my father? I’ve just given your message to Mr. Campbell and he’s not prepared to accept it, do give him wisdom because he badly needs it.”

[Laughter]

Well, we waited in prayer, and after a time, an hour or two, I said to her,

“Well now, I’ll go to the village.”

She said, “You better, you better.”

So we went. Seven o’clock, where’s the meeting to be held?

“You go to the village and God will provide your congregation.”

And I went and found a congregation of approximately four hundred people. There were a number of ministers there. If you were to ask them today, what was it that brought them, they couldn’t tell you. Moved by the Spirit of God, directed to this community, there they’re standing with others in front of a large bungalow, and the bungalow was crowded to capacity.

I gave out my text,

The time of this ignorance God winked at, but now commanded men everywhere to repent, because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man he hath ordained.

I spoke about a few minutes when one of the ministers came to me and said,

“Mr. Campbell come to the end of the house there is a remarkable scene there. Do you know that the most notorious characters in the community are on their faces on the ground crying to God for mercy.”

My dear people, this is God. [Thumps Bible down] This is God. [In a whisper]

A minister said to me,

“You speak to them, you go out on the same line as you went out yesterday morning at that meeting on the field. It may help them.”

John 10:27 my favourite text;

My sheep hear my voice, they know me, and I say follow me, and I give unto them eternal life.

The two supreme marks of a sheep as distinct from the goat; they hear his voice, and they follow everywhere crying to God for mercy.

And the other ministers went to other parts trying to help those that were in great distress of soul. Now remember this was the first time revival touched this community. It all happened in a matter of minutes, a matter of minutes. Young folks listen: This is revival. This is revival. [Patting his Bible] This is the ’59 revival, this is the Welsh revival, this is God’s revival.

A minister standing there turns to his wife and says,

“Look there are the two pipers that were to have played at the concert and dance in our parish tonight. There they are crying to God for mercy. So we’ll go home to the parish, and we’ll go to the dance, and we’ll tell what has happened.”

So off they went. And arrived at the dance about eleven o’clock, the man who met them wasn’t at all happy at seeing them there. Why had they come to disturb the night of amusement? But the Parish Minister claimed the right of parish ministers to walk in, and he walked in, and during a lull in the dancing he stepped onto the floor and said,

“Young folks, a most remarkable thing has happened in Barvas. You know the pipers that were to be here are crying to God for mercy in Barvas. You advertised that they would be playing, but they’re crying to God for mercy.”

And then he said,

“Would you sing a Psalm with me?”

“Yes”, said a young man, if you’ll lead it yourself.”

So he gave out Psalm 50 where God is depicted as a flame of fire. Also they sang, I think it was at the second verse when the power of God fell on the dance. The schoolmaster, who was at the head of the concert party, cried to God for mercy. Young people fled from the hall, and went to their buses and in the buses they were crying to God. One young boy, the youngest boy saved in the revival, twelve years of age, is now the parish minister of Kinlochbervie. And you may have heard of the remarkable move there two years ago.

These are some of the remarkable moves of God. The Spirit of God at work bringing deep conviction of sin, bringing an awareness of God, and that to me is perhaps the crying need of our day. We see so little, oh so little conviction. Now you ask just in a matter minutes, you ask me, ‘What are the fruits of the movement?’

Well let me quote from the local press at that time. And in that report the writer said this,

There are more people attending prayer meetings in Lewis today than attended public worship at the community.

That is true. You see, in Lewis, the first indication that you had, of a people, of a person turning to God is that they immediately made for the prayer meetings. And there were more people attending the prayer meetings then, than attended public worship.

Then think of the stream of young men that have gone into full time service in Christian ministry. They are today ministers in Lewis; one of them is the Minister in Lemrewey. He was saved at that time. And you have missionaries in the foreign fields; some of them trained here, some of them trained in the BTI. I think of one girl, she’s giving her testimony at her valedictory service, and in her testimony she said,

“I have very little to offer, I’m just a poor crofter’s daughter, but, what there is, He has it all.”

She’s a missionary in Africa today.

A group of young students from the college in Stornoway, the Nicholson Institute, with desires of going to Barvas just to see for themselves what was happening. They weren’t Christian girls but they were God-fearing girls. For instance they read their Bible every night, and every morning go down on their knees, night and morning, attended church. God fearing, good-living girls; they were anxious to go to Barvas. So one said to the other,

“It’d be nice if we could get brilliant girl to go with us.”

So they went, but she wasn’t interested, oh she wasn’t interested, she had a date on, she was going to a dance or a ball in the Town Hall along with her young man that night. So they set off in the bus. Remarkable things happened between Barvas and Stornoway. The Spirit of God came down on the bus. The driver slumped over the wheel, took the car, took the bus to the side of the road, and they were there for three hours. Three hours. A goodly number were gloriously saved before they arrived at the church including the five young students.

Now it will interest you to know that three of them are missionaries in the foreign field today. Three of the girls, all of them graduates of Edinburgh, two of Edinburgh, two of Aberdeen, one Glasgow. Three of them are missionaries. But on getting back to the town they felt that they should go to this girl’s room, they were all in the girls hostel there, and to tell what had happened. Now leave Stornoway, and come with me to the General Assembly here in Edinburgh, and this remarkable student is asked to address the Assembly on youth night. And in the course of her address she gave her own personal testimony, and this is what she said,

When they came into my room at three o’clock in the morning I wasn’t at all happy at being disturbed at that unearthly hour, but as I looked and listened, I saw something, and heard something that couldn’t be explained on the basis of the human, and I went all out in search of it and found it when Jesus found me on the following night in Barvas Parish church.

After that, her boyfriend was gloriously saved, he is today a doctor, both of them are serving in Thailand, and of the Overseas Missionary Fellowship.

The Spirit of God moving in conviction. Now that is to me the fruit of the movement.

Now what are we to learn from this?

Well first of all let me say that it takes the supernatural to burst the bands of the natural. I’m quoting there from Doctor Tozer. It takes the supernatural to burst the bands of the natural. You can make a community mission conscious, you can make a community Faith Mission conscious; you can make a community crusade conscious. But only God can make a community God conscious. And I feel that our need today is to pray that God’s mighty power will prevail, so to see God moving again. Just you think of what could happen in any community if God came down; public houses closed immediately, dancing saloons [Thumps Bible down] closed. Family worship in every home.

The songs of Zion resounding through the streets.

And I would say that day is coming. I believe it with all my heart. Only God prepares, and prepare us all for it. Amen

Duncan Cambell

Endnote: Rev. Duncan Campbell was concerned about erroneous and exaggerated reports of the Lewis Revival, many of which appear both in print and on the internet. To honour God’s servant, we took special care to obtain a genuine audiotape of Rev. Campbell’s testimony from his home Mission, and have transcribed it word for word into this article shown on the Born-Again-Christian.Org and Born-Again-Christian.Info websites. We are most grateful to the General Director of the Faith Mission, Keith Percival, for supplying the material and granting permission to display it.

Predestined to be a Calvinist?