The Hebrides Revival and Awakening 1949-1953 

Short history documenting a remarkable movement of the Spirit of God sparked by the prayers of two elderly sisters, in which the awareness of the presence of a holy God was so overwhelming church buildings became crowded in minutes


The Hebrides Revival and Awakening 1949-1953 - a short history
By Alex Dunn 
Self Published
Reviewed by Janet Quarry

An easy read with only 66 pages. 

The Hebrides Revival began with two sisters: Peggy and Christine Smith. One was 84 years of age and blind, the other 82 and crippled with arthritis. They were greatly burdened because they'd been told no young person attended public worship at their church. They decided to pray twice a week. On Tuesdays and Fridays they got on their knees at ten in the evening, and remained there until three or four in the morning; two old women in a very humble cottage.

Then Peggy had a vision of the church crowded with young people. They persuaded their minister to call 'a session'. Seven men covenanted 'not to give rest nor peace to the Almighty until He made their Jerusalem a praise in the earth'. Those men also began to meet on Tuesday and Friday nights for some months

Then one night in November a young man began to pray, 'God, are my hands clean? Is my heart pure?'

But he got no further. He fell into a trance and lay on the floor of the barn. Within a matter of minutes three other elders also fell into a trance. The minister and other intercessors were gripped by the conviction that a God-sent revival must always be related to holiness and godliness.

Are my hands clean? Is my heart pure?

An awareness of God gripped the whole community. Little work was done as men and women gave themselves to thinking about eternal things, 'and God seemed to be everywhere.' In the little cottage the two sisters knew God had kept His promise and told their minister to invite a missioner to come and help them.

Duncan Campbell was called to lead a series of meetings. For the first week of evening meetings little happened, though five young people found God. (Would that every church might have five young people find faith!)

Then on 13 December 1949, at the end of the meeting, all had left except Campbell and one other. The deacon said, 'Don't be discouraged. God is hovering over us, and he'll break through any moment. I can already hear the rumbling of heaven's chariot wheels.'

He began to pray before falling to the ground in a trance. Five minutes later the local blacksmith came back to the church and said, 'Mr Campbell, something wonderful has happened. We were praying that God would pour water on the thirsty and floods upon the dry ground, and listen, He's done it! He's done it! Will you come to the door, and see the crowd that's here?'

Even though it was 11 at night between six and seven hundred people had gathered around the church. They'd been moved by a power they could not explain. A hunger and thirst gripped them and the meeting continued until 4 in the morning. Strong men were bowed down and trembled in God's presence. Nearby a dance was in progress but the young people ran from it, 'as though fleeing from a plague', and made for the church.

In a matter of minutes, the dance hall was empty.

Others who had gone to bed were woken by the Holy Spirit, got dressed, and made for the church. There had been no publicity except for an announcement from the pulpit on Sunday that a man would be conducting a series of meetings in the parish for ten days. God became his own publicity agent.

Over the next few nights hundreds gathered in different places. In churches and barns or in fields and homes. There was a prayer meeting every day at noon and those converted the night before were expected to attend. All work stopped for two hours and people gathered for prayer. No appeals were made. People made their way to the prayer meeting to praise God for His salvation.

So it continued for several years and it spread to many of the islands. People who had never been near a meeting before were suddenly arrested by the Spirit of God, stopped work, and gave themselves to seeking God. Men were found walking the roads at night in distress of soul, while others were found during the day among the rocks. Social evils were swept away as by a flood, and whole districts were completely changed. A wonderful sense of God seemed to pervade the whole place.


Characteristics of the Awakening

Prayer was a dominant feature. Once the revival started people prayed everywhere and all the time. Wherever they worked, out on the moor or in their cottages. Prayer was not a burden but a delight.

An awareness of the presence of God. 'Some men were walking home from a meeting in the early hours of the morning. They stopped and looked back and without saying a word, they removed their caps and stood in the darkness while one of them said softly, 'Brothers, God is everywhere.'

Intensity. The revival was wonderful, yet also awful for the awareness of the holiness of God was overwhelming and supernatural, completely different from ordinary, earthly things. A sense of expectancy was also at a high level.

The Power of God was noticeable as people were convicted with no-one speaking to them.

The Conviction of Sin. People wept and were broken over their sins. Some were under such conviction that they writhed in their agony.

The Centrality of the Bible as the Word of God was a primary emphasis. 'Without it the fire dies more quickly and converts do not stay strong and faithful.'

Anointed Biblical Preaching. Duncan Campbell preached 'from the heart, to the heart, with tremendous authority and boldness. His preaching was plain, personal, passionate, powerful, penetrating and practical.' (For six Ps!)

Great Joy – everywhere people rejoiced at what God had done for them.

Heartfelt singing was a noticeable. As people sang the atmosphere would change. Young people would sing on their way home, in the buses or on the road. Many new hymns were written and often sung at informal gatherings.

Love and unity with no age gap. There were no children's meeting. Four school girls came to the Lord on the first night of the awakening and witnessed to their headmaster the following night. Very elderly people also came to the Lord. It was as if 'The old became young'.

Timelessness. The Spirit took away tiredness. People would arrive home from meetings at 3, 4 or 5am, and be up at 7 to go to work without being tired. Sometimes they would have no sleep at all, but would feel no after effects. The sense of time seemed to vanish.

The faithfulness of converts – After two and a half years there was little backsliding – maybe four of the thousands who had professed.

Phenomena occurred such as people falling into a trance or knowing ecstasy. The most remarkable was a house shaking as if in an earthquake. At times people reported hearing heavenly music. Catherine Campbell took her parents to hear the sound of angels singing only to find two women crying in distress of soul.

Opposition. There was some opposition, sadly from the Free Church leaders.


When revival came to Lewis in 1949 the churches had no choirs, organs, musical instruments or padded seats. There were no meetings for children, young people or Mums and Tots, no Holiday Bible Clubs, no power points or transport laid on, and very few had cars. But God performed miracles and brought hundreds, if not thousands, to himself. It seems the catalyst was prayer, prayer and only prayer. Followed, as directed from that prayer, by the anointed preaching of a few men. That was it. God did the rest.

Do I – do we – have the courage and commitment to pray in such a way?

I might think this is only a tale about simple, uneducated island people from 80 years ago, if it weren't for my own experience in the 1970s. I myself was drawn to God and his church without being told to go. There came a point were many of us became Christians largely, but not solely, due to the witness of evangelists from Hildenborough Hall in Kent.

In the church youth group we saw many answers to prayer, especially people healed from different (albeit mild) conditions. I went to school each day wondering who would have been converted the previous night. Scores were, and several I know became missionaries and church leaders and are still going on with God today. I note the following year Justin Welby was converted at Cambridge University, and began speaking in tongues. And look where he ended up! There was definitely something larger going on at that time than just in our little village.

Would that in this day we might see again a movement of God's Holy Presence. (Or is it happening somewhere in this land and I haven't heard?) 
 

Janet Quarry has been working with Christian missions and charities for over 30 years