Edited & Compiled by David Smithers
Off the west coast of Scotland is a small group
of islands called the Hebrides. Between 1949 and 1952 a wide spread revival swept through
these islands in answer to the prayers of God's people. Instrumental in this revival was
the evangelist Duncan Campbell. He came to the Isle of Lewis to conduct a two week
evangelistic campaign and ended up staying two years. The following accounts are
testimonies of the power of intercessory prayer during this mighty move of God.
Peggy & Christine Smith: They Prayed A Promise
In a small cottage by the roadside in the village of Barvas lived two elderly women, Peggy
and Christine Smith. They were eighty-four and eighty-two years old. Peggy was blind and
her sister almost bent double with arthritis. Unable to attend public worship, their
humble cottage became a sanctuary where they met with God. To them came the promise:
"I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground,"
they pleaded this day and night in prayer. One night Peggy had a revelation, revival was
coming and the church of her fathers would be crowded again with young people! She sent
for the minister, the Rev. James Murray MacKay, and told him what God had shown her,
asking him to call his elders and deacons together for special times of waiting upon God.
In the same district a group of men praying in a barn experienced a foretaste of coming
blessing. One night as they waited upon God a young deacon rose and read part of the
twenty-fourth Psalm: "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand
in His holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his
soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the
Lord." Turning to the others he said: "Brethren, it seems to me just so much
humbug to be waiting and praying as we are, if we ourselves are not rightly related to
God." Then lifting his hands toward heaven he cried: "Oh God, are my hands
clean? Is my heart pure?" He got no further, but fell prostrate to the floor. An
awareness of God filled the barn and a stream of supernatural power was let lose in their
lives. They had moved into a new sphere of God realization, believing implicitly in the
promise of revival.
But before leaving Peggy and her sister, another story must be told which further
illustrates the holy intimacy of this woman with her Lord. When the movement was at its
height Peggy sent for Duncan, asking him to go to a small, isolated village to hold a
meeting. The people of this village did not favor the revival and had already made clear
their policy of noninvolvement. Duncan explained the situation to Peggy and told her that
he questioned the wisdom of her request. "Besides," he added, "I have no
leadings to go to that place." She turned in the direction of his voice, her
sightless eyes seemed to penetrate his soul. "Mr. Campbell, if you were living as
near to God as you ought to be, He would reveal His secrets to you also." Duncan felt
like a subordinate being reprimanded for defying his general. He humbly accepted the
rebuke as from the Lord, and asked if he and Mr. MacKay could spend the morning in prayer
with them. She agreed, and later as they knelt together in the cottage, Peggy prayed:
"Lord, You remember what You told me this morning, that in this village You are going
to save seven men who will become pillars in the church of my fathers. Lord, I have given
Your message to Mr. Campbell and it seems he is not prepared to receive it. Oh Lord, give
him wisdom, because he badly needs it!" "All right, Peggy, I'll go to the
village," said Duncan when they had finished praying. She replied, "You'd
better!" "And God will give you a congregation." Arriving in the village at
seven o'clock they found a large bungalow crowded to capacity with many assembled outside.
Duncan gave out his text: "The times of this ignorance God winked at, but now
commandeth all men everywhere to repent." When he had finished preaching, a minister
beckoned him to the end of the house to speak again to a number of people who were
mourning over their sins - among them, Peggy's seven men!
John: He Challenged God in Prayer
Opposition to the revival was being raised in other parts of the island. An evening was
given to waiting upon God in the home of an elder. Around midnight Duncan turned to the
local blacksmith: "John, I feel the time has come for you to pray." With his cap
in his hand John rose to pray, and in the middle of his prayer he paused, raised his right
hand to heaven, and said: "Oh God, You made a promise to pour water upon him that is
thirsty and floods upon the dry ground, and, Lord, it's not happening." He paused
again and then continued: "Lord, I don't know how the others here stand in Your
presence; I don't know how the ministers stand, but, Lord, if I know anything about my own
heart I stand before Thee as an empty vessel, thirsting for Thee and for a manifestation
of Thy power." He halted again and after a moment of tense silence cried: "Oh
God, Your honor is at stake, and I now challenge You to fulfil your covenant engagement
and do what you have promised to do." Many who were present witnessed that at that
moment the house shook. Dishes rattled in the sideboard, as wave after wave of Divine
power swept through the building. A minister standing beside Duncan turned and said:
"Mr. Campbell, an earth tremor!" But Duncan's mind, however, was in the fourth
chapter of Acts, where the early Christians were gathered in prayer and, we read:
"When they had prayed the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and
they were all filled with the Holy Ghost."
Donald: The Boy Who Prayed
Among those converted the following night was a fifteen-year-old boy who became an
outstanding helper in the revival. This lad became a "frontline" prayer-warrior.
Duncan called at his home one day and found him on his knees in the barn with the Bible
open before him. When interrupted he quietly said: "Excuse me a little, Mr. Campbell,
I'm having an audience with the King." Some of the most vivid outpourings of the
Spirit during the revival came when he was asked to pray. In the police station in Barvas
he stood up one night, simply clasped his hands together, and uttered one word -
"Father." Everyone was melted to tears as the Presence of God invaded the house.
In Callenish, he prayed until the power of God laid hold on those who were dead in sins
transforming them into living stones in the Church of Jesus Christ. But the most
outstanding example of God's anointing upon him was in Bernera, a small island off the
coast of Lewis. Duncan was assisting at a Communion service; the atmosphere was heavy and
preaching difficult, so he sent to Barvas for some of the men to come and assist in
prayer. They prayed, but the spiritual bondage persisted, so much so that half way through
his address Duncan stopped preaching. Just then he noticed this boy, visibly moved, under
deep burden for souls. He thought: "That boy is in touch with God and living nearer
to the Savior than I am." So leaning over the pulpit he said: "Donald, will you
lead us in prayer?" The lad rose to his feet and in his prayer made reference to the
fourth chapter of Revelation, which he had been reading that morning: "Oh God, I seem
to be gazing through the open door. I see the Lamb in the midst of the Throne, with the
keys of death and of hell at His girdle." He began to sob; then lifting his eyes
toward heaven, cried: "O God, there is power there, let it loose!" With the
force of a hurricane the Spirit of God swept into the building and the floodgates of
heaven opened. The church resembled a battlefield. On one side many were prostrated over
the seats weeping and sighing; on the other side some were affected by throwing their arms
in the air in a rigid posture. God had come!
She Saw A Vision
God communicated to Peter His purpose to bless the household of Cornelius by means of a
vision in a trance when His servant was praying. He used similar methods in Lewis. A young
woman in particular repeatedly went into trances, in which she received messages
concerning those in need which were passed on to Duncan. One night he was staying in
Stornoway when this girl saw in a vision a woman in agony of soul twenty miles away.
Duncan was informed that he ought to go and see her, and without any thought for his own
rest or safety he motorcycled to the village and found it exactly as he had been told. The
word he spoke brought deliverance, and introduced the troubled lady to the Savior. Not one
message given by this girl through her trance-visions proved false. This was an aspect of
the work which Duncan did not attempt to encourage or explain, but he recognized it was of
God and refused to interfere with it, warning those who would associate it with satanic
activity, that they were coming perilously near to committing the unpardonable sin.
The Praying Butcher
Duncan never left the island without visiting the praying men, who had meant so much to
him in the revival, and with whom he had such affinity of spirit. He marveled at their
discernment and worldwide vision in this far northwestern island. Calling to see one of
them he arrived at the house to hear him in the barn praying for Greece. He could not
understand what interest a butcher in Lewis could have in Greece. "How did you come
to be praying for Greece today?", he asked him later. "Do you know where Greece
is?" "No, Mr. Campbell, but God knows, and He told me this morning to pray for
Greece!" Two years later Duncan was introduced to a man in Dublin who told him the
following story. He had gone to Greece on a business trip and was asked to speak to an
assembly of Christians. The Spirit of God worked so powerfully that he continued preaching
for a few weeks and phoned his brother in Ireland with instructions to look after the
business until he returned. Duncan compared dates and discovered that the movement in
Greece began on the same day that the butcher was praying in Bravas!
The price for heaven sent revival has never changed. Before the floods of Holy Ghost
conviction could sweep across the Isles of The Hebrides, strong men were broken before
God, travailing in agony of prayer through the long hours of the night for months. To do
this, in spite of the demands of home and work, these men had to make time for waiting
before God! This is perhaps the greatest problem besetting us today. We have all the
modern luxuries of life to make work easier and yet we cannot make time to pray! What a
tragic paradox! Dr. Wilbur Smith very aptly stated the matter when he said: "I never
get time to pray - I've always got to make it!"
References Used:
Channel of Revival - A Biography of Duncan Campbell by Andrew A. Woolsey
When God Stepped Down From Heaven by Owen Murphy
From: A Revival Source Center