Redigging the Well in Trefecca  4^th November 2009

The theme for the final prayer gathering of 2009 at Coleg Trefeca near Brecon was “Revive  Your work in the midst of the years” (Hab 3:2 NKJV).  After refreshments, provided by the college, we began the day at 10.30am with a time of praise and worship followed by a prayer of consecration. After that at 11am we looked at the meaning of “Redigging the Well”, referring back to Isaac in Genesis 26:18, and then were given an historical account of Howell Harris’ life and that of the College, with particular emphasis on Harris’ Spirit Baptism in 1735 in the belfry of Llangasty church. It was this that fuelled his passion to witness to the lost  people of his area and beyond.  An account of a visitation of the Spirit among the College students and Principal in the winter of 1857 was then given. There then followed an up to date account of a current work in Brecon to reach mainly the young people there with the Gospel.  Following this at about 11.30 we spent some time in open prayer for ourselves and the college  to be revived and revisited, before splitting up into three groups. These groups prayed for  issues of local and regional importance (i.e.young people and education; the church and its  involvement in the community; health; tourism, and the army).

We broke for lunch at 12.45 when we had the opportunity to visit the small Howell Harris museum in an adjoining room to the one in which we were meeting. We started the afternoon session with a short time of worship followed by a talk on rural issues which play a big part  of life in mid Wales. We heard about the need to recognise the role of farmers and the difficult and often lonely 24-7 job they do in the midst of animal disease and falling milk  prices.  Howell Harris had set up a Christian community in his enlarged home before it became a college and the many people who joined him there and in leased farms nearby 
needed feeding. This caused him to form the Brecknock Agricultural Society in 1755, the first of its kind in Wales. We then prayed briefly for the farmers in their current situation  before moving out into the college grounds at 2pm to regroup by a wooden cross on a grass mound to pray for the college. We had learned that the large weather vane on the college roof depicting a golden angel blowing a trumpet was erected by Howell Harris to symbolise a warning to the nation and a calling back to God in repentance.  In view of this, one of the group blew a shofar to the west (Brecon and beyond) as a prophetic action before we set out to prayer walk the village. We first walked to the south end where there was a small modern estate and prayed at the edge of it for the people there. Then we walked to the other end where we spent some time praying outside a very old building which used to be a college that the Countess of Huntingdon, a friend of Howell Harris and other “Methodist” revivalists of that time, founded in 1768.  The tradespeople at Harris’ community helped to renovate the building for it to be fit for her students, and Howell Harris preached to them two or three times a week. We stood in the front gardens of the near derelict building (now called College Farm) facing a plaque with four engraved angels above the entrance which we thought were significant. There we prayed again especially for the Welsh Presbyterian Church which one of our group said had nobody in training for that denomination at the present time.

On arriving back at our meeting room at 3.15pm we sang a couple of worship songs before dividing into three groups again, this time to pray for Wales and beyond (i.e. the Welsh Assembly; law and order; the Welsh speaking community; the rest of UK and Europe; the persecuted church, and Israel and the Middle East).  We finished at 4.15 having sensed the Lord’s presence with us throughout the day and His Spirit moving among and around us as well.   

                   

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