Religious Revival at Waihi.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7925, 14 September 1905, Page 2

Religious Revival at Waihi.

The Ee¥ J Wilson's Experiences Some Extraordinary Seenes The Rev, James Wilson, of the Auckland Methodist Oity Missron, has returned to Auckland from Wai>hi, where there lf&s 'been an outi break of religious fervour, closely approximating the extraordinary' re-i vival in Wales. On being seen by a representative of the New Zealand Herald, Mr Wilson said lve was most forcibly struck with the similarity ot the religious happenings in Waihi to the Welsh revival of November,; 1904.( "I have seen nothing like It, and I have been engaged in mission work in Australia and New Zealand, and have had experience at Home, In all extending:" over 22 years," he said, "I know something ol revivals, tat, personally, nothing like that of Waihi. I was not m Wales last year, but from what. I have learned the happenings there were in every respect similar to the outpouring oi the Holy Spirit at Waihi.'- 1 '■' How did ! it ibegfyi—at WWiii asked the reporter. "Well, it began some time priotta my visit. It started this way. A' young man, an attendant at the Methodist Church, was suddenly awakened to a sense of his response Millies., He was not a particularly) active member of the congretgation, as a matter of fact he used to read l novels in church rig'ht under the; minister's nose, But one day a aculous thing happened to Mem, and: he was instantly converted. Then his) fervour and zeal so impressed soma of his young mates that they !hecame converted, and they all held meetings of prayer together! Tho , young fellow I speak about used to wrestle in prayer with God in ,the bowels of the earth when he was at work. As a se'qMel to this small) movement, Dr.. Watson, a traveling evangelist, from America, visited Waihi, ami j conducted a missionj which was followed up jby the local people holding united evangelical sew vices on their own account. Then I

went down there |to c.onduct Sun* day services and also to give some lectures on prison life in Pretoria and New Zealand, The Miners' Hall was taken for the meetings, which,, Irom ,t'lic very first- were crowded tq the |doprs< ajid iespeciially so 'in the evening, and every class in the community was represented. Now, my sermon on Sunday night wasde-. livered about the tjnie itho pqoplfl came out of the churches, but in-> stiqag; »f going) home itheyi thT<mgjdi the hall w and ever so many could/ not get iu ; they just hung around the doors and waited. We had a great after-meeting, and the ministers of the Evangelical, churches came along with their people. It was 4 wonderful sight-) to see great, rough lhiners in tears, and it was remark* able to hear the testimonies from alii over the |hall of persons who) there and then resolved to abandon lives of sin and to henceforth serve the Master s There was one man who testified that four years ago ho was' a terrible drunkard, and that on the instant of his conversion the craving desire for drink had left him. Almost immediately, there followed eight , different people (who, rising from their seats, came out awl confessed God at the communion rail. It was really marvellous—the effect this had upon the throngs in the hall."

'•'Who conducted the meetings ?" _'' Now, that is the singular part of it; there was no organised leadership of the after-meetings. They, consisted of prayer, praise, and testimonies ; people giving their experiences of sinful lives, and how theyj had been changed in an instant, as it wereand their faelrngs were. I think I know something of the early'days of. Methodism, and ofi the revivals of those days ; and I may say I lvavo witnessed and experienced a good deal of the jubilant, not io say boisterous outbreaks in the early days of the Salvation Army in New Zealand ; but the Waii hi revival is not at all noisy. You know, the whole thing seems to |jq in the air ; you cannot escape its influence if you would, It is tw markable that there sliould be such an awakening; at least, I suppose many people would think it remarkable. But, after all, you know, are plenty of instances in the hisi tory of the world of Christian revivals of this sort. Look at that which 'broke out iu Ireland, and spread all over England. I should not be at all surprised if it were but the mere kindling of a fire in Waihi, which will sweep like a purifying blast right through the whole colony,'* 1 "But tell me about some of tho people," said the reporter., "Well, there are, or, I should say,, there were, some pnetty tough customers in Waihi. One woman, poor soul, had been leading a life of sin for years. She wab Wrought to her knees in tears, and found peace there and then. But she was only one. There are others. Some of. the wild-, est characters in Waihi have, become changed uersons, This has mahe a profound impression in everyone in the place. You sec, the people who have been converted are well known} their lives are as open "books, with which every resident is well ac-i

quaintcd, I can tell you; and yoir can imagine the effect it must have aad," "And what was the condition gt things when you left Wai-M V"Unchangedj The churches were crowded, and meetings arc held all day. It is quite a common tiling tosec a band of young fellows meeting in thq i. street to spiefak, and pray/ and sing. The miners jiold prayer meetings even underground, and sucli things 'as these at ',dne -time would have been regarded as ridlcutoui in Waihi, are now common there today. Meetings are held in the .drivea and on the sides of the hiljs," '-'You find the churches co-operate in the revival '*"■ "You can safely say that whatever the revival may be, it is not den nominational. We see all the Evangelical Churchmen, united in love, and I tell you it has only just bei . gun 'in Waihi., j There is not tlni slightest trace of sectarian bittern ness to be -found there now. All the feeling there ever was has been completely broken dowH.' l "Does your description of Evan-i gelical churches embrace the Anglican communion

I "Of course it does. The minister of the Waihi Church so far bas talw en no part in the revival himself, but the people of the church have ; and I do not see how the Anglican Church can withstand the It is a movement of the people among the people. There can be no doubt about that, and it nas risen like a flood." "But will the revival, having commenced in Waihi, extend beyond that district ?" "I havo already said that I believe it will, and I think-*-! -have yet to meet the meinbers-the Auckland Ministers • Association are likely to hold great united meetings in Aucki< ls t eprtlain that 1 10 'clival will 1M prohibition for Waihi, as the very. fmm n'W , be «<l>ecled to come mm s 1 ■ TO-I Mu." pas{.few days." ■ Forestm'°'Vl?n VC M 11 , aMte5S in thc aftmnfi Hal1 ' NoWl on, yesterday: The hall maf *'' S "If?" 4 c!i l ,crie ™*s Amonl X CroWti<xl t0 Wicdqors, those present were several 0t AMoklanTVst«smade fl n? : f , r • Wilson ' s address Iltesent impression upon alt * - :-.l #