A big call and huge financial battles we can relate to; we living in an era where the inner witness is rare in Britain, but still the call must go on as in Rees Howell’s day:  But the real battle came over the full sum to be paid. He had never dealt in large amounts before, and the burden was great upon him. He was to take no meetings, nor make any appeals. His eyes were to be on God alone. He gave himself to prayer, spending his days in his little upstairs bedroom in his mother’s home, alone with God and His Word from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., when he took his first meal. In the evenings he continued in prayer with his newly-found prayer-partner, Mr. Tommy Howells. Ten months were spent in this way until the victory was complete.

It was during this time that God established for him the principles of faith in finance which were to govern all his future large-scale dealings in the purchase of properties, and their upkeep. At that time, George Muller was the only man he knew of who had done the same thing before — with no council, no denomination, not making his needs known, and shut in with God alone. Mr. Howells found him a very great help in proving that the promises of God were reliable to step out on. Indeed he said that the only two books which he found could help him through this critical period were the Bible and Muller’s autobiography, and he was often encouraged by thinking, “It must be true, because Muller did it.” He was determined not to go beyond what Muller did, which was not to buy or build until he had three-quarters of the money.

But in his daily pleadings with the Lord for the promised talent of gold, the Spirit reminded him of something else — the book of Haggai. When the Jews had begun to build the second temple, and the work had stopped through the accusations of their enemies, the Lord through Haggai told them to go on and build, though they were in great poverty; and it was then God said to them: “The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine” (Hag. 2:8). When they began to build on the strength of that promise, in faraway Babylon, God stirred King Darius to look up the records of what Cyrus had promised them, and to send them all they needed (Ezra 6).

We have experienced the same thing; since being threatened by text in 2010 “to be destroyed through official channels” we literally have walked “through the valley of the shadow of death” “Will you give up a pension to bail out the Charity?” I was asked of the Lord, the path being so similar that the accusations of our many enemies being considerable even to the point of being threatened by a Barrister of another faith, that if we said anything in court all of our ministry and selves would be taken away from us. The country has sold out to foreign law, cultural Marxism and utilitarianism that the true Christians are being pulled to one corner into the same box of the Covenanters whose cause we will restore!

After facing Mr. Howells with this passage, the Lord said, “If you believe I am the owner of the silver and gold, as you build, I will give you whatever is needed.” In other words, the Lord was leading His servant differently from Muller. He was not to wait until he had three-quarters of the money, but he was to go straight ahead, and not expect a deliverance from God to-day for a need of to-morrow. The Lord had taught him years before in small things that “the promises of God are equal to current coin,” and that, therefore, he must act on the promises as he would if he actually had the cash. But he never thought he would be called to apply it on this large scale. It meant many severe tests, and he did not hesitate to use normal business methods of advances from the bank when guided to do so. But the proof that God has been with His servant in this way as He was with George Muller in another, is that there are no debts or mortgages to-day on estates whose present value is about £100,000.

We like Rees Howells are going ahead with the projects despite of natural sight. You will look at our financial state at the end of this newsletter and possibly say “crazy”. But we are to be “fools for Christ”, be stupid to this world and confound the wise.

1 Corinthians 3:18 Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)

18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.

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But to return to the purchase of Glynderwen. The next sum asked for was £2,000. The Lord sent gifts varying from 5s. to £800 during the next three months, but when he still only had £1,700, the solicitor suddenly called for it to be paid by eleven o’clock the next morning. At first he was baffled a bit, as to why the Lord had allowed this sudden demand to be made. He was walking down Wind Street in Swansea, and as he came under the bridge, the word came to him, “Trust ye in the Lord for ever, for in the Lord Jehovah are everlasting resources.” It was a word from heaven to him, and he believed that by eleven o’clock the next morning he would be passing back under that bridge having the money with him. He had a train to catch, and finding an empty carriage, he got down on his knees and praised the Lord. He could have danced for joy, he said. The next morning he had the £300. The woman who sent it told him afterwards that she had a great burden for him during the very half-hour that he believed. It was so heavy on her, that she had to close her shop and post the money off to him. He was able to pay the £2,000 that day and have £18 to the good!

Glynderwen had been the home of Sir Charles Eden, an uncle of the Right Honorable Anthony Eden. The estate consisted of a mansion and eight acres of land, also the public-house. The property had been laid out in lawns, gardens and a tennis court with a lovely view of Swansea Bay and Mumbles. During the testing days, before the £2,000 was paid, an offer came to buy from Mr. Howells the public-house, and four acres of land attached to it. No new liquor license had been granted in Swansea for many years, so the license alone was worth over £1,000, and acceptance would have supplied the extra money needed at that time. It was the first serious temptation in finance, to take an easy way of deliverance; but there was no possibility of compromise on principle. The offer was turned down, the public-house closed, and the value of the license forfeited. Also the licensee was compensated for clearing out. Fair is fair to all — saints and publicans alike! Then by the addition of eight rooms, the public-house itself was converted into a men’s hostel.

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The whole property was placed in the hands of three trustees, who stood together in this venture of faith; they were the late Rev. W. W Lewis, a well-known and respected minister in Swansea; Mr. Henry Griffiths, who was then the confidential clerk of the Great Mountain Colliery Company, and is now a Group Accountant of the National Coal Board; and the third was Mr. Howells.

Mr. Edwards, the former owner, became very friendly with Mr. Howells, and in later years gave gifts to the work. He told him, “I couldn’t sell the property to anyone else.” When the completed account was received, with about twenty items on it, including solicitor’s charges, and the sum paid to the licensee of the public-house, the total came to £6,150 7s. 4d. — a talent of gold plus 7s. 4d!

The opening of the College was on Whit-Monday, 1924, and crowds came to hear the story of what God had done during that great period of commercial embarrassment and scarcity of money. About a thousand people gathered. “I remember how God tested me,” said Mr. Howells. “We hadn’t a tent or a building then sufficient to hold a crowd, and the meetings would have to be in the open air. It had been raining nearly all the week before. I had ordered hundreds of chairs from the Corporation. On the Sunday I had the victory that the Whit-Monday would be fine. It was a perfect day. I told the people there would not be a drop of rain till they arrived home that day.” One of the future tutors of the College, a Greek and Hebrew scholar, the Rev. Llynfi Davies, M.A., B.D., testified later how he came down to that meeting a modernist, and went back a believer. Failing to find any committee or religious body behind it, the Press called it “God’s College” — a happy title!