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Rees Howells
Rees Howells (1879–1950) was a Welsh preacher, missionary, and intercessor whose ministry became a cornerstone of the holiness and revival movements, particularly through his founding of the Bible College of Wales. Born on October 10, 1879, in Brynamman, Carmarthenshire, Wales, he was the sixth of eleven children in a poor mining family; his father, Thomas Howells, died in a mining accident when Rees was two. Raised by his mother, Ann, in a devout Methodist home, he left school at 12 to work in the tin mines and later as a collier. Converted at age 22 during the 1904 Welsh Revival through the preaching of Rev. Joseph Jenkins, Howells experienced a profound spiritual awakening that redirected his life from worldly pursuits to radical faith. In 1910, he married Elizabeth Hannah Jones, known as "Lizzie," and they had one son, Samuel Rees Howells. Howells’s preaching career began with missionary work in South Africa from 1915 to 1920 under the South Africa General Mission, alongside his wife, where he preached holiness and saw significant revival among the Zulu people. Returning to Wales in 1922, he established the Bible College of Wales in Swansea in 1924, transforming a dilapidated estate into a training ground for missionaries, funded through faith and prayer without direct appeals for money. Known as "the Intercessor," his ministry peaked during World War II, when he led the college in intense prayer campaigns believed to influence key events, such as the Battle of Britain, as chronicled in Norman Grubb’s biography Rees Howells, Intercessor (1952). A prolific preacher of sanctification and dependence on God, he continued leading the college until his death on February 13, 1950, in Swansea, leaving a legacy of intercessory prayer and global missions that endures through the college’s ongoing work. He was buried in the college grounds, survived by Lizzie and Samuel, who succeeded him as director.
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Rees Howells shares a powerful testimony of how the Holy Spirit challenged him to love and care for every tramp on the road, mirroring the father's love for the prodigal son in the parable. Through divine prompting, Rees and his friend extended help, lodging, and work to sixteen tramps, including a family of four, even welcoming them into their home. Despite facing opposition and concerns from family members, Rees stood firm in his conviction to show Christ-like love, leading to a transformation in the tramps' behavior and ultimately highlighting the difference between natural and spiritual love.
Loving as He
When the Holy Spirit asked me to love every tramp on the road it was not I who really became responsible for them but God. He said, "You do to them what the father did to his prodigal son in the parable." I knew well what that father did; I had preached on it many times! The Lord said, "I died for each one of these, and when you love as I love, you will be willing even to die for them." Only the Holy Spirit could do that. Certainly I could give money to them but he wanted to make intercessions for them. The night after he spoke to me about them, there was a tramp in the meeting in the mission for the first time. Not one had come before this, but now they came, one after another, until at one time there were sixteen, including a family of four. My friend and I helped them, found lodgings and work for them, but then they started coming to my home and the Lord told me I was not to take a place at home that my family would not give them. I realised then that the position was going to be tested. It came when my brothers complained that the tramps showed no respect and usually seated themselves in his chair. They also feared that some harm might come to my mother through them. My father knew that if he turned the tramps out, I would walk out that instant and he stood on my side. He said, "You all bring your friends to the house and if Rees has sunk so low that he only has tramps for his friends, they must be free to come too." The test had lasted for months but after this not one tramp came to my home. The test was not between the tramps and my parents but between natural love and spiritual love.
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Rees Howells (1879–1950) was a Welsh preacher, missionary, and intercessor whose ministry became a cornerstone of the holiness and revival movements, particularly through his founding of the Bible College of Wales. Born on October 10, 1879, in Brynamman, Carmarthenshire, Wales, he was the sixth of eleven children in a poor mining family; his father, Thomas Howells, died in a mining accident when Rees was two. Raised by his mother, Ann, in a devout Methodist home, he left school at 12 to work in the tin mines and later as a collier. Converted at age 22 during the 1904 Welsh Revival through the preaching of Rev. Joseph Jenkins, Howells experienced a profound spiritual awakening that redirected his life from worldly pursuits to radical faith. In 1910, he married Elizabeth Hannah Jones, known as "Lizzie," and they had one son, Samuel Rees Howells. Howells’s preaching career began with missionary work in South Africa from 1915 to 1920 under the South Africa General Mission, alongside his wife, where he preached holiness and saw significant revival among the Zulu people. Returning to Wales in 1922, he established the Bible College of Wales in Swansea in 1924, transforming a dilapidated estate into a training ground for missionaries, funded through faith and prayer without direct appeals for money. Known as "the Intercessor," his ministry peaked during World War II, when he led the college in intense prayer campaigns believed to influence key events, such as the Battle of Britain, as chronicled in Norman Grubb’s biography Rees Howells, Intercessor (1952). A prolific preacher of sanctification and dependence on God, he continued leading the college until his death on February 13, 1950, in Swansea, leaving a legacy of intercessory prayer and global missions that endures through the college’s ongoing work. He was buried in the college grounds, survived by Lizzie and Samuel, who succeeded him as director.