JAMAICA’S 1860 REVIVAL

After delivering his messages in Bethel Town, the missionary proposed a prayer gathering at dawn to be held on Monday morning. Five hundred people attended. Another meeting was then announced for Monday evening, presided over by a local preacher.

At the conclusion of the service, and just as the final petition was presented, “the Spirit was poured out, and the mighty rev...ival movement had commenced in real earnest,” it was said. The people would not leave the chapel. The missionary was notified and he hastened back on Wednesday evening to witness unforgettable scenes, with as many as one hundred hardened sinners prostrated at once. A dozen couples “living in sin” published “the banns” for legal marriage in a Christian ceremony.

At Mount Carey chapel a crowd of twelve hundred people gathered by 11 a.m. the gathering of with many standing outside. A sensation was caused when about seven hearers were prostrated, much to the alarm of the local leadership. In these three places, 3,000 sinners were spiritually “awakened.” They were typical of scenes throughout the island. . (from “EVENT OF THE CENTURY by J Edwin Orr)

JAMAICA’S 1860 REVIVAL

The most notable feature of this awakening was prayer. People whose lips seemed solely accustomed to curse and to swear now prayed as fluently as if such petition had been the daily employment of their lives.

The prayer meetings seemed to generate a supernatural force which carried the multitudes along on a wave of irresistible power which, in turn, produced passionate rep...entance, astonishing moral reformation and fervent longing to know and love and serve the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is one very exciting private journal of the period, penned by a Moravian missionary, the Rev. Theodor Sonderman, which gives us a glimpse into the beginnings of the revival movement. When he visited Clifton he was told that a strange meeting was going on, so he rode on until he met a crowd of people, some weeping for joy, others under deep conviction, and others bewildered by the events.

He tried to allay excitement, but while himself engaged in prayer, his own feelings overpowered him, so he felt it wise ‘to leave them to the direction of the Holy Spirit.’     From J EDWIN ORR’S “Event of the Century”

JAMAICA'S 1860 REVIVAL: REVIVAL BEGINNINGS

It was during September 1860, that this unprecedented evangelical awakening began among the Moravians in St. Elizabeth Parish, in the southwest. It soon spread like wild fire, first to the three parishes of St. James, Hanover, and Westmoreland, causing a sensation in local congregations, regardless of denomination. Eastwards the movement quickened Mandevi...lle and spread along the coast to villages and hamlets, eventually affecting the entire island - from Montego Bay to St. Thomas, from St. Ann’s Bay to Savanna-la-Mar.

There was widespread conviction of sin, crime lessened, ethical standards were raised, old superstitions lost their power, broken marriages were healed, many left their lovers and returned to their families, and thousands of co-habiting couples were united in Christian marriage.

Drunkards became abstainers, former blasphemers invoked the name of God with respect and holy fear, rum shops and gambling houses were closed and prodigal children were reclaimed. The moral landscape of the nation was dramatically transformed during these months of the revival.

(Excerpted from J EDWIN ORR'S "Events of the Century")

JAMAICA REVIVAL 1860 - Part 2

JAMAICA’S 1860 REVIVAL: By early 1860 there had developed a confident expectation that God would soon visit the Jamaican church, but no one anticipated the ‘copious showers’ that were soon to fall, for two glorious years. Soon the pattern of earnest prayer, followed by the conviction of sins and painful penitence, and then outright conversions, commenced. What began with small revival prayer meeti...ngs became an awakening of the masses.

Almost every place of worship was crowded to capacity, for it seemed the whole population wanted to hear the good news of Christ. Backsliders returned. Thousands were converted and baptized. Great numbers sought admission to church membership, including more young people than one missionary had seen in 30 years. Reading of the Bible, praise, prayer, and preaching became the norm during the first phase of revival.

JAMAICA REVIVAL 1860 - Part 1

The Jamaican Revival (1860): As news of the Laymen’s Prayer Revival in America reached the Caribbean island nation of Jamaica, churches began praying for a similar outpouring. “Peep of day” (dawn) prayer meetings were organized across the islands so Christians could gather for prayer before going out into the fields to work.

Most of these prayer meetings were organized at plantations and were well attended. As people prayed, anticipation of an imminent revival heightened. By 1860, most Christians believed God would send them revival by year’s end, but none anticipated the intensity of the showers of blessing they were about to receive. (Excerpt from the book "10 Greatest Revivals in the Earth")