A Miner's Thirst That Flooded a Nation

In the autumn of 1904, twenty-six-year-old Evan Roberts trudged out of the Welsh coal mines each evening with lungs full of dust and a soul aching for something he couldn't name. For thirteen years he had prayed for revival, kneeling on the hard floor of his room in Loughor, a village so small it barely appeared on maps. His spiritual thirst was relentless.

Then, at a conference in Blaenannerch, something broke open. Roberts later described it simply: "I was filled." No dramatic vision. No audible voice. Just the Living Water of the Holy Spirit flooding a coal miner's parched soul.

What happened next astonished Wales. Roberts returned home and began speaking — not with polished sermons but with the overflow of a man who had finally drunk deeply. Within weeks, churches across South Wales were packed at all hours. Coal miners sang hymns underground. Magistrates reported empty courtrooms. Pubs shuttered for lack of customers. Within five months, over one hundred thousand people had come to faith.

Jesus stood at the Feast of Tabernacles and declared, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink." He promised that from the one who believes, rivers of living water would flow. Evan Roberts came thirsty. The Almighty didn't just quench his thirst — He turned a coal miner into a river that flooded an entire nation.