The Grandfather I Never Knew Part 10

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9 

-- Part 10 was added to on October 21st. It now includes some small corrections and a large part of Norma Davies' recollections, which she has recorded in 'nuggets' and posted to Facebook in the past. -- 

Idris passed away on May 6th, 1984. He had gone into hospital for treatment regarding his Prostrate A nurse made a mistake while he was in the hospital and this ultimately led to his death. (1) Merthyn received a phone call from Tobias - the house cook and servant, a long time friend of Idris - right before he was due to be preaching. He finished his sermon and then began to deal with the emotional aspects of his father dying. 

Glyn, Idris' eldest son, was in South Africa at the time. His wife Norma recalls:

"The year was 1984 and it was early May. We had accepted a post to be missionary educators running a Bible College in Durban South Africa. Glyn’s parents had remained in Rhodesia, living in Bulawayo. Glyn’s mother passed away in May 0f 1982, while we were in the States on furlough. After her death Dad moved to Sinoia where he was the senior Pastor of a congregation, coinciding with the time we were in South Africa. Then the call came saying that Dad had passed away from complications after surgery. Sadly we loaded our car, took the children out of school and set out for the long journey from Durban, South Africa to Harare, Zimbabwe (known to us as Salisbury, Zimbabwe). The deeper we drove in Zimbabwe the more shocked we were at how the country we remembered had changed. Signs of poverty seemed to be the norm; gone were the maize fields, in their place farmland lay desolate and uncared for. Farms that during our day raised large herds of cattle now lay in ruins with no signs of livestock of any kind. We were shaken and saddened by what we saw.

After the funeral service and burial at the Warren Hills Cemetery, we lingered saying our earthly farewell. You see in that sacred place not only was it the final resting place of Glyn's father but also of our infant son, who was laid to rest there in 1974. We did not sorrow though, as those without hope, as we drew comfort in the knowledge that in God’s eternal time we would be reunited in heaven."

Roland Pletts, a friend of the families' and a man baptised in the font that Idris built in his garden, was with Idris just a couple of days before he passed away. Roland recalls.

"He was admitted to St Anne's Catholic Hospital in Salisbury/Harare. This was a private hospital run by the nuns and people and doctors had access to its facilities. It was spacious, clean, and housed in a substantial colonial type building surrounded by beautiful gardens.


The day I called to see him he was resting peacefully near to the time of his departure.


Someone else was there who prayed that the Lord should raise him up because he still had a great work to do.

Knowing all the accomplishments and faithful service he had fulfilled over many years I knew Idris had already accomplished a substantial amount and from what he had conveyed to us I realised that he was not wanting to be raised up but was ready to depart and be with the Lord and to hear those sacred words "Well done good and faithful servant....enter into the joy of your Lord."


He passed away in peace a day or two later, a great Man of God who had faithfully lived for Jesus and impacted innumerable people mine included." (2)

At the time the family thought Idris had been alone in those last few days. It gave everyone great joy when they found out years later that it was not so. Indeed, Roland was led to being a Christian, by Idris himself.

Only Glyn was able to make it back to Africa for the funeral. He found it very strange, for there was only one floral arrangement, flowers that he and Norma had bought as a tribute from Wendy, he and Merthyn.

The funeral service was officiated by A.B, Roberson, the pastor of the A.O.G. church at McClery Ave. Harare.

Glyn also received a letter from one of Idris' cousins., Mostyn Cole. It read:

"You have the consolation of knowing that your father was truly a man of God, whose entire life was devoted to spreading the Word. What pride you must have felt in him and his achievements.  My memories go back to the days when Idris was a dashing devil-may-care teenager, or so it appeared to me. He came to work in my father's iron monger shop at the time that my father was slowly and painfully travelling the road to his own death. Idris, to me, was a tonic (I was about 13 or 14 at the time). He was unfailingly cheerful and conscientious and his exploits climbing the cliffs at Morlais Castle (3) in Merthyr filled me with awe. They still do when I recall them. Idris seemed to have nerves of steel." (4)

There will be future blog posts about Mostyn and his family now that I have discovered them.

Glyn also observed that in Africa the way a funeral is done, you go to the church, then to the grave site, the casket is lowered, you throw dirt on the casket. When Iris died you threw rose petals on the casket. It was just an open grave.

In my first version of this post, I had mentioned that Idris was buried in Warren Hills Cemetery, Harare, next to Iris. (5)

I have since discovered that Iris was buried in Bulawayo, and so Idris was not laid to rest next to his wife.

Besides the obvious loss felt by Idris' death it was difficult for other reasons. Zimbabwe was ruled by the dictator Mugabe by this time and it became very difficult to take anything worth any value out of the country. They managed to smuggle Idris' bible out only due to a close family friend who arranged it.

Later, there was another family heirloom that made it to America by way of South Africa, but many of the family pictures, furniture and the bronze backed paintings had to remain. There was little they could take with them. Norma has again supplied plenty of information and clarity about this.

Following the funeral we met with the government official who was assigned to the Death Estate department, to make arrangements for all the legal paperwork, including the disposal of the contents of Dad’s home.

What a shock awaited us when we sat down with the official, who turned out to be a close friend of ours from our teenage years in Rhodesia. His stunning news was only compounded by the history of our friendship.

He told us that the Zimbabwean government required him to “seal” the house from ANY family members and only he was allowed to enter the house and take inventory of all of its contents.
Once he completed his inventory, then government officials would hold a public auction and sell off the entire contents of the home, keeping the money in the government’s coffers! Not one penny would be given to family members listed in Dad’s Will! 

None of this made any sense to us, as the house was filled with many family keepsakes that would mean nothing to a stranger; such as family pictures etc. Added to that there were legal documents, birth certificates, marriage certificate etc. that Glyn really needed as the surviving eldest son.
Exhaustion and grief had already invaded our emotions and now it seemed the hand of a cruel corrupt government was dealing us the final blow. 

Our friend told us to wipe our tears as he had made “certain arrangements” with a farmer in Sinoia that was an elder in Dad’s church. He instructed us that he would “turn his back for three days” to enable us to go into Dad’s home and retrieve documents and a few items that would fit in the truck of our car. He warned us to be cautious what we took though, to prevent causing suspicion by the Zimbabwe officials at the Beit Bridge border, when we crossed back into South Africa.

We picked up our two children from a friend’s home and headed to Sinoia and the farm of the church elder. When we arrived, Boet, (name changed for the family’s protection), and his wife greeted us with open arms, just as though we were longtime friends. 

Boet suggested we leave the two children on the farm so they would not have to witness the heart-wrenching experience that Glyn and I were about to embark on. He and his wife were the epitome of compassion doing everything they could think of to ease our pain. 

Arriving at Dad’s home, stepping into the silent living room literally sucked the air out of me. I sat on the sofa that had a crocheted afghan lying over the back. I had crocheted it as a gift for my mother-in-law several years earlier. Everywhere we looked were poignant memories of precious happy times we had spent together as a family. By now Glyn and I could not staunch the flow of tears at the great loss we were dealing with. 

Boet comforted us with his presence and then helped us re-focus on the task at hand. Glyn went into Dad’s office and began to collect all the legal documents, like birth and marriage certificates along with family Bibles, including Dad’s personal Bible with sermon notes between the pages. This was a treasure not to be lost!

Boet walked with me from room to room to see if there were any personal items that we could carry in the limited space in our car. I was not aware that in my numbed emotional state, I kept walking back to the dining room and running my hand over a tea wagon that had been handmade in England and given to my In-laws as a wedding present. So it actually was an antique that held many memories.
Another item I kept going back to was a Rhodesian Oak Dining Room dresser that had belonged to my parents and then was given to Glyn’s parents, so it had been in both families’ history.
I kept saying over and over as tears flowed unabated, that I could not believe we were losing these family “treasurers”.

The whole time Boet was a stalwart of compassion and help. Taking care of what to do with the two dogs and the faithful African couple who had been caring for Dad since Mom had passed away. Once we had finished all we could do, was to head back to the farm. Boet suggested that we rest while his wife was preparing supper, which we welcomed as our exhaustion was now more than we could bear.

While we were resting Boet quickly rounded up a group of his farm workers and big farm truck and returned to the house. They loaded the tea wagon and the dining room dresser, along with a large wooden crate filled with tools that Glyn had given his Dad and secretly brought them back to the farm, unbeknown to us. The out-pouring of love that Boet and his wife showered on us was a balm to our shattered emotions. After resting on the farm for one more day, we headed back to South Africa to resume our missionary duties; closing the door on that chapter of our lives and never hearing again what happened to the contents of Dad’s home.

Several months later we received a phone call from Swift Transport Company informing us they had a delivery to make. We had absolutely no idea what it was, so we waited impatiently for the truck to arrive.  Imagine our stunned amazement when we discovered the delivery was the dining room dresser, the heirloom tea wagon and crate of tools! (6)

Hardly able to contain our excitement, we carefully removed the packing from around these tangible family treasures.

Yet we kept asking ourselves, how could this be? We saw on the shipping label the items had come from an unknown person living near Johannesburg. Glyn quickly put in a phone call to try and unravel the mystery. The gentleman that answered explained that he and his wife had been members of the congregation that Dad Davies served and they had just emigrated from Rhodesia to South Africa.

They had to get permission from the Zimbabwean government for every item of furniture they took with them and they were not allowed DUPLICATES.

When Boet knew they were leaving, he asked if they had any of the items that he had taken from Dad’s house. They didn’t; so Boet asked them to transport these items with their furniture and then gave them the money to ship them to us in Durban! So all was not lost; like Ruth of old, God in His mercy had given us some “handfuls on purpose”!"

Norma has done so well remembering the sorrow of the time that there is little left for me to say. I will finish with this picture I have of one of Idris' favourite quotes. It is in his own handwriting and reads,

"A shining face radiant with the love of God is worth more than a ton of logic, rhetoric, and elocution."

I like to believe that as well as the preaching and baptisms, Idris also had one of those radiant faces.

_____

(1) I believe Idris had previously had issues with his bowels and the nurse was unaware of this or had forgotten the fact. The doctor had asked that no one give him an enema, but the nurse did so. He died just a day or so later.

(2) This conversation was over Facebook and I have saved it, along with several other observations that Roland Plett had about my grandfather Idris.

(3) Morlais Castle. A 13th century castle, above the Taff Gorge near Merthyr Tydfil, Wales.

(4) I was unsure who Mostyn Cole was or how he was related to Idris. (Except the obvious statement that he was a cousin.) After speaking to Roy (Idris's nephew.) I discovered that he was the son of Annie Griffiths' younger sister, Mary Jane Cole (nee Griffiths). This Annie Griffiths was Idris' mother, not to be confused with his mother in law, also named Annie Griffiths (nee Simpkins).

(5) I don't have a picture of Idris' grave. With the current unrest that still exists in Zimbabwe, I am unsure if I ever will, but I am definitely trying to push open doors and see what is possible.

(6) I have personally seen these tools and the heirlooms, as Glyn and Norma still have them at their home in the United States.

The Gravestones of Price and Annie Davies

My first cousin once removed recently made a trip to Wales and upon request he stopped by the graveyard of Price and Annie Davies to take a picture for me. These are one set of my great grandparents. I had previously tried to find them through find a grave but had no luck. He said next time he made the trip he would happily accomodate my request.

Since he knows Welsh he also kindly translated the inscriptions. The original inscription reads:

"Er Serchus Cof Am

Annie Davies

Annwyl Briod

Price Davies, Cynt o Dowlais Top

Bu Farw 6 Chwefror 1961

Yn 78 Mlwydd Oed

Hefyd Am y Dywededig

Price Davies

Bu Farw 15 Mai 1966

Yn 84 Mlwydd Oed

"Byth Ar Swn Y Delyn Aur."
He informed me that the literal translation is:

"In Loving Memory Of

Annie Davies

Beloved Spouse of

Price Davies, Formerly of Dowlais Top

Died 6 February 1961

At 78 Years Old

Also of the Aforesaid

Price Davies

Died 15 May 1966

At 84 Years Old.

"Ever to the Sound of the Golden Harp."

This relative, Roy, always sends me helpful links to explain references as well. He let me know that "the last line is from a Welsh hymn "Y Delyn Aur" (the Golden Harp) by Ann Griffiths. Her name was almost the same as Annie's before her marriage - Annie Griffiths."

I will share the hymn and some history behind it in another post. I can now add these to the gravestones I have for one set of my great grandparents on my mothers side. I blogged about them here.

Julia Edith Davies' Contribution To Women In Church Leadership

Julia Edith Davies. According to my first cousin once removed she was born 9th June 1890, in Manordeifi, Pembrokeshire, Wales. 

Married in Merthyr Tydfil, 11th June 1905 to my great great uncle David John Davies. 

Sometime between 1911 and 1917 they began leading a church together. At that time it was in the Ystrad, Rhondda and they met at a Baptist Chapel. Today it is called Mount Zion Pentecostal Church and has moved to Gelli but is still in the Rhondda Valley.

Whether or not Julia Edith preached earlier than 1926 is not known for sure, but she was definitely preaching at the church by the period of the late 1920's. 

Article in 1926 July edition of Redemption Tidings (The official magazine of the Assemblies of God, Great Britain.) 

The above article was written in July 1926 by Julia's husband. The first paragraph is of note. It reads:

"I am taking the pleasure of writing to you a brief account of our Whitsuntide Convention. Although owing to the present coal crisis[1], we had to cancel our expected speakers, yet we carried the meetings on locally, the other Assemblies rallying with us, and from beginning to end the Lord caused his face to shine upon us. Those who ministered the word were Bro. Dan John, Clydach Vale; J Crew, Tumble; Miss A. Meredith, Treorchy; Mrs. E. Davies, Ystrad."

What conclusions to draw from this? Firstly, at least some and perhaps all of these, were not the intended speakers for the convention, but the general strike made it impossible for the original speakers to make it to the Rhondda and the church in Ystrad.

Secondly, Julia Edith is referred to here as Mrs. E. Davies. This was not unusual. She often went by Mrs. J. E. Davies and Mrs. E. Davies. 

Thirdly, there was more than one woman speaker at this convention. Miss A. Meredith also spoke. 

Later in 1926 both Mr. and Mrs. Davies traveled for an evangelistic campaign in Ramsgate.

Article from the 1926 Oct edition of Redemption Tidings

In this case it's a simple announcement that "This Assembly, too, is having a Special Gospel Campaign during September-October, when they expect Mr. and Mrs. Davies, of Ystrad, Wales, for a Soul-saving Campaign." 

It's not definitive proof that she preached, but it was not unusual for her to do so. Another article from Redemption Tidings in June of 1929 is recalling a miraculous healing that one of the congregation experienced. The full article is provided here.

Article in 1929 June edition of Redemption Tidings

I won't transcribe the entire article, but the bit in question is a paragraph in the middle which reads;

"I went to our mission at Ystrad, where I was a member, and that night our dear sister Mrs. Davies (the pastor's wife), was delivering a message from the Word of God. She said how we people believed in God for everything, yet when we were taken ill we run for the doctor.[2] I was drinking in every word she was saying." 

Julia. E. Davies was a preacher, and in the early days of the Pentecostal movement it seemed that no one batted an eyelid. 

Julia's husband died in 1931. Julia herself was sick when his death occurred and the church initially called David John's brother to lead them for a few months. I've written about this here.[3]

When Julia recovered from her sickness she took over the leading of the church. 

Article in the February 1934 edition of Redemption Tidings

"Time has passed since the homecall of our late pastor, Mr. D. J. Davies of the Ystrad Assembly, to be with Christ, but we can truly say that the Lord has been very faithful in watching over His flock and providing for them another leader, viz, our late Pastor's wife, Mrs. J. E. Davies.
The Lord has granted times of refreshing in our midst; souls have been saved, many of whom have received the Holy Ghost, and many bodies have been healed, Hallelujah."

The 1935 listing of the Assemblies of God churches in Great Britain list Julia Edith Davies as the official leader of the church in Ystrad. 

1935 Jan Redemption Tidings listing of Assemblies of God Churches, Great Britain and their leaders.

This is just the lower half of the listings, but you can see Mrs. E. Davies listed in the bottom right hand corner next to the Ystrad church. She wasn't the only woman leader in the listing. Miss N. Shearman leads in Gloucester, and Miss J. Curtis in Hull.

Price Davies (Julia's brother in law) records in his memoir that there were 700 people sometimes in the congregation at Ystrad[3], which met at the Nebo Baptist Church until the Mount Zion church building was built. This wasn't a woman leader in some church of 20-30 congregants tucked away in the middle of nowhere. The Assemblies of God church in Ystrad was significant. David John (Her deceased husband) was the former secretary of the Assemblies of God in Wales and a member of the national executive board that led the Assemblies of God in its early days in Great Britain. 

I see Julia Edith Davies as a pioneer of women in leadership within the church. 
____

[1] Unlike the same time period of time within the United States, there was no roaring 20's in Britain and the 1920's were a time of social upheaval and strikes. The 3rd May 1926 to the 13th may 1926 was a General Strike where none of the coal miners worked and non essential railways shut down. Any visiting speakers from outside of the Rhondda would have been unable to visit during this period. This article is written in July 1926 but it is about the May Whitsuntide Convention which would have been affected by this. 

[2] To my knowledge neither Julia Edith Davies nor her husband David John Davies believed it was wrong to visit a doctor. They did however believe in divine healing and often preached on such. The denomination of which they were a part, the Assemblies of God, also believes in divine healing. The denomination does not believe in avoiding doctors and believe that God uses doctors to bring about healing. While this is the teaching of the church, the lady writing the article, a Mrs. Chinn, obviously decided that in her current case of cancer there was nothing more the doctor could do and so she would trust in divine healing instead. 

[3] I am fortunate that my Great Grandfather Price Davies recorded his own memoirs of his involvement in the birth of the pentecostal movement in Great Britain. Mentioned within them is his time at Ystrad assembly in the Rhondda Valley. 

"The Grandfather I Never Knew" Part 8

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Another significant event that occurred early in the 1950s was an accident that happened to Idris. He worked for a company in Palmerston that sold mechanized machinery. One day he was operating a crane and attempted to lift something with it that was too heavy. The crane crashed over and Idris was admitted to hospital. This event caused the ulcer that prevented him from eating much of his favourite foods all the time and triggered the rest periods he sometimes took during the building of the house in Umtali.

Despite this unfortunate event he was known to call for English pancakes (Crepes) on his own and other people's birthdays. He would also drink a lot of milk on these occasions. It wasn't always the best idea due to the stomach ulcers he suffered with but it seems he had a bit of a sweet tooth. Welsh rice pudding was also a favourite of his, as was custard pie. He would often try and sneak a Fanta or Vanilla milkshake as well. On occasion he would take the family out after church on a Sunday and buy one slab of vanilla ice cream for desert. Eating ice cream together as a family was a treat I also enjoyed growing up, so Idris must have passed it along to my dad, Merthyn.  One of Idris' favourite main meals was fricadles, which is a type of meatball. 

In the early 60's Idris' eldest child, Wendy, was married in Cheltenham 1964. Idris and Iris were unable to make the wedding. Idris had to console Iris who was upset over it, but they were able to make the local newspapers with their international call to their daughter on her wedding day.[1] 

Their eldest son, Glyn, went off to bible college in the United States. (66-69) Their daughter Wendy had already left in the 50's to join Cardiff College of music. Before leaving, Glyn brought Norma to visit the family, and early in 1966 they were married. Idris never knew quite how to respond to Norma but his wife exclaimed on the first night, "Glyn, you must marry this girl." 

Idris and Iris with Glyn and Norma in Bulawayo

Despite the long distances and expensive rate of international phone calls, Idris must have been in touch with his brothers about the wedding of his son because his older brother David John Davies[2] posted a congratulations in the weekly Assemblies of God magazine, Redemptions Tidings.

Posted in the 1966 March edition of Redemption Tidings

It's possible the communication was through letters; Iris' sister Ruth would often contact them in this way. 

One of Idris' hobbies was reading westerns. Both Glyn and Merthyn would borrow these books from him and read along. He particularly enjoyed Louis L’Amore and Zane Grey. Perhaps the Louis L'Amore appealed to him as he added historical details and wrote about a family leaving England to travel to the United States and set up a home there. Much as he left to set up a home in Southern Rhodesia. Idris would mainly find the time to read on holiday and would then devour these books. He also introduced his son Merthyn to the Hardy Boys.

As far as holidays were concerned there were a few primary locations. While they lived in Umtali they traveled often to Biera in Mozambique and later when they had moved to the west they often went down to South Africa and Amazimtoti. Glyn and Norma, when they returned from America, sometimes went with them. 

While on holiday Idris would go swimming with his youngest son, Merthyn. One time when visiting Biera, his son taught him to body surf. In a form of tubing they would go out into the sea and then catch the waves, holding on to a tube and running the wave back towards the shore. While doing this Idris was knocked over, and so his son taught him to body surf to land so he wouldn't have to swim the entire way. 

Once they moved to Bulawayo it took much longer to reach Biera so they would travel to Hot Springs[3] instead, a place where people still relax today in the heated pools of water, waterfalls, lakes and geysers that spring up from the ground. 
______

[1] Wendy remembers reading about the phone calls being in the local paper but to date I have been unable to locate the actual articles. 

[2] Idris' older brother David John Davies was named after Idris' uncle who died suddenly in 1931 from Pneumonia.

[3] Nyanyadzi Hot Springs are still known as a tourist attraction in Zimbabwe today. One tourist describes it this way in the online magazine "All Africa."  "Recently I visited Nyanyadzi Hot Springs in Manicaland. At the centre of the breathtaking Eastern Highlands geomorphology dominated by craggy mountains, tour filled lakes, sparkling rivers, spectacular waterfalls, glorious forests, rolling moorlands and dramatic gorges lies a hot spring with water at boiling point, that villagers believe is boiled by mermaids."

Much information for this blog post comes from a series of interviews with Glyn Davies, Norma Davies, Merthyn Davies and Wendy Thomas.

David John Davies - Cause of death

"On February 4th 1931 my brother Pastor D. J. Davies, Ystrad Rhondda died and on February the 9th was buried at Penrhys Cemetery - Pastor Tom Mercy, Cross keys, and Pastor Clement Morgan, Dowlais, officiating; when there were about one thousand people at the graveside." - Memoir of Price Davies [1]

Reading that began my journey to discover David John Davies. Price Davies' grandson, Roy Davies, also added this annotation to the memoir several years later.

"The March 1931 issue of Redemption Tidings, the official magazine of the Assemblies of God in Great Britain and Ireland, reported that the Assembly Hall where the funeral service was held was crowded out and hundreds of people failed to get admission. According to Ron Evans, a member of the church in Ystrad Rhondda of which D. J. Davies had been pastor, satin cloth bookmarks with details of his death and funeral were produced to commemorate his work. Ron Evans’s father kept one in his bible for many years afterwards but later it was lost."

My last blog post on David John Davies tells the story of how I located the March 1931 issue. It also transcribes the text of the article. I still didn't know how he died though.

Having located that particular issue of Redemption Tidings I was then able to find an online archive of previous and future issues of the magazine.[2] I downloaded them and ran a search on "Davies" to see what showed up. There I found the sad story of David John Davies' death.

This article is found in the March 1931 Redemption Tidings Ambassador, a weekly magazine that had was only published for a couple of years by the Assemblies of God in Great Britain. Here is a transcription. (I have not corrected any spelling mistakes.) 

Ystrad (Mount Zion)

It is with greatest sorrow that we report the home-going of our beloved Pastor, Mr. D. J. Davies, on February 4th with tragic suddeness. 

Sister Davies was very ill and he left her to go to the Executive Presbytery Meeting at Manchester.[3] He returned with a chill, went to bed and in five days died at her side, no one realising the end was near--of bronchial pneumonia.

We have lost a father in Isreael, one who showed to all that it was possible in these days to live "Sermon on the Mount".

There was only one Mr. D. J. Davies. He was laid to rest on February 9th with kingly honours, at Penrhys Cemetery. Like Moses of old he rests on the hill-top, in view of the scene of his many labours for the Master. His funeral showed us how much he was loved, when great and small, rich and poor, saints and sinners met to pay their last tribute. What a gathering! What a lesson to learn therefrom. The world acknowledges that it pays to serve Jesus. Our loved Pastor stood meekly, quietly, steadfastly against all criticisms, controversies with nothing more or less than "The Spoken Word." His favourite reply was "The scripture saith."

The prayers of the saints have been effectual, our dear Sister Davies is better though not yet in our midst. She ever stood shoulder to shoulder with her lost loved one who lived to do "His sweet will," and we pray that by God's grace she will again come forth with us, to carry on much aggressive work, following on what has already been labour fundamentally wrought with much success on Full Gospel lines. 

We feel we have lost our pastor at a time we needed him sorely, but His grace is sufficient and we say

          Had He asked us well we know, we would say, oh, spare this blow. Yes, with streaming tears would say, Lord, we love him let him stay, but we bow and reverently say, Thy will be done.

          John Harvey, Sec.

There we have it. He died of Bronchial Pneumonia and it was very sudden. 

Later, on march 18th 1931, the Redemption Tidings Ambassador magazine contains a message from David John's wife.

Her message can be read in the top right hand corner, "Sister Davies (Ystrad) wishes to thank all kind friends and relatives for their prayers and love shown in her sad bereavement."

Price Davies adds in his memoir that: 

"The following week Mrs. D. J. Davies, with the Elders and brethren of the Ystrad Assembly sent a letter to the Elders and the Church at Penrhiwceiber asking them if they would please release me and let me come to be in charge of the work at Ystrad until Mrs. Davies who was ill in bed at the time, could take over. They kindly granted their request. I was there for two months under much blessing from the Lord."

Still sick and in bed at the time of her husbands death it must have been a shock for his wife Edith. I am glad that her brother in law Price was able to take up some of the work in Ystrad and at least relieve her of that stress. 

There is one other thing I would like to take note of. Price Davies was only requested until "Mrs. Davies...could take over." This was 1931 and the church was seemingly perfectly okay for a woman to be leading them. [4]

____

[1]  Towards the end of his life Price Davies decided to write a record of significant events he could recall occurring in the Welsh Revival and his life since. It is called, "A Testimony and a brief recording of the beginning of the Pentecostal Movement in the Merthyr Borough, Bedlinog and the Aberdare Valley." It has been passed around my family and an electronic copy was handed down to me about 10 years ago. 

[2] This online archive where I found Redemption Tidings is held by University of South California. The copyright of all Redemption Tidings issues is held by the Donald Gee Center at Mattersey Hall and the Assemblies of God, United Kingdom. The particular issues that the articles in this post are taken from are no longer under any copyright at all. 

[3] During my research of the Redemption Tidings and re reading of Price Davies' annotated memories I have discovered that David John Davies was one of the original executive board members of the Assemblies of God in Great Britain. The reason he set off for Manchester was to meet with these original executors (In many ways founders of the Assemblies of God).

[4] There were several times during my reading of Redemption Tidings volumes that it was indicated women led various churches throughout the movement. Whether they were full time ordained ministers or lay ministers I do not know. 

"The Grandfather I Never Knew" Part 7

The Grandfather I Never Knew Part 7

For ease of reading I have posted links to the previous 6 parts of this series.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

With the house at 4 Taylor Avenue built, church meetings continued to take place there. This was a great blessing to Idris and Iris who wanted the place to be used as often as possible for these purposes. On 28th June 1960 Idris received this letter from two congregants

“To Idris,

To remind him of the part he and Iris have played, and are still playing in showing by word and by deed that there is no better life than that which is in Christ;

to tell him that the warmth and love found in his home has left a permanent glow in the lives of these two souls, who are endeavouring to emulate this Godly attribute;

to show him that though he is in Christ, he is also in our hearts;

To express in such inadequate terms the gratitude of us both for the “nursing(1)” and “bottle-feeding”1 he so painstakingly gave us as babes in Christ;

With fondest Christian love

Tom and Joy

Job 42:10”

Job 42:10 reads as follows: And the Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.

Original Letter from Tom and Joy(3)

Another member of the church, Howard Amm recalls the time he was baptised there with 7 others.

“Yes we were the first group of about eight or so young believers to be baptised on Whit Sunday (21/5/61) in a font especially built by Idris in his backyard ... an amazing experience followed up by many of us being baptised in the Holy Spirit2 at the pastor's (John Stegmann) manse across the road after the evening service ... an awesome day in my life ... funnily enough I don't remember all those who were baptised that day but I do remember a young pastor from SA whose name was Gerrie Hawes who was here at the time ... really great days ... some others who were there which may bring back some happy memories were Vera Potgieter and her young sister, Billy Morgan, Marilyn and Caroline Bush, some Welsh (They were actually Scottish.) friends of Idris and Iris Davies' from Salisbury who played the violin so beautifully…”

Staying in touch with the family in England was important but much more difficult to do in the days before cheap international calls, the internet and Skype. When phoning overseas you had to book a call for a specific time and it was £10 for just 3 minutes. Idris and Iris set off on a trip to England around 1962, visiting Iris’ sister and Idris’ brother while they were there. I believe this was also the last time that they saw Iris' father Harold before he died.

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1. It is not uncommon for new Christians to refer to being nursed spiritually. This comes from the scripture 1 Corinthians 3:2
2. Baptism of the Holy Spirit is a pentecostal tenant, where they believe the Holy Spirit gives them each of the spiritual gifts mentioned in the bible. 1 Corinthians 12 mentions these: 8 To some people the Spirit gives a message of wisdom. To others the same Spirit gives a message of knowledge. 9 To others the same Spirit gives faith. To others that one Spirit gives gifts of healing. 10 To others he gives the power to do miracles. To others he gives the ability to prophesy. To others he gives the ability to tell the spirits apart. To others he gives the ability to speak in different kinds of languages they had not known before. And to still others he gives the ability to explain what was said in those languages.
3. As of 2017 the letter is in Glyn Davies' possession. Glyn is the eldest son of Idris and Iris Davies.