Dear friends,

I want to share with you a deeply moving and profound journey through some of the most remarkable yet challenging chapters of our spiritual heritage. This film series delves into the earliest documented revivals in Ulster and Scotland – powerful movements of faith that flourished despite, and perhaps even because of, intense opposition.

As we step back through time, we’ll discover extraordinary accounts of ordinary people whose faith burned brightest in the darkest of times. In dusty archives and forgotten manuscripts, I’ve uncovered stories that paint a vivid picture of communities transformed by spiritual awakening, even as they faced severe persecution from authorities who sought to suppress their gatherings and silence their voices.

These revivals weren’t just isolated spiritual experiences – they were watershed moments that shaped entire communities and left an indelible mark on our nations’ histories. We’ll walk through the glens and valleys where believers met in secret, visit the spots where impromptu prayer meetings turned into powerful movements of the Spirit, and hear echoes of the testimonies that spread like wildfire through villages and towns.

What makes these accounts particularly poignant for us today is how they speak to our own times. As we witness growing challenges to religious expression in our modern world, these historical accounts take on new relevance. They show us how revival and resistance often went hand in hand – how the flame of faith burned brightest when facing the strongest winds of opposition.

Through these films, we’ll explore how government persecution, far from extinguishing these movements, often served to purify and strengthen them. We’ll see how official opposition led to deeper commitment, how public ridicule resulted in more fervent prayer, and how attempts to silence the message often led to its wider spread.

The question that threads through each episode is both historical and deeply personal: Can true revival exist without persecution? As we examine these accounts, we’ll see how pressure from authorities often separated genuine conviction from casual commitment, and how opposition frequently served as the crucible in which authentic faith was refined.

These aren’t just stories from our past – they’re beacons for our future. In a world where religious freedom faces new and evolving challenges, these accounts offer both warning and encouragement. They remind us that the path of genuine spiritual awakening has rarely been an easy one, but it has always been worth the cost.

I invite you to join me on this extraordinary journey through our spiritual heritage. Together, we’ll discover how these historic revivals navigated the delicate balance between heavenly allegiance and earthly authority, and what their experiences might teach us about facing similar challenges in our own time.

love

Michael