PROMINENT REVIVALIST

Evening Star, Issue 22325, 29 April 1936, Page 13

PROMINENT REVIVALIST

MR EDWIN ORR'S VISIT Mr J. Edwin Orr, secretary of the Revival Fellowship of Great Britain, gave the first of a series of addresses in the Mornington Baptist Church last evening. Mr Orr is at present visiting Dunedin in the course of a world tour, during which he has preached at revivalist meetings in nearly every country in Europe, the Near East, and America. The church was not large enough to accommodate the gathering, and many people were unable to gain admittance. Pastor Trevor Gibbs presided, and after conducting brief devotional exercises introduced the speaker. Prefacing his appeal for a spiritual revival among Dunedin Christians, Mr Orr gave an interesting account of his travels in Norway, which 'he visited on his way to Russia. He had undertaken the tour to show that God’s provision to him in Great Britain could be repeated in a non-Christian country like Russia. When he arrived in Oslo he felt entirely lost, as it was the first foreign country he had visited, and he could not speak a word of Norwegian. He had 11s when ho arrived, and he spent half of that amount in answering letters from friends. Mr Orr said he felt extremely depressed, and all he could do was to pray to God for assistance. His prayers were answered and he preached in every church in Oslo. He saw a greatrevival break out in a Norway Baptist church—a scene lie would not forget. “ The fact that God has brought me safely to New Zealand,” Mr Orr said. “ gives me faith that a great spiritual revival will be brought to each one of you. What is revival?” he asked. “ Everyone seems to have a different idea of its meaning. Revival is the working of God’s Holy Spirit in the hearts of .believers.”

There was a great need for revival in the world, Mr Orr continued. Christ had said “ Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel.” He asked his hearers to think of the first generation of Christians and how a few believers had converted 10,000,000 people to Christianity, and to contrast that with present-day activity. There were more heathens in the world to-day than in 1836, and there were millions more than in the days of Christ. To-day, the speaker continued, they were not keeping pace with the increase in population in teaching the Gospel to everyone. There was a universal “ backsliding ” among Christians of to-day, and he asserted that 95 per cent. of modern • Christians were. “ backsliders.” Mr Orr went on to tell of the successful meetings he had in the North Island and how a great revivalist movement had broken out in the convention at Ngarnawahia. At this gathering £2,000 had been pledged for missionary work. In conclusion, he prayed that God should send a revival to Dunedin, but that it should come first in each Christian’s heart. The meeting concluded with special prayers, testimonies of renewed faith, and the singing of hymns and choruses.