Christmas 1930

Ieuan Phillips was the older brother of Bethan Lloyd-Jones and a close friend of her husband Martyn.

They both began in the ministry in 1927 in pastorates in South Wales, Ieuan in the London Road Presbyterian Church, Neath, and Martyn in Sandfields, Aberavon. The hand of God was upon them both and the following is an account of what happened at Christmas 1930, written later by Ieuan himself.

After they had arrived in Neath, Ieuan and his wife Lynn had become friendly with a local doctor and his wife, Kit. The story continues in Ieuan's own words.
'Kit and her husband were nominally connected with the United Methodist Church which they hardly ever attended. They would sometimes come to London Road on a Sunday evening but did not seem to be affected in any way by the gospel. Kit was in poor health with tuberculosis, sometimes very ill and then recovering again. She was very bright and high-spirited, with a tremendous sense of humour, but as the weeks went by she became thinner and weaker and towards the end of 1930 she was very ill and Lynn and I visited her daily.

Urge to go back

'We spent Christmas as usual with Lynn's family in Llangennech, but at about 7.00 pm on Boxing Day night, I began to be very uneasy and felt a great urge to go back to Neath - and this for no apparent, sufficient reason. I tried to suppress it, not wanting to break up the party, but eventually I told Lynn, who was naturally upset but agreed to leave and go home. It was a glum homecoming.
'We got back at about 11.00 pm and were about to go to bed when the front door bell rang. When I opened the door, Kit's husband was there, looking ill and haggard. When he saw me, he said: "Thank God you are home. Kit wants to see you - would you come with me now?" So he took me to his house, let me in and then had to go off to a confinement.

'I immediately went upstairs and saw a glimmer of shaded light. So I knocked at the door and said: "Father Christmas is coming!" But when I got nearer to her I saw that she was sobbing violently. "Kit foch", I said, "what's the matter?" But the wild sobbing continued, so I said: "Cheer up Kit. Don't give way like this. You'll feel better in the morning."

'I am going to hell'

'And I shall never forget her words: "ñI am a dying woman and I am going to hell. If you have nothing more than that to say to me, go away!" It was like a slap in the face; I was shaken and silent and the sobbing continued: "What shall I do, what shall I do?"
'I saw how inadequate I was to deal with such a situation, and there and then I knelt down and confessed my sin to God and asked him to have mercy upon me. And immediately I knew that I had been accepted and my sins forgiven. I was a child of God.

Christ died for me

'I then turned to her and said: "Kit, I know now what you must do. Ask God to forgive you" - but she could not. I said: "I will pray with you", so she put her thin hands together and, like a little child, repeated after me: "I confess all my sins to thee and I do believe that Christ died for me, and I ask forgiveness in his name".

'Then the miracle happened. The sobbing ceased and the tension relaxed; a great joy and peace filled the room and we gazed at each other with joy unspeakable through our tears. God had accepted us in the Beloved. Then until her husband returned, we prayed and praised God. He was astonished at the change in her and then they told me of the events that had led up to this most wonderful miracle.

'Kit was very ill all Christmas morning and the terrible implications of her lost condition dawned on her. She experienced the terrors of death and hell and all her natural vivacity, courage and cheerfulness left her completely. Some time before, Lynn and I had given her a Bible and now, in her extremity, she asked her husband to fetch it and read it to her. But wherever he turned and tried to read, invariably it would be some portion warning the wicked and godless of God's wrath and their inevitable punishment, until she cried to him to read no more.

A vision

'Then, about tea time, in great distress, distracted and frantic, she had a vision. She saw her husband's mother - a very saintly character who had died some time before - appearing to her, and heard her say, quite distinctly, "Send for your minister, Ieuan Phillips; he shall show you the way of salvation". And then the vision disappeared.

'She wanted her husband to phone me immediately, but he, not wanting to break up the party, persuaded her to wait until I came back. She agreed but could get no peace. It was at this time that I began to be uneasy over in Llangennech.

'Kit grew steadily worse and when her husband told her that he had to go out to a confinement, she pleaded with him to call at our house, "in case Ieuan had come back". He "knew" it was useless, but, to please her, he did come round and I was at home...

Bible blazed with comfort

'During the next few weeks after her conversion she grew amazingly in grace. She lived in the Bible which now, instead of frightening her, blazed with comfort and succour.

She insisted on seeing all her friends and told them in simple words how she had been saved and in Christ had found peace. Physically, she became steadily worse. She had to have an injection every night and I used to go round immediately afterward and read and pray with her and her husband. Her favourite portion of Scripture was Psalm 107.

'Kit went home [to heaven] on February 8 1931.'

© Evangelicals Now - December 2002
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