Dear Sir,
It was heartwarming to read of Robert Stivey’s attempt to re-open some of the chapels in the valleys of South Wales (en January, front page).
In the Taff valley the twin villages of Aberfan and Merthyr Vale are in a similar spiritual plight. I was born and bred in Aberfan, brought to know Jesus as my Saviour while a student in Bristol, and cut my teeth in preaching the gospel in some of the chapels in Aberfan, Merthyr Vale and other villages. This was back in 1962, when there were six chapels in Aberfan and five in Merthyr Vale plus the Parish Church and a small RC Church. Even then there was a rapid decline in attendance at all of these churches. In 1963 I commenced studies at London Bible College which led in the next 40 years to pastorates in Grace Baptist and FIEC churches, all in England, and with eight years in a ministry with Africa Inland Mission.
In the summer of 1965 I led a team of fellow students from LBC in a week’s evangelistic mission in Aberfan, with good numbers attending meetings arranged in some of the chapels. Then the Aberfan Disaster occurred in 1966 affecting even further the flame that was already very low in both villages. A year after the disaster, Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached in one of the largest chapels in the village, the Calvinistic Methodist Chapel (Aberfan CM), preaching from Romans 8:18-22. (See Iain Murray: Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones: Volume 2, pp. 571-573). Two years ago, when briefly visiting Aberfan, our hearts ached to see that chapel now in ruins. Only two of the 11 Non-Conformist chapels in the two villages remain open. But there is a wide-open door for church planting with the gospel of Jesus Christ at its heart.
Yours sincerely,
