Richard A. Maton - Samuel, Son and Successor of Rees Howells: Director of the Bible College of Wales--A Biography

Samuel, Son and Successor of Rees Howells, Director of the Bible College of Wales A Biography by Richard A. Maton.

Copyright Richard A. Maton 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018.

Copyright Mathew Backholer 2019, 2020.

Scripture quotations unless otherwise stated are taken from the Holy Bible, the New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Other versions used:

* (AV) Authorised Version (also known as the King James Version).

* (NASB) New American Standard Bible.

* (NCV) New Century Version.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any unauthorised retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any unauthorised means electronically, mechanically, photocopying, recording, or any other (except for brief quotations in printed or official website reviews with full accreditation) without the prior permission of the Publisher, ByFaith Media (Mathew Backholer) www.ByFaith.org . Uploading this work to the internet (in whole or in part) is illegal, as is unauthorised translations. For requests for Translation Rights, please contact ByFaith Media.

References to deity are capitalised. As is the nature of the internet, web pages can disappear and ownership of domain names can change. Those stated within this book were valid at the time of first publication in March 2013. Updated in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and August 2020.

Cover design, design layout and content, copyright Mathew Backholer 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, ByFaith Media.

This book is also available as a paperback and a hardback, and in different formats for ebooks.

Paperback ISBN 978-1-907066-14-6.

Hardback ISBN 978-1-907066-36-8.

Ebook ISBN (ePub format) 978-1-907066-28-3.

Ebook ASIN (mobi format) B00BND1EZ8.

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief: when Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied: by His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities . Isaiah 53:10-11 (AV).

And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to EVERY CREATURE. Mark 16:15 (AV).

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4 (AV).

God said, And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before Me for the land Ezekiel 22:30 (AV).

The beginning of a sermon by Samuel Howells from the late 1930s. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you and ye shall be My witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth Acts 1:8 (AV). Samuel continued: The doctrine of the Holy Spirit is one of the most neglected aspects of Christian theology. Yet is a truth which is firmly embedded in Scripture and it was cardinal and unmistakable teaching of our Lord.

I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. Isaiah 6:8 (AV).

Foreword

The life of Samuel Howells and the story of the Bible College of Wales (BCW) have touched the lives of innumerable people around the world. When Richard Maton told my brother and me that he was writing a book about the life of Samuel Howells, the son of Rees, we were very excited. A few years later, Alan Scotland, the successor of Samuel Howells as Director of BCW contacted us and asked if we (ByFaith Media) would publish Richards book. After reviewing the manuscript, we realised that Richard had written a wonderful biography of the life of Samuel Howells, with in-depth details concerning the inner life and workings of the Bible College of Wales; its staff, students and friends. Samuel lived a full and long life and delved deep into the intercessory ministry. With this in mind, we proposed that we would publish two versions of the book with the intention of delving deeper into the ministry of intercession of Samuel Howells that was not possible in the larger manuscript. Richard Matons original manuscript is the life of Samuel Howells and the history of BCW, a biography: Samuel, Son and Successor of Rees Howells: Director of the Bible College of Wales A Biography. The other book focuses on Samuels life of prayer, ministry of intercession and includes many new chapters, with additional facts, quotes and testimonies sourced from the BCW archives and elsewhere. This is called: Samuel Rees Howells: A Life of Intercession.

Richard Maton spent fifty-two years of his life at BCW and worked closely alongside Samuel for more than twenty years. He was the most loyal ministry friend that Samuel had in the last two decades of his life and Samuel trusted many secrets to no other person. My brother and I spent a combined seven years at Bible College as students and then staff members. To us, Richard was the face of BCW, not only a lecturer, but a trustee, dean and the Principal. Throughout those critical final years of Samuels life, Richard worked unearthly hours, yet remained accessible, patient, and practised the presence of Christ. Richard is married to Kristine and between them, they have served the Lord under the ministry of Samuel Howells for more than a century! Without Richard and Kristine Matons years of research and labour, the story of Samuel Howells could never have been told. We are all indebted to them.

On an editorial note, the information within this book has been collated and collected from the original sources and notes from the BCW archives. Richard has also drawn from personal memory, the experiences of others and cited other sources. The publishers have spent several months delving into these archives pouring over thousands of documents, letters and handwritten notes. Any similarity to the other two books about Rees Howells in previous decades has arisen because they too were sourced from these archives.

Some former BCW students mentioned within this book have had their surnames omitted as they are ministering in sensitive countries, others may eventually do so. Some testimonial letters were not signed, for the same reason and have been left blank. Where a name has been changed, this is noted within the text.

Within this book, alongside the values in Pound Sterling () is the approximate value in American Dollars ($) based on 1 to $1.6. Please note: inflation has not been calculated into the values except where noted.

This book contains a number of Welsh words and phrases, (a language rich in consonants) which is very different from English.

As you read this book, we hope that you too will learn that God is able to use any person who is willing to surrender his or her life, fully and unconditionally to Him.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Romans 12:1 (AV).

Mathew and Paul Backholer,

ByFaith Media,

www.ByFaith.org .

Preface

Writing a book was never something I imagined possible, but this is a record of impossibilities, so perhaps it is appropriate that I should be part of one, after all.