Revival Falls on a Lonely Scottish Island
One of the great visitations of the Holy Spirit in the past hundred years occurred in the 1950s on the extreme northern coast of Scotland under the preaching of Duncan Campbell. Though its effect was confined to a small area in the Hebrides Islands, the power that exploded upon the island of Berneray was identical to that of the Book of Acts. Wonderfully, that move of God began in a barn with a man named Hector McKennon sprawled out in the straw praying.
There were only two churches on the island of Berneray, and both had been closed for years. The last pastor died. Others quit coming. Hector was the only remaining elder. The church deaths came about because passion for Jesus had been replaced with doctrines about Jesus. Finally, people lost interest in doctrine. Seemingly, Hector was the only one determined to bring spiritual life back to the island’s desolation. His wife told of the memorable day he locked himself in the barn, refusing to come out, until heaven answered. Several times she walked to the door, heard her husband thrashing about, groaning before the Lord, “I don’t know where he is, Lord, but You do!” She heard him plead, “Send Duncan Campbell to Berneray! Send Duncan Campbell to Berneray!”
Duncan was one of the great spiritual forces in the British Isles. He too was a Gaelic-speaking Highlander who came to the Lord in a phenomenal conversion before the first World War. That conversion had been accompanied by a powerful anointing of the Holy Spirit. Later, on a French battlefield of the war, Duncan lay severely wounded in the path of a cavalry charge, and he was trampled by the horses. Finally rescued, he was taken to a field hospital for surgery. The pain was incredible. On the operating table, the prayer he shouted in Gaelic was not for healing but for holiness: “Lord, make me as holy as a saved sinner can be! Make me as holy as a saved sinner can be!” Though his Scottish tongue was not understood by a single person in the tent, the cry brought such power of God upon him that seven men were saved.
Through the years, the anointing intensified as God “confirmed His word with signs following.” Duncan hungered for heaven and once during crisis sought a greater empowering of the Holy Spirit. Of the event, he said, “As I lay there, God, the Holy Ghost, came upon me. Wave after wave came rolling over me until the love of God swept through me like a mighty river! … I was so wrought upon by the Holy Ghost that I cried—and I laughed—and I prayed.”
Hector McKennon’s heart grieved for Berneray to experience the ministry of Duncan Campbell. As the day passed, Hector continued praying. Three times his wife went to the door listening.
Category: Church History, Spring 2019
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