Revival Stories
The 1936 East African Revival: The Kindling Years
Some revivals officially begin and last only a few weeks, and yet somehow their impact echoes deeply across the generations that follow. Other revivals ignite powerfully in one place and then spread out like wildfires across cities and nations and the whole world and burn brightly for decades while leaving soaring evidences of God in its wake. In every situation, God raises up and prepares individuals who are surrendered to His purposes, and He draws His people to come together to pray. The East African Revival was one of those awakenings that would span at least 50 years and touch many many tribes and nations.
The official start for the explosive combustion of this revival is given as June 1936 in Uganda, yet the early surges of revival fire pre-date this by almost a decade. In October 1927 a new missionary recruit, Dr. Joe Church, arrived in Uganda for training in missions work in Rwanda. While training in medicine at Cambridge, he had participated in a movement that longed to see the Church experience a deeper Christian life by the Holy Spirit.Upon his arrival, he discovered that the church in the East African region had tragically fallen into a spiritual coma. The local Christians were immersed in alcohol abuse and immorality and indulged in witchcraft and superstitions. The religious leaders, filled with spiritual pride, had yielded to a weak view of the Word of God and the cross of Christ, and some were not even born-again believers. Christianity was just a veneer of spirituality that was used to hide people’s sins from the public eye.
Dr. Joe Church began working in a hospital in Gahini, Rwanda, in June 1928 and served there fervently for more than a year in the midst of a distressing famine. After reaching near the point of exhaustion, physically and spiritually, he traveled to Kampala, Uganda, in September 1929 to get some much needed rest. Secretly, he prayed that God would unite his heart burdens with those of an African brother. One Sunday, while worshiping at the Kampala Cathedral, he started talking with an African standing beside his motorcycle. This young man was Simeoni Nsibambi, a wealthy government employee who was also a local Christian leader. Simeoni confided in Joe that he felt something missing in his own life and in the spiritual life of the Ugandan church. The two agreed to meet together for two whole days to immerse themselves in God’s Word and in prayer. During this time, God intensely overwhelmed them with His presence and a fresh vision, and both Joe and Simeoni would unmistakably become the fathers of this unfolding revival.
Joe returned to Rwanda with revived Holy Spirit power in his heart. He would share the Gospel spontaneously, see it take hold throughout the hospital staff, and lead Tutsi chiefs and witchdoctors to the Lord. Meanwhile, Simeoni quit his job and sold most of his possessions to go and tell everyone about Jesus. Despite some resistance from established leaders, he pressed on to evangelize, lead Bible studies, and pray with others. In May of 1930, he organized the first Friday prayer meeting to pray for a revival outpouring. As evangelistic teams went out, they would emphasize the need for being born again, for true repentance, and the power of the Holy Spirit. More and more church leaders surrendered to God’s leading and embraced a sacrificial lifestyle for the sake of the cross.
Throughout 1932 and 1933, revival flames continued to spread, not through large services in big buildings, but through smaller fellowships gathered in homes and villages as they shared their life-changing stories of the Spirit on the move. By early 1936, revival fire leapt from one village to another. Joe Church penned several pamphlets that year to stir Christians to pray for the fires to keep burning brightly, and many believers in the African nations and around the world heard the call… and responded. Extraordinary prayers continue to pour in and to fuel the mighty work of the Spirit. And yet, God was just getting started and would soon release a fireball of His Spirit throughout East Africa.
QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS:
- Why do you think some revivals take so long to get up to full speed? Why do you think God chose someone like Joe Church and also Simeoni Nsibambi?
- Have you ever been discouraged as you pursued what you thought God wanted for you and the Church? What made the difference in Joe Church’s life? What has made a difference in your life to refresh you and keep the spiritual embers burning hot?
- Looking at the decade that preceded the full ignition of this revival in 1936, what would you say are the milestones and key decisions that took place to stoke the Holy Spirit fires in people’s hearts there?