After further confession of sin, and reconciliation amongst the brethren, they came to the communion table and the Holy Spirit fell upon them. The moment was so powerful that many referred to it as a ‘Moravian Pentecost.’ As they received the love of God poured out into their hearts by the Holy Spirit, it spilled out in extraordinary love for one another. Some referred to the experience as a “baptism of love.”  Jason Hubbard

The creeks are backing up as the river floods. Lovely morning for riding.

On July 22nd, the community covenanted to meet often in prayer and worship, beginning what would later be referred to as the ‘summer of revival’ for this small Moravian community. Zinzendorf remarked that “the whole place represented a visible tabernacle of God among men.” Jason Hubbard

Another fine morning in Narrabri.

Yet in the midst of these circumstances, a revival burst forth which came in the form of Pietism. This took place under the pastoral leadership of Philipp Jakob Spener, who introduced small home meetings in 1670, and wrote his seminal work Pia Desideria in 1675. Pietism helped believers recover a personal, experiential relationship with Jesus Christ, and the inward life of the Spirit that Luther had originally known. Jason Hubbard

It was very cool and breezy first thing, and I had to go for blood tests. Later in the morning it was warmer and my body was desperate for some physical activity. Beautiful weather now the rain has cleared.

Dating from 1722, the Moravian story is the fruit of three converging factors. The first was a religious revival in Germany called Pietism, which brought about the Christ-centred awakening of a dogma-driven church that was desperately in need of renewal. The second factor was the pressure of religious persecution and increasing division amongst God’s people on the continent of Europe. The third was the personality and call of a man by the name of Nikolaus von Zinzendorf.  Jason Hubbard

On August 13th, 1727, the Moravians experienced a powerful visitation of the Holy Spirit during a communion service. It was described as a ‘baptism of love’, where God’s love was shed abroad in their hearts and poured out in love for one another (cf. Romans 5:5). Following this, the Holy Spirit compelled them to build a canopy of united, strategic and sustainable prayer that continued for a hundred years.  Jason Hubbard

To take one aspect of these startling rediscoveries, consider Christianity’s deep association with poverty. Contrary to myth, the typical Christian is not a white fat cat in the United States or western Europe, but rather a poor person, often unimaginably poor by Western standards. Philip Jenkins

Statistically, the Nigerian church should properly be counted as the heart of Anglican Christianity. In 1979 this church had sixteen dioceses, organized in a single province; today it has over 120 dioceses, organized in ten provinces. In 1979 Nigeria had a single archbishop; today it has ten, overseeing a whole national hierarchy.  Philip Jenkins