We had the pleasure in the Autumn edition of the Messenger of hearing some of the stories that led the Rev. Denis Young to faith as a young man, and then to becoming a minister 69 years ago! Here is some more of his story…
Could you share with us some of your journey to faith? How did you come to know Jesus?
My upbringing was like many who were brought up in Welsh villages, including going to chapel three times on a Sunday. As a family, we attended Baptist chapel, Bethel Drefach-Felindre.
I was a faithful attender – that was the expectation for me and my peers. I am profoundly grateful for my experience of chapel, and day school as well. Ysgol Drefach was a church school, and that is where the village children of every denomination went. We had to learn and recite the Lord’s Prayer, and the Apostles Creed!
Bethel is a Baptist church, and so as you can imagine, baptism is important! My peers and I followed the pattern. At 15, you would ordinarily get baptised in Bethel to become a member, and that’s what happened to a crew of us one Sunday.
It’s sad to say, however, that I had not had a living experience of the Lord. It was simply custom and routine. I was respectably religious, but to quote Gwenallt:
‘Woe to us to know the words without knowing the Word.’
“It was simply custom and routine… I was respectably religiousl.”
What changed?
I had to leave Llandysul Grammar School early because help was needed at home. My Father had died early. So, at 15 I started working in a grocery shop, and then I worked nights on the railway.
The Second World War had started, and rather than being forced to join the army like my brothers, I was sent to Bristol to work, because maintaining the trains was work ‘of national importance‘! It was a strange experience moving from the country to the middle of the ‘blackout‘ and bombing in the city!
Mercifully, I was sent back to Wales, within reach of home. A big turning point came in my life in Carmarthen. I was put to work as a stoker on the ‘big engines‘ with a driver named Bill Thomas. I soon noticed that there was something different about him.
“It was a strange experience moving from the country to the middle of the ‘blackout‘ and bombing in the city…”
He would doff his cap and give thanks before eating his sandwiches in the shed alongside the other workers! He was not ashamed of his faith. He spoke freely with me about His Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, but I made my best to close my ears. Despite this, there was no escaping from him because we were together in every journey.
While driving, he would sing:
‘This is why I am so happy, This is why I am so free,
I am drinking from the well of full salvation, O won’t you come and have a drink with me.’
On the last line, he would look at me and I knew that it was an invitation to me. ‘Go away, Bill,’ was my response, but God had other plans, and and in the end I yielded!
“I asked for forgiveness for being so stubborn. I felt the chains breaking and my feet were free, because Jesus had died on the cross in my place!”
On my knees in my room in Drefach, I asked for forgiveness for being so stubborn. I felt the chains breaking and my feet were free! Jesus had died on the cross in my place, and had risen! I am so thankful that He is now interceding for us all.
Praise God! Where did the Lord take you after this?
A new season came, and I believe again that this was in the plan and purpose of God. I left the railway and was appointed deputy manager to Edward D, a Baptist, in a shop called Star Aberteifi. This was a period of learning in the school of life, and really being tested in my faith. I learnt to lean on the Lord, and learnt to die to self!
I would go to the monthly prayer session in Bethania Aberteifi, as I was lodging in the town during the weekm and my landlady, Mrs John, was a member in Bethania. Gradually the Lord called me to preach, and when one of my colleagues in the shop told me that they could not fill the pulpit in their church on the next Sunday, I then heard the word ‘Go! all week, and came to the conclusion that it was the Lord who was calling me.
The story of my journey to preach for the first time in the morning service at Gerazim, and in the evening service in Trewyddel was a saga, but the Lord was at the helm, and eventually I arrived in the Baptist College and Bangor University as a candidate for ministry. I was ordained to full ministry in Blaenycwm church, Rhondda Fawr in September 1954 (69 years ago).
“I then heard the word ‘Go! all week, and came to the conclusion that it was the Lord who was calling me.”
What are the most important lessons you learnt in your experiences as a minister?
One of the most important lessons for me is the importance of prayer. A weekly prayer meeting was held in every church in which I had the privilege of being a minister – Blaenycwm, Caersalem Llanelli, Beulah Cwmtwch and Hebron Caergybi.
This is the ‘power-house‘ according to one member in Blaenycwm! Something else that‘s very true is we only see each other from the outside, but so many problems are hidden, so we need the spirit of love and not judge ‘so that we will not be judged‘! Another important lesson is to accept failure and disappointment with grace.
Where do you see hope for the future as you consider future generations?
I am so thankful that there is news of hope and blessing in Wales today. For future generations, everything is in the hands of God, who is faithful and merciful, and has given us a love letter: His word! The Word is there for each of us, and the door of prayer is always open! My prayer and hope is that ‘Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever’ will be given His rightful place in Wales once again.
My prayer and hope is that ‘Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever’ will be given His rightful place in Wales once again.
Thank you, Denis!
To see the original article, and to read many more wonderful stories of God at work in Wales and across the world today, head to the BUW’s The Messenger Autumn 2023, and previous editions.