Category Archives: Biography

Spiritual people’s bio

Jessie Penn-Lewis

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Jessie Penn-Lewis
(1861–1927)

Jessie Penn-Lewis was a Welsh evangelical speaker and author of a number of Christian evangelical works.

Early lifePenn-Lewis was born in Victoria Terrace, Neath in 1861[1]. Her father was a Methodist minister. She was married to William Penn-Lewis.

Welsh revivalShe was involved in the 1904-1905 Welsh Revival, one of the largest Christian revivals ever to break out, although the revival was abruptly shortened with the mental and physical collapse of one of the leaders, Evan Roberts. Penn-Lewis traveled internationally to take her message to audiences in Russia, Scandinavia, Canada, the U.S., and India.

Penn-Lewis was close to Evan Roberts and there is some controversy associated with her influence over him. After the breakdown by Roberts cut the revival short, he stayed with the Penn-Lewis’s for a couple of years, but never fully recovered. Ultimately, Penn-Lewis declared some of phenomena of the Welsh Revival to be the work of Satan, declaring her still controversial position in her book on spiritual warfare called War on the Saints, which describes the work of demons on Christians, the theme for which Penn-Lewis is most known.

Influences

Penn-Lewis was influenced by the reformed South African writer Andrew Murray among others, and her books contain quotes from him and references to his works. Frank Buchman, the founder of the Oxford Group, credits Penn-Lewis with helping him to turn his life around from depression when he heard her speak at a Keswick Convention.[3] She also influenced Johan Oscar Smith, the founder of Brunstad Christian Church and the missionary statesman Norman Grubb.

Eva of Friedenshort

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Eva of Friedenshort
(October 31, 1866 – June 21, 1930)

Eva von Tiele-Winckler was born in southeastern Germany into a family of nobility and wealth. Eva had a conversion experience at the age of 17 after reading John 10. She established a home called Friedenshort, meaning an abode of peace, for women who desired to follow and serve the Lord. With these sisters she opened homes for orphans, widows, and the poor and infirm. By the end of her lifetime, over 40 homes had been established in Germany through her labor. These sisters also preached the gospel in women’s prisons and set up homes where these women could live when discharged from prison. Although she was brought up in wealth, Eva lived a simple life and used her wealth for others’ benefit. She eventually sent a number of sisters to China to serve with the China Inland Mission, and others to Guatemala, Africa, and India. She was helped in her spiritual pursuit through contact with Mrs. Jessie Penn-Lewis, Hudson Taylor, the Welsh Revival, and the Keswick Convention.

Sister Eva enjoyed fellowship with all true believers. She would not let sectarian attitudes or doctrinal differences hinder her fellowship with other saints. The hymn from which the verse below is taken describes the church’s divisive condition and the writer’s longing to find believers who live in oneness, not letting doctrines and practices divide them. It is a sober reminder to us that our divine birth is a common birth and that Christ’s death has torn down all that divides believers.

-Del Martin

“Where is the truth?” I asked; for this I longed:
None answered right ‘mid all the answering throng;
For ever side by side lay light and shade.
“Where is,” I cried, “the one communion pure?
Where is the Church in which, clear-traced and sure,
The Spirit’s very likeness is portrayed?”

– Eva of Friedenshort