African Revivals of the 20th Century

Revival! A People Saturated With God, by Brian H. Edwards (Evangelical Press, 5th impression, 1997) lists five Christian revivals that have taken place in Africa, all in the 20th century. Errol Hulse's Give Him No Rest: A Call to Prayer for Revival, Evangelical Press, 1991, also describes some of these revivals.
1) 1904 South Africa, at Fransch Hoek
2) 1910 Malawi
3) 1930's onwards East Africa, especially Uganda
4) 1937-1943 Ethiopia, Wallamo Tribes
5) 1953 Congo (Zaire)

1) Regarding the first African revival of the 20th century, this is written by Edwards: "In 1904 at Fransch Hoek in South Africa a Young People's society heard of the Spirit elsewhere and a prayer meeting of 12 was soon attended by 600."
2) In Malawi in 1910 the events are similar, as described in Edwards book: "An elder began to pray confessing before all the sin of having cherished a spirit of revenge for an evil done him. Then another began to pray, and another and another, til 2 or 3 were praying together in a quiet voice, weeping and confessing, each one conscious of the other. Suddenly there came the sound of a rushing wind...It was the thrilling sound of 2500 people praying audibly, no man apparently conscious of the other...Not noisy or discordant, it filled us with great awe."
4) In Ethiopia in 1937 after 9 years of work by Western missionaries there were only 48 known indiginous believers. In 1943, after period of cruel persecution by fascist Italian colonialists, missionaries returned to find 10,000 believers. this increased to 240,000 in 1950, and to 3.5 million Christians in 1990.
Pray that God will bring more revivals like these to Africa and elsewhere.

For Further Reading about Revival, and also African Revivals:

Brown, Michael L., The End of American Gospel Enterprise, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, Destiny Image Publishers, 1989.

Coleman, Robert, The Spark That Ignites, Minneapolis: World Wide Publications, 1989.

Duewel, Wesley, Revival Fire, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995.

Edwards, Brian H., Revival: A People Saturated with God, Evangelical Press (UK), 1997.

Hulse, Errol, Give Him No Rest: A Call to Prayer for Revival, Evangelical Press (UK), 1991.

Johnstone, Patrick and Jason Mandryk, Operation World: When We Pray God Works, WEC International and Paternoster Lifestyle (UK), 21st Century Edition, 2001.

Jones, Martyn-Lloyd, Revival, Westchester, Illinois: Crossway Books (a division of Good News Publishers, 1987, 2nd printing 1988, forward by J.I. Packer.

Moreau, A. Scott, Evangelical Dictionary of World Missions, Baker Books and Paternoster Press, 2000.

Morrison, J. H., The Missionary Heroes of Africa, George H. Doran (NY), 1922. Reprited by Negro Universities Press (A division of Greenwood Publishing Corp.), 1969.

Olford, Stephen F., Heart Cry for Revival, revised edition, Memphis, Tenn.: Encounter Ministries, 1987.

Orr, J. Edwin, The Eager Feet, Chicago: Moody Press, 1975.

Prime, Samuel, The Power of Prayer, Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1991 (reprint of an 1859 classic).

Ravenhill, Leonard, Revival God's Way, Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1983.

Rice, John R., We Can Have Revival Now, Wheaton, Illinois: Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1990.

Wallis, Arthur, Revival: The Rain from Heaven, Old Tappan, New Jersey: Fleming Revell Company, 1979.

White, John, When the Spirit Comes with Power, Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1988.