Mark Maddock

St David’s to Leominster Prayer Walk

“Jesus, please restore your church…”

18^th – 24^th July 2012

Introduction

I was walking into Leominster in Herefordshire on a sunny spring morning and I sensed God speak to me. He said “I want you to do a prayer walk from St David’s to Leominster…” I was aware that St David had a connection with Leominster and was used to hearing God to speak to me in a variety of ways about different things but never about a ‘prayer walk’. A friend had recently finished doing a prayer walk up the Offa’s Dyke path; I’d walked with him for about ten miles so I knew a little about doing one.

What is a prayer walk?

Well, this is quite simple to answer. From my point of view it is a walk (along a course designated by God) done while praying (about matters inspired by the Holy Spirit).

The purposes of a prayer walk may be obvious or hidden. For me, it included various evangelistic opportunities (telling people without faith in Jesus about his love for them); bringing prophetic words (God’s current messages) to individuals and areas and, of course, prayer. This included topics known and, when praying in ‘other tongues’, unknown (this use of ‘tongues’ is essentially a heavenly prayer language when our mind is unfruitful but the Holy Spirit prays through us about things which are on God’s heart). God also led me to meet key people, some of whom I’ll probably know for the rest of my lifetime and others who represented key parts of the British population to pray for.

A key theme I believe God asked me to pray all along the walk was for a RESTORATION of God’s kind of church (as seen in the book of Acts chapter 2-4), being a key part of the ‘restoration of all things’ which must happen before Jesus Christ returns to the Earth.

I specifically prayed that God would restore foundational spiritual truths laid down in Britain by historic people such as Caradoc and his father Bran (who brought the Gospel of Christ into Wales over 1900 years ago); St David (Wales’ national saint, who lived and travelled all over Wales over 1500 years ago) and Evan Roberts (a key man in the last revival in Wales in 1904/5). With God, a day is like a thousand years… which means, from his point of view, the Gospel arrived in Wales just a couple of days ago! Perhaps we should be more aware of these foundational events in British church history.

I had been listening to the Lord over the previous three months about the London 2012 Olympics and I sensed that this prayer walk would be connected with London in some way but I couldn’t see how. I knew that I’d be praying about God’s blessing coming into Wales and then flowing into England (as the walk would take me), so perhaps London was linked with this process in some way. My goal was to live as simply as possible for a week; drink only water (as St David did) but eat food as normal; trust God to lead me to somewhere to stay each night and walk about 100 out of the 135 miles needed to get to Leominster. I had very little money with me; I did have my bank card but did not intend to use it.

After the walk, I realised there were similarities with Bunyan’s ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’ – the main one being that God would lead me to key people en route who represented important sections of society or the church. Meeting them usually triggered me to pray about important things as a result.

A few days before starting the walk I saw a mental picture which I believe was from God. It was as if a large zip was running west to east across Wales and this walk would be involved in zipping up something in the spiritual realm which had been broken apart in the past. This picture was to come back to me on the last day of the walk.

DAY ONE: St David’s to Ffald-y-Brenin

(Wednesday 18^th July 2012)

A good friend (Dave Chapman) kindly offered to drive me from my home in Herefordshire out to St David’s in west Wales. We drove through the wind and rain which had been the sole weather over Britain for the previous month. When we arrived in the car park of St David’s cathedral the clouds parted and the sun came out!

We parked; the clouds parted and the sun shone for a week!

We walked and prayed around the cathedral nave and I was particularly interested in St David’s shrine. A notice stated that the shrine had been restored in 2012 – this simple fact encouraged me, as I took it as confirmation of the theme of restoration God had told me to pray about.

Restored in 2012

On his shrine, St David is represented with a dove on his shoulder (representing the Holy Spirit) while holding a Bible. This reminded me of a prophecy by the famous healing evangelist Smith Wigglesworth that a great move of God would come before Jesus returns as people strong in the Holy Spirit link up and learn from those strong in God’s Word. I prayed that the prayer walk would be part of the process leading up to that time.

St David; and following in his footsteps

Dave and I had a good time of prayer overlooking the ruins next to the cathedral and I left to start walking. I sensed God saying two specific things about the coming week:

there would be one hard night and
he would lead me to one special high place at which to pray

I didn’t know exactly what these referred to but trusted God would make it clear at the right time. It was already afternoon so we agreed I’d walk for about 5 miles, then have a lift with Dave and then walk the last 5 miles to our goal for the evening: Ffald-y-Brenin Christian Retreat Centre.

As I left St David’s I paused at the old mediaeval preaching cross, where the monks used to preach the good news about Jesus. As I walked I was very aware of Jesus’ glory and power being the same for ever, whilst in comparison the Earth is about to enter a very turbulent time. We need to have our lives based on him and then we can have his peace, whatever happens in the future.

On the second walking stint I entered the Cwm Gwaun valley and sensed the peace of the Lord there… it’s the valley where Ffald-y-Brenin is based: a place where there has been consistent prayer for over 30 years. This has resulted in God’s blessing and peace coming upon the whole valley.

Ffald-y-Brenin – a centre for prayer

We had a very encouraging time at Ffald-y-Brenin; meeting a great bunch of Christians from Devon, praying at the large wooden cross which overlooks the valley and were very grateful for a couple of mattresses to sleep on in their chapel.

Our bedroom (the chapel!) and a glorious view the next day…

DAY TWO: Ffald-y-Brenin to Newcastle Emlyn

(Thursday 19^th July 2012)

We had an excellent time of fellowship with the staff and visitors in the morning prayer time. They prayed for us and we left (having made a donation for their running costs), planning a similar walk-drive-walk strategy to the previous day. This way my legs would get stronger while still covering at least 15 miles overall.

At the cross at Ffald-y-Brenin, overlooking the Cwm Gwaun valley … wearing

my light weight outfit (trainers not hiking boots)

Dave suggested I try my walking boots, rather than the trainers I wore on the previous day. En route I felt a blister developing and decided to go back to my trainers later on; indeed, when at home I’d sensed God saying to be like the disciples sent out with just a staff and sandals (i.e. very lightweight). This came back to me as I left the Cwm Gwaun valley. Before meeting up with Dave I had great views over the coast to the north. As I walked I was developing a pattern of prayer and praise: I’d sing songs in English; pray and sing in tongues and then perhaps be led to pray about specific things in English.

I met up with Dave who drove me to within 5 miles of our next goal, Newcastle Emlyn. Dave went on ahead and, soon after walking again, I met my first person on the wayside. Near Crosswell, Molly, originally from Durham, was in her front garden. I fell into conversation with her and she mentioned how the bluestones in Stonehenge came from the hills I was walking through. It would become my habit to offer a prayer of blessing to all I meet and Molly happily received a blessing of peace from Jesus.

As I went on my way I prayed for some time about this; it showed a foundational link between this part of west Wales and the historic location of Stonehenge. The foundational population of ancient Britons had that amazing commitment to take massive stone blocks from west Wales all the way down to modern day Wiltshire; I prayed about these spiritual foundations and whether it had any connection with the population of Britain today.

Further down the road I met someone else – a young red heifer! Normally these young cattle run away from you, but this chap just stood by his gate, looking up the road at me. I said a few words to him and he got me thinking about the plans in Jerusalem to build a third Jewish Temple. Everything is at hand to build it… except a red heifer! A red heifer with not one white hair has to be bred, sacrificed, burnt and then its ashes are used to purify the priests for service in the Temple. This caused me to consider why people might want to build a third Temple in Israel – for some devout Jews it is to get a central focus for Jewish worship; for Freemasons it may be to build a Global Lodge for their use and for people of other faiths it may be to have a building for a new One World Religion. But what is God wanting to build? I prayed about His Church, which Jesus said he would build. Again, I was back to praying for a restoration of the kind of church the Holy Spirit birthed nearly 2,000 years ago – not based on physical buildings but human relationships, God’s Word and an openness to the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

A few months before the walk, I had read a book about the Welsh Revival in 1904-5. A key person God used was a young man called Evan Roberts. An important place for him was the small west Wales town of Newcastle Emlyn. In a time of prayer there he saw a piece of paper with ‘100,000’ on it and he believed Jesus was saying that this number of people would come to know Jesus. This vision happened while he was studying to prepare to be a Methodist minister at Newcastle Emlyn. An amazing 6 months followed as he saw this vision come to pass. However, there was some sadness at the end of this period as Evan was burnt out, he went to live with a family in England and played no significant further part in the Welsh Revival.

Dave and I found the old Grammar School building in the town centre where Evan studied and I felt led to pray about his foundations in the Scriptures and whether he had left his studies at Newcastle Emlyn too early. We prayed that the younger generation today would be truly filled with God’s Spirit and be well grounded in Scripture, as well as hearing God’s prophetic words for today.

We went back to the car and I said to Dave that I thought Jesus was reminding me to travel very light. I gave Dave £20 towards his fuel costs and said I’d leave my rucksack in the car, along with my boots, wet weather gear (a real step of faith in west Wales!) and other items. I could tell Dave wasn’t too sure about this move; perhaps he had a vision of my skeleton being found high in the Welsh mountains in 6 months time and people chastising him for letting me go off poorly equipped ?! I took what I deemed to be essential items (Jesus, in his light weight instructions to the disciples, limited them to the clothes they were wearing, and shoes, and one thing: a staff. I had my clothes (including a lightweight jacket and Gautex walking trousers), trainers and a rather heavy walking stick and:

a spare pair of socks; boxers and a T shirt
a pair of shorts and a hat
a toothbrush; comb; razor; plasters and camera
a map case; maps (photocopies from a road atlas)
a photocopy of ‘The Life of David’; a journal and a small Bible
a mobile phone and charger
a small wallet (very little money and a debit card, with less than £50 available!)
a bottle of water

So, including my ‘staff’, I had 20 items! But I could carry them all in my pockets and the map case. This meant that walking was much easier than with a rucksack but I had no protection from the elements and no sleeping bag or tent. I would be utterly dependent on others for accommodation, and, once my money had gone, food.

Dave drove off and as this final link with home disappeared I felt like a baby bird when it is pushed out of its nest. I was now flapping my little faith wings as fast as possible. It was about 5pm so I didn’t have long to find a bed for the night!

Jesus had led Dave to park next to the local Catholic church. A man was locking up the church hall and I asked him if he was a member of the church. He said “No” but that the lady who ran the Post Office was. This was my first port of call!

As I walked there I realised that I wouldn’t normally have much to do with Roman Catholics. But God challenged me as to whether I was too proud, with my Protestant roots, to ask for help from a Catholic? I humbly said an inward “No!” and went into the Post Office. I realised that in the days ahead for all of us, labels will drop away and it will be essential for believers in Jesus of all types to fellowship together on the basis of a love for God and each other.

I met two lovely Asian ladies, Suneila and Sheila, who run the Post Office. I spoke mainly with Suneila and told her about the prayer walk from St David’s. She was very positive and said how she’d recently seen a TV programme about a vicar who had walked from Sussex to Devon, doing the same thing. She then quoted the passage from Mark 6 about taking just a staff with you for the journey… I felt this was clear confirmation from God that I had heard him correctly. She said she’s make some phone calls about possible accommodation; I said I’d return just before they closed at 5.30pm.

I went and sat on a bench, near where Evan Roberts had studied.

The Old Grammar School (where Evan Roberts studied) and my home for the night

This was the first time I realised that it was important to know when to stop and do nothing… just to rest in God and trust that he is at work. I sat there for a while, praying for the people of Newcastle Emlyn. On my second visit to see Suneila she kindly arranged for me to stay with friends of hers: Giles and Janet.

Suneila gave me a £10 note to help me on my way; I blessed her and Sheila for their kindness and love in action. Giles and Janet were also members of the Catholic church and had a large house near the river. They kindly gave me a bed for the night and even invited me to join them to the pub that evening to meet some friends of theirs. Giles and I have a lot in common, both being Science teachers with large families. It was remarkable how we got on so well so quickly; Janet and their children (all grown up… I met 3 – Rachel, Jamie and Jenny - of the 6 of them!) were so welcoming and friendly. God showed me that his family is all over the world and he can lead us to the right part of it to be with if we are in a time of need.

We had a good time in the pub – even though I was only drinking water! I met Paul and Jo, who own a farm near Lampeter where they live with their 10 children (as well as having had Sarah, who sadly died at the age of 12 from leukaemia). I explained that Lampeter was my next goal for the following day and they kindly invited me to sleep the following night in a spare caravan they have on site, for which I was most grateful!

Back in Newcastle Emlyn I completed my daily journal and went to sleep.

DAY THREE: Newcastle Emlyn to nr Lampeter

(Friday 20^th July 2012)

It became a repeated pattern that, despite being tired (or, on occasions, utterly exhausted) from walking, I’d wake up at 5 a.m. each morning. It was as if my body clock had quickly become geared to an earthy existence, tuned into the rising of the Sun. I spent 2 hours praying for Giles, Janet and their three children still with them. I wrote each one a letter, to leave with them when I left after breakfast. This also became a habit; I had no money to pay for board and lodgings but God gave me time to be able to either write or pray out blessings over those I stayed with. I suspect most of us would prefer a letter from Jesus rather than a £10 note! Having been given the names of the 10 children I was about to meet to learn en route, I bid farewell to these new friends and crossed the river Tyfi, heading up the valley. This river became a constant companion over the next 2 days, as I walked up its valley. It flowed past me in the opposite direction; after the mountains, the rivers flowed with me as I headed east.

My plan was to mostly use roads and I often followed rivers up the valleys

This was a walk along a major (‘A’ class) road for about 12 miles; normally these roads are quite hard to pray along as they can get quite noisy and you have to be very alert for traffic, I usually walked on the right hand side of the road but changed sides as I approached a blind right hand bend, in case fast traffic coming towards me clipped the corner. I remembered that someone praying for me back home had a picture of 2 rows of angels walking with me, some in front and some behind; I sensed God’s protection all along the prayer walk.

After about 8 miles I saw a sign for tea and cake, so I went in for a rest. It was a converted pub, now functioning as an antiques shop, run by a mother and daughter team of Chris and Sarah. My heavy walking stick was becoming uncomfortable as it had a bumpy grip and was too short. I noticed a longer lighter staff (complete with a shepherds crook on the end) for only £6. I had a cream tea scone and glass of water and noticed a nice wooden bowl, with an engraved face of a young woman on it (this made me think of Sarah, who had gone to be with Jesus); I felt it was right to get this for Jo. But… the bowl cost £28. I had my heavy walking stick to trade in and all my cash in my pocket… £14. Chris considered my offer of £14 plus my walking stick for the cream tea, staff and a pot and then said they’d do the deal but I could keep the cash! Their generosity was important because the £10 from Suneila would prove vital the next day.

Over the road from the antique shop is an old Uniformitarian chapel… and my new staff with typical Welsh weather in the background!

I’d had a good chat with Chris who, although not enamoured with formal Christianity in the past, found the spirituality of St David and my positive approach of blessing all I met more attractive. She didn’t name her own faith but I’m guessing it’s within the New Age stable of beliefs. I offered a blessing of the peace of Jesus, which Chris accepted, and I went on my way.

If you’re ever in west Wales and like antiques, do stop off on the A475 at the Rhydowen crossroads (SA44 4QB) to visit ‘Alltyrodyn’, the rustic country style antiques and curios and coffee shop.

As I continued, I tried to memorise all 10 names of the children I’d be meeting on arrival, aged from 17 down to 1, namely: Leah, Daniel, Matthew, David, Sam, Jesse, Jack, Malachi, Ellie and Holly. This triggered me to pray for all the children in Wales, that there might be a mighty move of God’s Spirit to help many of them come to know Jesus.

I arrived at Paul and Jo’s farm at about 3pm. I got most of the children’s names correct, which was a relief! I helped Paul do some carpentry but a power cut curtailed the working day early. We had a late afternoon tea and then Paul offered me a flight in his 1941 Piper Cub aeroplane! The fine weather of the previous two days was continuing and we had a great flight all around the local hills down towards the Black Mountains to the south. I flew for about 20 minutes, which I found not too challenging, as I’d got my Pilot’s Licence aged 17 (but hadn’t flown much since!). We prayed for Lampeter and the surrounding area. It was amazing to see the whole route of my walk stretched out before me from the far west to the eastern horizon. It was an unexpected treat to be 2,000 feet up in the air without having to walk up a hill!

Paul and his Piper and a beautiful day for flying!

In the evening I had a long chat with Jo and Daniel about ‘End Times’ matters and what the Bible says about Jesus’ return to the Earth in the future. I was shown to the caravan (actually a nice mobile home), settled down and slept soundly.

DAY FOUR: Lampeter to Dolgoch, nr Tregoran

(Saturday 21^st July 2012)

During my early prayers I listened to Father God on behalf of Paul, Jo and their 10 kids. I sensed each of the children’s names were significant and had a prophetic word for each of them. After breakfast we gathered to pray; I shared what the Lord had given me and then anointed each family member with oil on their forehead, as a sign of the Holy Spirit to come. As I left I sensed that I’d be seeing this lovely family again in the future. Paul said that he could fly to Shobdon airstrip near my home and we could link up; perhaps for a time of prayer.

Paul and Jo with nine of their eleven children, with the Welsh sunshine blazing in the background!

As I made my way from Paul and Jo’s farm, we took the opportunity to pray for Damson, a poorly cow, and then I was offered a lift into town by the neighbouring farmer. Stan was driving his daughter Nia off to Builth Wells, with a caravan, for her to be on site for the Royal Welsh Show. I resisted the temptation to get a lift to Builth (saving me two days walking!) and got out at Lampeter.

I had an early lunch at the Lampeter Christian Centre, using my last few coins on the nicest pea soup I’d ever had! A charming lady, one of the volunteer waitresses, told me to look up the vicar in Tregaron, my destination for the day. I prayed for church unity in Lampeter and for God’s blessing on the Christian witness through the Christian Centre.

I consulted my map and saw I had a choice of 3 roads to take up the valley to Tregoran. I decided to take a ‘B’ road and looked forward to a 13 mile fairly gentle rise up towards the mountains.

Cellan: the church buildings are like tombstones to past times when God moved

Half way up the valley I went to a typical Welsh village called Cellan. It is typical because it is quite small but still has two big chapels and a Church of Wales parish church. This sadly reflects the history of Christians breaking away from the parish churches and then becoming divided amongst the chapels. I prayed that the future building of God’s people (the true church) in Wales would bring a great unity in the Holy Spirit.

I then entered Llandewi Brefi – the ‘church of St David on the river Brefi’. I only now realised that it was the Holy Spirit leading me in the choice of this route: this village is the location where legend says St David put a handkerchief down and the ground rose up below him so that the gathered crowds could hear him preach. The church there now is the second oldest church in Wales, so it’s obviously a key place in Welsh church history whatever happened on that day when David preached. The church was closed but the pub was open; I had a good opportunity to explain to a small group there what I was doing and why, over a pint of water.

The church building at Landewi Brefi – where David is said to have preached

I pressed on up to Tregaron, arriving around 6pm. I had a sense that I wouldn’t be sleeping in Tregaron that night; I rang the local vicar who couldn’t help with accommodation but he recommended the local youth hostel up in the mountains. A call to my wife provided a telephone number for the hostel. I was told it would be empty, with no warden on site, no hot running water and no electricity… but only £9 for a night!

That gave me £1 for a portion of chips… this was the £10 Suneila had given me two days before. The vicar rang back and offered me a lift to the hostel which was appreciated as it was a 6 hour walk away! We had a good chat on the way and saw some great scenery, including the largest bog in Wales! He grew up near St David’s and had been to Ffald-y-Brenin… so we had that in common to aid conversation. We drove on and on… 12 miles in total, right into the middle of the mountains.

Dolgoch hostel – in the middle of nowhere, halfway along the Abergwesyn pass, basking in more glorious blue sky weather

When we arrived we were surprised to find the door unlocked and the log burner alight, but nobody was around. The vicar had a quick look around (he knew the farmer who used to live there), we shook hands and he left. Soon after, the volunteer warden appeared and introduced herself – Jane was from Devon and had walked and used public transport to come down from the north of Wales over the previous few days. She had the warden’s accommodation to stay in next door and I had a choice of about 20 beds upstairs! Jane is a single mother with a grown up son; we had a long talk in the evening about raising children, with all the joys and stresses involved.

DAY FIVE: Dolgoch to Builth Wells

(Sunday 22^nd July 2012)

I prayed about Jane in the morning; wrote down what I sensed Jesus saying to her and shared it with her in the morning. We had a very good conversation about how to start a relationship with Jesus. All was going well until we discussed the issue of Israel and the Palestinians. This lit a blue touch paper for Jane and I was surprised by the strength of her views. We agreed to disagree about Middle East matters and I went on my way.

Near the hostel I took a short cut across the valley and forded a river; I realised that when St David was walking around Wales there would have been very few proper roads or bridges off the beaten track. Having a mobile phone in your pocket does focus the mind somewhat when jumping from stone to stone!

The one river I crossed without the aid of a bridge, on my way to the stunning Abergwesyn valley

I prayed about various matters as I entered the Abergwesyn Valley along the eastern half of the Abergwesyn Pass. This ‘U’-shaped valley is beautiful and was formed when ice filled it and made up the bottom layer of half a mile thick ice sheet. Dolgoch means ‘Red Valley’ – and this got me thinking about the blood of Jesus in a new way. The blood of Jesus is the only thing which can clean us from our sin and its after effects. I saw in a new way the importance of us asking for this cleansing before we then receive the Holy Spirit. If we ask only for partial cleansing, we can only have a partial filling. It struck me that this is a key teaching to receive more deeply for us to be able to live life filled with God’s Holy Spirit. This was a key area I prayed about on this day.

As I continued down the valley I was full of praise for our Creator God, due to its stunning beauty. The walking was mostly downhill today and I covered over 20 miles; I learnt that you can get new kinds of blisters when going downhill! I went through the village of Beulah (‘marriage’, in the Bible) and had a vague memory that Bunyan named the beautiful hills near Heaven with the same name. I definitely felt very close to Jesus in these hills and there was much praying in the Holy Spirit.

I arrived in Builth Wells at about 8pm, somewhat later than intended (the one wrong turn I took on the whole walk was about 3 miles outside Builth; this added an extra 2 miles to my day, which my sore feet did not appreciate!). I’d tried to phone some local Christians a friend had told me about but they were out of town. I arrived to find the town full of visitors and absolutely no accommodation available. The Royal Welsh Show opened the next day and the streets were full of young people drinking, with a group of Gypsies with horses and carts as well.

The town seemed like a mixture of Sodom and Gomorrah, Vanity Fair (from Pilgrim’s Progress) and Bethlehem… with no room at the inn! There had been a fight the previous night involving 200 people so there was a heavy police presence when I arrived. I noticed an old stone circle right in the middle of the town as I wondered what to do. Someone told me about the fight the previous night… so the main thing I did was pray through the town centre, asking for peace to be over the whole town that night.

Builth Wells – stone circle and a plaque about John Wesley

It was too late to get in to the nearby camp site so I continued to walk around the town and pray the peace of Jesus over it as I squeezed through the full High Street. I decided to have a chat with the Gypsies, to see if they had a spare bed for the night. The answer was “No”, although I had a good friendly conversation with one of the older men.

I did another circuit of the town centre and asked a policeman for some advice; he suggested trying the Builth Wells Rugby Club bar, being a place where I might find a friendly face. I went in and met some guys who had been playing as a band (‘The Vultures’!) outside a local pub. We ended up talking about my prayer walk and they honestly said that they couldn’t understand what I was doing or why.

Nobody could help me in the pub. I’d got out my last cash earlier in the evening (in case I could find a B&B place); I bought a burger and had a late meal… it was now after midnight. (At Builth I sensed a change in my ‘operating procedures’ for the walk; before I had been not using my own resources to fund my way and hadn’t asked for lifts… this was now changing). I noticed a nearby church yard had a plaque on its wall stating that John Wesley had preached there in 1743. I decided that this churchyard would be my bedroom for the night. I tried a bench for comfort but it was very uncomfortable and also noisy as drunk teenagers kept walking past! I moved over to a pile of roofing battens in a quieter corner of the churchyard… they were more comfortable than the rather narrow bench! It struck me that they were there because the church building was being restored. There was that word again! As I went to sleep my prayer was that Jesus would restore his people, his true church, so that our message would reach all age groups, especially those who are currently completely disconnected from God.

I remembered that Jesus said in the Bible that he had ‘nowhere to lay his head’ and that God had said, at the start of my walk, that I’d have one ‘hard night’… this was it! It was a peaceful night as I slept. I got a few hours sleep, which surprised me and awoke just before 4 a.m. as it became a little too cold to sleep out in the open after then. I realised that this was the first time in my life that I’d actually been properly homeless for a night. As I walked through the town centre for a last time I prayed at the stone circle in the centre of town. I asked Jesus to cleanse it from any occult use. My impression of Builth had been a rather dark one, (which was rather unfair, I’m sure it’s a nice place on a sunny afternoon!). However, it was, for me, definitely a low point after the joys of the beautiful day in the mountains I’d had before. But Jesus wants us to be willing to rub shoulders with humanity in all its muckiness and share the love of Jesus with those he leads us to.

DAY SIX: Builth Wells to Kington

(Monday 23^rd July 2012)

I decided to make an early start so I put some fresh plasters on my blisters in the public conveniences; washed as best as I could in the disgusting conditions and got on the road by 4.30 a.m. This was actually a good thing as I had to do about 4 miles on a rather narrow ‘A’ road but there was practically no traffic. I then turned off the main road and took a more scenic route along some small unclassified roads. I didn’t realise that there were some big hills up ahead (I was only using photocopies from a road atlas) but Jesus had some special treats in store for me. It was to be another day of glorious blue skies as well.

I thought that with the highs and lows of the previous 2 days I would now just wind down to the end of the walk. But God had other things in store. I realised why the ‘A’ road skirted around these hills as I walked rather slowly up the third ascent! These were big hills rather than the mountains further west but still hard work. The roads were very narrow; I noticed on one hill that the lane had cut down about 2 feet into the bed rock… this lane had been in use for a long time!

Eventually I went through a village called Glascwm and then arrived at Colva. I paused outside the gate to the parish church and noticed it was another ‘St. David’s’. I went to explore it.

St David’s, Colva… outside and inside

There was a lovely ‘welcome’ notice, inviting the visitor to make themselves a cup of tea or coffee… I had a glass of water and a biscuit! The church building was obviously bypassed by the Reformation, as there are still very early Mediaeval paintings on the walls. It gives an impression of great age. I sat and prayed at the front of the pews. I heard the Holy Spirit tell me to get my copy of ‘The Life of St. David’ out and look up the section which lists his 12 monasteries he established. I read that he founded monasteries at:

‘…Colva, and Glascwm, and then onto Leominster.’

I sensed the joy of the Lord rising in my heart as God showed me I was following exactly in St. David’s footsteps on this day. I had just walked through Glascwm, was now in Colva and was on my way to Leominster! I hadn’t planned it; the Holy Spirit had led me to this place. The pain in my feet was forgotten as I realised this was a significant point in the prayer walk.

I then read in the church history leaflet that St. David’s in Colva is the highest church building in Wales! God said:

“This is the high place. Pray.”

I prayed outside, overlooking another beautiful valley, with the Black Mountains far off to the south. It was now mid-morning and the sun was shining again in a glorious blue sky.

I blessed the west, north, south and east of Wales with a restoration of all that Jesus wants to build into his church, his way. This restored company of God’s people would then be used to be a blessing off into England to the east. The smaller brother will bless the bigger - I had recently heard that Wales has a population of 3 million and England has a population of well over 50 million. It will take a significant move of God to change the hearts of proud Welshmen to take the full gospel (good news) of Christ’s Kingdom from Wales into England… the English are the old enemy and there is no love lost between the two! I saw a whole new generation of believers in Jesus moving with the missionary zeal of St David, full of the Holy Spirit’s power and the love of the Father. They moved all over Wales and then out eastwards… without an ebbing of God’s power.

I thought I’d ‘peaked’ the day before in the mountains but this high place (and hearing God there) was altogether different. When God meets with us at his high place it is an order of magnitude better than our enjoyment of a high place in the natural realm.

I reluctantly left St David’s at Colva and returned to the road. I noticed the farmhouse front door was open next door; I wondered if they knew of this mentioning of Colva in a manuscript written about 1,000 years ago. I knocked on the door and a bright eyed octogenarian came out – Vera. She hadn’t heard of this ancient reference to St David and was fascinated with it and to hear about my prayer walk. I offered to pray a blessing of peace for her, for which she was most grateful. Then her husband Basil came out. Their family had farmed on this farm for hundreds of years. St David would have set up a monastic community there, including a farmstead… probably on the very site of their farmhouse!

Basil and Vera’s farmhouse and the fantastic view from their front door

As I went to go, an oil delivery lorry pulled up. The driver pulled out the hose and I asked him which direction he was travelling in; he pointed the right way and offered me a lift, which I accepted! I said my farewells to Vera and Basil and was soon high up in the cab of the lorry. Jason told me why these lanes were so very narrow (the lorry could only just fit down it); they were the very ancient track ways which had been used way back into pre-history. I commented on the cutting into the bedrock I’d seen earlier in the morning, which confirmed Jason’s comments. These very tracks were almost certainly the actual routes St David walked on…

I jumped out at Gladestry, my last Welsh stop before entering modern day England.

I noticed a blackboard advertising a ‘Monday café’; having been surviving on the previous night’s burger, I was ready for a decent meal! The café is run from the old Post Office by a mother and son, Sue and Gabriel. The pub over the road is closed on Mondays so Sue saw it as an opportunity to help Gabriel earn some money in the school holidays. Her first customers were just leaving; they advised me to not go on the roads to Kington but rather take the Hengest Trail over some high ground, giving stunning views of the surrounding area. I ordered lunch and quickly fell into conversation with Sue about the prayer walk and why I was doing it. I could tell she was a keen Christian just by chatting with her.

Sue had chosen to worship in the local parish church, although she had received much of her Bible teaching from a friend who is a Jehovah Witness. I noticed the distinctive style of delivery that JWs have as she explained some of their doctrines. We quickly came to the central point of who Jesus actually is: fully God or just a created being made by the ‘creator spirit’. I explained that Jesus had to be fully God and fully human in order for his death on the cross to be effective. His sacrifice had to be acceptable to a Holy God; being fully God met this need and being fully human meant that he can represent us before God in Heaven as well. If either of these truths is diluted then the sacrifice is incomplete. I prayed a blessing for Sue, that Jesus would send his Holy Spirit to lead her into all truth and went on my way. I sensed that Sue would be OK; her love for Jesus would help her see truth as opposed to error.

As I left the next customers arrived; two older men and a younger chap. I briefly explained the reason for my walk, with the desire to see similar miracles from God as St David saw – blind eyes opened, the dead raised and the speaking in other tongues. One on the men said that, as we had science now, we didn’t need these miracles any more.

My second time away from the roads took me across the Hengest Ridge to Kington

I went on my way and soon linked up with the Offa’s Dyke footpath. I felt this was significant as I was now overlapping with the route taken by my friend Martin, who had prayed his way up the whole of it from south to north, some months earlier. I wasn’t quite sure I was on the right path so I asked a man in his front garden where the path went. He got out his OS maps (I love OS maps but as I knew I’d be walking mainly on roads, I didn’t need the greater detail on them and wouldn’t have been able to carry them all). The key thing he showed me was that the line of Offa’s Dyke itself ran a mile or two off to the east of Kington. I knew I had to pray at the dyke itself the next day.

I paused on the top of the Hengest Ridge and prayed. I added my prayers to those of Martin and felt a significance in this double layering of prayer. I sent him a text (he was now walking a prayer route from the south of France to Santiago). The view from the top was indeed spectacular; a clear 40 miles in nearly all directions. I could see off towards Leominster in the distance.

I now had £30 cash left over from my Builth experience. In Kington, the Youth Hostel was fully booked and I ended up in the cheapest B&B in town, £29 for a night! This left me with £1 for chips again! I felt very dirty and tired so I really enjoyed a good bath, a power nap and went out to find my bag of chips.

The curse of the E.U. – a bag of chips or a saveloy?

Having walked most of the way across from west Wales, I went into Kington Fish & Chip Shop, with all my available cash (a £1 coin), to try and get a reduced size portion of chips. They didn’t do cones of chips so I slid my plump little £1 coin across the gleaming counter and said “£1 of chips please”. The lady behind the counter looked a little concerned and explained that the cheapest portion was £1-50. I asked if she could give me a reduced size portion and she said “No”; I could have a saveloy but no chips. I was the only customer in the shop and looked around; it was spotless and obviously a well run business.

The owner came across from the fryer to take over. He explained that the till was electronic and simply would not accept £1 for chips. He was polite yet earnest as he explained that it was not possible to sell portions for less than the set price. He didn’t know if I was from the VAT Inspectors… if I was and he sold me chips for less than the set price he could be prosecuted. Alternatively I could be from the Trading Standards Office and likewise his shop could be shut down and he would be arrested, for selling items not listed on the till. I thought he might be being rather over dramatic about the powers of the VAT staff but he seemed to really believe this was the case.

I commented on the harshness of a system which prevented him from being generous to a hungry person who only had £1 to spend. I mentioned the incongruity of the fact that his VAT payments all go off to Europe to pay for the E.U., which has not been able to sign off its accounts for over a decade. There is such a level of financial mismanagement (with large amounts of money just disappearing) that the whole system is corrupt. And yet honest shop owners, like this charming Greek Cypriot, lived in fear of selling chips for only £1! He proudly stated that all his money stays in the UK; he works an 80 hour week, for not much profit. Other immigrants might sponge off the State and send lots of cash back to Eastern Europe but he didn’t do that.

Then we got onto the Olympics; what ruined the Greek economy? The 2004 Olympics! (He didn’t mention the wide spread tax evasion, early retirement ages and generous pensions!) He was sure London would have similar problems after the 2012 Olympics…

But, back to the matter in hand. My rather embarrassed looking £1 coin was now twiddling his thumbs, wondering what to do with himself. I was tempted to pick him up and go and find a less fiscally diligent chip shop owner but then I felt a deep respect for this neatly trimmed man opposite me. We had been discussing VAT and the European Union for about ten minutes. I saw that he was being dominated by a system which prevented him having any flexibility to help a poor or needy person. The system had to be obeyed. I decided I wanted to spend my last pound in his sparkling shop. I pushed the coin to him and said “Give me a saveloy!”

The (rather short) saveloy was promptly selected (“Salt and vinegar?”; “Yes please”), wrapped and handed over. Having walked across Wales, enjoying and enduring various highs and lows, I was not expecting an epiphany in a fish and chip shop near the end of my journey. However, as I left, I felt with a deep urgency that, whatever happens in the future… we must have a referendum and get ourselves out of this pernicious E.U. system. Amongst other evils, it ties honest traders up with red tape and prevents them from having the flexibility to help the poor and needy in society.

DAY SEVEN: Kington to Leominster

(Tuesday 24^th July 2012)

The friendly landlord at ‘The Benchmark’ B&B kindly did a couple of A4 scans of his OS map, so I could find a precise location of the remains of the old Offa’s Dyke. I was about 20 miles from Leominster (via the smaller back roads) and had arranged to meet a good friend at Shobdon, about half way. But my first goal was Offa’s Dyke. About 2 or 3 miles along the road to Titley, I found a public footpath off to the right, across a field. I took this and there, just 50 metres from the road was Offa’s Dyke. From its glory days of being 8 feet deep, with a high rampart on its upper edge, mounted with wooden tree trunks (all designed to keep the Welsh out) it had shrunk to be just 2 feet deep and about 5 feet across! But the scar was still there, clearly seen wending its way across this farmer’s field.

The remains of Offa’s Dyke; my staff is on the English side. The track cuts across it.

A track with two ruts for tractor wheels cut across the dyke. The vision I’d had of a zip across Wales came back to me and I had a great time praying that God would zip together the foundations of the original British church; the track runs east-west and I felt it was a physical sign of something prophetic spiritually. I praised Jesus along the track, back and forth. The dyke wasn’t there in St David’s time; he would have had free access across to Leominster, which was still in old Wales at that time (which extended right up into south western Scotland). God’s kingdom had laid some foundations down in the years before the pagan Anglo-Saxons arrived, right across Britain. We have largely forgotten these spiritual foundations but God hasn’t. I don’t understand fully their significance for today and our near future… but I sense that God is restoring something in Britain which we’ve lost. As we let him do this work of restoration and co-operate with it, I believe great blessings will come upon the whole land. In the areas where this restoration is resisted, fewer blessings will flow.

I saw layers over the island of Britain (also in the past known as Brittania and Albany) as summarised in figure 1. A clear perception of the various layers in British secular and church history came to me after praying at Offa’s Dyke. The diagram in figure 1 does not show all the influences across Britain but the highlighted areas indicate the link between what was in Britain originally during the first century AD and what I believe God is wanting to restore across Britain (and the whole world) before Jesus returns.

(See figure 1 below)

This was my prayer:

“Lord, zip together the original British church foundations in England

and Wales… restore us to be the type of church

you originally intended.”

Figure 1 Prayer Walk – links with restoring God’s Original Church

I went through the small village of Titley. A mock mediaeval preaching cross caught my eye (a war memorial); this reminded me of the one I’d stood on in St David’s. The mediaeval travelling monks would preach from the steps of these crosses. I prayed that true preaching about Jesus would happen all over Britain.

The Celtic preaching cross memorial at Titley

I linked up with my good friend and prayer partner Paul in Shobdon, for the final 10 mile walk into Leominster. Shobdon has a fair sized airfield and, as we walked away from the village, a WWII fighter plane flew overhead. I was reminded of the Battle of Britain in 1940 and later felt God saying that we as a nation are facing a spiritual battle. The church needs to pray to see this battle won.

As we walked along Paul and I discussed and prayed about the ringing of bells at the start of the Olympics. Paul told me how early mediaeval preachers would ring a bell as they entered a village, which announced that they had come to preach about the risen Christ and heal the sick. We prayed that this ministry would be restored to the church across Britain.

We had several opportunities to tell people about Jesus; the main one being spending an hour with Nigel from Kingsland, who is not far from entering God’s Kingdom. He has friends and relatives who know Jesus and we strongly encouraged him to ask one of them to help him enter into a relationship with Christ.

We walked and prayed our way into Leominster, arriving at the Priory at about 5.30pm. A lady was just locking up the iron gates to the building, which I felt was significant. The current buildings represent the last thousand years of history; I had been praying about a connection with the foundations laid by St David as early as 550 AD. There is nothing physical left of David’s activities, so we went out to the rear of the Priory and prayed on the lawns, where part of the Priory had been demolished in the 16^th century Reformation. We thanked Jesus for his protection and cried out one last time for a restoration of all that he wants to bring to Wales and England. The topography of Leominster is linked to it being an extension of Wales which juts out into the wide English valley all around to the east. In St David’s time the valley would have been marshy terrain with no bridges, very different from today’s dredged river system, dry farm land and multiple bridges over the three or four rivers and streams which meet near the town.

I’d enjoyed this week prayer walking; even though at times I was without a bed for the night or penniless, I’d never felt richer spiritually. Even though I was physically tired and sore I’d never felt spiritually stronger or closer to Jesus.

My thanks go to the Lord for his grace; my friends Dave and Paul for helping with transport at the start and finish; all those who blessed me en route and all those who supported me in prayer over the week it took to walk.

“Lord Jesus, restore what you want to bring back into your church, so that your Bride can make herself ready for your return.”

God bless you all

Mark Maddock

P.S. If you’d like to know other areas the Lord led me to pray about, or if you are especially interested in other aspects of prayer, please email me at:

markmaddock@tiscali.co.uk

2013 update: I left a copy of this account of the prayer walk at the prayer centre in west Wales (Ffald-y-Brenin), when I revisited with a group of christians from Bromyard in Herefordshire in October 2012. Various people from all over Britain have emailed me since then, having read my story. All have been encouraged by Jesus though reading it and I’ve met up with some, in London and Gloucester. The London connection has grown; it is my home city and Jesus has led me to get a job there since November 2012. I still live in rural Herefordshire and every time I drive along the M4 motorway I pray blessings from what God has done (and is doing) in Wales onto the south east and the capital city. I believe there is currently an intense spiritual battle over London, for its heart and soul. Demonic forces and false religion want to control it (e.g. the Shard building, the highest in Europe, was built with Islamic money… Islamic demonic spirits always try and take the high ground physically, to try and therefore dominate that area spiritually).

Jesus has given me a key prayer to pray, to assist his church be restored to what he wants it to be - the ‘Axe Prayer’. If you’d like a copy of this prayer, do contact me at the above email address and I’ll send you a copy.

Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus…

Mark

Mark Maddock

Sunday 1 February 2015

Still not organised!

Saturday 8 March 2014

St David’s to Leominster Prayer Walk - 18th – 24th July 2012