Excerpt from The Intercession of Rees Howells
by Zerubbabel Press

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. —John 3:16

My wife and I were to go to Africa and because we loved souls, the Lord made a very great test on it. He said, "You must prove to me that you love the souls of those people in Africa, who are to live for eternity, more than you love your own son." I thought, "Does he really mean this?" Yes, he meant it, even as he had  told Abraham to take his only son up a mountain and offer him for a burnt offering. There are men God has tested, and he tested me whether I loved any-thing in this world more than I loved souls. Everything has to be tested and to go through the fire . God knew that 2000 years after he asked Abraham to give up his son, he would have to do the same thing. "He who spared not his own son but delivered him up for us all…" (Romans 8:32). And as Isaiah said, "It pleased the Lord to bruise him" (Isaiah 53:10). Your love for God must be proved–he does not take your word for it. The acid test of our love for souls was Samuel, our son. God said, "If you give him up you can never claim him again." Not once has it ever dawned on me that Samuel was mine. God had said to Abraham, "In blessing I will bless thee," and the one thing I told the Lord was, I can claim the hundredfold in souls from you in Africa."

–From The Intercession of Rees Howells