Rebecca Duffett spoke with Andy Smithyman

Andy Smithyman

Drawing material from his research into historic revivals, Andy Smithyman has written Extra Ordinary Miracles. Inspired by stories he heard from family growing up, he has now turned the spotlight away from the well-known names and focused on lesser-known characters, who through simple acts of devotion were equally used of God to bring about His purposes. To find out more Rebecca Duffett spoke with Andy.

Rebecca: What made you want to write about miracles?

Andy: I think it was my childhood background. I was raised up in a Christian family. My father was a travelling preacher. My grandfather got saved under a George Jefferies healing crusade and my Grandma, I'd best class her as an old school Christian lady, so anything outside of scripture hymns on a Sunday morning service on BBC four was questionable.

I was raised up with bedtime stories of revival and healing crusades. My Grandma would continually tell me stories of how hymns came about; she would sing to me and it shaped my life.

In the late nineties there was just something in me that felt that I wanted to study more about moves of God. There's a little phrase that remained in me, but I didn't know what it meant. It was to highlight the secret gems of those moments; so I just started doing what I knew best, which was to read diaries, journals and old history books. Then I started interviewing people and visiting little places in history and there was one moment that stood out, that I think best highlights what the purpose of the book is. I had an opportunity to go to the Isle of Lewis and interview some people who had lived through a revival in the late forties, early fifties. I remember stepping foot on the island. I was a very arrogant Christian. I had read all about this revival. I thought I knew all the stories. I had preset questions to ask and the first elderly gentleman I met, I had to go through his kitchen to get to his lounge. His kitchen was a really old dated kitchen. I got into this small lounge and it was full of old photos of people that he loved and cherished. We sat down on the sofa and it was a worn out sofa with the springs kind of sticking through and we started chatting and praying and within a few minutes I realised that whatever I thought I knew about God and more importantly whatever I thought I knew about a life of worship and the history of those revivals, was really just a fraction of a percent of what was running through this old man's life. There was something that was flowing through him like blood in his veins that carried a fragrance, a beauty that passed anything that I could clearly articulate. I rarely use this word; it kind of broke me and it just made me stop and really admire what this man was living for.

Over the few days we visited different places on the island and he was telling me all these stories. Then as I started talking to some other people there as well, I began to realise that some of these famous stories that I knew, some of these famous stories that we preach from the pulpit and tell in our books, there are other dimensions of these people we're talking about. There were characters that we've somehow erased from those pages and some of the stories that we tell, they were a part of; but their names don't appear anymore and some of the sacrifices that they made, some of the service they did, other people had got famous over.

When I questioned them about it they weren't bothered about it at all. There was no sense of wanting to set any record straight. There was no sense of wanting to put their name in print or anything like that. There was one person who very clearly articulated to me, his name is in the Lamb's book of life and his stories now being told in the lives of people that the gospel reached. That made me re-examine all the revival stories that I got to know and love.

Rebecca: So why 29?

Andy: It was hard trying to decide on the 29. I store loads of stories. I love speaking to people. I go into old second-hand book shops and try to find out of print books, journals and diaries and there's something very beautiful about our life stories. There's something very beautiful about every single one of us having a contribution to make; we all have got a value that contributes to this wonderful God story that we are a part of.

I think why I decided on 29 was it's a bit of an odd number. It doesn't fit in to a nice tidy 30 and there's something very incomplete about the book that I wanted to keep. I think sometimes, that we like to put a box of definition around our faith and contributions and make everything neat and tidy. Sometimes our journey of faith is anything but that. It's full of questions, full of having insecurities and it's full of brokenness. It's not always that kind of neat and tidy box that we hope for and I think in a very small and maybe inadequate way I wanted to echo a beauty that I came across in lots of interviews where these men and women really knew their Saviour. It's like they had held onto the cross so tightly that the splinters of the cross were in the palms of their hands and it's hidden from sight. As you delve into their lives it's like their palms were turned around and you can see the cost and the sacrifice that they had lived out. That cost and sacrifice had questions to it. Sometimes the hopes and dreams that they had worked for, they died before those answers came about; but they're ok about that because they saw something far wider, far deeper and I think I just wanted to try and echo that in everything about the book. The number and the way it's written is simply about the rawness of life and the beauty of walking with the cross.

Rebecca: What do you hope people will take away from reading the book?

Andy: My simple prayer in it is that people will get from it a value of what God has placed inside every single one of us. The contributions that we make that are integral to this wonderful masterpiece of God and creation. That if you imagine a symphony that each sound is made up of individual tones coming together and every single one of our lives carries that. Every single one of our lives carries that tone that sometimes will be publicly acclaimed and lead us into the halls of power and maybe on stage with lights shining on us and our name in print, or our creation acclaimed throughout the world. Sometimes our tones will just be heard within local streets in the neighbourhoods; in a family; the way we raise our children; the way we are with our partners and our colleagues in work and they are of equal value.

There is a temptation that we can see certain positions over another. We can hope for certain story lines over another and it's good to have stories that are role models. It's good to have stories that capture our attention and capture our senses. I just pray that when people read this that they will sometimes look at the wider context of the story and look at all the other contributions that make this beauty that it is.

Rebecca: What response have you had from the book?

Andy: The best response I think I've had is some guy said it was the best toilet read he's had, because the short chapters don't take too long to read through.

I've really wanted to just create a further dialogue. I'm really into stories and it's been a good opportunity for people to get in touch and to say, well I knew this story over here; I knew of this movement and continue dialogue there.

People can get in touch with me on the website and there's an email button there. It's been lovely; a whole new experience for me. It's something I'd never dreamed of a couple of years ago. To write and have the comments back thus far has been just humbling and I'm really grateful for that.

You can buy Extra Ordinary Miracles from Cross Rhythms Direct for only £7.59.