John George Govan (1861-1927)

John George Govan (1861-1927) was a Scottish businessman and evangelist who founded The Faith Mission.

He was inspired on hearing accounts of the Holiness movement from friends who had attended the Keswick Convention of 1884. With the goal of leading a life wholly devoted to God, he then set about removing all personal and worldly ambition from his psyche. After several months of this, one night he came to a point where he knew that his life had been changed forever. "My friends," he later wrote, "get into this position of entire surrender to God, and real trust in Him, and then He will show you when to wait upon Him, and how long to wait upon Him; and He will visit you and bless you in a way perhaps you have little idea of now".

A typical day involved "morning watch" from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m., then work, then revivalist meetings in the evening. "He came to know the voice of God"; said his daughter, Isobel.

In 1886 Govan decided to leave the business world and devote himself full-time to evangelization. To this end he founded The Faith Mission, a Protestant evangelical Christian organization initially based in Rothesay, Scotland. Among its principles were that its evangelistic workers should "live by faith".

Married to Annie Martin in 1894, he had four children: sons Frank and Ellis, and daughters Isobel (who wrote the book, Spirit of revival, about his life and work) and Sheena.