1812 HT: Dan Graves At about six in the evening on this day, 11 March 1812, fire broke out in a print shop at Serampore, India. The mission staff there were able to rescue a few deeds and financial records, but could salvage little more. Around midnight, the roof caved in, sending a pillar of fire high…
320 HT: Dan Graves Governor Agricola of Armenia was confronted with “mutiny.” Forty soldiers refused to offer the sacrifice ordered by emperor Licinius. The forty who stood before him that wintry fourth-century day in Sevaste were fine specimens of manhood who radiated an aura of courage. He was determined to make them see reason. But…
Of his latest article about Scottish missionaries, Paul James-Griffiths of Christian Heritage Edinburgh writes, “This week we travel from Africa and Asia to Portugal, and to Dr Robert Kalley. This amazing Scottish medical missionary had a significant impact in Portugal, until he was driven out, and then in Brazil.“ Dr Robert Reid Kalley (1809-1888) http://www.robertreidkalley.xpg.com.br/, Public domain, via…
1780 HT: Christian History Institute In spite of stiff opposition from his congregation at Trinity Church, Cambridge, Charles Simeon preached an evangelical gospel. His zeal caused unsympathetic trustees to lock him out of his own church building a few times but also produced a crop of evangelical graduates at nearby Cambridge University, men who became notable churchmen,…
1823 HT: Dan Graves On this day, March 7, 1823, missionary William Carey picked up his pen with a heavy heart and jotted a note to fellow missionaries in Calcutta. “Our dear brother Ward breathed his last about half an hour ago, viz. a quarter before five o’clock and will be committed to the grave tomorrow evening.…
1837 HT: Dan Graves In 1639, a non-conformist preacher named Abraham Pierson landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts. One hundred and ninety eight years later, on this day, March 6, 1837, one of Abraham’s most illustrious descendants, Arthur T. Pierson, was born in New York City. He was the ninth of ten children. Like his forefather Abraham,…
1877 HT: Dan Graves William Strong was born on this day, March 3, 1877, to Presbyterian parents. His father had done mission work in South America for two years, but a breakdown in health sent him back to America. There he founded an insurance company. Following in his father’s footsteps, William sold insurance, too. He joined a church…
1724 HT: Dan Graves If Beethoven is the poster child for unexpected results from a faulty ancestry, Henry Venn could stand for predictable results from a good line. His great-great grandfather William Venn became a Protestant clergyman during the Reformation. William’s son Richard was dispossessed of his church position by Parliament because he favored the…
1534 HT: Dan Graves William Farel was a fiery Reformation evangelist in Western Switzerland. Born in France in 1489, he converted to Protestant beliefs in part through the teaching of Jacques Lefèvre d’ Étaples, a French philosopher and Biblical scholar. Without formal ordination, Farel immediately began to preach the gospel zealously in Paris and throughout…
Of his latest article about Scottish missionaries, Paul James-Griffiths of Christian Heritage Edinburgh writes, “This week we look at the remarkable work that was pioneered by Scottish missionaries to reach women in Muslim and Hindu cultures. Male missionaries were forbidden to reach these women, so God raised up an army of women to do it.“ Millions of women…