Paul James-Griffiths of Christian Heritage Edinburgh, writes, “As I continue with the miniseries on Scottish missionaries in Africa, we arrive at Lovedale in South Africa. This was a mission base founded by Scottish missionaries, which became a significant model for the whole of Africa because it was based on Christ and a Christian worldview, which had…
1604 HT: Christianity.com Have you ever attended a frustrating meeting where nothing much seems to get done? The Hampton Court conference, held in 1604, was like that. When James VI of Scotland rode south to London on the way to the coronation that would make him James I of England, Puritans presented him with a…
1543 British Parliament prohibits the reading of the New Testament in English by “women or artificer’s prentices, journeymen, servingmen of the degree of yeoman, or under, husbandmen or labourers…” 1604 Puritan John Rainolds suggests to King James I “that there might bee a newe translation of the Bible, as consonant as can be to the…
1743 HT: Dan Graves David Brainerd, was a legendary pioneer missionary to the American Indians. He died in 1747 when he was only 29 years old, but his journal has inspired Christians in every generation since. One day in December, 1742, he made an entry that gave later generations a peek at the experience of…
1915 HT: Dan Graves In 1914, Mary Slessor, a world-famous missionary to Nigeria, fell so ill that she had to be taken by canoe to hospital. A few weeks later she collapsed again. As she lay semi-conscious she whispered “O God, release me.” She died on this day, January 13, 1915, mourned by thousands of…
1588 HT: Dan Graves Can you imagine the outcry if the Boston Globe were to announce that the Governor of Massachusetts had preached one Sunday from the Bible, using as his text, Christ’s “Sermon on the Mount?” Does the very idea sound ridiculous and impossible? Well, such an event did take place in 1630. Governor John Winthrop…
1817 HT: Dan Graves Once when young Timothy Dwight did not show up for dinner, his parents went looking for him, fearing tragedy. They found him under an apple tree, surrounded by Indians. Four-year-old Timothy was instructing the American natives in the catechism. The boy, grandson of colonial preacher, revival leader and educator Jonathan Edwards,…
Paul James-Griffiths of Christian Heritage Edinburgh, writes, “I’m resuming our articles with a series on Scottish missionaries to Africa in the 19th century. They had a huge impact on this sub-Saharan continent. The first is Robert Moffat from Ormiston, who pioneered so much among the populous Batswana people of southern Africa, and became an inspiration for David…
1915 HT: Dan Graves MARY SLESSOR was one of the best-known missionaries of the nineteenth century. A hard childhood in Scotland prepared her for the strenuous life of the mission field. By age eleven she was working in a mill, preparing jute and flax for weavers. As she grew older she became a weaver, able…
1956 HT: Dan Graves The five men on “Palm Beach,” a strip of sand on the Curaray River, Ecuador, knew that there was danger. But they took the risk for a chance to make friendly contact with the Huaorani (Auca) Indians. Missionaries Ed McCulley, Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Pete Fleming, and Roger Youderian, had landed…