HT: Christian History Institute
1546
George Wishart, a Scottish reformer, is arrested by Roman Catholic authorities, and will be burned to death as a heretic the next day by order of Cardinal David Beaton.
1638
Scotland’s national covenant is signed at Greyfriars Kirk, Edinburgh, giving rise to the Covenanter movement among Scottish Presbyterians, insisting that Christ, not the king of England, is head of the church. Eighteen thousand will be martyred for this belief.
1944
Nazi soldiers arrest Corrie Ten Boom and her family in Harlaam for harboring Jews. Her father and a sister will die in concentration camps, but Corrie will be released because of a clerical error and become an international speaker for Christianity, author of The Hiding Place, and subject of a movie by the same name.
2007
[Above: Location (in red) of Odisha (formerly Orissa) in India. Filpro / [CC-BY-SA 4.0] Wikimedia File:IN-OD.svg]
In Orissa State [renamed Odisha State in 2011], militant Hindus have a strong presence and periodically attack Christians and even kill them as they did with Australian missionary Graham Staines and his son. Another assault took place in Orissa on this day, 28 February 2007, in the village of Kutabaga.
A mob of four hundred Hindus attacked the Gospel for Asia Bible School. Militants had whipped them into a fury over a recent court ruling that permitted the school to close a trail that villagers had made across the campus for convenient access to an adjacent river. Often villagers drove tractors and motorized vehicles through the school property, creating so much noise that concentration was difficult for teachers and students. Although alternate routes led to the river, the militants made an emotional issue of the land-use.
Armed with axes, sticks, and swords, the mob damaged the campus church and several roofs on other buildings and cut electric wires on the campus. They beat half a dozen of the approximately three-hundred students and a woman dorm director. The woman had to be hospitalized with head injuries and four male students also wound up in hospital, one in critical condition from having a brick slammed into his chest.
When police arrived, the mob scattered, but another group of Hindu militants soon approached, shouting “Hail Lord Rama,” and “Hail Lord Bajrangbali.” The situation remained tense. College officials called on Christians to pray for their persecutors.
A few days later discussions between the villagers and the school led to an accommodation. The school opened a new path along the edge of its property and the villagers promised no longer to drive vehicles across the campus. Everyone hugged all around and peace was restored.
—Dan Graves
The state of Orissa, as well as the nation of India has a special place in my heart. I was born in Orissa and my parents served as missionaries there for a good number of years.