August 18
330 [supposed date]: Passing away of Empress Helena, the mother of Constantine. She is supposed to have discovered the true cross on which Christ died, and she founded many churches in Palestine.
1520: Luther publishes his address To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, which calls the laity, as spiritual priests, to carry out the necessary reformation neglected by the pope and the established church.
1752: Agapius of Thessalonica, an Orthodox monk and priest, who had actively served the Jerusalem church, is tortured to death by Janissaries.
1856: Birth of Charles Gabriel, an American sacred musician, who had edited a great number of hymn-books, and wrote several hymns, including “More Like the Master,” “I Stand Amazed in the Presence” and “Send the Light.”
1917: Cameron Townsend leaves home to become a missionary. He later founded Wycliffe Bible Translators and the Summer Institute of Linguistics.
1927: Conversion of Christian radio pioneer Theodore Epp. He had founded the Back to the Bible Broadcast, an evangelistic radio program with outlets over 600 stations today.
1944: Demise of John Sung, an outstanding Christian missionary in China and Southeast Asia.
1963: Karl Barth, a Swiss Reformed theologian, wrote in a letter, “Even if there is cause for great dissatisfaction with one’s church, one should stay in it in the hope that new movements will come…. Only in this way could I continue to be a member of the Evangelical Reformed Church.”
Edited by: T. Chempilayil MCBS
Courtesy: www.studylight.org