August 23
1572: Massacre of Huguenots (French Protestants) on the orders of Catherine de Medici, advisor to her son, Charles IX, King of France.
1723: Demise of Increase Mather, one of America’s most famous clergymen, a former president of Harvard College, who had published many books, including Cases of Conscience Concerning Witchcraft which helped end executions for witchcraft in New England.
1823: Karl F. A. GÀGÀtzlaff from the Netherlands Missionary Society, arrives in Bangkok as the first missionary ever to reach Thailand. Together with his wife, GÀGÀtzlaff later translated the complete Bible into Siamese, and portions of it into the Lao and Cambodian languages.
1828: Carl Gutzlaff and Jacob Tomlin, the first Protestant missionaries, set foot in Thailand.
1882: Repose of Charles W. Fry, English Salvation Army worker, who penned the words to the lyric hymn, “I Have Found a Friend in Jesus” (a.k.a. “Lily of the Valley”).
1901: Six hundred American teachers arrive in the Philippines to teach at schools and begin mass education of Filipinos, marking the beginning of Protestantism in that land.
1918: Soviets execute Ephraim, the Orthodox bishop of Selenginsk. He was a fiery preacher, loved by his people and had converted Mongols, Buryats, and Koreans to Christianity.
1952: Demise of Frederick George Kenyon, a British archaeologist and language scholar, who had devoted his life to discovering biblical parallels in ancient Greek papyri and thus convincing critics that science does not disprove the Bible.
1966: Red Guards vandalise the Moore Memorial Church and persecute church leader Sun Yanli and his family.
2008: A violent persecution against Christians begins in Orissa State, India, following the assassination of a Hindu leader for which the Christians were blamed. Many Christians were killed, many homes, thirteen schools and churches were burned. Many Christian women were raped and dozens were forced into sexual slavery. Tens of thousands of Christians had to flee their villages.
Edited by: T. Chempilayil MCBS
Courtesy: www.studylight.org