May 2
373: Demise of Athanasius in Alexandria, Egypt, who was the first to list the books of the New Testament. He fought ardently for Christ’s divinity in his writings and established that Christ was not created . He was persecuted and forced into exile many times. Still he remained faithful to his vision.
1507: Priestly Ordination of the Augustinian Monk Martin Luther, the future German reformer, at the age of 23.
1550: Joan Boucher is burned to death in England for denying that the Virgin Mary is immaculate. 1852 Death of Samuel Leigh in England; he was the first Methodist missionary to Australia and had also served in New Zealand.
1922: Birth of Bob Finley, mission pioneer and the founder of the Christian Aid Mission in Washington, D.C. in 1953, which currently works in over 40 countries.
1949: Jim Elliot, American missionary and martyr, stated in his journal, “The man who will not act until he knows all will never act at all.”
1952: Demise of Matrona of Moscow, known as Matryona Nikonova, who was born blind and but was gifted with prophecy at early ages. She held on to the  faith of the Orthodox Church although she was rendered homeless by the Soviets. She was later canonized by her church.
1956: The General Conference of the Methodist Church in Minneapolis demands abolishment of the racial segregation in all Methodist churches.
1982: Lin Xiangao, known as Samuel Lamb, who had already served two sentences in prison for resisting Chinese laws against giving religious instruction to the young and for his refusal to submit to the government-run Three Self Patriotic Church, is arrested again for holding house church services.
2008: A Muslim mob attacks the Christian dominated village of Horale, Indonesia, killing four Christians, injuring many, burning down three churches, the village school, and many houses.
2010: Two buses filled with Christian students on their daily trip to the University of Mosul in Iraq come under bomb explosion. Numerous students are injured and one succumbed later to her injuries.
2011: The 200-year-old Greek Orthodox Chapel of Saint Thekla in Vokolida, Cyprus is demolished by the Turkish authorities.
Edited by: T. Chempilayil MCBS
Courtesy:Â www.studylight.org