The vulnerable honesty of some Puritan diaries can be startling at a time when we tend to guard our words. Yet it is through this honesty that we understand the depths of human struggles and, in the case of the…
Editorial Note: by Simonetta Carr There are a number of reasons why Wigglesworth’s diary is a help to those who struggle with same-sex attraction in our day. First, as Carr points out, Wigglesworth understands that his desires are sinful and…
by Simonetta Carr A few years ago, I wrote about Isabella Graham[1]. the Scottish educator who founded one of the first women’s societies to be legally registered as a charity, for the improvement of lives of needy women and children.…
Paulinus of Pella – A Thankful Heart After Formidable Losses Paulinus of Pella is mostly known by historians of Ancient Rome, as his poetic account of his life during the troubled end of the Roman Empire provides us with a…
Hannah Allen – Rescued from Serious Mental Struggles One of the most moving, honest, and encouraging stories of a battle with mental disturbances comes from a 17th-century English Puritan, Hannah Allen, born around 1638 to pious parents. Her father,…
Marianna Slocum – Bringing the Good Seed to Mexican Tribes. Marianna Slocum was excited about her upcoming wedding to Bill Bentley, a missionary she had met two years earlier. The big date was only six days away. They had just…
George Schmidt, Magdalena, and the Bible Beneath the Pear Tree When the Moravian missionary George Schmidt left South Africa in 1744, he left behind a few converts, a copy of the Dutch New Testament, and a few trees he…
On March 7, 1557, a French ship landed into Guanabara Bay, near modern-day Rio de Janeiro, carrying fourteen French Protestant men ready to bring the gospel to this new continent. One of them, 23-year-old Jean de Léry, kept a detailed…
Queen Ranavalona II of Madagascar Missionaries to Madagascar trembled when they heard the name of the new queen – Ranavalona II. They remembered a previous queen by the same name, who had cruelly persecuted her Christian subjects. But Ranavalona…
Mathieu Majal Désubas – A Young Huguenot Martyr Huguenots in 18th-century France were well-aware of the dangers they faced by attending Protestant services. Many had been Protestants since birth, children or grandchildren of a generation that had enjoyed some…
