Category: HISTORY & BIOGRAPHY
The Little Girl with Big Feet: Dr. Shi Meiyue
Mr. and Mrs. Shi knew that their daughter would never marry because of her big feet. Friends and neighbors commented on them constantly, and the other children teased little Meiyue whenever she ventured outside. Shi Meiyue was a descendent of one of the most aristocratic families...
The Foreign Devil Who Baked Virginia Tea Cakes: The Irrepressible Lottie Moon
John A. Broadus called Charlotte (Lottie) Diggs Moon “the most educated woman in the South.” She came from a wealthy family, had a successful career in education and was rumored to have an offer of marriage from one of her professors. So how did this four-foot,...
The Remedy of Self-Sacrificing Service: The Ministry of Susannah Spurgeon
Charles Spurgeon was only nineteen years old when he was called to be the pastor of the New Park Street Chapel, the church Susannah Thompson attended occasionally with friends. She was singularly unimpressed when she first heard him preach. The eloquence and powerful sermons of the...
The Power of Focus: The Story of Lilias Trotter
Either choice would have been a good one. Lilias Trotter was a gifted artist. So gifted, in fact, that one of the premier art critics of 19th century Europe, John Ruskin, said that if she would devote herself to art, “she would be the greatest living...
The Plant Doctor
If you’d met George walking along a country road or hiking in the woods in the Deep South in the 1930s, it’s likely you would have underestimated him. In his later years, the gray-haired black man was thin, stooped and frail, and could often be seen...
The Mysterious Ways of God in the Life of Emily Chubbuck
Emily Chubbuck wanted to be a missionary—at least, that’s what she wanted when she was about 12 years old. The exciting reports from some of the first missionaries from the United States, Adoniram Judson and his young wife, Ann, captured the imagination of the whole country,...
Robert Chapman: Famous for Love
Early in Robert Chapman’s ministry, his friends were not impressed with his preaching. They told him to give it up. Chapman replied: “There are many who preach Christ, but not so many who live Christ. My great aim will be to live Christ.”1 Chapman did become...
Selina, the Less-than-Perfect Servant
Selina was discouraged. The evangelist John Wesley, her friend, had assured her that it was possible for Christians to attain a state of sinless perfection in this life. Try as she might, the strong-willed and devoted Selina could not accomplish this lofty goal. She felt her...
Serempore Sorrows: Finding Courage in Catastrophe
William Carey’s associates at the Serampore Mission in India were unsure how the fire started. Perhaps it was a workman’s hookah or even arson. Regardless, the long building that housed the translation work burned to the ground. At times flames shot 25 feet into the...
Setbacks
George Frederick Handel’s career was afflicted with setbacks. Twice bankrupt, he had fallen out of favor with audiences, and financial woes mounted. With such strains upon him, he plunged into the task of writing “Messiah”. Servants reported that for the 24-day duration of the project, his...
