1869 - Birth of E. O. Sellers, American Baptist musician. At various times the song evangelist for R.A. Torrey, Gipsy Smith, A.C. Dixon and J. Wilbur Chapman, Sellers is remembered today for his two original hymns: "Thy Word Have I Hid in My Heart" and "Wonderful, Wonderful Jesus."
1870 - Birth of Juji Nakada, Japanese Christian evangelist. In 1901 he influenced Charles and Lettie Cowman (authors of "Streams in the Desert") to come to Japan, where in 1910 they incorporated the Oriental Missions Society.
1889 - New York City missions pioneer Albert B. Simpson, 46, incorporated the International Missionary Alliance. Combined in 1897 with a group formerly also organized by Simpson, it became the Christian and Missionary Alliance, one of the most missions-minded denominations in modern American Protestantism.
1919 - The Apostolic Christian Association was incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia. It later merged with what is now the International Pentecostal Church of Christ, headquartered in London, Ohio.
1955 - American missionary Jim Elliot, 28, wrote in his journal: 'First time I ever saw an Auca-1500' is a long ways if you're looking out of an airplane.' Ten weeks later, on Jan 8, 1956, Jim and four other missionaries would be speared to death by these same Indians they had come to Ecuador in hopes of evangelizing.
© 1987-2008, William D. Blake. Used by permission of the author, from
Almanac of the Christian Church
