A WEEKLY COLLECTION OF TRUE AND INSPIRING STORIES (Weekly Stories)
Faith Today in History
History is more than a record of dates. It is also a record of people who heard God’s call, crossed barriers, served forgotten neighbors, and carried the hope of Christ into difficult places. Here are three true stories connected with this week in history.
September 7, 1807 — Robert Morrison Arrives in China
At about eight o’clock on the evening of September 7, 1807, twenty-five-year-old Robert Morrison arrived in Canton. He had come with the London Missionary Society and became the first Protestant missionary to serve in China.
The obstacles were formidable. Missionary activity was restricted, learning Chinese was extremely demanding, and visible results came slowly. Yet Morrison remained. His work helped produce a Chinese dictionary and a complete Chinese translation of the Bible. His ministry reportedly saw only a small number of baptisms during his lifetime, but the Scriptures and linguistic tools he prepared helped lay foundations for generations of Christian witness in China.
Faith connection: God does not measure faithfulness only by immediate numbers. Sometimes one obedient servant prepares the soil in which others will later reap a harvest.
Source: Christianity Today — September 7 in Christian History
Additional biographical source: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
September 8, 1654 — Peter Claver’s Life of Mercy Ends
Peter Claver died in Cartagena on September 8, 1654, after roughly forty years of ministry among enslaved Africans arriving in the Colombian port. He met crowded slave ships with food, water, medicine, interpreters, and Christian instruction. Historical accounts credit him with teaching and baptizing great numbers of enslaved people while also pressing others to recognize their humanity and dignity.
Claver served people whom the commercial world treated as cargo. His witness reminds us that evangelism must never separate the message of Christ from mercy, dignity, and practical love.
Faith connection: The gospel compels us to see every person as someone made in God’s image and loved by Christ. Genuine witness draws near to suffering rather than looking away.
Source: Franciscan Media — Saint Peter Claver
Additional source: Vatican News — Peter Claver, Apostle of Slaves
September 10, 1946 — Mother Teresa Hears a “Call Within a Call”
While traveling by train to a retreat in Darjeeling on September 10, 1946, Sister Teresa experienced what she later called a “call within a call”—a compelling conviction that Jesus was directing her to leave the convent school and serve among the poorest people of Calcutta.
She did not act carelessly. She spent an extended period discerning the call and seeking permission from her religious superiors. In time, that moment led to the founding of the Missionaries of Charity and a worldwide ministry among people who were hungry, sick, abandoned, and dying.
Faith connection: Christ still redirects lives. A heart surrendered to Him can turn an ordinary journey into the beginning of extraordinary service.
Source: Vatican News — Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Additional source: HISTORY — Mother Teresa
— 2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV)
A Word for Today
These three lives unfolded in different centuries and cultures, yet each reminds us that the gospel moves through obedient people. Some translate Scripture. Some enter places of suffering. Some allow God to redirect the entire course of their lives.
The same Jesus who changed them is still saving and transforming people today. Perhaps the question history places before us is simple: What might Christ do through one life fully surrendered to Him?
May we listen for His voice, receive His grace, and carry His love to someone who needs hope this week.
In Christ,
Pastor Rick Carder
Historical dates describe when the featured events occurred. Linked articles may have been published later.
