Faith Today in History : October 15

 

TRUE STORIES • ENDURING HOPE Faith Today in History October 15

October 15 gives us three portraits of grace in motion: a man in Madagascar turning decisively from his old spiritual bondage, an evangelist whose own deliverance became a message to millions, and an ordinary working woman boarding a train because she believed God had called her to China. Their circumstances were different, but each life points to the same truth: when Christ changes a heart, He also gives that life a new direction.

OCTOBER 15, 1894 • MADAGASCAR Rainisoalambo became “a new man” Rainisoalambo was a respected healer and diviner whose identity and livelihood were bound to charms and traditional spiritual practices. Ill, impoverished, and abandoned by friends, he called upon the God proclaimed by Christian missionaries. At dawn on October 15, he discarded his amulets and instruments of divination, repented, and testified that Jesus had freed him from his former bondage. He immersed himself in the New Testament, began telling his family and neighbors about Christ, and helped form the Disciples of the Lord. Their movement emphasized repentance, humility, prayer, mutual help, Bible reading, and sharing the gospel. It became the beginning of an influential indigenous revival in Madagascar. Faith connection: Real repentance is more than regret. It turns from old masters, clings to Jesus, and produces a visibly different way of living. Verification: Historical event date: October 15, 1894. Dictionary of African Christian Biography, article received in 2008; site last updated October 7, 2026; accessed October 15, 2026. The author, Berthe Raminosoa Rasoanalimanga, formerly directed the FJKM National Center for Archives, and the article cites Malagasy historical and mission sources.

OCTOBER 15, 1906 • UNITED STATES Sam Jones finished the journey a changed man Sam Jones’s early law career collapsed under the weight of alcohol. In 1872, while struggling to quit drinking, he experienced a spiritual turning point and entered Methodist ministry. His plainspoken call to “quit your meanness” eventually filled revival meetings across the country. He preached against the very addiction that had nearly destroyed him and urged hearers toward changed lives. On October 15, 1906—one day before his fifty-ninth birthday—Jones died suddenly while returning from a revival in Oklahoma City. The former alcoholic had completed his life as one of America’s most widely known evangelists, and his ministry had helped lead others, including riverboat businessman Thomas Ryman, toward dramatic change. Faith connection: Grace does not erase the truth about our past; it transforms what the past means. The wound that once enslaved Jones became part of the testimony through which he warned and invited others. Verification: Historical event date: October 15, 1906. New Georgia Encyclopedia, written by David B. Parker of Kennesaw State University; originally published February 18, 2005; last edited September 20, 2018; accessed October 15, 2026.

OCTOBER 15, 1932 • LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND Gladys Aylward boarded the train for China Gladys Aylward was a domestic servant with little formal education. A missionary training program had judged her unlikely to master Chinese, but she remained convinced that God had called her to serve there. She saved her wages and, on October 15, boarded a train in Liverpool to begin a difficult overland journey across Europe and Siberia. In China she joined Jeannie Lawson, welcomed mule drivers at an inn where they shared Bible stories, served vulnerable children, and used public work to oppose foot-binding and carry the gospel into new communities. During wartime she later guided roughly one hundred children toward safety. Faith connection: A closed door is not always the end of a calling. Aylward’s story honors steady obedience—the willingness to take the next faithful step even when recognized authorities do not see our potential. Verification: Historical event date: October 15, 1932. Christian History Institute, article undated; accessed October 15, 2026. The exact date is independently listed by Howard Culbertson’s global missions timeline at Southern Nazarene University, undated; accessed October 15, 2026.

SCRIPTURE REFLECTION “Ye shall be witnesses unto me … unto the uttermost part of the earth.” — Acts 1:8 (KJV) The witness of Christ begins in a surrendered heart and then travels—across a household, across a nation, or across the world. If you have never entrusted your life to Jesus, turn from sin and receive His mercy today. If you already know Him, ask where His grace is calling you to take the next faithful step.

With hope, Pastor Rick Carder

Faith Today in History • Verified stories of Christian witness and transformed lives.

Grace Gives Us a Choice

What We Believe: A Wesleyan Perspective — Week 2

Scripture: Joshua 24:14–15 || Watch here. 

As a boy, I remember standing with the neighborhood kids while two captains chose teams for baseball. The best athletes were picked first. I usually waited a little longer.

Eventually, someone called my name: “Rick.”
My assignment was catcher. It wasn’t glamorous, but I discovered that the catcher participates in virtually every pitch. I had a place on the team and a part to play.
Yet being chosen didn’t force me to participate. I still had to walk onto the field, put on the equipment, and take my place.

That memory helps me think about our response to God’s grace. God loves us, pursues us, and invites us into a relationship with Him. His grace makes our response possible, but He does not force us to receive Him.

In Joshua 24, the invitation to choose follows a reminder of God’s faithfulness. God had called Abraham, delivered Israel from Egypt, protected His people in the wilderness, and brought them into the Promised Land. Before Joshua asked for their commitment, he reminded them of what God had already done.

The choice came after grace.

Joshua then declared, “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve,” adding, “But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15).

Our Wesleyan understanding calls God’s work before our response prevenient grace—grace that goes before. Sin has damaged us, and we cannot save ourselves. But through Jesus Christ, God reaches toward us and enables us to turn to Him.

Before we recognized our need, God was working. Before we reached toward Him, He had already reached toward us.
God initiates. Grace enables. We respond. Christ saves. The Spirit transforms.

Responding to grace involves repentance and faith. 

Repentance means turning from sin. Faith means trusting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Our response does not earn salvation; we receive what Christ has done for us.

We can know Bible stories, sing familiar hymns, and attend church for years. But Joshua’s question remains personal: Whom will you serve?

When we receive Christ, God does more than add our names to a membership list. He forgives our guilt, makes us spiritually alive, adopts us into His family, and assures us through the Holy Spirit that we belong to Him.

Joshua’s declaration also challenges those who already follow Jesus. We cannot make our children or grandchildren believe, but we can show them what faith looks like. We can pray, share our testimony, and tell the next generation how God has been faithful. Our example becomes an invitation for them to respond.

Perhaps you have wondered whether God would want someone like you. You know your failures and feel unworthy of His attention.

The cross reveals His love for you. You do not have to make yourself worthy before coming to Him. His grace is already reaching toward you.

Joshua said, “This day.” The invitation calls for a response today: trust Christ, turn toward Him, and let His grace shape your life.

Listen to this melody as you meditate on the goodness of God.

God pursues us.
Grace comes before us.
Christ died for us.
The Spirit calls us.
Grace enables us.
We are given a genuine choice.
And when we respond through repentance and faith—Christ saves us.

God has extended His grace to me—how am I choosing to respond?

“As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”