Faith Today in History
These three true stories call us to confess Christ openly, remain faithful under pressure, and receive salvation personally.
Nine believers publicly entered a new Christian fellowship
In the home of Paulino Zamora at 50 Calle Beaterio in Intramuros, Presbyterian missionary James B. Rodgers baptized and received nine Filipinos into church communion. The group included Zamora, members of his family, Benigno Dayao, Jesus Bautista, and others. It was an early landmark in organized Protestant witness among Filipinos.
Their faith did not remain confined to that room. Dayao became an early Presbyterian evangelist in the Tagalog region. Nicolas Zamora became a leading Methodist evangelist, while Paulino opened his home and relationships to further gospel work. New preaching places soon appeared in other districts of Manila.
Faith connection: Baptism is both personal confession and public witness. Nine believers gathered in one home became part of a widening testimony that crossed households, neighborhoods, and denominational lines.
Verification: Historical event date: October 22, 1899. Several Springs, One Stream, Volume 1: Heritage and Origins, 1898–1948, by T. Valentino Sitoy Jr., published in 1992 and hosted by the United Church of Christ in the Philippines; digital copy posted in 2017; accessed October 22, 2026.
Bruce Hunt was imprisoned but would not surrender his witness
Japanese occupying authorities arrested Presbyterian missionary Bruce Hunt. During forty-five days of imprisonment, the thirty-eight-year-old father of five endured solitary confinement, scarce food and water, a freezing floor, and only a cloak for a blanket.
The larger conflict centered on pressure upon Hunt and Korean Christians to submit to state-sponsored Shinto shrine worship. Hunt was released on December 5, then arrested again after Pearl Harbor and held until a prisoner exchange in 1942. After the war, he returned to Korea and served there with his wife, Kathy, for another thirty years.
Faith connection: Christian courage is not the absence of suffering. It is the settled conviction that worship belongs to God alone—and that hardship cannot cancel our calling.
Verification: Historical event date: October 22, 1941. Orthodox Presbyterian Church, “Today in OPC History”, entry dated 2023; accessed October 22, 2026. Corroborating archive: Hunt Family Collection, Westminster Theological Seminary’s Montgomery Library, collection guide undated; accessed October 22, 2026.
J. I. Packer discovered that religion was not salvation
Eighteen-year-old James Packer arrived at Oxford University serious, intelligent, and already confirmed in the Church of England. Yet he later said he had never truly understood conversion or saving faith.
At an evangelistic service at St Aldate’s Church, the preacher described being challenged over whether he personally knew Christ. Packer recognized himself in the story: he understood Christian ideas, but he did not yet know the Savior. When the invitation was given, he entrusted his life to Christ. The young convert would become one of the most influential evangelical theologians of the twentieth century and the author of Knowing God.
Faith connection: Church familiarity, moral seriousness, and biblical knowledge are not substitutes for personal faith. The gospel asks each of us: Do you merely know about Christ—or have you trusted Him?
Verification: Historical event date: October 22, 1944. Christianity Today, published July 17, 2020; accessed October 22, 2026. Corroborating biography: The Gospel Coalition, published July 17, 2020; accessed October 22, 2026.
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
— Romans 10:13 (KJV)
The gospel is more than heritage, ceremony, or information. Jesus Christ calls us to repent, believe, confess Him openly, and remain faithful when that confession costs us something. If you have known about Christ without personally trusting Him, call upon Him today. His promise of salvation still stands.
Pastor Rick Carder
Forward this message to someone who needs the reminder that salvation must be personally received and courageously lived.
