Auburn Friends

Based on the book "Secret Believers" by Brother Andrew:

Open this book and meet Christians who are courageous in the face of persecution. Butros, a Christian man with a heart for the church. Ahmed, Mustafa and Hassan, devout Muslims until their hearts are changed by the Truth of Scripture. Salima, a rich young woman who loses everything when she falls in love with Jesus. How can Christianity flourish in the face of Sharia law? How can Christ's love win Muslims? What price will these believers pay for their faith?

(Recorded 24 February 2019)

Andrew van der Bijl (better known as Brother Andrew) is a Christian missionary born in1928 in the Netherlands, and remembered for his exploits in smuggling Bibles into communist countries at the height of the Cold War, for which he earned the nickname "God's smuggler" and wrote of his experiences in a book by the same name (1967).  He founded an organisation called "Open Doors" to support Christians in countries where their freedom is limited or non-existent.

(Recorded 23 December, 2018)

John Newton (1725 - 1807) was an English Anglican clergyman and abolitionist
 
After coming to Christ, Newton renounced this trade and became a prominent supporter of abolitionism. Now an evangelical, he was ordained as a Church of England clergyman and served in the parish at Olney in Buckinghamshire for two decades. Newton lived to see the British Empire’s abolition of the African slave trade in 1807, just months before his death. 

John Newton is well known for the hymns he penned, including "Amazing Grace" and "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken". 

John Newton (1725 - 1807) was an English Anglican clergyman who preached the gospel and worked to abolish slavery in England.  He went to sea at a young age and worked on slave ships for several years. In 1745, he himself became a slave, but later returned to sea and worked again on slave ships, this time as captain. 

After coming to Christ, Newton's whole life was transformed.  He renounced the slave trade and was ordained as a Church of England clergyman. He is well known for the hymns "Amazing Grace" and "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken". 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 – 1945) was a Lutheran pastor, theologian, anti-Nazi dissident, and key founding member of the Confessing Church in Germany. His writings have become widely influential, and his book "The Cost of Discipleship" has been described as a modern classic.

Apart from his theological writings, Bonhoeffer was known for his staunch resistance to Nazi dictatorship, including vocal opposition to Hitler's euthanasia program and genocidal persecution of the Jews. He was arrested in April 1943 by the Gestapo and imprisoned.

After being accused of being associated with the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, he was quickly tried, and then hanged on 9 April 1945, 3 weeks before Adolf Hitler committed suicide.

Dwight Lyman Moody (1837 – 1899) was an American evangelist and publisher. One of his most famous quotes was "Faith makes all things possible... Love makes all things easy." 
Moody gave up his lucrative boot and shoe business to devote his life to preaching the gospel, working first in the Civil War with union troops through the YMCA and later in Chicago where he built a major evangelical centre, which is still active. Working with the singer Ira Sankey, he toured the US and the British Isles and drew large crowds with his dynamic speaking style, proclaiming God's love, kindness and forgiveness.

(Recorded October 28, 2018)

This is part 2 of the story of Sadhu Sundar Singh.  We begin when he is just 16 years old and has committed himself to living as a sadhu.

Sundar Singh was born into a Sikh family in Punjab state in northern India.  He was educated by his mother in their religion but also attended a Christian school to learn English.  After his mother's death when he was just fourteen he was very angry and felt life had no meaning. But he was soon dramatically converted to Christ and resolved, despite intense opposition, to preach the gospel to his own people.

(Recorded 23 July 2017)

Sundar Singh was born into a Sikh family in Punjab state in northern India.  He was educated by his mother in their religion but also attended a Christian school to learn English.  After his mother's death when he was just fourteen he was very angry and felt life had no meaning. But he was soon dramatically converted to Christ and resolved, despite intense opposition, to preach the gospel to his own people.

(Recorded 11 June 2017)

John Wesley (1703 – 1791) was an English clergyman, theologian and evangelist who led a revival movement within the Church of England that soon became known as Methodism. In 1738, he was converted after serving as an ordained missionary to America for two years. 

Wesley, like George Whitefield, found the need and usefulness of preaching outdoors. Across Great Britain and Ireland, he helped form and organise small Christian groups that developed intensive and personal accountability, discipleship and Bible teaching, and, in a radical departure from normal practice at the time, he appointed itinerant, unordained evangelists to care for these groups of people. Under Wesley's direction, Methodists became leaders in many social issues of their day, including prison reform and the abolition of slavery. 

Wesley's extensive travels and many varied experiences as a servant of God are chronicled in some detail in his journals and letters.  By the end of his life, Wesley was described as "the best-loved man in England".

(Recorded 22 September 2019)

George Müller (1805-1898) was born in Prussia, and his youth was spent in utter ungodliness, even surpassing many of his age in sin and folly. His conversion was strangely sudden and happened simply by finding himself for the first time in the company of praying people. His life was at once turned wholly to God, and he rapidly grew in the knowledge of Him. 

He is remembered chiefly for his work among orphans in Bristol, England.  In this work he proved that God could and would supply the need of those who trusted in Him and made their requests to God alone.

(Recorded 25 February, 2018)