Heroes of the Faith: with J.John and Killy

Katharina von Bora, the nun who married the former monk Martin Luther, continues to be an inspiring figure after nearly five hundred years.

Katharina was born into a family of nobility in Saxony, near Leipzig in Germany, in 1499. At the age of five she was sent away to a convent for education, with the intention that she should become a nun; a common strategy to avoid the expense of a daughter and a dowry. There, Katharina would have been educated not just in religion, but in writing, singing and practical skills such as farm management. At the age of sixteen she took her vows as a nun.

One of the leading Christians of twentieth-century China was Wang Mingdao, a man who at enormous cost helped grow the house church movement that has kept biblical Christianity alive there.

Few Christians have had as much impact as the 17th-century French monk Brother Lawrence with his little book The Practice of the Presence of God. It’s a book that transformed my own prayer life and has done the same for many others.

The arrival of Europeans in Australia from 1788 was catastrophic for the continent’s Aboriginal peoples as they soon found it brought disease, slavery and land seizure. Yet the settlers also carried the gospel and the result was a number of remarkable native Christians. The most notable of these was the extraordinary David Unaipon, a man who, in difficult times, played a key role in finding a way forward for his people.

The history of global Christianity is full of little-known heroes who have been overlooked. One of these is Rasalama, the woman who was Madagascar’s first Christian martyr.

The name Tyndale, borne by many organisations, buildings and initiatives in the Christian world, honours the pioneer Bible translator and martyr William Tyndale.

The story of John Hus is both one of tragedy and triumph. It is tragedy because had the church of his day listened to him instead of sending him to the stake, then the tragic split of the Reformation might have been unnecessary. It is a triumph because Hus, as a man of God and a preacher of the truth, stood firm on his principles. May we do the same!

Betty Greene, called to be a pilot, lived a life in which, in every way, she flew for the Lord.

While most of us acknowledge that mathematics is useful, it’s not a subject we appreciate. How many of us could name a famous mathematician? Here’s one: Leonhard Euler (pronounced oiler), a towering mathematical genius and a committed Christian.

Through evangelism, writing and social action, Kagawa won respect for Christianity in Japan.