May in Christian Missions History: Daily Events and Missionaries
TL;DR:
Explore Christian missions history through events associated with each day in May. This timeline highlights missionaries, mission organizations, Bible translation, evangelistic outreach, and significant moments in global Christianity.
On This Date in World Missions History
"Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses . . ." — Hebrews 12:1 (NIV 2011)
Noteworthy May Events in Christian Missions and World Evangelism
May 1, 1873 — David Livingstone, the Scottish missionary, physician, and explorer whose writings generated widespread Western interest in Africa and overseas missions, died in present-day Zambia.
May 2, 1797 — Anson Gleason, who spent 40 years as a missionary among the Choctaw, Mohegan, and Seneca peoples, was born in Manchester, Connecticut.
May 3, 1999 — The Cuban government permitted an evangelical celebration scheduled for May 3-June 13, allowing public outreach events after years of restrictions. Activities included stadium rallies, street outreach, and house-to-house visits. Restrictions on church construction and other religious activities remained.
May 4, 2003 — Gracia Burnham's book, In the Presence of My Enemies, was published. The book relates the kidnapping and captivity she and her husband endured at the hands of the Abu Sayyaf extremist group in the Philippines. From their kidnapping in May 2001 until the rescue attempt 376 days later, Gracia and Martin Burnham were the focus of prayers across the United States and around the world. The couple had served as missionaries to the Philippines since 1985. Gracia survived the rescue attempt, but Martin and Filipino nurse Deborah Yap were killed in the gun battle.
May 5, 1834 — John Dunbar left Ithaca, New York, for what is now Nebraska, where the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions had appointed him to serve among the Pawnee people. Dunbar, born in Massachusetts on March 4, 1804, was a graduate of Williams College and Auburn Seminary. He finally arrived at Bellevue, near Council Bluffs, in October.
May 6, 1542 — Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier arrived in Goa, India, to begin his missionary work in Asia.
May 7, 2003 — A bomb exploded outside the home of a Christian missionary couple in Lebanon, killing a neighbor who came to their aid. The device was placed outside the ground-floor apartment of veteran Dutch missionary Jakob Griffioen and his German wife. Griffioen was well known in the neighborhood and had recently distributed Christian books, leaflets, and CDs at book fairs.
May 8, 2004 — Beyond the Gates of Splendor was shown during Wheaton College's Alumni Weekend. This film, which included footage from the Wheaton campus, chronicled the story of the Waorani people and the missionaries — Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Peter Fleming, Ed McCully, and Roger Youderian — who were killed while seeking to share the gospel with them. Some members of the men's families continued missionary work among the Waorani in a spirit of love and reconciliation.
"Not long after I had become a Christian, it really struck my heart that people like Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Pete Fleming, and Roger Youderian would willingly die so that people might come to know Christ." — David H., Northwest Nazarene University student
May 9, 1760 — Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, a leader in the renewal of the Moravian Church, died in Herrnhut, Germany. Born in 1700, he helped foster a missionary movement that sent workers around the world.
"The Moravians' example shows us the reality of what true obedience can look like." — Louis G., Northwest Nazarene University student
May 10, 1845 — The Southern Baptist Convention established the Foreign Mission Board, with headquarters in Richmond, Virginia.
May 11:
1816 — The American Bible Society was organized in New York City.
1887 — Missionary Ion Keith-Falconer died in Aden, in present-day Yemen.
May 12, 1996 — The search for survivors of the crash of ValuJet Flight 592 in a Florida swamp was called off. Among the 110 people who died was Carlos Gonzalez, a young man who had spent two years in the United States preparing for missionary work in his native Venezuela.
May 13, 1917 — An early Mother's Day observance was held in Japan through the influence of the Association for Mothers in Japan, which American Methodist missionary Mira E. Draper had helped form. At first, only a small number of people observed Mother's Day, but awareness of the observance gradually spread throughout the country.
May 14, 1858 — Robert and Elizabeth Clark were married in England. A month later, they sailed for India. Earlier, while still single, Robert had begun missionary work among Afghans. During a furlough, he met Elizabeth Mary Browne and fell in love with her.
May 15, 1946 — Missionary Ruth Dech arrived in Benque Viejo, British Honduras, now Belize. She would give 40 years of missionary service there and in Costa Rica.
May 16, 1875 — Matilda Smyrell Calder Thurston was born. She served as a missionary teacher in Turkey and later worked in China. She helped establish Ginling College for Women in Nanjing and became its first president. The college opened to students in 1915.
May 17, 1817 — Heinrich August Jaeschke, a Moravian missionary to Tibet, was born in Herrnhut, Saxony, in present-day Germany.
May 18, 1896 — Samuel Zwemer and Amy Wilkes were married in Baghdad, in present-day Iraq. Samuel had begun missionary service in the region in 1890. Amy was a missionary nurse serving with the Church Missionary Society. They later served in Egypt. In 1929, Samuel joined Princeton Theological Seminary as a professor of the history of religion and Christian missions. A prolific author, he also founded and edited the journal The Moslem World. He died in 1952 at age 84.
May 19, 1926 — Belgium's King Albert granted the Evangelical Free Church Mission an official legal charter to conduct missionary work in the Congo.
May 20, 1865 — Veteran missionary Edward T. Doane and his second wife, Clara, sailed from New York for the Caroline Islands of Micronesia aboard the steamer Golden Rule. The Doanes worked on Ponape, now commonly called Pohnpei, under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions until 1873, when Clara's poor health necessitated a transfer to Japan. After her death, Edward returned to the Caroline Islands. During the 1887 Spanish occupation of the area, he was taken to the Philippine Islands as a prisoner. He was eventually released and returned to Ponape.
May 21, 1891 — George Louis Williams was ordained a Congregational minister in Oberlin, Ohio, just five days before marrying his classmate Mary Alice Moon. Appointed by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, George and Alice Williams sailed for China on July 29, 1891. During their years in Taigu, George provided care for people struggling with opium addiction at the local opium refuge, one of several medical clinics established by the missionaries. Alice worked alongside Lydia Lord Davis, teaching Chinese women to read and developing close ties with Chinese Christians. In 1899, Alice's mother was in failing health, and the Taigu mission faced serious financial difficulties. Alice and her three daughters returned to the United States on furlough. George planned to follow, but he was killed at Taigu on July 31, 1900, during the Boxer Rebellion. Thirteen members of the missionary group known as the "Oberlin Band" were killed during the uprising. Mission buildings and the missionaries' personal property were also destroyed.
May 22, 1937 — Robert B. Ekvall, a missionary among Tibetan nomads, published the first part of an article on the life of A. B. Simpson, founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. Born in China in 1898 to missionary parents, Ekvall returned there after graduating from the Missionary Training Institute in Nyack in 1923. He began studying Tibetan at Taochow and working among Tibetan nomads. In 1938, Ekvall and his wife returned to the United States to write a history of the Christian and Missionary Alliance's first 50 years and a book on missionary work in Tibet. During their furlough, he studied Sanskrit and cultural anthropology at the University of Chicago, focusing on Tibetan nomads.
May 23, 1932 — Amid the Great Depression, U.S. President Herbert Hoover wrote to the institution now known as New York Theological Seminary, expressing hope that it would continue training Christian workers. He affirmed its interdenominational preparation of preachers, teachers, missionaries, and others, and urged that its work be sustained during the economic crisis. The school's missionary graduates include Hallie Covington, who served in Korea; Marian Farquhar, Sudan; Clark Offner, Japan; Frederick Stock, Pakistan; Carol Wilson, India; and Bulgarian church leader Nikola Nikoloff, founder of the Bulgarian Pentecostal Union.
May 24, 1931 — Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, known as Mother Teresa, took her initial vows as a nun in India. She was born on August 26, 1910, to parents of Albanian descent in Skopje, then part of the Ottoman Empire and now the capital of North Macedonia. At 18, she left home and joined an Irish community of nuns engaged in missionary work in India. After a few months of training in Dublin, she was sent to India. After taking her vows, she began teaching at St. Mary's High School in Calcutta.
May 25, 1892 — Isaac Stringer, who had responded to a call for missionaries to work among the Inuit of the Mackenzie Delta region, reached Edmonton on his way to his first Arctic assignment. The two-month trip from Toronto to Fort McPherson, his destination, involved various modes of transportation. Having set out by rail on May 16, he reached the end of the railway at Edmonton on May 25. From there, he faced another 2,000 miles of trails and winding waterways. Before leaving Edmonton, Stringer purchased a year's worth of supplies from the Hudson's Bay Company. Knowing that opportunities for communication farther north would be limited, he also sent telegrams to friends and family.
May 26, traditionally dated to 604 — Augustine of Canterbury, a missionary to England, died. In 596, Pope Gregory the Great had sent him with a group of monks to evangelize the English. By the time they reached southern France, stories about the Anglo-Saxons and the dangers of crossing the English Channel had frightened them so much that they wanted to return to Rome. Augustine persuaded them to continue. King Ethelbert of Kent welcomed them. His wife, Bertha, a daughter of the Frankish king of Paris, was already a Christian. Ethelbert himself was subsequently baptized.
May 27, 2003 — The New York Times published a front-page article titled "Seeing Islam as 'Evil' Faith, Evangelicals Seek Converts." The article examined evangelical missionary efforts among Muslims and criticized hostile rhetoric about Islam. In a letter published on June 2, Rudolph Gonzalez of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board challenged that characterization. He affirmed religious liberty, rejected coercion, bribery, and threats in evangelism, and distinguished disagreement with Islamic doctrines from hostility toward Muslim people. He also pointed to the care provided by Southern Baptist medical missionaries and relief workers, some of whom had lost their lives.
May 28, 1924 — William Haas, born in 1873 and founder of Baptist Mid-Missions in 1920, died of a fever at Bangassou, in present-day Central African Republic, where Baptist Mid-Missions had established its first African outpost.
May 29, 1954 — Missionaries Don and Adeline Owens arrived in Seoul, Korea.
May 30, 2003 — Harvest Partners, a ministry of the Church of the Nazarene, announced that Nazarene JESUS film teams had reported more than 25 million viewings worldwide.
May 31, 1803 — Presbyterians appointed Gideon Blackburn as a missionary to the Cherokee Nation.
