Marshall, at an early age, suffered poor eye sight - he was ‘blind’ in one eye, but was still able to write many books. He was a British Protestant Christian missionary to China with the China Inland Missions (CIM). He authored many books on the subject of Chinese missionary work . He is related to James Hudson Taylor -his mother was Amelia Hudson Taylor- the daughter of Taylor. In 1890 he was accepted as a missionary by CIM London Council. October 1890 he sailed to China. Florence Corderoy, his future wife, joined him in 1894. In 1900 the Boxer Rebellion broke out in China. The CIM had the greatest loss of life- 79 people were massacred including children… Marshall diligently sought out information to send home. He later wrote 2 memorable books documenting the harrowing stories of both the martyrs and the survivors. In 1900 he was appointed Editorial Secretary for the mission in London. In 1910 he took part in the Edinburgh Missionary Conference, In 1911/12 , after the founding of the Republic of China, he visited China and travelled extensively to obtain first hand, up to date information. This resulted in The Chinese Empire: A General and Missionary Survey being written. This book was constantly referred to by the commission to Carrying the Gospel to all ythe Non-Christian World, of which he was a member. In 1927, after 27 years, aged 61, he stopped being the Editorial Secretary but continued with his literary work. He became an expert at writing biographies. He also gave preliminary Chinese language lessons to CIM candidates. In 1936 he briefly edited the** China’s Millions** but ill health forced him to stop. On the 27th October 1937, aged 71 he died. His wife Florence died in 1957.

Jonathan was a North American revivalist preacher, philosopher and Congregationalist theologian. he is regarded as one the USA’s most important and original philosophical theologians. He played a critical role in shaping the First Great Awakening (1735-7), (1740-4). His theological work gave rise to a distinct school of theology known as the New England theology. Jonathan was the fifth of 11 children - the other 10 were all girls. His father, Timothy, was a pastor at East Windsor, Connecticut. He grew up in an atmosphere of Puritan piety, affection and learning. Following rigorous home schooling he entered Yale College in New Haven aged 13. He was converted at the age of 17 as he read 1 Timothy 1 v17 All honour and glory to God for ever! He is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies;he alone is God. Following this he had a delightful conviction of divine sovereignty to a new sense of God’s glory revealed in Scripture and in nature. He graduated in 1720 from Yale and stayed a further 2 years to study Divinity. Briefly he was a pastor in New York (1722-3) and received a MA degree. !724-6 he was a tutor at Yale. In 1727 he became his grandfather’s colleague at Northampton and married Sarah Pierrepont (they had 11 children). On his grandfather’s death in 1729 he became the sole occupant of the pulpit. He stayed at Northampton until his dismissal concerning a dispute who should take Holy Communion. He was there for over 20 years. On July 1st 1750 he preached his dignified and restrained ’ Farewell- sermon’. This was followed by 2 books explaining his position. On his termination at Northampton he began missionary work in Stockbridge, Massachusetts working with Indians. Although hampered by language difficulties, illness , Indian wars and conflicts with personal enemies he discharged his pastoral duties. This is where he wrote his most famous book The Freedom of the Will (1754). In 1757 he was invited to be president of the College of New Jersey-now Princeton University. He had hardly assumed duties when he contracted smallpox and died aged 55. (He was inoculated against smallpox and 5 weeks later caught the disease from the vaccine.) So ended the life of the man who was arguably USA’s greatest theologian. His writings, expounding and defending the evangelical and Reformed faith are of lasting value to the Christian church. American historian , Perry Miller said that Jonathan is the * greatest philosopher-theologian yet to grace the American scene.* His entire corpus of Jonathan’s works are available on line. Sarah Edwards His wife raised their 11 children largely by herself. Jonathan focused on sermons and books. She was a hands-on parent who raised the children and ran the household, providing an agreeable and pleasant life for the family. Sources Gold from Dark Mines Irene Howat ch5 p109-p140 wikipedia Britannica Online Encyclopedia Great Leaders of the Christian Church Woodbridge

Henrietta Mears had a significant impact on evangelical Christianity in the 20th century. She was one of the founders of the National Sunday school Association. .Within two years Sunday school attendance at Hollywood ‘Pres’ was averaging 4,200. She founded a publishing company and wrote and published a number of books- see list She had profound impact on the ministries of Billy Graham and Richard C. Halverson. She also believed by many theologians to have directly shaped Bill Bright’s Four Spiritual Laws, which defined modern evangelism in the 20th century. She was a gifted educator and was known as ‘Teacher’ by those in her programme. Wikipedia have done an excellent biography. I have also included Richard C. Halverson 's visit to Miss Henrietta Mears cabin.

Bill Bright was an American evangelist. With his wife, Vonette, he set out to help bring students to Christ. Bill and his male colleagues concentrated on the male students: Vonette concentrated on the female intake. In 1951 at the University of California , Los Angeles he founded Campus Crusade for Christ as a ministry for university students. He worked with the great American evangelist Billy Graham. Campus Crusade expanded and in 2011 had 25,000 missionaries in 191 countries… He was influenced by Henrietta Mears who probably helped in the forming of Bill Bright’s Four Spiritual Laws. He wrote over 100 books and booklets. His articles and pamphlets have been translated into many languages and distributed in their millions! I have included Wikipedia’s biography of Bill Bright plus the Four Spiritual Laws.

Eva was born in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. Her parents were both majors in the Salvation Army. Evangeline Evelyn Burrows was named after the daughter of William Booth , the founder of the Salvation Army. When she was born her father lifted her up and declared * I dedicate this child to the glory of God and the salvation of the world.* General Eva was the second woman to lead the international Salvation Army. She carried the banner back to Eastern Europe after the fall of Communism. During her 7 year tenure she rekindled the 150 year old organisation original goal of evangelising. insisting We don’t use social services as a bait to fish for converts. She was well known for her quotes. The salvation Army seeks by god’s grace to save people from the mess they make of their lives. Wikipedia.org have created a very good resume of her life. This I have included plus a couple of her quotes.

Percy gave his life to Christ under the preaching of William P. Nicholson -(see account of his conversion) Percy was an evangelist who especially emphasized youth ministry . With his wife, Ruth, a gifted musician, and a quartet often travelled 40-50,000miles a year. In 1949 Percy began the first coast-to -coast religeous programme, Youth on the March Percy Crawford during the late 1950’s saw the potential of FM radio and UHF television and built the first successful Christian broadcasting network. He also founded King’s college and Pinebrook, a Bible conference centre in the Pocono Mountains. I have used Wikepedia for his biography, Percy’s own account of his conversion , and the cover page covers his main interest of reaching the youth.

'In the Salvation Army, and in every place where he was known, Commissioner Samuel Logan Brengle was loved. No name is more revered among Salvationists than his, for there has been no soldier more saintly nor officer more spiritually effective than this quiet-spoken prophet of god.' They Found the Secret by V. Raymond Edman Samuel was brought up by his mother. He became a Methodist minister. He decided to join the Salvation Army in his thirtiesand came over to the UK… He met General Booth on June 1st 1887 who thought he belonged to the dangerous classes. He started him at the bottom cleaning boots! he remembered that Jesus washed the disciples feet. He returned to the USA and was assaulted in Boston - he was hit by a brick. It took him a year and a half to recover - in this time he started writing for the War Cry. The result became a little volume called Helps for Holiness -128 pages. 'Well, if there had been no brick, there would have been no little book.' He was in the Salvation Army for 30 years. Aged 76 he found that the life of God continued to flow through a cleansed heart. I have included Wikipedia’s information about Samuel, plus pages for the book The Brick and the Book (The story of Samuel Logan Brengle) written by Eric Coward.

Andrew Murray was born in South Africa, educated in Scotland, and returned to South Africa. he spent 60 years as a minister in the Dutch reformed Church of South Africa. He wrote over 200 books on Christian spirituality and ministry. May not a single moment of my life be spent outside the light, love, and joy of God’s presence. He had real charisma - read the observation enclosed. I have included a brief biography of his life plus the observation. The observation can be found in V. Raymond Edman’s book They Found the Secret - 20 Transformed lives p144.

W. Ian Thomas was an evangelist, Christian evangelical writer, theological teacher and founder of the Torchbearers Bible school. He gave his life to Christ as a teenager but he had approached things in the wrong way relying on his own energy. One November night, in despair, having tried to do it his way for seven years, he knelt in prayer. He needed to realise that God wanted to live through him. This changed his whole philosophy. I got up the next morning to an entirely different Christian life. I have used Wikipedia for information about his life and the founding of Torchbearers

John Hyde (1865-1912) became known as Praying Hyde - he gave great emphasis to prayer. He went as a missionary to India. He was partially deaf and he had problems initially in learning the native languages. He struggled initially to find converts but through prayer he began leading his fellow missionaries in intercession for India. He formed the Punjab Prayer Union. He put forward five pointers to help other leaders to pray At one of his meetings where he was supposed to be leading the talk he spent more time in prayer than in speaking. I thank God, He has given me no message for you today Thereupon the chairman added, The Holy Spirit is the leader of this meeting. Towards the end of his life he visited England. He took up the burden o prayer to help John Wilbur Chapman to succeed in Shrewsbury. My sources are Wikipedia, Ambassadors for Christ, The Christian Broadcasting Network and They Found the Secret by V. Raymond Edman.

Billy Sunday (1892-1935) was a baseball player who became the most celebrated and influential American evangelist at the beginning of the 20th century. In either the 1886 or 1887 baseball season, while in Chicago, he went with several of his team mates into town. They listened to a gospel preaching team from the Pacific Garden Mission. He started to attend services and after a struggle decided to become a Christian. After his conversion he changed his behaviour and shortly afterwards began speaking in churches. In 1893 he became the full-time assistant to John Wibur Chapman, a well known evangelist. When Chapman unexpectedly returned to the pastorate in 1896 Billy struck on his own. For 12 years he preached in 70 communities. Taking advantage of his reputation as a baseball player he generated advertising for his meetings. He became the nation’s most famous evangelist with his colloquial sermons and frenetic delivery. Sunday was a supporter of Prohibition and played a significant role in the adoption of the 18th amendment. Wikipedia main source for this information

John Wilbur Chapman (1859-1918) was one of the best known evangelists in the USA . Chapman was well educated and was a meticulous dresser. He took on several pastorates before shifting to the evangelist circuit . He began preaching with the legendary D.L. Moody in 1893. In the same year Billy Sunday, a former baseball player, became his full-time assistant. In 1904 he began work on an evangelistic campaign to maximize the efforts of his 51 evangelists. In 1907 he launched the Chapman-Alexander Simultaneous Campaign with the gospel singer Charles McCallon Alexander. In 1909 the world wide campaign include Australia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, China and Japan. These campaigns continued until 1918. In his life time he wrote at least 25 books (see list). Wikipedia was main source for this information

Victor Raymond Edman was an American minister and author who served as the fourth President of Wheaton College in Illinois from 1941 to 1965. H e spoke in various countries around the world and wrote 19 books. In his book They Found a Secret , under the title of A Personal Epilogue, he wrote about three crisis in his personal life. Crisis one happened after the Armistic on Novemer 11th, 1918. He was ill and exhausted but he had been assigned the task of taking 4 men of the B Company of the 28th Infantry to C. Company. He found a quiet place and prayed for guidance .He became aware of a presence beside him who said I will go with you.When he arrived at his destination he was well cared for. (pages177/8). The second crisis happened 5 years later when he was stricken down with typhus fever in the Andes of Ecuador… He knew he was dying. His new wife dyed her wedding dress black and a native coffin ordered. But there were others praying, with urgency in their petitions thirty-five hundred miles away, in Newton, Massachusetts on his behalf (p 178/180). The third crisis happened one August morning of 1928. He was on board a freighter bound for New York City. Once again he was ill - 'my physical condition kept me confined to the stateroom, except for brief occasions.' He was perplexed -and uncertain what to do. Quoting from the book. ‘The answer to his prayer was startling. By the small voice of the Holy Spirit there came the question Are you willing to go any where for me?’ (p 182). I have included Wikipedia’s information about V. Raymond Edman and the last four pages of his Personal Epilogue.

Pandita Ramabai was born into the highest caste of Brahmins in India but she spent her early life in poverty. In 1876/7 there was a famine and she lost her father, mother and sister. In 1880 her brother died and she married Biipin Behart Medhvi, a lawyer froma lower caste. They had a daughter Manorama. Her husband died in 1882. She moved to Pune and founded Atya mahila Samaj - a women’s society to help widowed women. Girls were getting married at a very early age -as early as 3 years of age, often to elderly men, who died. She estimated in 1880 there were 23 million widows in India She became very much involved in women’s rights. She battled for the care of widows and the prohibition of child marriages. She came to England in 1883 for further training at Cheltenham Ladies College. She was baptised that year. She then spent time in the USA. In 1887 the Ramabai Association was formed in Boston. She returned to India in 1889 and opened Sarada Sadan , the Home of Wisdom. She had very strong opposition although she agreed to no open proselytizing - no talk of Christianity. In 1993 leading Hindu reformers resigned from her board and she was able to openly invite students to follow Christ. In 1896 there was another sever famine. With limited resources 100’s arrived. Then cholera swept the town. She moved 30 miles away and built Muki Sadan -Place of Salvation. Her legacy is in the lives of people she helped to transform. She hoped her daughter would carry on but she died in 1921. Paandita was broken hearted - she was now almost deaf. She died on April 6th 1922. The work of the mission continues - Muld Sadan is now called the Pandita Rambai Muti Mission in honour of her memory. My sources for this information are Wikipedia, Mukti Missions and Ambassadors for Christ. I have included a picture showing the origins of caste.

George Haliburton Hume- better known as George Basil Hume. He took the name Basil, when aged 18, he took his final vows as a monk in1945 He was a surprise choice to be named a cardinal in 1976. He proved to be** an outstanding popular Archbishop of Westminster whose sincerity and expertly judged public pronouncement strengthen both the reputation and the self confidence of Roman catholics in England and Wales** Daiiy Telegraph.

Donald Oliver Soper, nicknamed Dr. Soapbox became a peer of the realm in 1965- Baron Soper. Donald was a methodist minister who loved to preach to large congregations - he preached in the open air. From 1926 until well into his 90s he preached at London’s centres of free speech - Tower Hill, and from 1942 Speaker’s corner in Hyde Park His combination of’modernist theology, high sacramentalism, and Socialist politics, expressed with wit and unapologetic elan, thrilled his audiences (congregations!), delighted admirers and greatly annoyed his opponents. What he said was often controversial. He was a pacifist - he did not agree with wars. He was lead campaigner against nuclear disarmament. In his last years, when crippled with arthritis, and in a wheelchair, he continued to preach and make public appearances. He died on 22 December 198, aged 95.

She was born Francecesca Cabrini in a village near Milan in Italy. She was a sickly child and had frail health for the rest of her life. She found disappointment and difficulties with every step. She wished to join the Daughters of the Sacred Heart but was told she was too frail for their life style. But this did not deter her from founding 67 institutions ( orphanages/schools/hospitals) all over the world over a period of 35 years. In 1877 she went to Rome to seek permission to work in China instead Pope Leo XIII sent her to America. In 1909 she became a naturalized American citizen As a child she was frightened of drowning but she crossed the Atlantic 30 times. There is a great deal of information on the wikipedia web site. I have chosen to include work from Historica’s Women, Church Pop and 8 interesting facts plus franciscanmedia.

Saint Agnes of Bohemia (1205 - March 6th 1282) was born a princess. Her parents were queen Constance and King Ottakar I of Bohemia When she grew up she decided she wanted to live a religious life. She could have been queen of either of Germany or England , or empress of Rome. With the help of Pope Gregory IX she was allowed to choose marriage to God, the King of heaven. She built a hospital for the poor and a residence for the friars… She financed the construction of a Poor Clare monastery in Prague. She lived a life of piety. She was appointed abbess of the convent. She inspired other privileged women to become Poor Clares Devotion to her happened soon after her death. She was finally canonized in 1989.

Evangeline Booth, born in 1865, was the seventh of eight children to be born to William and Catherine Booth. William founded the Christian Mission in 1865 which was renamed the Salvation Army in 1878. In 1934 she became the first female international Salvation Army chief. She showed signs of being a gifted public speaker and preacher at an early age. In 1887, aged 21 she became the officer of the corps in Marylebone , West London. She appointed Field Commissioner in Great Britain from 1888 - 1891. In 1896 she was appointed Commander of the Salvation army in Canada. In 1904 she returned as Commander of the USA an held the post for 30 years Having been elected General in 1934 she travelled extensively during her five years in office but never lost the zeal or enthusiasm of the early years. The salvation Army greatly prospered under her leadership. She retired in 1939 back to America but continued to be a public servant. She died aged 1949 aged 84… Evangeline Booth’s father, William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, put Evelyne on her birth certificate. Her mother, Catherine Booth wanted Evangeline. Only years later, when in the USA, that she was called Evangeline.

John and Betty Stam are Christian martyrs. They died at the ruthless hands of the Chinese Communists on December 8th, 1934. They had gone out to china as missionaries for the China Inland Mission. After their deaths hundreds of volunteers, of all ages, gave their lives to the Lord for missionary service. I have included the wikipedia information plus the opening page, on their lives, from Ambassadors for Christ.