November 5: Today in Christian History

 

November 5, 1514

Nzinga Memba, King of the Congo, a Christian convert, writes to Portugal complaining of the shameful behavior of the Catholic priests who had been sent to convert his people, but who instead engage in trade and fill their houses with women of ill-repute.

November 5, 1858

The Patons settle on the island of Tanna (now called Vanautu). Mary Paton will soon die there. Warned earlier that he might be eaten by cannibals on the island, John Paton’s response had been, “If I can but live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether my body is eaten by cannibals or by worms.”

November 5, 1917

The Russian Orthodox Church elects its first patriarch in two hundred years. Tikhon, Metropolitan of Moscow, will face many pressures from the newly risen Soviet state.

November 5, 1960

Death of Donald Grey Barnhouse, American Presbyterian clergyman. In 1927 he began a thirty-three-year pastorate and radio ministry at the Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia; during his last ten years, Barnhouse edited Eternity magazine, which he had founded. He authored over thirty books on the Scriptures and on the Christian life..

November 5, 1984

Minister Dunsin Oyekan, a popular Nigerian Gospel Music artiste was born on the 5th of November, 1984 in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria.

November 5, 2000

Death of Emmanuel Oyewole Akingbala, a notable pastor, evangelist, and leader in the Nigerian Baptist Convention. During a hard period of three years, he had suffered financial hardship for preaching against alcoholism, smoking, and polygamy.