April 14: Today in Christian History

April 14, 1521

Ferdinand Magellan instructs and baptizes Humabon in the Philippines, and will baptize eight hundred more Filipinos in the week that follows.

April 14, 1682

At Czar Theodore’s order, Avvakum, one of Russia’s Old Believers, and his fellow prisoners are locked in a log cabin which is burned over them.

April 14, 1796

Death in England of Joseph Swain who wrote the hymn “O Thou in Whose Presence My Soul takes Delight” and other hymns.

April 14, 1902

J.C. Penney opens his first Golden Rule Store (in Kemmerer, Wyoming), committing himself to the highest ethical standards. He seeks to run his business on biblical principles: giving each customer only quality merchandise at a fair price, taking no more than a fair profit, and transacting business for cash only.

April 14, 1928

Death of Henry Beard Delany, first African-American bishop of North Carolina and the second African-American bishop in the Episcopal Church within the United States (a suffragan, or assistant, bishop). His daughters, the “Delany Sisters,” will author the popular book Having Our Say.

April 14, 1950

Mitsuo Fuchida, who had radioed “Tora, Tora, Tora” from Pearl Harbor, becomes a Christian.

April 14, 1954

Tommy Hicks begins evangelistic and faith-healing meetings in Argentina which fill large stadiums.

April 14, 1993

Death from lymphoma of Joseph C. Wong, Chinese-born pastor in Minnesota, founder of the North Central Chinese Winter Conference, and general secretary of the Chinese Christian Mission. He once wrote “The Gospel is not designed to be expressed by the culture in which it blossoms, but its purpose is to transform the very culture in which it blooms.”