670: Oswy’s Passing and a Kingdom Turned to Christ
On February 15, 670, King Oswy (Oswiu) of Northumbria died after a turbulent reign that mixed grievous sin with public blessing. Earlier, his rival Oswin was treacherously betrayed and killed, and tradition remembers Oswy seeking atonement by founding a monastery at Gilling. Yet God also used his rule to strengthen the church across much of the middle of England: Oswy’s victory over the pagan Mercian king Penda at the Winwaed checked idolatrous power, and the Synod of Whitby under his authority pursued unity in Christian practice. He was buried at Whitby.

1386: A Kingdom Turns to Christ
On February 15, 1386, Grand Duke Jogaila of Lithuania was baptized in Kraków, taking the Christian name Władysław as he prepared to marry Queen Jadwiga of Poland and unite their realms. His public confession of faith marked a watershed for Europe’s last officially pagan nation, opening the way for Lithuania’s wider baptism and the planting of churches in the years that followed. In humility and courage, a ruler laid down old allegiances to bow before Christ, and the Gospel’s westward advance—begun with Paul’s Macedonian call (Acts 16:9)—reached a long-resisting frontier.

1621: A Life Poured Out in Song
On February 15, 1621, Michael Praetorius died in Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel on his fiftieth birthday, leaving a legacy of church music that still lifts hearts to Christ. Serving as Kapellmeister at the Wolfenbüttel court, he poured careful skill and pastoral warmth into settings of hymns and Scripture-saturated texts, gathering many of them in his great collections for worship and home devotion. His beloved arrangement of "In Dulci Jubilo." reminds us that faithful artistry can teach the gospel, strengthen prayer, and help a congregation sing with reverence and joy.

1643: A Pastor Among the Lenape
John Campanius, a pastor sent with Sweden’s fragile Delaware River colony, arrived in New Sweden on February 15, 1643, and began serving both the settlers and the local American Indians with steady courage. In a harsh frontier marked by isolation, uncertainty, and cultural barriers, he devoted himself to preaching Christ, administering the sacraments, and learning the Lenape language so the truths of Scripture could be understood rather than merely heard. His careful work of translation and witness showed that missionary faithfulness is not measured by ease or acclaim, but by patient love and obedience to God.

1682: Claude de la Colombière Finishes Well
On February 15, 1682, Claude de la Colombière died at Paray-le-Monial after years of frail health, opposition, and suffering borne with steady faith. A Jesuit priest and trusted spiritual guide—known especially for encouraging devotion to the love of Christ—he had even faced imprisonment and expulsion while serving in England, yet returned to France without bitterness, choosing prayerful endurance over self-pity. As his strength waned from illness, he kept urging believers to trust Jesus and remain faithful in small, hidden obedience. His finish reminds us that God is honored not by noise, but by steadfast loyalty.

1730: Thomas Bray’s Burden for the Lost
On February 15, 1730, Thomas Bray died after a lifetime spent pressing the gospel outward. Convinced that communities wither without Scripture and sound teaching, he poured his energy and resources into getting Bibles and Christian books into homes and churches, organizing parish libraries, and strengthening pastors and missionaries in Britain and the American colonies. He helped spark lasting works for Christian education and mission, refusing to let distance, poverty, or indifference keep people from hearing and reading the Word. His life urges us to spend ourselves for what endures: faithful instruction, courageous outreach, and generous support of those who preach.

1739: A Cry for Justice from the Enslaved Church
Five enslaved believers on St. Thomas, speaking for some 650 persecuted Christian brothers and sisters, dared to write directly to the king of Denmark, describing beatings, threats, and the cruel contempt of owners who burned their books and sneered that “a baptized black is no more than kindling wood for the fires of hell.” With respectful courage, they appealed for protection and the freedom to live as followers of Christ. Their letter stands as a witness that the gospel takes root even in bondage, and that faith can speak truth to power while entrusting the outcome to God’s righteous judgment.

1762: Grace That Overrules Our Failures
On February 15, 1762, Anglican hymnwriter John Newton—once a profane sailor and former slave-trader, now a humbled believer serving as a Liverpool customs officer and preparing for ministry—wrote in a letter, “We serve a gracious Master who knows how to overrule even our mistakes to His glory and our own advantage.” Newton’s words reflect hard-won faith: God does not excuse sin, yet He redeems repentant sinners and turns even wasted years into testimony. This steady confidence in divine providence would later fuel Newton’s pastoral care and hymn writing, urging Christians to hope, repent, and press on.

1860: A Charter for Christ-Centered Learning
On February 15, 1860, Wheaton College was chartered in Illinois, formalizing a vision of higher education anchored in Scripture and directed toward faithful service. Born under Methodist sponsorship (and soon entrusted to Congregational leadership), the school stood in a restless, pre–Civil War nation as a testimony that learning and holiness belong together. With leaders such as Jonathan Blanchard pressing for moral courage and a clear Christian witness, the college sought to shape minds without surrendering truth. From its beginning, Wheaton’s calling was to form men and women ready to follow Christ with conviction.

1905: Lew Wallace and the Tale That Pointed to Christ
On February 15, 1905, Lew Wallace died at Crawfordsville, Indiana, leaving a legacy far beyond his public service as a Civil War general and later a territorial governor and diplomat. His most enduring work, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, was conceived after a train-ride argument over Christ’s divinity with agnostic Robert Ingersoll, a challenge that drove Wallace to serious study of the Gospels. From that struggle came a story of courage, repentance, and the transforming power of Jesus. Selling over 300,000 copies within a decade, it helped many see the Savior with fresh reverence.

1930: A Tune That Teaches Trust
Franklin L. Sheppard died on February 15, 1930, at age 78, leaving a legacy carried on the voices of worshipers. Serving on the editorial committee for the 1911 Presbyterian Hymnal, he helped shape what God’s people would sing in gathered praise. Yet he is most remembered for composing the hymn tune TERRA BEATA, the melody most commonly paired with “This Is My Father’s World.” In a culture easily shaken by fear, that hymn’s steady confession rings with Sheppard’s quiet gift: reminding the church that creation belongs to God, and that His reign is not threatened.

1960: Repose of Anthimus of Chios
On February 15, 1960, Elder Anthimus of Chios fell asleep in the Lord after decades of prayer, fasting, and tireless mercy to the end. Known for quiet holiness and practical love, he founded the Monastery of Panagia Voithia (“Our Lady the Helper”) on Chios as a refuge for women and nuns uprooted during the population exchange between Turkey and Greece, giving the displaced a home, order, and dignity. His life reminds the Church that true asceticism blossoms in compassion: bearing others’ burdens, trusting God in upheaval, and making hospitality a living witness to Christ.

1986: A New Home for a Growing Bible Mission
On February 15, 1986, Living Bibles International moved to its present headquarters in Naperville, Illinois, marking a fresh chapter in a work born of simple faith. Founded in 1968 by Ken Taylor, editor of The Living Bible, LBI had grown into an interdenominational agency committed to getting God’s Word into people’s hands. Establishing a stable home base strengthened its capacity to serve partners and distribute Scripture across 45 countries. This move reflects steady, behind-the-scenes Christian perseverance—choosing order, stewardship, and long obedience so that more hearts might hear the gospel clearly.

1994: Faith in the Ruins
On February 15, 1994, the last hostile soldiers finally left Tavane Mission in Mozambique, but they left it shattered—buildings wrecked, ministry disrupted, and years of fear written into its walls. Believers had endured persecution through revolution and the expulsion of missionaries, yet the church did not die. Benjamin Langa, entrusted to lead when others were forced out, had even preached with guns pointed at him, choosing Christ over silence. The ruins testified to what violence can destroy, and to what it cannot: a people anchored in the gospel, ready to forgive, rebuild, and keep proclaiming hope.

2015: The 21 Martyrs of Libya Confess Christ
On February 15, 2015, the world watched in horror as twenty-one Christian men were executed on a Libyan shore after being kidnapped and held by ISIS. Most were Egyptian laborers, and one was a Ghanaian who, when offered release, chose to stand with the others, saying, “Their God is my God.” In their final moments they refused to renounce Christ, many calling on the name of Jesus as the waves rolled in. Their blood testified that Jesus is worth more than life itself. Their witness calls the church to courage, forgiveness, and steadfast hope in the resurrection.