This week in persecuted church history (October 18-24)

Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.
Hebrews 13:7b (ESV)

October 18

• 1511: William Succling and John Bannister, who had formerly recanted, returned again to the profession of the faith, and were burnt alive in Smithfield.
• 1685: French King Louis XIV issues the Edict of Fontainebleu, which revokes the Edict of Nantes and once again forbids Huguenots (French Protestants) from worshipping

October 19

• 1558: Hans Snit is executed for his faith in Aix-la-Chapelle, Netherlands. Being led through the city, he sang joyfully; he did not speak much afterwards, but went briskly to the place of execution, as a patient, dumb lamb. There he was strangled at the stake with a rope, and then bound fast with a chain, and singed with fire.
• 1955: A group of American missionaries begin their aerial search for the Auca Indians in Ecuador, a search that would later prove to be successful but would lead to the martyrdom of Nate Saint, Ed McCulley, Jim Elliot, Roger Youderan and Pete Fleming on January 6, 1956.
• 2006: Two converts of a church in the district of Shahdol, Madhya Pradesh, India are beaten for refusing to return to Hinduism. Santu Prasad Barmaia and Kunjan Prasad Barmaia were attacked by as many as twelve villagers while on the way to farm their fields. A local Christian reported that both men suffered internal injuries as a result of the attack.

October 20

• 1885: Missionary James Hannington is captured by the local king in Uganda and speared to death nine days later.
• 2008: Gayle Williams (34), a dual South African-British citizen, is shot to death by two gunmen on a motorbike in Kabul, Afghanistan at approximately 8:00 a.m. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the killing, saying that she "came to Afghanistan to teach Christianity to the people."

October 21

• 2006: A 14 year old Assyrian Christian boy, Ayad Tariq, is beheaded by Muslim militants in Baqouba, Iraq.

October 22

• 851: Two sisters, Nunilo and Aloida, are executed by the sword in the city of Osca in Spain for refusing to convert to Islam, the religion of their stepfather. When arrested they were brought before the tribunal and made a public spectacle. There they confessed Christ as before, and declared Mohammed an enemy of the Christian faith, rejecting his doctrine.
• 1549: Jacob Claess is tortured for his faith in Lantsmeer, Netherlands and later sentenced to death on November 9, 1549

October 23

• 524: Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius is tortured to death for treason after being arrested by the Arian king of Italy for his defence of the Trinity
• 2003: Two Christians, Yakup Cindilli (32) and Tufan Orhan, are beaten for distributing New Testaments in Orhangazi in northwestern Turkey and left semi-conscious in a field.

October 24

• 2003: Mariano Díaz Méndez, 38, a minister of the Tzotzil Evangelical Church, is assassinated near the town of San Juan Chamula in Mexico's troubled southern state of Chiapas. Méndez was near the village of Botatulán, on his way to a prayer service, when heavily armed men stopped his automobile around 3:00 p.m. According to witnesses, Méndez left his vehicle, attempting to evade his attackers, when they shot him to death with an AK-47 assault rifle.

Prayer: “Grant that we, who now remember these before thee, may likewise so bear witness unto thee in this world, that we may receive with them the crown of glory that fadeth not away; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.” – taken from The Book of Common Prayer, Canada (1962)