679: Death of Amandus, the founder of Belgian monasticism. During his 95 years, he established eight abbeys, five in the Southern Netherlands.

     1839: Scottish clergyman Robert Murray McCheyne wrote in a letter: 'Even in the wildest storms the sky is not all dark; and so in the darkest dealings of God with His children, there are always some bright tokens for good.'

     1924: Station KFSG (Kall Four Square Gospel) went on the air. One of the earliest radio stations licensed, it broadcast the services of Angelus Temple, the flagship congregation of the International Foursquare Gospel Church, founded by Aimee Semple Mc Pherson in 1923.

     1931: Pioneer American linguist and missionary Frank Laubach wrote in a letter: 'There is a deep peace that grows out of illness and loneliness and a sense of failure. God cannot get close when everything is delightful. He seems to need these darker hours, these empty-hearted hours, to mean the most to people.'

     1952: American missionary and martyr Jim Elliot wrote in his journal: 'Christianity, disruptive in nature, has nonetheless integrating powers for the individual in the culture, though both he and it may expect revolution.'