1930 - American missionary Gustav Schmidt, 39, opened the Danzig Instytut Biblijny in the Free City of Danzig (Gdansk), Poland. It was the first Pentecostal Bible institute established in Eastern Europe.

1934 - Birthday of Dottie Rambo, contemporary gospel singer and songwriter. She has authored such country gospel favorites as "In the Valley He Restoreth My Soul," "Build My Mansion Next Door to Jesus" and "I Just Came to Talk With You, Lord."



1948 - U.S. Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall prayed: 'O God, forgive the poverty and the pettiness of our prayers. Listen not to our words but to the yearnings of our hearts. Hear beneath our petitions the crying of our need.'



1959 - American Presbyterian apologist Francis Schaeffer wrote in a letter: 'Christianity is the greatest intellectual system the mind of man has ever touched.'



1979 - Over 1,100 Christian organizations combined to form the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA). This oversight agency was created to demonstrate to the public that religious groups wanted to make themselves accountable for the funds they raise and spend.



© 1987-2010, William D. Blake. Used by permission of the author, from Almanac of the Christian Church