torture

Dirk Willems was arrested in his hometown of Asperen, Netherlands in 1569. His crime – choosing to be re-baptized as a devoted follower of Christ and hosting worship services in his home – was completely unacceptable to the religious and governmental leaders of his day. The young Dutchman was carted off to a palace that had been converted into a prison to stand trial alongside other religious “troublemakers.” 

Anne Askew didn’t raise a family. She never made large sums of money. She couldn’t even claim a solid reputation as her own. Instead, she was burned at the stake for crimes she committed against the state.

As ludicrous as it may sound, most of those crimes revolved around her understanding of the Lord’s Supper.

Father Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish-born priest who affected the lives of thousands around the world through a ministry he founded within the Roman Catholic Church. But his real legacy centers on a selfless act for one man named Francis…at a place called Auschwitz.

Immaculée Ilibagiza could hear the killers calling her name. For weeks, she and seven other women silently hid in a tiny shower, trying to escape the holocaust raging through their native Rwanda. The genocide had already claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.

For days on end, she wondered if she would survive…or die like the rest of her family.

The Reformation created many mighty saints inside the Christian faith: John Calvin, Martin Luther, and Ulrich Zwingli, just to name a few. Sadly, the important work of the Reformation also cost many saints their lives.

Michael Sattler was one of those men.

Ray “Hap” Halloran is a man who defines himself by dates.

The first date that’s really significant for Ray Halloran is February 4, 1922, his birthday. After his childhood, the Cincinnati native volunteered for the Army Air Force shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.