L’ Abri is an evangelical Christian organisation founded by Francis Schaeffer and his wife Edith in Huemoz-sur-Ollon, in Switzerland, on 5th June 1955. Francis August Schaeffer (1912-1984) was an American evangelical theologian, philosopher and Presbyterian pastor. He was the first student to graduate and first to be ordained in the \bible Presbyterian Church (1935). Edith Rachel Merritt Schaeffer (nee Seville) was a Christian author. They married in 1935. When they moved to Huemoz there was no assurance that it would be successful. They opened their alpine home to curious travellers and as a forum to discuss philosophical and religious beliefs. Word of mouth in the summer of 1955 soon led to an increasing stream of visitors, averaging 31 visitors a week. Distribution of Francis’ lectures also helped to raise awareness of their work As is grew the L’Abri organisation began to own and operate several buildings in Huemoz 4 types of people visited - short term guests students who divided their time between study and communal work, workers who participated in discussions and the work of of hospitality, members who were part of the decision making process. The L’Abri day revolves around communal meals, often used as an opportunity for formal open discussion, and students are encouraged to pursue interests in art, music and literature. (Read 'Mode of operation) Francis died in 1984 of hymphoma on 15th May 1984, in Rochester, Minnesota but his wife Edit continued to be associated with the L’Abri organisation. Edith died, at home in Gryon, Switzerland, aged 98 nearly 30 years later, on 30th March 2013. Edith 30 years ago founded The Francis Schaeffer Foundation to receive her husband’s papers and annotated books for scanning and subsequent study. This is run by her son-in-law Udo Middleman - he is also an associate pastor in Hoemoz. The ministry has continued to grow. l’Abri has operations in a number of different countries staffed by workers who encourage visitors to study and consider their religious and philosophical beliefs. Since 2011 l’Abri has residential ‘Study Centres’ in the USA , Canada, South Korea, Australia, the UK, the Netherlanders and Sweden as well as the original centre in Switzerland. It also has non -residential ‘Resource centres’ run by friends of the organisation in Brazil and Germany Today the L’Abri houses are to be found in various parts of the world and continue to offer people a place to stay when they travel. I have included information about both Schauffers and the books they wrote Source Wikipedia

John Charles Ryle was an English evangelical Anglican bishop. He was a writer, pastor and an evangelical preacher. He was the first bishop of Liverpool (1880-1900). He was born in Macclesfield on 10th May 1816. He was the eldest son of John Ryle, a private banker and M.P. for Macclesfield (1833-7). He was educated at Eton and Christ Church college,Oxford. He graduated with an BA in 1838. He excelled at rowing and cricket. In 1937 he was struck down with a serious chest infection. For the first time in 14 years he turned to his Bible and prayer. One Sunday, when he was late for church, he heard these words from Ephesians ch.2 v 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and not of yourselves: it the gift of God. He was converted through hearing the Word of God, without comment or sermon. He earned a First in Classics at Oxford. He turned down the college fellowship he was offered. He decided he wanted a career in politics and went to study law in London. The smog of London, over a period of 6 months, caused a recurrence of his chest problem. His father’s bank crashed in 1841. He now had no money so he entered the ministry of the Church of England. He took holy orders. 21st December 1941 he was ordained by Charles Sumner , the Bishop of Winchester. He became curate at Exbury, Hampshire (1841/2). In 1843 he was preferred to the rectory of St. Thomas, Winchester. In the following year he exchanged for Helminghan, Suffolk (1843-61). He moved to the Stradbroke where he initiated its restoration ((1861-9). In 1869 he was made rural dean of Hoxne. 1872 he became honorary canon of Norwich. He was then the ‘select’ preacher at Cambridge and Oxford for several years. In 1880 designated dean of Salisbury and on 19 April advanced to the newly created see of Liverpool (1880-1900). John was described as having a commanding presence and being vigorous in advocating his principles, albeit with a warm disposition. It was while he was at All Saints in Stradbroke he became nationally known for his straightforward preaching and firm defence of evangelical principles. He believer in the return of the Jews to their own land. ( See information about the* Balfour Declaration*) He wrote a number of books (see ‘Published works’) He married 3 times, his first 2 died young. John became the first bishop of Liverpool on the recommendation of Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. His 20 years there time resulted in churches and mission halls being built to reach the expanding urban areas of the city… He is credited with having strong success evangelizing the blue collar community. He retired in 1900 aged 83. He died on 10th June,1900, a month after his 84 birthday. He is buried at All Saints Church, Chidwall. Liverpool. His successor, Francis Chavasse, described him as a man of granite with the heart of a child. Sources Wikipedia

Charles Monroe Sheldon (1857-1946) was an American Congregationalist minister and leader of the Social Gospel movement. His novelIn His Steps he introduces the principle of*What would Jesus do? ** (WWJD) This put into writing an approach to Christian theology that became popular at the beginning of the 20th century. Charles was born on 26 th February, 1857 in Wellsville, New York. His father, a Congregational minister moved 5 times before they settled in South Dakota. Charles was a graduate of Phillips Academy (1879)in Andover, Massachusetts. He then went to college at Brown University (1880-3) followed by Andover Theological Seminary (1883-6). His pastorship was at the Congregational Church in Waterbury, Vermont (1886).He quickly earned a reputation for his liberal views and his innovative and unorthodox pastoral style. While there he met Mary ‘May’ Merriam. Mary’s parents were founding members of Central Congregational Church (CCC) and he was called to preach there in 1888. He married Mary in 1891. In 189O’s developed evening sermon stories *In his Steps or What Would Jesus Do? He read it as a weekly series from the pulpit of C.C. Church, Topeka, Kansas. The stories reflected the growing social gospel movement in the USA. In 1896 he published* In His Steps** and it quickly became an international best seller but unfortunately, because of improper copyright protection, the publishers published their own version paying no royalties! (Read ’ Abtract’ and see Amazon flier) Charles was also famous for his community work. In the 1890s, during the economic depression, he spent several months, on a weekly basis, with railroad workers, labours and merchants. He decided the area was impoverished due to lack of employment and helped find jobs for many of its residents. His church also sponsored the first black kindergarten west of the Mississippi River in 1893. He was well known prohibitionist. He travelled to - England (1900), Australia and New Zealand (1914). In 1920, after 32 years he retired from CCC. From 1920-4 he was editor of the *Christian Herald an illustrated news weekly for the home - a religious periodical. He continued to write articles after his final retirement in 1924. He went to the Holy Land in 1926 on a Christian Herald sponsored tour. In the 1930s and 40s he continued to write. and was an active peace advocate. Charles died of a stroke on 17th February 1946, just two says before his 88th birthday. Before he died memorials had already been constructed - a community house was added and his outdoor study was saved There is also a Sheldon Memorial Room at CCC.

Loren Duane Cunningham (b. 1935) is the founder of the international Christian movement Youth with a Mission (YSAM)and the University of the nations. Loren founded YWAM in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1960 with his wife, Darlene, at the age of 24. They reside in on Kona, Hawaii and are members of the YWAM Biblical Leadership team. Loren’s ‘Early life’ shows he came from a family of pastors- he is the third generation. He received his own missionary call at the age of 13, He attended high school in West Los Angeles at University Highland and graduated in December 1952 While travelling in the Bahamas in 1956 Loren claims he had a vision. he describes waves on the shore lines of the continents on a world map, eventually growing bigger and bigger, covering the land mass. He then says the waves changed into young people covering the continents. This would inspire the beginnings of YSAM 4 years later. It was founded in 1960. The group’s original focus was to get youth involved in missions .Today, 60 years later, it has expanded its membership to those of older ages as well. Loren married Darlene Scratch in 1963. The history of YWAM is clearly set out on the YWAM sheet from 1960 up to 2011. In 1978 Loren co-founded the University of the Nations in Kaiua-Kona, hawaii with Howard Maimstadt. Loren was president until 2010 By the year 2000 they had 11,000 staff from over 130 countries and had become almost 50% non-Western. YWAM train upward of 25,000 short term mission ‘volunteers’ annually The Cunninghams continue to have influence on the leadership of YSAM International, holding the title of Founders of the Mission.

William Whiting Borden (1887-1913) was a philanthropist and millionaire Christian Missionary Candidate who died in Egypt before reaching his chosen field, Gansu province in China. William was born onto a prominent and wealthy Chicago family.His father had made a fortune in Colorado silver mining. He was the third of four children. His mother converted to evangelical Christianity in 1894. She took her son to Chicago Avenue Church. later Moody Church.He responded to the gospel preaching of R.A. Torrey and prayer and Bible study became his hallmark for life. After he graduated from The Hill School, Pottstown, Pennsylvania aged 16 his parents gave him a gift of a chaperoned trip around the world. This developed a desire to become a missionary… At a meeting In London, where R.A. Torrey was preaching, he surrendered his life for Christian service. 1905 he went to Yale University. Encouraged by classics tutor Henry Burt Wright he began daily prayer groups which within 2 years reached the entire university. 1906, at a Student Volunteer Movement convention, Samuel Marinus Zwemer impressed him with his emphasis on the open doors for evangelizing the Muslim world. William had a charismatic personality, was sociable, athletic, fun loving but also an intense hardworking natural leader. He was elected president of Phi Beta Kappa. With his own money he funded a New Haven rescue mission and worked there. He graduated in 1909 and then attended Princeton Theological Seminary (1909-12). His reputation was such that he became a board member of the National Bible Institute in New York City - at one point he was temporarily in charge of the whole ministry. He became a director of Moody Bible Institute. Aged 22 he was a member of the North American Council of the China Inland Mission ( until he applied to go to China!) His intention was to become a missionary to Uyghur Muslims in Northwestern China. He decided to first study Islam and Arabic in Cairo. He boarded with a Syrian family so that he would hear Arabic spoken as much as possible. He also spent time distributing Christian sermons written in a Koranic style. March 13th 1913 he contracted cerebral meningitis and died a few weeks later on April 9th 1913, aged 25. His mother had just arrived from the USA. After a simple funeral he was buried in the American cemetery in Cairo. On his gravestone was written Apart from faith in Christ, there is no explanation of such a life (words suggested by Samuel M. Zwemer who attended the funeral) Other services were also held back in the USA, Japan, Korea, India and South Africa. Legacy Borden Memorial Hospital (1918-1951) in Gansu, was founded by the China Inland Mission with money donated by the Borden family ($800,000) after the death of William. The hospital was handed over to the Chinese government in 1951. ( Read ‘Borden Memorial Hospital’)

Charles Grandison Finney (1792-1875) was an American Presbyterian minister and leader in the Second Great Awakening in the USA. He has been called the Father of Modern Revivalism. Together with other evangelical leaders he promoted social reforms such as abolition of slavery and equal education for women and African Americans. He taught at Oberlin College, Ohio and became their second president form 1851 to 1866. In V. Raymond Edman’s book They Found the Secret(still available on Amazon) there is chapter of over 10 pages given to how he found the secret. Edman’s begins by saying that Charles’ conversion was sudden, starling, dramatic and dynamic. Edman gives Charles’ own account of what happened around the date of 18th October 1821 - it started on the Sunday and continued through to the Thursday. In the brief notes I have included from the book it says that Finney’s revival ministry in Rochester, New York, in one year 100,000 came to the saving knowledge of the Lord. Also that there was a falling off of crime and the jail was nearly empty for years afterwards. Daniel Nash(1775-1831) worked behind the scenes for Charles. Daniel would precede Charles arrival in a city. He would check into a boarding house and begin to pray fervently for the release of the Holy Spirit onto the forthcoming meeting(s). He would pray sometimes for days, even weeks until he felt the spiritual atmosphere was prepared. He would then invite Charles to come. He rarely attended the meetings instead he would be on his knees in prayer. 4 months after Daniel’s death Charles left his itinerate revival meetings to pastor a church. My other source is Wikipedia.

James the Less is a figure of early Christianity,possibly one of the 12 chosen by Jesus. According to translation he is called ’ the minor’, the little’, ‘the lesser’ or ‘the younger’ Jesus chose his 12 apostles Matthew ch10 v 3-10, Mark ch 4 v 13-19 Luke ch 6 v 12-16 *first Simon (also called Peter) then Andrew (Peter’s brother) James (son of Zebedee) John (Jame’s brother) Philip Bartholomew Matthew ( the tax collector) James (son of Alphaeus) Simon ( the zealot) Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him) * We have the ‘sons of Zebedee’ - John and James- he is not that James. This James is recognised as James the Great ( although that designation does not appear in the New Testament) The other James in the 12 is James the son of Alphaeus James is mentioned 3 other times In the Gospels along with the phrase Mary the mother of James. Matthew ch 27 v 56 * Mary (the mother of James and Joseph) Mark ch 15 v 40, Mary (the mother of James the younger and of Joseph) Luke ch 24 v 10 Mary the mother of James At no point is this Mary actually referred to being the mother of Jesus. In Matthew ch 13 v 55 and Mark ch 6 v 3 *he’s just the carpenter’s son, and we know Mary his mother and his brother’s - James, Joseph, Simon and Judas This James is clearly a brother of Jesus. The experts are divided as to whether James the Less was James, son of Alphaeus OR James the brother of Jesus. Jerome concludes that James the Less, James, son of Alphaeus and James the brother of Jesus are one and the same person. Read the thoughts of Jerome, Jacobus de Varagine and Papias of Hierapolis. Modern scholars are divided, Reach your own conclusion

William Flororunso Kumuyi ( born 6th June 1941) is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry situated at Kilometre 42 on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria. He is the author of 10 Christian books and devotionals ( See books published). William was brought up in a Christian family in Orunwa, Ogun State, western part of Nigeria. As a young child he read the Bible and sang songs and attended church regularly. In secondary school the principal taught atheism but he eventually started to go to various churches in town. William began teaching mathematics in 1962 at Mayflower School. He became a born again Christian on 5th April 1964. In 1967 he graduated from the University of Ibadanand as the best overall best graduating student in his year, with a first class degree in Mathematics. he also took a post graduate course in Education at the University of Lagos. In the 1970s he became a lecturer of Mathematics at the University of Lagos. In 1973 he started a Bible study group with 15 Lagos university students. By the early 1980’s that small group had grown to several 1000. This training became the foundation of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry. Deeper Life Bible Church was formerly established in 1982. By 1988 the congregation had grown to 50,000 By 2005 the Christian ministry is said to have over 800, 000 affiliates September 2016 William addressed over 50,000 youths *to inculcate in them the highest virtues in youths and stay away from antisocial and push-pull tendencies. On 24th of April 2018 the auditorium, holding 30,000 worshippers, at the church in Gbagade, Lagos was inaugurated. Yemi Osinbajo, Vice President of Nigeria, attended the . In 2013 the Foreign Policy magazine listed William *among the 500 most powerful people on the planet. Source use Wikipedia *

Geoffrey Cyril Bingham (1919-2009) was an Australian author and cleric in the Anglican Church of Australia. He was founding principal of the Pakistan Bible Training Institute in Hyderabad, Pakistan (1957-67). He was also one of the founding members of the Austri-Asian Christian Church (AACC). From 1967-73 he was principal of the Bible College of South Australia after which he formed New Creation Publications. He was a gifted writer and NTCM published close to 300 of his books- they were mostly theological.

Samuel Lyde (1825-1860) was an English writer and C. of E. missionary who worked in Syria in the 1850s. He wrote a 2 books on the Alawite sect-a secretive mountain sect also known as Nusaytis. In 1856, while riding on his horse, he shot dead a beggar. It may have been an accident but it resulted in anti- Christian riots which went on for months. The testimonies of 3 women witnesses was inadmissible in Ottoman courts. He was acquitted of murder but ordered to pay compensation to the man’s family.

James Blair (1656-1743) was a C.of E. . He was a missionary and an educator.He was the founder and president of the College of William and Maryin Williansburg, Viginia.USA. (1693-1743)

Andrew Wommack is an American conservative, charismatic TV evangelist and faith healer. In 1978 he founded the Andrew Wommack Ministries and the Charis Bible College ( formely called Colorado Bible College) in 1994. In 1976 he broadcast his first Gospel Truth radio programme - with exception of a few months he has been broadcasting the programme ever since. He is one of 6 co-founders of the Truth and Liberty Coalition.

John Burdett Wittenoom (1788-1855) was a colonial clergyman who was the second Anglican clergyman to perform religious services in the Swan River Colony, Australia after its establishment in 1829. He took up teaching in England where he was appointed -head-teacher of Newark Grammar school. After his first wife died he decided in 1830 to emigrate to Australia with his mother, sister and 4 sons They went to Swan River Colony wher he single handedly conducted services alternately every Sunday at Perth, Guildford and Fremantle until 1836. He later ran a grammar school and pursued an interest in education. In 1847 he was appointed to colony’s first education committee. When it became the Board of Education he was chairmen for the first 8 years. When he died in 1855 his second wife and daughter took charge of the government of the girls’ school

Cecil Earle Tyndale-Biscoe (1863-1949) waa a british missionary and educationist who worked in Kashmir. While there he established the Tyndale-Biscoe school. Cecil saw the caste system as a serious problem in Kashmir which had a Muslim majority. He aimed to use his own Christian values and western civic ideals to improve Kashmir society. His educational philosophy was one in which conspicuous intellect was valued less than the acquisition of more profound attributes and abilities. His schooling placed emphasis on physical activities. The pupils were also engaged in civil duties. He was a convinced imperialist and supporter of the India Defence League. He founded 6 schools with 1,800 students. In 1912 he received the Kaisar-I-Hind medal and an additional bar in 1929 in recognition of his work. After Indian Independence he left for Southern Rhodesia where he died in 1949. (Born with the family name of Biscoe -changed to Tyndale-Biscoe in 1883)

Walter Weston (1861-1940) was an English clergyman and an Anglican missionary who helped popularise recreational imountaineering in Japan at the turn of the 20th century. Ordained a deacon in 1885,priest in 1886, he was appointed curate at St.John’s Readng, Berkshire in 1885. He was already a mountaineer and in 1886/7 he had spent time climbing in the Alps. Walter went to Japan as a Missionary of the C.of E. Church Missionary Society (CMS) in 1888. he worked first in Kumamoto then in Kobe. Alternating between posts in the UK and Japan between 1888- 1915 he spent 15 years in various ministries of the Anglican Church in Japan. In 1896 he published Mountaineering and Exploration in the Japanese Alps He was instrumental in establishing the Japanese Alpine Club in 1906. In 1917 the Japan Society of London ( he served on the council) and The Royal Geographical Society awarded him its Back award. The Weston Park of Mount Ena was made in October 2001

Leland Ryken ( born 1942) has been a professor of English emeritus at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois for nearly 50 years. He edited the comprehensive Christian writing on literatureThe Christian Imagination He was the literary stylist for the English Standard Version of the Bible (2001) published by Crossway Bibles. He wrote How to Read the Bible as Literature *Words of Delight: A Literary Introduction to the Bible *** He co-edited *Ryken’s Bible Handbook ESV Literary Study Bible with his son Philip Leland was the literary content contributor to the ESV Study Bible released in 2008. Leland Ryken is now 80 years of age. (See also extensive ‘Bibliography’)