The Prayer Meeting That Lasted 100 Years

In early 1727, the Moravian settlement of Herrnhut in Germany was a mess. About 300 people lived there, and they were full of arguing and division. Count Zinzendorf and others committed themselves to pray and work for revival. On May 12 revival came. The quarreling faded, and people came to faith. That August, 24 men and 24 women agreed to cover every hour of the day in prayer, each taking a turn. Others joined. That prayer watch continued nonstop for more than 100 years. By 1791 that small community had sent 300 missionaries around the world. It began with a fractured church on its knees. Revival does not start with a strategy. It starts when God’s people pray.

With Malice Toward None

On March 4, 1865, with the Civil War nearly over, Abraham Lincoln gave his second inaugural address. Instead of gloating, he spoke of both sides humbly. He said both read the same Bible and prayed to the same God, and each invoked His aid against the other. He added, “let us judge not that we be not judged.” Then came his famous closing: “With malice toward none; with charity for all,” let us strive “to bind up the nation’s wounds.” A witness said the sun broke through the clouds as Lincoln stepped forward. Only weeks later, he was assassinated. Winning is not the goal. Healing is.

Stone and Smith Shook Hands

On Saturday, January 1, 1832, two groups of believers met at the Hill Street church in Lexington, Kentucky: the Christians who followed Barton W. Stone and the reformers associated with Alexander Campbell. “Raccoon” John Smith spoke first. He said, “Let us, then, my brethren, be no longer Campbellites, or Stoneites, New Lights or Old Lights,” but come “to the Bible, and to the Bible alone.” He reminded them there may be ten thousand opinions but only one faith, so Christians must be one in faith, not in opinion. Stone answered that he had no objection, and said, “I am willing to give him, now and here, my hand.” Their handshake became famous. Unity often starts with one hand reaching out.

Daryl Davis Sits Down with the Klan

Daryl Davis is a Black blues musician who first met a Klansman after a gig, when a white man came up to say he’d never heard a Black man play piano like Jerry Lee Lewis. They got to talking, and the man pulled out his Klan card. Instead of walking away, Daryl got curious. For about 30 years he went around the country sitting down with Klan members and leaders, studying up so he could talk with them, and asking one simple question: how can you hate me when you don’t even know me? Friendships grew out of those conversations, and Daryl says about 200 Klansmen have given up their robes. He’s quick to say he didn’t convert anybody. They saw the light and changed themselves.

The Christmas Truce of 1914

Picture the first winter of World War I. British and German soldiers are freezing in muddy trenches, sometimes close enough to shout across to each other. Late on Christmas Eve 1914, the British troops heard the Germans singing carols and saw lanterns and little fir trees lined up along the enemy trenches. Men started calling back and forth. On Christmas Day, soldiers from both sides climbed out and met in No Man’s Land. They swapped gifts, took pictures together, buried their dead, and in some spots even kicked a football around. It didn’t happen everywhere, and the fighting started back up, but for a few hours the men who were supposed to kill each other stood side by side as human beings.