Prayer amid Pandemic

The First Native American Saint’s Life Was Scarred by Smallpox

Kateri Tekakwitha became the first Native American saint in 2012. Much of her life was marked by violence, disease, and loss brought on by French colonization and conflic

The Christian Teens Who Took on Ebola's Spread

In 2014, the Ebola outbreak began in West Africa. Over the next two years, more than 11,000 people died, the majority from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. As people str

The 17th -Century Poet, Nun, and Theologian Who Died Caring for Those Sick with Cholera

Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz was a renaissance woman from 17th century Mexico. Born an illegitimate daughter of a Spanish Captain and a Criolla mother, Juana went on to beco

Perpetua’s Brief Life Came Between Two Plagues

Perpetua was a noblewoman from Carthage who had a guaranteed life of comfort ahead of her. Born in the late 100’s, she lived with her husband, her son, and her slave. The

Even Fellow Believers Didn’t Understand Her Love for AIDS Patients

Philomena Percival has counseled and cared for hundreds of AIDS patients in Guyana for more than 25 years. She joins Prayer amid Pandemic to discuss how an ectopic pregna

Sickness Shaped the Faith of This Family of Fourth Century Theologians

The most famous siblings of the early church are likely two brothers, Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa, and their sister Macrina. “She was deeply precious to them for

What a Plague-Ravaged Village Knew About Eternity

The village of Eyam sits about 30 miles East of Manchester in the UK and according to the 2011 British census, it has less than 1,000 residents. But during the 17th centu

The Black Death Left Many Terrified. Not Catherine of Siena.

Much of Catherine of Siena’s life was defined by sickness and plagues. The future saint was born in 1347. The next year, the Black Death began—an epidemic that killed mor

They Named a Pandemic After This Christian Leader

The man who would become St. Cyprian of Carthage was born in North Africa around 200 A.D. Cyprian did not convert to Christianity until later in his life but became a bis

What a Puritan Leader Learned About Disease Control from the Man He Enslaved

Perhaps no American community is as polemic as the Puritans. One of its biggest personalities was Cotton Mather, a New England minister whose life is largely remembered i

She Broke Barriers as a Female Surgeon. Then She Moved to Bangalore.

Rebekah Naylor spent more than 35 years serving with the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board's in Bangalore India. She worked as a surgeon and in ho

What Francis Grimké Believed the Spanish Flu Revealed About Racism

The future Presbyterian minister Francis Grimké was born in 1850. His father was a slaveholder and his mother was enslaved. While Grimké was still young his father died o

Where Was God in Spurgeon's Chronic Pain?

One of the biggest names in 19th-century British preaching was a man named Charles Spurgeon. Spurgeon’s preaching career began in the countryside. Though he was not forma

When Julian of Norwich Was Sick, God Appeared

"All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.” That these 17 words were uttered by a woman named Julian of Norwich may be the only th

When Predestination Met the Plague

No list of the great men of Protestantism is complete without John Calvin. Born in 1507 in Lyon, France, most of us today know Calvin for his theology. But Calvin also sp

Cameroon's Christians Rejected AIDS' Stigma

Since the 1980s, the AIDS epidemic has had deadly repercussions for millions of Africans. The only two comparable outbreaks: the Spanish Flu of 1918 that killed some 25 m

Introducing: Prayer amid Pandemic

Prayer amid Pandemic is a podcast to encourage and sharpen the church during this season of coronavirus. Twice a week we’ll give you stories of Christian individuals and