Christian History Institute

Thanks to our loyal audience, Torchlighters is celebrating over 100,000 Torchlighters DVDs in homes, churches, and schools throughout the United States, with untold thousands in other parts of the world! We rejoice that many thousands of children have found faith heroes they can depend on!

In celebration of this important milestone, CHI has re-designed the project website, www.torchlighters.org. Check out our inviting new site for many free resources for kids, parents, and teachers, along with the latest news on Torchlighters! We will continue to enhance the site with exciting new features in months to come.

Looking ahead, CHI is planning a Fall release of The Amy Carmichael Story. Amy’s miraculous work to free the temple girls of India will be featured. Also under production is the story of William Booth and the beginnings of the Salvation Army.

Visit www.torchlighters.org for current information on future releases.

C.H. Spurgeon once said, “When we come to the end of self we come to the beginning of Christ.”  Learn more about this remarkable man of faith and his impact through our production C. H. Spurgeon: The People’s Preacher. Released in mid-February, this docu-drama is already having a strong impact.  Filmed on location in England, Scotland, France, and Germany, this powerful film explores the struggles and triumphs of one whose message and ministry are still relevant more than a hundred years after his death.  Check it out through our distributor www.visionvideo.com!

In conjunction with the production of the Torchlighters animated features, we create original documentaries which help us to cover the rest of the story that wouldn’t fit into a thirty minute program. These separate productions help viewers gain a better understanding of the hero’s life and times.   The Amy Carmichael story will be no exception.

The Amy Carmichael documentary is currently in the research stage. The orphanage that Amy started in Dohnavur, India has been a great source of information. Plans are under way to interview a nurse who cared for Amy during her last days.

The documentary will give our viewers an inside look at Amy’s story! Here we see a photo of Amy with some of the children she ministered to.

I have just finished watching C. H. Spurgeon, the People’s Preacher for the second time in less than a week. Yes, this docu-drama is that good.

To paraphrase the narrator, Spurgeon’s story is the tale of an unknown country boy who came to the big city to find fame and romance, struggled to overcome his weaknesses, and became the most famous preacher of the day. At the height of his fame, his convictions forced him to take an unpopular stand which left him isolated and ridiculed by the media.

However, the story opens with the fifteen-year-old son and grandson of preachers struggling to find salvation. Indeed the story of his discovery of Christ is one of the premier conversion stories of all time, well-told in this movie.

After his baptism, his timidity was washed away, and at sixteen, he began preaching despite shaky knees and a pounding heart, pulpit-terrors which would pursue him all his life. So great did he find the ordeal of preaching that all his life he often vomited on Sunday morning.

His influence stretches into our contemporary world although it has been over a hundred years since his death. To learn how and why this short, pudgy country boy had so much effect on his own era and our own, watch this video. C. H. Spurgeon is available from Vision Video.

—Dan Graves

The true stories depicted in the Torchlighters DVD series take children on real life adventures of faith all around the world and across the spectrum of Christian history. But did you know that these stories also reach children all around the world in their own languages? Thanks to the efforts of missions organizations and Christian video distributors the world over, children in places like India, Portugal, Korea and the Middle East are learning lessons of faith in their own tongues.

Every Torchlighter episode comes with a Spanish and English track, for convenient use in many countries. In addition, three of our DVDs now contain additional languages as follows:

• The Jim Elliot Story — English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, Hindi, Gujarati.

• The William Tyndale Story — English, Spanish, Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, Hindi, Gujarati.

• The John Bunyan Story— English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, Hindi, Gujarati.

It is our prayer that children around the world will continue to be blessed by the true stories of these worthwhile heroes of the faith! Order your copy today from Vision Video.

We’ve recently added some new ways for you to enjoy the Torchlighters heroes! Designed especially for those who have an interest in a particular aspect of history, we are now offering Torchlighter Special Theme Sets. Check them out:
• The Missions Set: Jim Elliot, Eric Liddell, and Gladys Aylward;
• The Christian History Set: William Tyndale, John Bunyan, and Perpetua;
• The World War II Set: Eric Liddell, Gladys Aylward, and Richard Wurmbrand.

These sets make great gifts for children with special interests! Order today at Torchlighters.

Christian History Institute has created a brand new FACEBOOK page! You can become one of our first official FACEBOOK “Fans” by following the link on our homepage. Check out the “Just Fans” tab to see what others are saying about Torchlighters and other CHI initiatives.  Don’t forget to leave your own feedback!

Some phrases are so packed with meaning, they stick in your mind like super velcro! You turn them over and over, regarding them from different angles with each turn. One such was William Carey’s admonition, “Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.” Another was Katie Luther’s dying words, “I will stick to Christ as a burr to a coat.” These are quotations to be remembered.

Now, in a series called “In Context” Christian History Institute presents the stories behind seventy such stellar sayings. In Context spans twenty centuries, beginning with Mary’s Magnificat and ending with Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s “Bless you, prison, for having been in my life.” Every century is represented at least once.

You can read the first four stories right now at http://www.chitorch.org/index.php/in-context/ and you can receive e-mail notifications as we add others in the coming months if you sign up for email in the box at the left.

Stop by In Context today and see the complete list of coming quotes. Many “big names” of Christian history are there as well as some not-so-well-known individuals who said memorable things. Let our latest series introduce you to Christian history or extend your knowledge of this vital subject.

If you have visited Christian History Institute before and our website looks unfamiliar to you, it is because Christian History Institute has returned to its original focus: producing films.

Glimpses, and Glimpses for Kids will continue uninterrupted under the auspices of Christianity Today International, allowing CHI to concentrate its resources on its primary calling of producing films related to Christian history, and study material to accompany the films.

This new website provides background and study material in church history as well as information about our Torchlighters videos.