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[Above: Clarence and Hannah Chambers, fiftieth wedding anniversary, July 16, 1910—Used with permission of the Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd. / images courtesy of Wheaton Archives & Special Collections, Wheaton College, IL]

— July 24, 1874 Oswald Chambers is born in Aberdeen, Scotland.

— 1877 Clarence Chambers leaves his pastorate at Crown Terrace Baptist. The Chambers family moves to Stoke-on-Trent, England, where he pastors a small church.

— 1881 Clarence moves his family to Perth, Scotland, where he founds the Baptist Chapel.

— July 13, 1883 Gertrude “Biddy” Hobbs is born. 

— 1889 Clarence Chambers resigns his pastorate in Perth. The family moves a final time to the London suburb of Peckham. 

— December 2, 1890 Oswald Chambers is baptized and joins Rye Lane Baptist Chapel.

— 1895 Chambers receives an Art Master’s Certificate and a scholarship offer. Later this year he decides to enroll in a two-year arts course at University of Edinburgh.

— 1896 Chambers experiences financial difficulties. He senses a call to the ministry and receives information about Dunoon College.

— 1897 Chambers leaves for Dunoon and becomes a tutor there. He experiences intense spiritual struggles. 

— 1899 Chambers is ordained to the ministry at Dunoon Baptist Church.

— 1901 Chambers becomes involved with the League of Prayer. He experiences an awakening that concludes his season of spiritual struggle. 

— 1905 Chambers preachers at Arthur Chambers’s church, where he meets Biddy for the first time.

— 1906 Chambers meets Juji Nakada. Together they speak at League of Prayer meetings, visit churches, and eventually set sail for the United States.

— 1907 Chambers begins teaching at God’s Bible School. He travels around the United States, visits Japan, and eventually returns to the United Kingdom on league business.

— 1908 Oswald returns to America on the SS Baltic, along with Biddy. They are engaged later that year. 

— 1910 Oswald and Biddy marry in London.

— 1911 The Bible Training College (BTC) opens in London with Oswald as principal and Biddy as “Lady Superintendent.” Oswald teaches biblical psychology in three cities while leading BTC. 

— 1912 Biblical Psychology by Oswald Chambers is published. 

— May 24, 1913 Kathleen Chambers is born. 

— 1914 World War I breaks out in Europe.

— 1915 Oswald volunteers as a front-line chaplain and closes the BTC. He is permitted to bring his family to Egypt. Biddy, Kathleen, and their friend Mary Riley join him.

— 1916 The Chambers family ministers at various camps along the front-line, including in the Zeitoun district of Cairo. 

— 1917 In January the YMCA asks Oswald to stay at Zeitoun rather than return to England. 

— October 17, 1917 Oswald begins experiencing abdominal pain but refuses to take a hospital bed as wounded soldiers return from the offensive in Palestine. 

— October 29, 1917 Oswald undergoes an emergency appendectomy at Gizeh Red Cross Hospital. 

— 1917 Complications from Oswald’s surgery cause a blood clot and hemorrhaging on November 4. Oswald dies around 7:00 on the morning of November 15. His funeral is held in Cairo the next day, with a memorial service in Zeitoun on November 18. Biddy and Kathleen remain in Zeitoun, where Biddy continues to minister. 

— 1917 In December Baffled to Fight Better is published. Free copies are distributed all over Egypt. Biddy receives donations to continue the work of compiling, typing, and editing Oswald’s sermons and other works. 

— 1918 The Shadow of an Agony is published.

— 1919 Kathleen and Biddy return to England in July.

— 1922 The Psychology of Redemption is published.

— 1924 Biddy and Kathleen move to Oxford; Shade of His Hand is published.

— 1927 Biddy publishes My Utmost for His Highest. It reaches a wide audience and increases printing demand for Oswald’s other works. Biddy continues to devote her time to “the work of the books.” 

— 1929 Biddy moves to London and publishes Our Brilliant Heritage.

— 1933 Oswald Chambers: His Life and Work is published.

— 1938 Kathleen completes nursing school and returns to live with Biddy in London. 

— 1939 World War II begins. 

— 1940 The London Blitz destroys the entire stock of Oswald Chambers books. Enough books and printing plates survive elsewhere to allow Biddy to reprint Oswald’s works.

— 1942 Oswald Chambers Publications Association is incorporated. 

— January 15, 1966 Biddy Chambers dies. 

— 1968 Oswald Chambers: An Unbribed Soul by David Lambert is published.

— 1993 Oswald Chambers: Abandoned to God by David McCasland is published.

— May 30, 1997 Kathleen Chambers dies. 

— 2000 The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers is published.

Timeline adapted from Oswald Chambers: A Life in Pictures by Paul Kent

By the editors

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