Date:  Fri, 16 Sep 2005 05:03:07 GMT
American Minute with Bill Federer
September 16

September 16, 1620, using the Gregorian Calendar, one hundred and two Pilgrims set sail on the Mayflower.
The two-month journey was beset with storms.
At one point the beam under the main mast cracked, being propped back in place using the screw of a printer's press.
One youth was rescued after being swept overboard by a freezing wave. A boy died, and a mother gave birth.
Intending to land in Virginia, they were blown off-course.
In that first bitter winter half died. Governor Bradford wrote:
"Last and not least, they cherished a great hope and inward zeal of laying good foundations...for the propagation and advance of the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in the remote parts of the world."
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