Posted
on May
27, 2011 by Ezra
Prince
(This
is the biography of a great servant of God who was mightily used in India for
sharing gospel and doing Missionary work)
Dr.Theodore
Williams was born on 24th February 1935 in the town of Nazareth in
Tutucorin District of Tamil Nadu,India.His grandfather was a Anglican Priest and
His father was a School teacher.He was the eldest of his four siblings.Being
born in a strict christian family He attended church services,Sunday school in
time and was made to memorize short-prayers,Bible verses and Confessing the
Sermon points in Home..
He
finished his SSLC honors at the age of 14..since his age was too premature for
college,He started learning type-writing,book-keeping and Hindi too..All these
things helped him in the later stage of His ministry.Then he pursued his
Inter-mediate in Loyola college .During his college he had a deep affinity
towards Dravidian politics and also wrote stories in a Tamil monthly magazine
.After completing his Inter-mediate ,He earned a Degree in Statistics from
Madras University.Though he had the chance and talent to write Civil Service
examinations ,yet he started to lose interest in it. Slowly disorderliness
started creeping in his life and his craze over his Political Heroes started
diminishing when he came to know more secrets about their Personal lives..
In
1953,He went to a Revival meeting in Immanuel Methodist Church ,Chennai for the
sake of listening and relishing Music and Songs..But,God touched him through
that meeting and He surrendered himself to LORD…Inspite of his
surrender,He wasn’t completely transformed yet..Through the teachings of
Bro.Bhaktha Singh,LORD started speaking with him more and He was feeling a
transformation in his life..Slowly ,He was getting interest in Worship and he
went on to participate in Methodist Choir.
The
climax came when He saw his pastor,Rev.Albert Shaneck (who believed in Liberal
theology) surrendered himself completely at a Alter-call given in a Baptist
Missionary meeting..When ,Theodore Williams saw how his pastor, inspite of being
a Reverend didn’t shy or hesitate to go towards the altar in surrendering
himself completely for Christ,He was Completely Shaken…After a serious of
events and experiences,on April 28,1954 He completely surrenders his Heart and
life for Jesus Christ..From then His life was totally changed and new desires
for Christ started growing in Him..He then started to serve as a Sunday school
teacher in Immanuel Methodist Church..
After
realizing his call of ministry,He decided to pursue Theological education
against the Will of His parents..He left his home for studying Theology in
South India Bible Institute (SIBI),Bangarpet,Karnataka..The belongings he had
was only 3 sets of dress,1 suitcase box and 1 Bedsheet..His parents threatened
that the principal of the college will be sued to Court if they admit their
son (Theodore Williams)..But,He never gave in to those threats,rather was Strong
in his vision and calling..However oppositions he faced ,He remembered the
promise verse God gave to him,”for them that honor me I will honor,“(1
Samuel 2:30)…
To
manage the expenses of his studies,He worked part time by cleaning
wash-rooms,getting groceries for Hostel..Knowing all these sufferings still His
parents never came forward to help him.But God was wonderfully helping
him.There came a time when a quarrel arose in the seminary.The domination of
malayalees was much in the college and Theodore was unhappy with their norms
and habits.At that time God spoke to him in a different way,”If you cannot
love and be in harmony with them in this Earth,How can you live with them
in Heaven?”.. At that time the Holy spirit filled him with his
love to understand and love others…He learnt to trust completely in God, Be
prepared to do anything for God and be in harmony with every one during his
Bible college days.
After
completing his 2 year diploma,he then finished his Bachelors of Doctorate in
Serampore university..God then gave him a job to serve as a preacher in the
Immanuel Methodist Church.Out of the income he earned,he sent half to his
parents(who never came forward to help him in his difficult times) This showed
the love and respect he had for his parents..After serving the gospel of
God in numerous occasions ,he gained many spiritual friends. In 1959,He and his
other friends (Sam kamalesan,P.Samuel,Fred David) formed “Friends Missionary
Prayer Band“(FMPB) which is one of the leading Missionary organization in
India today..He served as the first president of the organization .He then
became a part of Evangelical Fellowship of India(EFI) and finally in 1965 He
started Indian Evangelical Mission (IEM) .After receiving the guidance of holy
spirit,He then started to concentrate on the mission work of IEM alone from
then and spent most of his remaining life time for IEM..He set the
visions of his IEM ministry as 1.Spreading Gospel 2.Church planting 3.Medical
ministry 4.Literacy mission..It was interesting to know that the most of the
sponsor money which came to the organization was completely
from India ..
Rev.
Theodore Williams was an excellent Bible expositor and preacher. His Knowledge
of the Word and his preaching skills were well known worldwide. He had an
English Broadcast of back to the bible and “Satyavasanam” a Tamil programme
through which he influenced many people to turn away from their lukewarm faith.
He has further authored many books which were published and translated into
many languages.
He
married a Canadian women Miss.Esther in 1971 after knowing that she was the God
destined woman for her and with whom his aspirations and visions matched..They
both decided to continue their ministry and life without begetting a
child..Maybe,that lead to his downfall in moral life which hit his life and ministry
to a great extent..But,still he boldly confessed his sin in the open
,repented for it and set a good example like David, Apostle Paul. He infact
gave back his ordination and Doctorate which he earned by writing a thesis on
“Holiness”..The reason he quoted was ,”When I myself has lost the holiness,i
don't have any qualification to hold this doctorate” .A world renowned
preacher at one stage was reduced to a lonely house in Tambaram, Chennai devoid of any
ministry opportunities.To worsen the situation His wife sustained a hip
fracture .Still,God was gracious to provide financial support to him..
At
one stage when his friends met him in order to persuade him to return into
ministry since they were worried about his deep theological knowledge which
might be useful for many ,getting wasted..That time he replied “I know God
has forgiven me, but still my body is fighting with all those feelings of
temptations..Till i feel confirmed that I’ll not repeat the same sin ,I’ll not
return back to ministry” .And he even added that He is happy to take care
of his wife ,doing house hold things without the help of any maid and infact he
was glad that He is able to spend more time in Meditating Bible and
praying.What an amazing humility it was..In a Christian world where there
are bogus doctorates and people who still project the ”Holy image” even
after falling in sin and leading a sinful,luxurious life,Theodore Williams sets
a example of how to Completely obey to God ..This again showed the
indifference or carelessness he had for fame or prestige in this world,rather
the crave for the Love of Christ and Eternity..
After
many years he got back into ministry and started sharing the Word of God
worldwide..His ordination and Doctorate was returned back to him again..He
again became a active participant in IEM, FMPB, BYM and published many books
,CD’s of his bible teachings..They turned useful for many and brought many into
the fold of Christ..During the last public meeting he preached in Madurai,many
surrendered them to Christ..In this situation his wife Esther died in
2009..That affected him and eventually after few months He breathed his last too
on 29th December 2009 and went to be with the LORD.. Dr Williams was
prepared for his end and knew “it is well with (his) Soul.” He lived life to
the fullest and indeed fulfilled the purposes of God in his generation.
Watch the full Sermon in You Tube in King of Kings Visio Inscribed Channel
(Personally
the life of this man of God has taught me lot of things–Having the spine to
stand for Christ in any situation,Humility,complete obedience to God..I thank
God for this wonderful man and indeed pray that many like him should rise in
the christendom today.)
This Abstract is adapted from
http://spiritualwhip.wordpress.com/2011/05/27/dr-theodore-williams-a-example-to-modern-generation/
