Dr Lester Sumrall

 

 "I won't be satisfied unless I win a million souls for jesus everyday"

 A tribute to a Victorious Life

Few evangelists have seen as much of the world as Lester Sumrall witnessed — and witnessed to. Lester Sumrall was one of the most colourful preachers of the 20th century. Beginning as a fiery young preacher during the depression and ending with the foundation of a global ministry in 1987, aimed at wiping out hunger in Third World countries: his life story inspires as well as it teaches. Lester Sumrall was a man who threw himself at the feet of Jesus Christ, possessing a zealousness and long-term commitment that still amazes even those who knew him.
Lester Sumrall (1913-1996) was a world-renowned pastor and evangelist, entering full-time service for God after experiencing what he recalls as the most dramatic and significant thing that ever happened to him. At the age of 17, as he lay on a deathbed suffering from tuberculosis, he received a vision. Suspended in midair to the right of his bed was a casket; on his left was a large open Bible. He heard these words: "Lester Sumrall, which of these will you choose tonight?" He made his decision - he would preach the Gospel as long as he lived. When Lester Sumrall awoke the next morning, he was completely healed and served the Lord for sixty-five years.
Lester Sumrall travelled the world ministering in 110 countries, including Soviet Siberia, Russia, Tibet, and China. During his life he penned over 130 books. His evangelistic association (LeSEA - Lester Sumrall Evangelistic Ministries headquartered in South Bend, Indiana), is still actively spreading God's Word. LeSEA ministries include such outreaches as the World Harvest Bible College, a teaching tape ministry, and numerous publications. Lester Sumrall also founded LeSEA Broadcasting, which owns and operates 13 Christian television stations, 3 FM radio stations, 5 international shortwave radio station, and 2 Satellite channels covering the entire continents of Africa, Asia & Europe. LeSEA Broadcasting reaches 90% of the world's population with the special purpose of bringing those millions of souls to heaven.
Lester Sumrall's goal was to win 1,000,000 souls for the kingdom of God every day.
God draws patterns for lives of men and woman to instruct and direct them. He creates a special design for each rational being who is destined to live on this planet. If the individual wisely follows this divine blueprint, he will build a strong, successful, and happy character. Take time to analyse the life of a good man, and see that it was not achieved by accident or good fortune, but was a life in submission to the will of God.

The Making of a Champion

  
Fortunately, God had other plans for Lester Sumrall. At the age of seventeen, he lay dying of tuberculosis without hope of recovery -- at least according to his doctors. It was at this time that God gave him a choice of either preaching the gospel or dying an untimely death. He chose to serve God. Leaving his home in Panama City, Florida, he became a "brush arbor" preacher in the backwoods of Florida, Tennessee, and Arkansas.
"The first eighteen months away from home as a young preacher-boy were my introduction to the school of evangelism. I didn't look much like a preacher in my ninety-two pounds of city-boy finery, but I did manage to convince farmers along the way to open up their schoolhouses and let us hold revival services. 
 Often the people simply laughed at me, which irritated me to no end. One night I was so dejected that I didn't even try to take up an offering, and I didn't ask anyone if they wanted to be saved either. The next morning the host-farmer said, 'Young man, if you don't work, you don't eat. If you plan to stay here any longer, you can feed the hogs.'
On December 18, 1931, the night of my second vision, far away in London, England, Howard Carter was praying. He was so moved by what he sensed God telling him that he wrote the words of the message down: 'I have found a companion for thee; I have called a worker to stand beside thee... He is called and chosen and shalt join thee. Behold he cometh; he cometh from afar. He cometh to help thee to carry thy burden and be a strength at thy side, and thou shalt find pleasure in his service and shalt delight in his fellowship.'"
Lester Sumrall was that companion. What ensued was a relationship not unlike that of Paul and Timothy's and a ministry that changed the course of the world. Together, the two men forged new territory in the arena of spiritual warfare as they cast out devils, won new converts, established churches, and instructed men and women of God from Australia to England. After growing in the grace and knowledge of God, and meeting pioneers of faith such as Smith Wigglesworth, World War II separated Lester from his friends in England. Fortunately, the war also served to unite him to a woman with whom he would spend the majority of his years.
 

God's Blueprint for a Happy Home

"On my way home by train, I stopped for gospel meetings in British Columbia, speaking in the towns of Terrace, Smithers, and Prince George. In each, I
 kept hearing about this lovely Louise Layman, that pretty, young missionary from Argentina - and the rich blessing that she had been wherever she went.
"I became even more curious to meet her. She sounded like quite an intrepid missionary. What kind of courage had brought a young woman up into Canada during the winter? Normally, only zealous male missionaries brought the gospel here. "I wondered if I would ever get to meet her."
 
 Lester would indeed have the opportunity to meet "Miss Louisa" at - in the most appropriate of places - a wedding   ceremony in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Their eyes met, they smiled at each other, and the rest... is history.
Lester Sumrall and Louise Layman were married on September 30, 1944. Taking the "unconventional" route to honeymooning, the newlyweds began a fifty-thousand-mile missionary tour and life together that spanned over forty-nine years. Throughout the course of their marriage they ministered and lived in various foreign locales and, as Lester Sumrall so often and proudly stated, "never had a quarrel." God, rewarding Lester's faithfulness, blessed he and Louise with three industrious sons (Frank, Stephen, and Peter) and eleven grandchildren, all of whom have witnessed the goodness that one man's life can bring.

World Harvest


Lester Sumrall, with the help and support of his family and many friends, founded LeSEA (Lester Sumrall Evangelistic Association) in 1957: A ministry which has subsequently given birth to well over one hundred books and study guides, thirteen television stations, 2 satellite ministry, three FM radio stations, five shortwave stations reaching over ninety percent of the world's population, and a quarterly magazine. Perhaps the crowning glory of Lester Sumrall's work is his ongoing ministry to feed desperately poor families within the Body of Christ. Established in 1987, LeSEA Global Feed the Hungry® has given millions of pounds in food and supplies valued at millions of dollars to countless believers around the globe. And again, as Lester Sumrall so often said,
 
"This is just the beginning. There are greater blessings ahead!"
 

Goodbye Planet Earth

 
"I am assured that this ministry will continue in the second generation, and I pray in the third as well, if Jesus tarries. We will experience success in our efforts to reach those million souls for Christ, if we continue to carry the same vision and consecration.