Rev. John Llyod Dorsey

Rev.John Llyod Dorsey was born in Blacksburg, South Carolina, USA on 22-11-1924 and left this world to be with Jesus on 17-9-2002 in New Delhi, India. He was a member of the Presbyterian denomination. Hearing the call of God, he came to India in 1947 and served his Master faithfully till his last breath for 55 years in India. He was one of the few missionaries who had opted to stay in India, notwithstanding the fierce opposition to them in this country. God had not blessed the Dorsey couple with any child because, probably, God wanted this couple to treat the children in India as their own. He and his wife founded a Christian School, called Faith Academy, in New Delhi in 1964, which grew into an elite Christian educational institute, over the years, by dint of his hard and tireless work.Rev.Dorsey lived a life, which was simpler than a middle class Indian. He did not own a car for his personal use and used to visit the nearly areas in the slum colonies and in the neighbourhood only on his bicycle. He preached the gospel to the poor and used to conduct regular bible classes for the post graduate students of a famous Government research institute in Delhi, who were mostly Hindu students.

He was a man of prayers, and was a great source of strength and of comfort to those who were in tears. He had never sought after the pulpits of big churches but was preaching sermons in house churches, fellowship meetings, etc. He had not hankered for any position in the Christian world but was silently doing the will of God in his life.Many students of Faith Academy belonging to other religions were touched by his simple life of devotion and of discipline.

When the health of his dear wife deteriorated, he sent her home in 1991, and chose to remain in India to carry on God’s work. He sacrificed everything at the altar of God. Normally, a couple in their advanced age would not like to part with each other. Rev.Dorsey died of a massive heart attack on 18-9-2002, following a surgery on his leg in Delhi. At the time of his death, Mrs.Dorsey was not here. Due to her ill health, she could not reach Delhi for the funeral service of her beloved husband. Dorsey was conscious of his home call on the deathbed and spent his last hours in prayers and in hearing the Word. On the deathbed, he expressed his desire to the people around him that he should be buried in a burial ground in Delhi which is meant for the poor Christians. His desire was fulfilled.

During his memorial service on 21-9-2002, many testified that he was a true servant of God and disciple of Christ Jesus.

In this connection, I want to share my personal testimony about this great servant of God. On 24-12-1997, a day before Christmas, my beloved mother slept in the Lord. Since it fell on a day preceding Christmas, the pastor of my own church, due to his preoccupation with the Christmas celebrations, could not attend the funeral service at the War Cemetery, Delhi. But Rev.Dorsey was there, to our great surprise. He did not know my mother personally. He came there to comfort us and to pray for us. This incident is evergreen in my memory.

These days, there are ministers of God in our midst who perform signs and wonders in Jesus’ Name and who love to preach in big churches and in big evangelistic crusades. But hardly we find any servant of God like Dorsey who had left the luxury and comfort of his own nation to serve God in another nation where there are extreme climates, opposition to the glorious gospel, and a dearth of comforts and luxuries.

Through the life of Dorsey, the Lord showed the insufficiency in my life to serve Him. On the memorial service, I rededicated my life to His service in the footsteps of Rev.Dorsey.

The Holy Spirit exhorts us to follow the footsteps of this great servant of God and to bring the revival fire to our churches through his life and ministry.

- Job Anbalagan