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 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.
With permission from Job Anbalagan gloryofhiscross@yahoo.co.in