Lester Frank Sumrall (February 15, 1913 – April 28, 1996) was an American

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

pastor, evangelist, teacher, and missionary. He founded the Lester Sumrall Evangelistic Association ( LeSEA) and its humanitarian arm LeSEA Global Feed the Hungry,

World Harvest Radio International World Harvest Radio International (WHRI) was a shortwave radio station in the United States, broadcasting conservative religious programming worldwide in the English language on a number of frequencies. Part of the Family Broadcasting Corporation ...

, and World Harvest Bible College.

Life and career

Sumrall was born on February 15, 1913, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to George Sumrall and Betty (née Chandler) Sumrall. He began preaching at the age of 17 after a recovery from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. At the age of 19, he founded a church in Green Forest, Arkansas, and was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

by the

Assemblies of God The World Assemblies of God Fellowship (WAGF), commonly known as the Assemblies of God (AG), is a global cooperative body or communion of over 170 Pentecostal denominations that was established on August 15, 1989. The WAGF was created to provi ...

.S. Strang, "Sumrall, Lester Frank". '' The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements''. Edited by Stanley M. Burgess and Eduard M. van der Maas. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002. In 1934, Sumrall began traveling abroad. He preached in Tahiti and New Zealand and established a church in Brisbane, Australia. He traveled with Howard Carter throughout eastern Asia and Europe. In South America, Sumrall met Louise Layman. The couple were married on September 30, 1944, and had three children: Frank Lester (1946-2024), Phillip Stephen (1950) and Peter Andrew (1953–2015). Several decades later Sumrall wrote about his experiences seeing

deliverance ''Deliverance'' is a 1972 American thriller film directed and produced by John Boorman from a screenplay by James Dickey, who adapted it from his own Deliverance (novel), 1970 novel. It follows four businessmen from Atlanta who venture into th ...

from demons; his work was influential in spreading the concept of demons residing in "dark" or non-Christian regions of the world. Sumrall and his family spent many years in the Philippines during the 1950s. He flew to Manila, Philippines, upon learning about the possession of Clarita Villanueva, whom he have delivered from two demonic entities in 1953. The culmination of his evangelistic work in the country was the establishment of the Cathedral of Praise in Manila. With over 24,000 members, it is the largest congregation in the Philippines. In 1957, Sumrall established the Lester Sumrall Evangelistic Association. He would also found World Harvest Bible College (now Indiana Christian University) and ''World Harvest Magazine''. In 1963 Sumrall moved to South Bend, Indiana to pastor Christian Center Cathedral of Praise (now Christian Center Church). It was around this time that he withdrew from the Assemblies of God denomination. In 1968, Sumrall began what would become World Harvest Missionary Evangelism (WHME-FM). Sumrall has been called the "father of Christian television". From 1972 to 1997, he acquired television stations throughout the United States as part of World Harvest Television (also known as LeSEA Broadcasting). In 1987, Sumrall established a humanitarian aid organization, LeSEA Global Feed the Hungry. Sumrall wrote many works during his lifetime ranging from topics such as evangelism, miraculous healing, demons and exorcism, angels and more. Some of his works were of a more polemic nature such as warning about the supposed dangers and detrimental effects of movies and Roman Catholicism. He also wrote some autobiographical works: ''Adventuring with Christ'', ''The Life Story of Lester Sumrall: The Man, the Ministry, the Vision'' (as told to Tim Dudley), ''Through Blood and Fire in Latin America'', and ''My Three Sons''. Sumrall died on April 28, 1996, at age 83, in St. Joseph County, Indiana.

Works (selected)

*''Adventuring with Christ''; illustrated, 128 pp. *''Dominion is Yours!'', 1981 *''Ecstasy: Finding Joy in Living'', 151 pp. Thomas Nelson, 1980. *''The Gifts and Ministries of the Holy Spirit'', 1985 *''Roman Catholicism Slays'', 61 pp. Zondervan, 1940. *''The Will, The Potent Force of the Universe'', 1985, 66 pp. LeSEA Publishing Co. *''Worshipers of the Silver Screen''; with a foreword by Edith Mae Pennington, 64 pp.

Bibliography

* * *Murphy, Leona Sumrall (1984) ''Miracles and the Sumrall Family''. Praise Books

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sumrall, Lester 1913 births 1996 deaths 20th-century American clergy 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century apocalypticists American Assemblies of God pastors American evangelicals American evangelists American male non-fiction writers American religious writers American television evangelists Critics of the Catholic Church Family Broadcasting Corporation Indiana Christian University Pentecostal writers