Paris Reidhead (May 30, 1919 - March 23, 1992) was a Christian missionary, teacher, writer, and advocate of economic development in impoverished nations.

Life and career

Reidhead was born in a Minnesota farming community in 1919. When in his late teens, he committed himself to a life of Christian service. In 1945, Reidhead took an assignment with the

Sudan Interior Mission SIM is an international, interdenominational Evangelical Christian mission organization. It was established in 1893 by its three founders, Walter Gowans and Rowland Bingham of Canada and Thomas Kent of the United States. The initials originally ...

(SIM), surveying and analyzing indigenous languages in preparation for evangelistic and educational efforts near the

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

border. Paris Reidhead Bible Teaching Ministries website, ''Paris Reidhead (1919-1992)''
/ref> His proficiency in tribal languages was noted by his contemporaries. Reidhead's experiences in Sudan deeply impacted the core values that would later guide his life. A spiritual crisis during this period - as he described two decades later in what is probably his best-known recorded teaching, "Ten Shekels and a Shirt" - left Reidhead with the conviction that much of

evangelicalism Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

had adopted

utilitarian In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for the affected individuals. In other words, utilitarian ideas encourage actions that lead to the ...

and

humanistic Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

philosophies contradictory to Biblical teaching. The end of all being, he came to believe, was not the happiness of man, but the glorification of God. This theme would recur throughout his later teaching. Upon his return to the United States in 1949, Reidhead was appointed Deputation Secretary of the SIM. He associated himself with the

Christian and Missionary Alliance The Alliance World Fellowship (or The Alliance, also C&MA and CMA) is an evangelicalism, evangelical Christian denomination It includes 6.2 million members throughout 88 countries within 22,000 churches. History The Alliance has its origins in ...

movement and in 1953 began teaching at national conferences. Three years later he took a position as pastor at New York City's Gospel Tabernacle, which had been established in 1887 by

A. B. Simpson Albert Benjamin Simpson (December 15, 1843 – October 29, 1919), also known as A. B. Simpson, was a Canadian preacher, theologian, author, and founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA), an evangelical denomination with an emphasis ...

. While in New York, he drew on informational resources at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

to pioneer a program through which government and private funds were used for economic development in the Third World. His efforts to implement local programs on this model took him to mission fields in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. Reidhead's involvement with the Sudanese also inspired him to seek a means to enable impoverished people in developing nations to help themselves and their families rise out of poverty. Third World development became his full-time commitment in 1966. His vision of public-private funding for economic development led, in 1971, to the formation of the Institute for International Development which has served as the model for about 90 evangelical organizations. In 1985, he helped found

Enterprise Development International Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterprise ...

(EDI), a nonprofit Christian

faith-based organization A faith-based organization is an organization whose values are based on faith and beliefs, which has a mission based on social values of the particular faith, and which most often draws its activists (leaders, staff, volunteers) from a particular ...

that works in partnership with local Christian groups to transfer the necessary training and capital to help entrepreneurs start sustainable family businesses. Paris Reidhead died in

Woodbridge, Virginia Woodbridge is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince William County, Virginia, United States, located south of Washington, D.C. Bounded by the Occoquan River, Occoquan and Potomac River, Potomac rivers, Woodbridge had 44,668 residents at the ...

in 1992. He was married to Marjorie and they had a daughter Virginia; Marjorie and Virginia continued the work of the Bible Teaching Ministries after Paris’s death.

References

Books by Paris Reidhead

* ''Beyond Petition; Six Steps to Successful Praying.'' Minneapolis: Dimension Books, 1974. * ''Beyond Believing.'' Minneapolis: Bethany Fellowship, 1976. * ''Evidences of Eternal Life'', 1988 * ''Finding the Reality of God'', 1989GoodReads website, ''Paris W. Reidhead''
/ref> * ''Getting Evangelicals Saved.'' Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1989.

References

External links

"Ten Shekels and a Shirt" free audio recording

Paris Reidhead Bible Teaching Ministries

"Ten Shekels and a Shirt" formatted for printing (free download, non-commercial site)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reidhead, Paris 1919 births 1992 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century evangelicals American Evangelical writers American expatriates in Ethiopia American expatriates in Sudan American male non-fiction writers American religious writers Evangelical missionaries Members of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Protestant missionaries in Ethiopia Protestant missionaries in Sudan