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Lester Sumrall
Born to parents Betty and Frank
on February 15, 1913 was Lester Frank Sumrall. New Orleans was the hometown to the
family in the early days of Lester’s boyhood, later moving to Panama City, Florida.
Lester was independent as a child—enough to persuade him to follow his own
mind, though he respected his mother’s religion and prayer for him to preach, even
before he was born. He was determined to shrug the call on his life to preach until,
at the age of 17, doctors diagnosed him with tuberculosis and predicted that the disease
would end his life prematurely. He decided that God was giving him a choice to live
a full life in obedience to the Lord, or go to an early grave. With that
perspective, Lester decided to give his life to God and soon began to preach in remote
areas of Florida, Tennessee and Arkansas. Many of his services at that time were
held in schoolhouses rather than churches. The young preacher was immature in his
approach and attitude and became discouraged by the meager response of his rural
audiences. It was then that he questioned the Lord and soon received a supernatural
vision of men and women of different nationalities going to Hell with their blood on his
hands. Not surprisingly, the young evangelist gained a renewed excitement for ministry.
Sumrall’s fate was tied to others as well, as the Lord was
dealing with England’s Rev. Howard Carter around the same time in 1931. The
Brit preacher was convinced that the Lord was telling him of help being sent to him.
That help came in the form of one Lester Sumrall. The pair became quite a
team as they won souls to Christ, cast out demons, and evangelized from Europe to
Australia. Their efforts didn’t go unnoticed as they met the likes of Smith
Wigglesworth in their travels. With World War II approaching, however, they
went separate ways.
God apparently had other plans for Reverend Sumrall, and
different companionship of a more intimate kind. While traveling in British
Columbia, Lester got wind of a woman missionary from Argentina. Though they never
crossed paths in Canada, the two eventually met in the South American country and were wed
on September 30, 1944. They embarked on their ‘honeymoon’, or as most
agreed was a 50,000 mile missionary tour. The Lester and Louise Layman Sumrall went
on to live an argument-free life together which lasted for 49 years. Family development
came into play, as sons Frank, Stephen, and Peter became permanent additions.
In 1957 the Sumrall clan along with friends went on to found
Lester Sumrall Evangelistic Association (LeSea), headquartered in South Bend, Indiana,
church included. The organization ultimately was credited with establishing a media
empire. Incorporated in their endeavors was dozens of publications, multiple
television stations, radio stations, and ties to institutions of learning across the U.S.
The minister’s vision to own television stations in the 1960’s was his
strong conviction that time would be hard to purchase on secular stations in some markets.
His hunch proved right. In 1970 a 24-hr. telephone prayer line was started to
minister to those needing help and comfort. Later in the 70’s and 80’s was
when the group gained more recognition with the expansion of media outreach across the
country. One of the last major projects he undertook was his LeSea Global Feed The
Hungry program. The effort was sparked in 1987 as he witnessed starving people
during his international evangelism. By the 1990’s LeSea had gone global in
television and internet.
Pastor Sumrall went on to his final reward April 28, 1996.
Among his protégés is pastor Rod Parsley, who Reverend Sumrall helped get established in
ministry. He left behind a legacy of faith and integrity, not to mention a ministry that,
appropriately, outlasted the evangelist himself.
Resources: christianheroes.com, lesea.com, nd.edu, breakthrough.net,
kwhs.tv, newlifetv.com, lesea.org
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