T. L. Osborn

T. L. Osborn

T. L. Osborn, 2001
Born December 23, 1923
Pocasset, Oklahoma
Died February 14, 2013 (aged 89)[1]
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Occupation Pentecostal evangelist

Tommy Lee Osborn (December 23, 1923 – February 14, 2013) was an American Pentecostal evangelist and author born in Pocasset, Oklahoma and based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.[2][3][4]

Biography

He was born on December 23, 1923.

Osborn married Daisy Washburn Osborn at the age of 17, and shortly thereafter they set out on a life of ministry and missionary travel with a trip to India at the age of 21. They worked at Lucknow, but their ministry could not bring fruit due to lack of people's faith that Bible is the Word of God. Their mission lasted less than a year in India, and returned home with critical family sickness.

The Osborns first gained notice shortly after returning from India as evangelists on the Big Tent Revival circuit in the United States and Canada, where they preached to audiences often numbering over 10,000 in open-air meetings and under large tents in settings such as fair grounds and stadiums. Other young contemporary evangelists of the time such as Billy Graham, Oral Roberts, Jack Coe, and A.A. Allen were also on the circuit. The Osborne's emphasised the love and compassion of God, rather than the "fire and brimstone" commonly used by evangelists of the era, and used supernatural healing in their meetings.

By the early 1950s their emphasis began to shift more and more toward international missions. They began to hold large crusades in Latin America, Asia, and Africa, where crowds began to grow rapidly and at times exceeded 100,000. After Osborn's crusades in Thailand in 1956 and Uganda in 1957, Pastor Fred Wantaate of Makerere Full Gospel Church said that "after that crusade in Mombasa, the fountain of the river of Pentecostalism spread in the heart of East Africa".[5][6]

Over the course of the next 5 decades the team traveled to more than 70 countries and reached millions of people. They created prolific quantities of missionary evangelism and training materials, some of which were translated into more than 80 languages.

After Daisy's death in May 1995, Osborn continued to travel and conduct crusades around the world until his health began to decline in his mid-eighties. He died on February 14, 2013 at the age of 89.

Osborn's daughter Ladonna Osborn continues to operate the ministry founded by her parents, including leading international crusades in the developing world every year. His grandson Tommy Ray O'Dell has also followed in his grandfather's footsteps and has a ministry focused on evangelism and education in Asia, Africa, and Europe, and like his grandfather often draws large crowds. It has been said that miracles took place in his services.

Writings

References

  1. ↑ "Deaths - 2/16/2013". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2013-02-16.
  2. ↑ "Evangelist, Crusade Focusing on Atheism". The Hartford Courant (Hartford, Conn.). June 21, 1969. Retrieved February 6, 2010.
  3. ↑ "Le "pasteur miracle" américain attire en masse les évangéliques". Le Figaro (in French) (Paris). August 28, 2006. Retrieved February 6, 2010.
  4. ↑ Eric Bureau, Carole Sterlé and Laure Pelé (August 28, 2006). "5 000 fidèles pour la croisade évangélique". Le Parisien (in French) (Paris). Retrieved February 6, 2010.
  5. ↑ Lumu, David Tash (January 20, 2010). "50 years of Pentecostalism in Uganda — Sizzling Faith". The Observer (Uganda). Retrieved February 6, 2010.
  6. ↑ http://spreadtheflame.com/2013/02/t-l-osborn-and-thailand

External links