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Collection 483 Oral History Interview with Francis Sunderaraj

 Collection
Identifier: CN 483

Scope and Contents

Oral history interviews with Francis Sunderaraj in which he describes committing his life to Christ as a teenager in India; the development of his faith; the institutions and leadership of Evangelical Protestantism in India; Methodist churches in India and Malaysia; Sunderaraj's education at the Union Biblical Seminary in Yeotmal, India, Princeton Seminary, and Wheaton College; the development of the Evangelical Fellowship of India. The time period covered by the interviews is ca. 1942-1993.

Francis Sunderaraj was interviewed by Paul Ericksen on February 24 and March 8, 1993 at the Billy Graham Center Archives at Wheaton College.

Dates

  • Created: 1993

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on the use of this collection.

Biographical Information

Full Name: Francis Sunderaraj

Birth Date: April 7, 1937, in Madras, India Family:

Parents: Abraham David and Sophia James

Siblings: Two brothers and a sister (who died at the age of three)

Marital Status: Married Sheila Bhanumathy

Children: Daughter (ca. 1966), son Vinodh (ca.1970)

Conversion: At age seventeen at a Youth for Christ rally in Madras at which Cyril Thompson spoke. (In 1961, during a Deeper Life convention at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Madras, he committed his life to full-time Christian service

Education:

1952 Graduated with a secondary school certificate from St. Paul's High School

1955 Bachelor of Science (Chemistry) from Madras Christian College

1965 Bachelor of Divinity from the Union Biblical Seminary in Yeotmal, India

1971 Masters of Theology from Princeton Theological Seminary

1994 Masters in Intercultural Studies at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois

Career:

1955-1962 Worked as a chemist, first for the Corporation of Madras, then for private companies

1965-1967 Assistant pastor at Emanuel Methodist Church in madras

1967-1970 Pastor of Methodist Churches in eastern Malaysia and also served as a District Superintendent for the newly formed Tamil Conference of the Methodist Church

1971-1972 Faculty of Union Biblical seminary, Yeotmal, India

1972-1974 Circuit pastor of three Methodist churches in Malaysia

1974-1976 Pastor in Kuala Lumpur of the largest Indian church in Malaysia. Also served as District Superintendent

1976-1991 Associate secretary, then (from 1978) Secretary for Christian Education of the Evangelical Fellowship of India

1984- ? General Secretary of the Evangelical Fellowship of India

Other significant information: Rev. Sunderaraj is from the Tamil ethnic group

Extent

5 Audio Tapes

230 Minutes

Language of Materials

English

Accruals and Additions

The materials in this collection were given to the Billy Graham Center Archives by Francis Sunderaraj in February and March 1993.

Accession: 93-37, 93-41

December 13, 2000

Robert Shuster

W. Valentine

Title
Collection 483 Oral History Interview with Francis Sunderaraj
Author
Bob Shuster
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Roman Script

Repository Details

Part of the Evangelism & Missions Archives Repository

Contact:
501 College Avenue
Wheaton IL 60187 US
630-752-5910