Missionary Statesman and Gospel Pioneer, T.L. Osborne, Has Passed Away at the age of 89

by Dan Wooding, ASSIST News Service

T.L. (Tommy Lee) Osborn, 89, the well-known American Pentecostal evangelist and author based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has passed away.

According to a message posted on Twitter by his daughter, Dr. LaDonna Osborn, “My much loved father, Dr. T.L. Osborn, the man known around the world as ‘The Father of the Gospel’ entered his eternal rest on Thursday, February 14, 2013. He was in no pain and had no sickness. The Lord simply took away his breath.

“My father was wrapped in love, his family surrounding him as he stepped through the veil into eternity. He is now in the presence of Jesus, whom he had served faithfully for 77 years. We can only imagine the sweet reunion between him and his beloved Daisy, three of his children, a granddaughter and a celebrating host of believers who are among the redeemed because of my father’s ministry during more than 65 years to every corner of the earth. He was in his 90th year, having passed his 89th birthday on December 23, 2012.”

Dr. Osborn, the President and CEO of Osborn Ministries International, and Founder and Bishop of International Gospel Center Fellowship of Churches and Ministries, added, “Dr. T.L. Osborn’s earthly journey is over; his destined mission is complete. He has heard the words of His Master, ‘… Well done, good and faithful servant … Enter into the joy of your lord.’ (Mt 25:21)

“Rejoice with me and our entire family in this life well lived and join us — if possible — for a great International Memorial Service of celebration on Wednesday, March 6, 2013, at 2:00 p.m.”

This will be held Christ’s Chapel, Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Tommy Lee Osborn was born on December 23, 1923 on the family farm in Pocasset, Oklahoma. After giving his life to Jesus Christ at the age of 12, Osborn dedicated his life to helping people find Jesus.

At 17, he met Daisy, his future wife, and after marrying at 19, he and Daisy moved to Portland, Oregon, to establish a new church and shortly afterwards, enthused by Christ’s commission to the disciples to “go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature,” they moved to Tulsa, and began their travels which eventually saw some of the largest outreaches many countries had ever seen.

I first learned about T.L. and Daisy while researching my book “Uganda Holocaust,” which I co-authored for Zondervan with Ray Barnett. I had learned about the the incredible day that Idi Amin, “The Butcher of Uganda,” who was said to have been involved in the killings of 300,000 Christians during his eight-year reign of terror, dropped in on one of T.L. Osborn’s soul winners institute seminars in Kisumu, a port city in western Kenya, which is close to the Uganda border.

So I contacted Daisy and she told me that President Amin was returning home from an All-African leaders summit, and flying over the grounds where her husband’s meeting was taking place, he saw the vast multitudes of people gathered and immediately ordered the pilot of his private dual-prop helicopter to land, thinking they were assembled for him.

After he touched down, “Big Daddy” strode onto the platform with his usual pomposity and waved to the crowd and was immediately surrounded by the Christian leaders and national pastors, all completely shocked to see him there.

Despite the confusion, Daisy told me that her husband managed to keep control of the meeting, and she went over to the dictator to ask him what was going on. He in turn, wanted to know what the meaning of all these people gathered together on the border of his country.”

“He appeared to believe it was because they loved him and wanted him to address them,” Daisy stated, so I told him, ‘These people are gathered together to hear the word of God and pray.’”

Apparently, the Ugandan leader then said, “That is good, as that is what I want for my people too, to hear the word of God and to pray.”

Daisy Osborn then told me that after that strange event, things suddenly became a lot better for the Ugandan believers, and Uganda has remained open to the Gospel to today.

Sometime later, in April, 1979, Amin fled the country after the Tanzanian troops invaded Uganda and he finally died an “Islamic hero” on August 16, 2003, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Some hero!

I only met T.L. Osborn on one occasion. It was while I was a guest on the “Praise the Lord” on the Trinity Broadcasting Network with him and former NFL star, Rosey Grier. T.L. was extremely polite and gave me a warm welcome, even though he really didn’t know who I was — until I told him about my Uganda book and reminded him about how Idi Amin had gatecrashed his seminar.

“That was an incredible event,” he smiled. “We had no idea what was going on when he suddenly landed in the field and strode onto the platform to address the crowd. But still, he heard the Gospel that day, and I hope that it had some effect on him.”

Now all of these people have all left this world and the Church has lost one of its great characters in the form of T.L. Osborn.

ASSIST News Service