I served in the military and have a strong appreciation for what men and women in uniform mean to this nation. I also have a great appreciation for those who have dedicated their lives toward another service ... to God.
When it comes to the latter, Cecil Todd fits the bill. When I heard that this former Joplin evangelist recently completed six decades of service to Christian ministry and is still going strong into his 61st year, I felt it time to give honor where honor is due.
It was 1949. The last U.S. troops were being withdrawn from South Korea and the Soviet Union was testing its first atomic bomb. What an auspicious occasion for a young teenager to begin his ministry. But that is exactly the journey that Cecil Todd was about to begin.
An Oklahoma native, Todd is a product of the Kiamichi Mountain Christian Mission in the southeast part of that state. After being ordained at Christ’s Church of Nashoba, Okla., he came to Joplin to attend Ozark Christian College (then Ozark Bible), where he graduated in 1954. By the way, he was only able to attend college by saving money he had earned picking cotton as a youngster.
During his time at OCC, Todd began his broadcast ministry on radio in 1951 at Nevada. His program, “The Bible Revival Hour,” was heard nationwide on several 50,000-watt radio stations.
He went from there to begin Revival Fires in 1964, serving as the only speaker on the Joplin-based ministry’s television program for 20 years. That program was aired on more than 50 stations nationwide. He later relocated Revival Fires in Branson West, where it currently is based.
In 48 of his 60 years of ministry, Todd has served as a full-time evangelist but he also has pastored five churches, including one in (that’s right) Russia. In addition to serving as pastor of Christ’s Church of Moscow, he led Rinehart Christian in Richards (Mo.); Crossview Christian, Fort Smith, Ark.; First Christian, Eureka Springs, Ark.; and Christian Church in Clayton, Okla.
When it comes to standing up for God and Christian principles, Todd has been in the mold of David fighting a lifelong battle against Goliaths around the world. In fact, he once remarked: “David knew that one man and God is a majority.”
Missouri Press News writers Greg Smith and William Weary once referred to Todd as “the Horatio Alger of Missouri evangelists.”
In a 1975 rally in Jefferson City where Todd presented 600,000 letters protesting obscenity and violence on TV, he was lauded by the Missouri Senate. Sens. Richard Webster, R-Carthage, and William Cason, D-Clinton, read a Senate resolution supporting and praising him.
In six decades of revivals, mission trips, crusades, rallies, radio and TV ministry, Todd has led more than 3 million people to Christ. His list of accomplishments, nationally and internationally, seems never-ending and space restrictions prohibit naming them all. However, as a Vietnam veteran who served my country proudly, I am especially grateful for what this ebullient evangelist has done for our military.
He has conducted more than 40 Yellow Ribbon rallies each year to provide Bibles for our troops with over 140,000 Bibles already sent to Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention 50,000 more shipped to soldiers during the Desert Storm operation. It is no wonder that Todd has been called to the Pentagon for a guided tour and honored by Chaplain Meredith Standley as a result of his efforts.
At the top of the Revival Fires Web site (www.revivalfires.us), there is a simple statement that effectively sums up the life of Cecil Todd. It reads: “America’s Powerful Voice for God and Country Since 1949.”
Address correspondence to Rich Brown, c/o The Joplin Globe, P.O. Box 7, Joplin, MO 64802 or e-mail rbrown@joplinglobe.com.
