Paris Reidhead

Paris Reidhead (May 30, 1919 - March 23, 1992) was a Christian missionary, teacher, writer, and advocate of economic development in impoverished nations.

Life and career

Reidhead was born in a Minnesota farming community in 1919. When in his late teens, he committed himself to a life of Christian service.

In 1945, Reidhead took an assignment with the Sudan Interior Mission (SIM), surveying and analyzing indigenous languages in preparation for evangelistic and educational efforts near the Sudan-Ethiopia border. His proficiency in tribal languages was noted by his contemporaries. Reidhead's experiences in Sudan deeply impacted the core values that would later guide his life.

A spiritual crisis during this period—as he described two decades later in what is probably his best-known recorded teaching, "Ten Shekels and a Shirt"Ten Shekels and a Shirt - Audio
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Upon his return to the United States in 1949, Reidhead was appointed Deputation Secretary of the SIM. He associated himself with the Christian and Missionary Alliance movement and in 1953 began teaching at national conferences. Three years later he took a position as pastor at New York City's Gospel Tabernacle, which had been established in 1887 by A. B. Simpson. While in New York, he drew on informational resources at the United Nations to pioneer a program through which government and private funds were used for economic development in the Third World. His efforts to implement local programs on this model took him to mission fields in Africa, Asia, and South America.

Reidhead's involvement with the Sudanese also inspired him to seek a means to enable impoverished people in developing nations to help themselves and their families rise out of poverty. Third World development became his full-time commitment in 1966. His vision of public-private funding for economic development led, in 1971, to the formation of the Institute for International Development which has served as the model for about 90 evangelical organizations. In 1985, he helped found Enterprise Development International (EDI), a nonprofit Christian faith-based organization that works in partnership with local Christian groups to transfer the necessary training and capital to help entrepreneurs start sustainable family businesses.

Paris Reidhead died in Woodbridge, Virginia in 1992.

References

Books by Paris Reidhead

* ''Beyond Petition; Six Steps to Successful Praying.'' Minneapolis: Dimension Books, 1974.
* ''Beyond Believing.'' Minneapolis: Bethany Fellowship, 1976.
* ''Getting Evangelicals Saved.'' Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1989.

References

"Ten Shekels and a Shirt" free audio recording

External links

Paris Reidhead Bible Teaching Ministries

"Ten Shekels and a Shirt" formatted for printing (free download, non-commercial site)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reidhead, Paris
Protestant missionaries in Ethiopia
Protestant missionaries in Sudan
American Protestant missionaries
American evangelicals
Members of the Christian and Missionary Alliance
1919 births
1992 deaths
American expatriates in Ethiopia
American expatriates in Sudan