Bakht Singh [1903 – 2000]
Bakht Singh was born in a part of Punjab which is now Pakistan. He was raised as a Sikh and after graduating from Punjab University, he pursued his higher studies in England where he found new freedom in the lifestyle there. He then moved on to Canada for further studies.
In 1929 while doing his masters in agricultural engineering at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, he met John and Edith Hayward who were locals. They became good friends and invited Singh to stay with them. Being devout Christians, they always had a time of good fellowship and read the Bible before their evening meal.
Singh returned to India with fire and zeal for the gospel that just wouldn’t burn out. He was a well-educated Bible teacher who was well aware of Indian traditions and contextualized the message of the gospel to his fellow brothers & sisters in India.
As a revivalist, he planted thousands of churches reaching out to millions of lives and established Hebron ministries. The Lord used Brother Bakht Singh mightily.
What was different about Bakht Singh’s ‘second encounter’ with Christianity?
Having been born in India, which was under the rule of Britain, Christianity was very much perceived as a foreign religion. To add to it, it was the religion of the oppressor. But, during his stay in Canada, through his friendship with the Haywards, and by reading the New Testament… he soon tasted for himself what Christianity was really about. And, that changed him inside out.
