Sadhu Sundar Singh

Sadhu Sundar Singh (1889-1929) was an Indian Christian missionary. He is believed to have died in the foothills of the Himalayas.

Sadhu was born into a Sikh family in the village of Rampur district, Ludhiana in northern India. He attended the Ewing Christian High school in Ludhiana to learn English.

His mother died when he was 14. In his anger burnt page by page the Bible while his friends watched. He felt suicidal. He decided to a go to a railroad track but that very night he had a vision of Jesus.
This changed every thing. He told his father Sher Singh that he would convert to Christianity and become a missionary. His father rejected him and his brother tried several times to poison him. Snakes were thrown into his house.

He was rescued from this cruel treatment by nearby British Christians.
He spent sometime working in the Christian Missionary Home with leprosy patients at Sabathu.
On 16th birthday he was publicly baptised in the parish church of Simla.

In 1906 Sundar set off on his life as a new Christian. He wore a saffron turban and robe as a Christian sadhu, a holy man. He knew Indians would not be converted unless in an Indian way.

When he returned home he received an unexpected warm welcome.

He then travelled through the Punjab, over the Bannihal Pass into Kashmir, through Muslim Afghanistan and into the brigand infested North West Frontier and Baluchistan. He was called ‘the apostle with bleeding feet’.
He suffered arrest and stoning for his beliefs, and experienced mystical encounters.

In 1908 he went into Tibet - appalled by conditions. Tried to visits Palestine but refused permit.

December 1909 began training for ministry in Anglican college in Lahore. He left after only 8 months - ostracised for being different - the course was irrelevant to the Gospel message India needed - expected to wear ‘respectable’ European clerical clothing- rejected the mixing of Jesus and British culture.

On his travels in 1912 he met Maharishi of Kailas and spent some weeks in deep fellowship.

During his 20s Sundar’s Gospel work widened greatly, Before he was 30 his name and picture were familiar all over the Christian world. He was described as always human, approachable and humble. His talks and personal speech were informed by his habitual early morning meditation.

In 1918 he toured South India and Ceylon. In 1919 he visited Burma, China and Japan.
In 1920 his father gave him the fare so he visited Britain, USA and Australia
1922 visited Europe again. He was appalled at the materialism, emptiness and irreligion in the West after WW1

Back in India he continued to spread the Gospel but he was getting physically frail.

In 1923 visited Tibet but came back exhausted. He gave himself to meditation, fellowship and writing.
In 1929 set out for Tibet again! He reached Kalka. What happened next is a mystery.

Sundar is revered by many as a formative, towering figure in the missionary conversions of the Christian church in India.