Well, Glory! The Reverend John Cecil Williamson has passed through the pearly gates into the Kingdom of our God and of his Christ! He fought the good fight, finished the race well, and was surely greeted in heaven by a host of happy friends and family from all around the world, along with the blessed Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who gave him life at creation, upon his salvation, and again in glorification! Hallelujah!
Cecil was born the second son of Jasper Howard “Jack” Williamson, Sr. and Christine Standefer Williamson, on November 16, 1931. He was eager to enter the world, forcing his mother to cinch her corset a little tighter as they made the journey from Hollandale, MS, to Greenville Hospital just in time for him to make his arrival in the elevator! Since then, he has faced every part of the journey with joy, anticipation, and an impressive commitment to excellence and winning the race. He and his older brother, Jack, Jr., and their first cousin, Ralph Neely, Sr., spent many idyllic hours navigating (floating with the current) the Yazoo River from their home in Greenwood, MS, pelting one another with China berries from homemade slingshots, and riding the rails with their daddy to work the wheat fields in Kansas. When their younger sister, Jean Ferguson, made her arrival eight years later, they tormented her with the same gusto with which they had terrorized all of Leflore County. They came to cherish one another as adults, with a twinkle and a ready tease.
Cecil played football and trumpet in high school but found his footing and calling during his freshman year at Mississippi State University. As he told it, he was so shy in those days that when asked to share at the Wesley Foundation student ministry, he couldn’t be heard on the front row! But he got tired of “kicking around beer cans” in Old Main dormitory and decided to transfer to Millsaps College the following year as a sociology student. There, he came to know what it meant to truly love Jesus and gave his heart to full-time Christian service, starting his ministry by witnessing to all of his floor-mates to make sure they knew Jesus. From then on, not only could the front row hear him, but his booming voice was heard by millions around the world as he preached the Gospel of love around the world.
Among those who came to know Christ was Jimmy Buskirk, first chair of evangelism at Candler School of Theology, who remained among his closest friends until Jimmy’s death. Rev. Charlie Asaph, an immigrant from Albania, taught Cecil how to share his faith as they visited house-to-house throughout Jackson. They worked together to plant Alta Woods United Methodist Church, to which Cecil returned in later years on numerous occasions to hold revivals. Rev. Dr. Roy Ryan was another classmate at Millsaps and preceded Cecil to Candler. The morning of Cecil’s passing, Roy led a prayer in the assisted living home where Cecil spent his last 2 weeks, as the residents sang Victory in Jesus and held an honor guard as he was wheeled to the transport vehicle.
During his senior year at Millsaps, Cecil’s life took a beautiful turn when he met and fell deeply in love with Norma Faye Goff of Jackson County. He graduated in May, 1953, they married on June 7, and took their honeymoon on the campus of Candler School of Theology, where he earned his Masters of Divinity and regaled all the married student apartments with his early morning singing in the shower.
Their love was a testament to the power of faith, and Norma realized that her calling to the mission field was to be fulfilled by standing with her zealous husband as he traversed the globe, spreading the love of Jesus, and she remained at home to rear their four children, John Samuel (deceased 2019), Lee Ann (Waveland, MS), Amos Cecil (Southaven, MS), and Howard Luke (Starkville, MS). We four kept her busy and challenged throughout the 33 years at least one of us lived at home, and Cecil swept in on a more-or-less weekly basis to whip things back into shape (said with a wry smile). Before Norma succumbed to a form of dementia in 2000, Cecil remained faithful, visiting her daily in the personal care home where she spent her last four months, and treating the aids to donuts from Shipley’s several days a week. Any wonder he was a favorite?
Just two months after Norma’s death, while returning home from a mission team early with a member from his team who had gotten sick, while in the international airport in Accra, Ghana, he spied the beautiful, white-haired Julia Van Dyken, traveling with a missionary doctor. Seeing that she matched the physical traits and spiritual calling of the wife he had requested of the Lord, he ventured to introduce himself to her. By Amsterdam, they were friends; by Memphis, they were in love; and one month later, they were engaged! Julie had worked as a nurse, then as a Bible translator with Wycliffe, and finally as a coordinator with Literacy Evangelism International. They were married on September 1, 2001, and began twelve years of international ministry as a married couple. Julie remained faithfully by his side for the last ten years of his life as he declined physically, and she continued to be a loving companion and caregiver until his final breath, singing songs of peace over him as he awakened in heaven.
Cecil was active in full-time ministry for over forty-five years. He served as pastor of several United Methodist churches for 20 years in Gainesville, GA, Duck Hill, Crowder, Lambert, Columbus (Broadacres), and Itta Bena, MS. He was invited more and more frequently to lead revivals in other churches and finally accepted the call to full-time evangelism in 1971. Dear friends from Starkville 1st United Methodist, Dr. Armando and Ruth De La Cruz, invited him to join them in a mission trip to their home church in the Philippines in 1976. He continued to support the work of the Evangelical Methodist Church for many years but also established a partnership in Ozamiz City with the Happy Church, which was his first ongoing partnership in international ministry. He helped them develop a program to train Christian workers and establish more than 60 churches on the Island of Mindanao.
Cecil took the model from there and adapted it to his work with the Methodist Churches in Nigeria and Ghana, planting more than 750 churches through a brilliant plan of pastor training, open-air evangelism, and church construction. In 1991, he also joined hands with Gospel Friends Ministries in India, working with them to plant more than 750 churches, and establish two orphanages, elementary and secondary schools, medical clinics, and other ancillary ministries that helped meet the needs of the local people. In Russia, he helped to train Christian leaders and establish a Christian summer camp. Six months after his retirement at 80 years of age in 2011, Cecil took on one more mission, traveling to Gojra, Pakistan, where he joined hands with Pastor Asif Mubark and his team, who have since planted more than 20 churches. His closest friends were the men and women with whom he co-labored in ministry across the world.
The ministry he established in 1971 as Cecil Williamson Ministry in Evangelism became Christian World Missions in the early 2000s, and it continues to support the work of evangelism and church planting in India, Nepal, Nigeria, and Pakistan. Cecil received many awards during his lifetime, but the ones that gave him the most pleasure were the Harry Denman Award for Evangelism at the Mississippi Conference of the UMC and the honorary doctorate he received from Gospel Friends in India. Both represented his life’s passion to lead others to Christ.
Cecil’s life and ministry were crowned with joy as the family gained seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. They are Sam’s children, Maria Andrews (Johnathon), and Kristina Williamson; Amos’ children, Rachel, Walker, and Jack; and Lee Ann’s son, Christian. No less a part of the family are Lori Smith and her son, Ramzy, who shared Cecil & Lee Ann’s passion for evangelism and church renewal. The great-grandchildren are Alayna & Caleb Andrews, and Miyuki and Youka Williamson. All grands and greats survive their grandfather, along with his precious wife, Julie, three of his four children, his brother Jack, sister Jean, and many cousins, nephews, nieces, and friends from around the world. We are all so sad to see him go, but we know that on the other side, there was a crowd greatly anticipating his arrival, including his parents, his first wife, several in-laws, and a countless host of those who came to know Jesus because of this man’s faithful witness.
Just as Job declared after his years of suffering and trial, so our husband, father, grandfather, and friend would say with joy and anticipation: “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!”
He is truly overwhelmed now, standing in the Presence of the Redeemer. Glory!
Visitation is scheduled for Monday, July 1, 2024 from 10:00-11:00 a.m. at Christian World Missions, 1437 Fire Station Rd., Starkville, MS, with the Celebration of Life immediately following.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Christian World Missions, P. O. Box 985, Starkville, MS 39760.
