Visitation will be at Evangel PCA (Alabaster, AL) on May 25 from 6:00-7:00 p.m. The memorial service will begin at 7:00 p.m., and it will be broadcast live on Evangel’s website,www.evangelchurchpca.org

Jimmy Lyons’ Choctaw name was Hushtali, meaning “Rising Sun.” This week, “Rising Sun” went home to meet the risen Son.

Lyons, a Choctaw Indian chief and founding member of the PCA, served as a Mission to the World (MTW) evangelist for over 20 years and pastored churches in Alabama, Tennessee, and North Carolina. He was a member of Evangel Presbyterian Church in Alabaster, Ala.

Born in Oklahoma on October 4, 1929, Lyons received his M.Div. from Columbia Theological Seminary in 1958. From 1958–1973 he pastored churches in Alabama, Tennessee, and North Carolina.

While serving in Tennessee, Lyons had the opportunity to visit post-war Korea on a denominational trip. He returned with a fire for investing in foreign missions, a calling he filled when he joined MTW as an evangelist in 1973. According to Rev. Thomas Joseph, stated clerk of Evangel Presbytery, “He was the feet on the ground establishing a relationship between missionaries on the field and this new denomination called the PCA.”

Rev. Jeff Lowman served as Lyons’ pastor at Evangel PCA. He said that Lyons’ passion for foreign missions inspired both churches and future missionaries.

“For many churches, Jimmy Lyons was the instrument God used to begin their ongoing interest and support of foreign missions. For many future missionaries, it was through a meeting with Jimmy or hearing him preach that they responded to a call to share Christ overseas,” Lowman said.

Read More: http://byfaithonline.com/page/pca-news/jimmy-lyons-1929-2011 [Editor’s note: the original URL (link) referenced is no longer valid, so the link has been removed.]