Gopal, Ghasi Das (1918-2002)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2002 Sep 30 p. 11

Birth date: 1918 Aug 11

text of obituary:

Longtime India pastor dies at 84

MANTECA, Calif. — Ghasi Das Gopal, 84, a General Conference Mennonite pastor from the Jagdeeshpur-Saraipali area of India, died Aug 21 in Reno, Nev. He served most of his adult life as a Christian evangelist and pastor.

Ghasi Das, as he was known by many, was a son of Gopal, an early Mennonite convert in India.

Ghasi Das was born Aug 11., 1918. He was baptized by S. T. Moyer and attended mission primary and middle schools. After his marriage in 1938, he and his wife, Rebecca, attended the Bible School at Janjgir from 1939 to 1942. Then he became an evangelist in the Jagdeeshpur area, and with his wife taught many new converts in a number of villages. In his later years he became a pastor of the newly founded Philippi church and helped develop a growing church near the borders of Orissa State.

Ghasi Das and Rebecca had seven children. In 1980, they joined their son Vinod in Manteca, where they worked together to found Hindi-speaking churches for immigrants from India.