W. Ian Thomas

W. Ian Thomas (13 September 1914 – 1 August 2007) was an evangelist, Christian evangelical writer, theological teacher and founder of the Torchbearers Bible schools.

At the age of twelve he was invited to a Bible study group of the Crusaders Christian Youth Movement by a lad of thirteen. The following summer, still twelve years old, he was converted to Christ at a Crusaders' Union camp.

At the age of fifteen, he felt convinced that he should devote all of his life to the service of the Lord Jesus. He told God that he would become a missionary. He began to preach out in the open air at Hampstead Heath. He was also actively engaged in Sunday School work as well as in the Crusaders' Bible class. Life became a round of ceaseless activity.

He thought the best thing for him to do was to become a doctor. At the university Ian became a leader in the Inter-Varsity Fellowship group. He started a slum club down in the East End of London "out of a sheer desire to win souls, to go out and get them. I was a windmill of activity until, at the age of nineteen, every moment of my day was packed tight with doing things. Thus by the age of nineteen, I had been reduced to a state of complete exhaustion spiritually, until I felt that there was no point going on."

"Then, one night in November, that year, just at midnight, I got down on my knees before God, and I just wept in sheer despair. I said, 'With all my heart I have wanted to serve Thee. I have tried to my uttermost and I am a hopeless failure.' That night things happened. The Lord seemed to make plain to me that night, through my tears of bitterness: 'You see, for seven years, with utmost sincerity, you have been trying to live for Me, on My behalf, the life that I have been waiting for seven years to live through you.'" Thomas later reflected: "I got up the next morning to an entirely different Christian life, but I want to emphasize this: I had not received one iota more than I had already had for seven years!"

Major Thomas served in the British Expeditionary Force in Belgium at the outset of World War II and took part in the evacuation at Dunkirk. He would also spend time during the war (oftentimes fighting) in France, Italy, and Greece.

When he was not traveling, Major Thomas resided in Estes Park, Colorado, where his wife, Joan Thomas, and his eldest son, Chris Thomas, live along with Chris's family.