# Eugene Grams

Eugene Edgar Grams (September 19, 1930 - December 9, 2016) was an American missionary, evangelist and educator in South Africa.

## Personal life

Eugene Edgar Grams was born on September 19, 1930 in Rosendale, Wisconsin to William Grams, a clergyman, and Martha (née Zeitz) and raised on a farm in Fond du Lac. He was a gifted student and won a scholarship to study engineering. However, he turned this down after receiving a "calling" into ministry.
He attended Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina, and later transferred to Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri. Grams met Evelyn Phyllis Louton in 1948, after her father, A. G. Louton, spoke at his father's church about his imminent move to South Africa.
Despite her initial resistance, Grams pursued Phyllis, and they became engaged in 1950. In 1951, she broke off the engagement, deciding to go with her family to South Africa. Grams dropped out of Central Bible College and traveled to South Africa the next year after working to raise funds. They married in 1952 in Potgietersrus, Northern Transvaal, South Africa.
They had three sons, Darrell (b. 1953), a successful lawyer on the chief council staff of Ford Motor Company, Dennis (b. 1956), and Rollin G. Grams (b. 1958), a prominent theologian.

## Ministry

Grams became a missionary in South Africa in 1952 shortly after marrying his wife. In 1953, he visited the United States and received a missionary assignment from the Assemblies of God missions department. The following year, he began work in Potgietersrus with initial success In the late 1950s, he established churches in Welkom, Lesotho, Sekhukhuneland, and Johannesburg, which attracted many members.
He returned to the United States on furlough and preached at churches in the Midwest, raising funds for his ministry and reporting on new developments. He also sent frequent newsletters to his supporters, becoming a known figure in the Assemblies of God, particularly in Michigan and Wisconsin.
Grams spearheaded The Meloding Revival of 1960. Held in the Orange Free State, it was a significant event in the history of Pentecostal Christianity in the region. The revival began in March 1960 with a tent erected to host nightly meetings. Over time, attendance swelled, sometimes exceeding 2,000 people per night, with an estimated cumulative attendance of over 40,000. The meetings featured evangelistic preaching, testimonies, and worship led by choirs from surrounding churches.
Beyond individual conversions, the revival catalyzed the growth of the local Assemblies of God church, which had previously met in a rented, unfinished house. Following the revival, a large congregation was established, and the church became a center of Christianity in Meloding. Grams also conducted weeks of Bible doctrine classes to assist new Chrisitians in integrating into the wider Christian community.
Grams formed alliances with local evangelists, including Nicholas Bhengu and Philip Molefe, and worked alongside his father-in-law A. G. Louton, and brother-in-law Edgar Louton, with whom he had a competitive relationship, to organize more tent campaigns, having large tents constructed. The extended family also planted many churches. Grams himself is believed to have founded over 35 churches in South Africa.
In the 1970s, he was based primarily in Johannesburg and continued to travel often to the United States to preach throughout the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1980s, he returned to the United States for a time, residing in Flint, Michigan, where he served on the leadership of several local Assemblies of God churches.
Later in the 1980s, he cofounded the Cape College of Theology in Cape Town, a major training center for missionaries, and served as its first President. He returned to Flint in the 1990s, where he played the role of a local minister, officiating many funerals but maintained close ties with South Africa.

## Death and legacy

Grams retired from ministry in South Africa in 2008, his career having spanned 56 years. He lived in Springfield, Missouri, near the headquarters of the Assemblies of God, for the rest of his life, and suffered ill health in the 2010s. Phyllis Grams died in 2014, succumbing to Alzheimer's disease, and Eugene Grams died in 2016, aged 86. His life and work are chronicled in a biography written by his son Rollin, entitled Stewards of Grace. Rollin Grams continues the family's association with South Africa as the director of Studies for East Mountain ministries.