BIO:John Hyde

1865-1912
John Hyde, better known as "The Praying Hyde," was born in 
Carrollton, Illinois. His father was a Presbyterian minister 
who faithfully proclaimed the Gospel message and called for 
the Lord to thrust out laborers into His harvest. He prayed 
this prayer not only in the pulpit but also in the home, 
around the family altar. This made an indelible impression on 
the life of young John, as he grew up in that atmosphere. 
John was graduated from Cathage College with such high honors 
that he was elected to a position on the faculty. However, he 
had heard the divine call to the regions beyond, and was not 
disobedient to the heavenly vision. So he resigned his posi-
tion and entered the Presbyterian seminary. In Chicago, he 
was graduated in the spring of 1892 and sailed for India the 
following October.
        His ministry of prayer in India during the next 20 
years was such that the natives referred to him as "the man 
who never sleeps." Some termed him "the apostle of prayer." 
But more familiarly he was known as "the praying Hyde." He 
was all these and more, for deep in India's Punjab, he envi-
sioned his Master, and face to face with the eternal, he 
learned lessons of prayer which were amazing.
        Often he spent 30 days and nights in prayer, and many 
times was on his knees in deep intercession for 36 hours at a 
time.
        His work among the villages was very successful, in 
that for many years he won four to ten people a day to the 
Lord Jesus Christ. Hyde was instrumental in establishing the 
annual Sialkote Conferences, from which thousands of mission-
aries and native workers returned to the stations, empowered 
anew and afresh for the work of reaching India with the 
Gospel.
        Hyde's life of sacrifice, humility, love for souls 
and deep spirituality, as well as his example in the ministry 
of intercession, inspired many others to effect these graces 
in their own lives and ministries. He died February 17, 1912. 
His last words were, "Shout the victory of Jesus Christ!"

