Chesshir, Lewis Haskell

for the day to see them again.

Lewis Haskell Chesshir: Christian missionary, evangelist, educator, humanitarian, visionary, and family patriarch. Chesshir was born in Centerpoint, Arkansas, on April 24, 1916, and died July 22, 2003, in Nashville, Tennessee. Son of John Newman and Gene Harrison Chesshir, Chesshir grew up on the family cotton farm in Turkey, Texas.

After high school, he first earned his living as a traveling salesman. Feeling a strong calling for Christian ministry, he enrolled in David Lipscomb College in Nashville.. There he earned his first college degree and met and married Enid Nadara Huff from Kentucky, a marriage that lasted forty-six years until Enid’s death in 1988. The couple raised seven children of their own, one adopted Korean son and one foster Korean son.

Early in World War II Haskell worked at Vultee Aircraft and was involved in church work in Nashville. He joined the U.S. Navy as a dental

corpsman and served during the remainder of the war in San Diego and Pearl Harbor. After WWII, Haskell returned to Nashville in preparation to move with his wife Enid and daughter Jenetta to Honolulu, Hawaii, to work for the Keeaumoku Street Church of Christ.

As the result of meeting a Korean refugee preacher, Mr. Chesshir began to develop a dream to reach the people of Asia for Christ. In 1948 Chesshir returned to Nashville with his wife and two daughters, Jenetta and Sherry, to continue his education at Lipscomb College and prepare for foreign mission work. He also received graduate degrees from Vanderbilt and Scaritt universities. Two sons, Phillip and Randall, were born in Nashville while he ministered to the Eighth Avenue and Park Avenue Churches of Christ. He partnered with others in developing a chaplaincy program at the TB hospital (now Bordeaux). It is significant that this is where he spent the last seven months of his life.

When the Korean Conflict ended in 1953, the Chesshirs began preparations to move to Seoul, Korea, as missionaries. The family entered South Korea on November 29, 1954. His Christian ministry in a war-torn Korea included the following:

• Feeding hundreds of people daily in a soup kitchen and making runs with trucks packed with food which Chesshir was able to buy or receive as donations from departing United Nations forces. • Chesshir collected building supplies and engineering services from these departing armies in order to build orphanages, widows, homes, and church buildings. • On April 19, 1958, he founded Korea Christian College, which today is a 1200 student university. • In 1963, in cooperation with the Kyunggi Provincial government, which paid shipping costs, Chesshir and his son-in-law, Sid Allen, a missionary/veterinarian, brought into Korea a herd of ninety-one bred Holstein and Guernsey heifers which were donated by U. S. Christians. The milk helped to combat tuberculosis and poor dietary conditions of the Korean people and helped promote the nation’s infant dairy industry.

The Chesshirs had three more children—Mark, Vicki, and Donald—adopted a Korean teenage orphan who was named John Haskell Chesshir, as well as educating and providing for a foster Korean son, Nam Yul (Bill) Lee.

The Chesshirs continued in their Korean mission involvement for thirty-three years until Haskell had a heart attack and stroke in 1987 and Enid’s death in 1988.

Chesshir is survived by his second wife of fourteen years, Lani Kamauoha Chesshir of Hawaii, and her sons and their wives-- Laakea and Donna and Komaka and Pat—and Haskell’s children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

The service included singing by the Lipscomb University Community Chorus, directed by Robert King; eulogy by Joe McKinney of the Joelton church of Christ; comments by Boggs E. Huff (brother-in-law), Phillip H. Chesshir (eldest son), Randall S. Chesshir (second son), Mark H. Chesshir (third son), Donald C. Chesshir (fourth son), Nam Yul (Bill) Lee (foster son), Sidney N. Allen (son-in-law), M. David Allen (grandson), Stephen C. Allen (grandson).

Other speakers included Dr. Kee, Jun Seo, President of Korea Christian University, and Dr. Pak, Byung Soo, representative of the alumni, KCU.

Article from The Tennessean, Sunday, September 18, 1960

Religion in Life: Chesshir Returns to Korea by Sarah Taylor

L. Haskell Chesshir, Church of Christ missionary, is returning to Korea to serve as president of Korean Christian College, which he is helping establish near Seoul. Chesshir, who has been on a year’s leave raising funds for the new school, will leave for Korea about November 15. His family will remain in Nashville until he has had time to build a house for them. He said the college will strive not only to educate young people, but to help them raise the standard of living in their country.

“We won’t be catering to the wealthy,” he said. “What we want are bright, industrious young men and women who have finished high school and can be developed into leaders.”

Chesshir, who has spent more than five years in Korea, said there are now about twenty congregations of the Church of Christ there. The college is an outgrowth of the teaching program already underway in Seoul, and some students have been studying religion, rural social work, and education for more than three years.

“The greatest problem in teaching the Koreans is breaking through the barrier of centuries-old traditions,” Chesshir said. “The Korean government asks us to encourage them to greater industry. Most of them are farmers, with two- and one-half-acre farms and the average farmer works only about 125 days a year. This isn’t enough for a sound economy.” He explained that the tradition is that anyone who works with his hands is a servant, so the farmers take

as much time off as possible. “Some of the families have lived on their land for hundreds of years,” he said. “The country is badly eroded because they cut their trees down long ago for firewood. They have even scraped the mountainsides clean gathering grass for fuel.” In these impoverished surroundings, Christianity has taken rood and is gradually changing the social structure of the country. Chesshir and his family are living at 2713 Larmon Drive. They have eight children, including an adopted Korean boy.

Brother Pak, Byung Sooñ Representative of the KCU Alumni:

When I was young - a freshman of Korea Christian College, I met Texan cowboy at Hyo Chong Dong Mission camp, Seoul, Korea. He wear nice hat. Looks very nice and smart. Looks like movie star. Brother Chesshir as missionary and founder of Korea Christian College, he plant seed of the gospel to Korea. Forty-five years later, now in Korea more than 100 churches of Christ growing. Forty-five years after he started Korea Christian College, now around 1500 students and 3000 alumni, 190 overseas alumni. Many young people grow up through Korea Christian College and Korean Church of Christ.

By the way, Korea Christian College last 45 years history has many problems, conflict, argument, but still the school grew up. Not only Korea Christian College has problems, but everybody has problems: me, you, American, Korean, everybody. So problem is not really problem. Real problem is how to solve the problem. We learn how to solve the problem by Brother Chesshir. Once I had argument with him, 1984. Korea Christian College has big problem, big crises. I visit Korea. I met Brother Chesshir. I argue with him about Korea Christian College existence and that problem. And so many years later, almost 20 years later, Korea Christian University grew up.

He planted seed of the gospel. He started Korea Christian University. At the time since the Korean War, Korea suffers with poverty and many problems. At that time Brother Chesshir came to Korea spread out the gospel not only he preaching, he interested in social work, education, and many fields. I remember he mentioned radio station for Korea Christian University. I believe he couldn't make a success that point. But he works with the churches. He left many things. Now he passed away. As Church of Christ members, as alumni, we keep growing with Brother Chesshir's name. Korea Christian University keeps growing. We never forget Brother Chesshir's name. May God bless Brother Chesshir's family. Thank you.

First mission homes built by Houston Ezell in the 60s beginnings of Korean Christian Coll

Korean Christian University Today