Tom Rees was an evangelist who proclaimed the gospel, and here I should declare a personal interest: he was my wife’s great-uncle, the brother of Dick Rees, her grandfather, who was also an evangelist.

Thomas Rees was born in 1911 and grew up in Watford. His brother Dick became a Christian, prayed for his brother’s conversion, and Tom received Christ at the age of fifteen. Immediately, Tom became involved in evangelistic activities, soon bringing friends to Christ. He left school to work but soon became convinced that he was to be an evangelist. He took on youth work in a parish church for three years but resigned when criticised for being involved with other churches. Tom then refused to be tied to any one denomination and was happy to work with any church that believed in preaching the gospel.