The Rev. James O.A. Luckman, Longtime Missionary In Africa

The Rev. James O.A. Luckman, who once sang Christmas carols to Haile Selassie, then the emperor of Ethiopia, had many adventures in his work as a Baptist missionary.

He worked on Billy Graham crusades, built a hospital for lepers and served international congregations.

He also served as pastor at churches throughout Washington state.

"His greatest desire was to lead people to the place where they knew they'd be when they left this world - with the Lord," said his daughter Evangeline Alexander of West Richland, Benton County. "He also wanted them to enjoy life with the Lord while they were on the Earth."

The Rev. Luckman died Monday, Oct. 26, of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was 90.

Born in Capetown, South Africa, he grew up in a home visited by missionaries on their way to the interior; his father worked for a British steamship line.

"My father grew up in the church and felt the call to the ministry in Africa," said Alexander. "He went out by himself for the first time in 1932, and helped build the first leprosy hospital in East Africa."

The Rev. Luckman became friends with Selassie. He learned Amharic by listening to the people. Selassie once told the Rev. Luckman's daughter, "He speaks like a native."

From 1937 to 1941, during the Italian occupation of Ethiopia, the Rev. Luckman pastored at Beth Eden Baptist Church in Fitchburg, Mass. He returned to Ethiopia in the mid-1940s, then directed

missions and public relations at his alma mater, Gordon College in Wenham, Mass.

He had moved with his mother from South Africa to New England as a boy, after his father died.

The Rev. Luckman worked as a publicist for Billy Graham's Mid-Century Campaign in Boston in 1949, then as secretary-treasurer of the Great New England-Wide Campaign.

He returned to Africa to found mission stations in Ethiopia and Eritrea. He and his wife, Margaret, who died in 1996, also founded Christ Chapel in Addis Ababa.

"The American Embassy arranged for our congregation to sing hymns at the palace," said Alexander. "We were invited to a huge party afterward and my father read the Christmas story in Amharic to the emperor. It became a tradition."

In the 1960s, the Rev. Luckman pastored at Dunlap Baptist Church in Seattle and Preston Baptist Church in East King County. He also served in Puyallup and the Tri-Cities.

"He visited Ethiopia again in the late 1960s but left because of high blood pressure. . . ."

Selassie was imprisoned in 1974 and died a year later.

"The troubles in Ethiopia hurt my father," said Alexander. "He sometimes attended an Ethiopian church in Seattle, and housed Ethiopian visitors. He loved that country."

Other survivors include sons Stewart of Issaquah and David of Puyallup; eight grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Services were held. Donations may go to Baptist General Conference (for Ethiopia), 2002 S. Arlington Heights Road, Arlington Heights, IL 60005; Moody Bible Institute, 820 N. LaSalle St., Chicago, IL 60628; and Sudan Interior Mission, P.O. Box 7900, Charlotte, NC 28241.