Farewell To One Of Jesus' Warriors... R.W. Schambach...

Farewell To One Of Jesus’ Warriors… Reverend R.W. Schambach…

A little over three decades ago, as a boy in St. Kitts, my grandma saw fit to take me to a Christian crusade, held at Warner Park, by the firebrand preacher, R.W. Schambach. I remembered the signature song, “…There is power… wonder working power in the blood of the Lamb,” would play when Reverend Schambach came on the radio before he would delve into the sweet scorching Gospel of Christ Jesus. I thank my grandma then and now for taking me to Schambach’s crusade and after the crusade… standing in line for the man of God to bless me. When Reverend Schambach died in January, of the ripe age of 85, the media did not make a big deal… but knowing my brother, it would have been the way he wanted it. Long before Schambach came to the Caribbean and when other renowned White preachers (Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell) were refusing to accept Blacks in their respective churches and even refusing to bury Blacks in their cemeteries because of racism… Reverend Schambach defied the devilish wisdom then and set up tents in Black enclaves like Newark, New Jersey… leading many to liberty through Christ Jesus.

Reverend Schambach never stopped preaching the power of Jesus’ Blood… though many now disavowed such teachings, ignoring the Bible to their peril. It was through this belief and primacy of the Blood of Christ Jesus why Reverend Schambach had the gift of healing. This is a good place to share a true story about our graduated to Glory Christ's warrior, Reverend Schambach; years ago, in the early eighties, a West Indian by the name of Leighton Smith came to this country because he was suffering from terminal cancer. Pastor Leighton D. Smith said he was in what was supposed to be his death bed when he turned on the portable radio he had and heard the familiar voice of Reverend Schambach, saying, there is a young man who has been told that he is terminally ill with cancer, but the Lord said to tell him that he will be healed. One of the sweet ironies of Christ Jesus is that Pastor Leighton D. Smith funeral was held at my church… two days after Reverend Schambach died - incidentally both men had met and Reverend Leighton D. Smith had shared the miracle done on him and that the Christ worked through Reverend Schambach some thirty years ago.

I have a brother, on my mother side of the family, who was a ‘thug’ by any definition of the word and years ago, my mother told me that when he was a lad… she too took him to see Reverend Schambach, when Reverend Schambach had a crusade on the island of St. Croix… it was where the prayer warrior Schambach predicted that my brother would be a preacher. Now, anyone who knows my brother before his conversion to Christ would have told you no way is this man giving up his ‘thug’ life, but lo and behold, the jokes my brother would make at my expense for being a Christian are no more because he is well on his way to being the preacher Schambach predicted all those years ago - and I know the changes in my brother could not have come without the power of Christ Jesus. In my research, I found that Reverend Schambach’s daughter, Donna, is now officially carrying on the torch of preaching the Gospel of Christ Jesus… and my final homage to my elder brother in Christ Jesus is to quote the Apostle Paul from 2 Timothy 4:7-8^: I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.