Rev. George Varughese (Shaji Karackal)
Colarado Springs, CO: Rev. Dick Eastman, Global Prayer Pioneer and Former International President of Every Home for Christ, Dies at 81Colorado Springs, Colorado. — Rev. Richard L. “Dick” Eastman, a towering figure in worldwide prayer and evangelism whose leadership helped bring the gospel to more than two billion people across 215 nations, died April 21, 2026, after an extended illness. He was 81.
Born in 1944 and raised in Wisconsin in a Christian family, Eastman attended an Assemblies of God church as a youth. He initially planned to study law but felt a clear call to ministry while at North Central University, where he met his wife, Dee. The couple began their service together as youth pastors in Kenosha, Wisconsin, before moving to Sacramento, California, where their ministry flourished during the Jesus Movement of the early 1970s.
Eastman earned a Ph.D. in Social Psychology and was ordained as an Assemblies of God minister. In the mid-1970s he joined Every Home for Christ (EHC)—an international evangelistic ministry founded in 1946 with the mission of reaching every home on earth with the gospel—as director of prayer mobilization. In 1988 he was named international president, a role he held with distinction for 34 years until stepping down in 2022. He continued serving as president emeritus and chief prayer officer until his death.
Under Eastman’s visionary leadership, Every Home for Christ experienced explosive global growth. The ministry systematically visited homes block by block and village by village, distributing more than two billion gospel messages. More than 250 million people responded to Christ, with follow-up discipleship leading to the establishment of thousands of new churches. Eastman’s emphasis on prayer as the foundation of evangelism led him to create the Change the World School of Prayer (now the Global Prayer School), which trained more than two million believers in 120 nations. He also developed tools such as the World Prayer Map and helped establish The Jericho Center in Colorado Springs as a hub for 24/7 intercession.
A prolific author, Eastman wrote 17 books on prayer and evangelism, including the best-selling classic The Hour That Changes the World. More than three million copies of his works are in print worldwide. He served as chairman of the National Prayer Committee and was invited to the White House by Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush to advise on national prayer initiatives.
Friends and colleagues remembered Eastman as a humble man of deep faith who lived by two core convictions: “Prayer could change anything” and “every person on earth deserved to hear the name of Jesus.” He traveled the globe more than 100 times, always pointing believers back to intimate, worship-saturated prayer as the engine of world evangelism.
He is survived by his wife of more than five decades, Dee Eastman; daughters Dena and Ginger; and nine grandchildren, who were the joy of his life.
Funeral arrangements are being handled by Every Home for Christ International. Memorial contributions may be directed to the ministry’s ongoing global outreach in his honor. A Legacy That Circles the Globe
Dick Eastman’s life was a living testimony that one person’s obedience, rooted in relentless prayer, can ignite movements that touch every nation. As tributes pour in from leaders across denominations and continents, the global church mourns the loss of a mentor while celebrating a servant who has now entered the presence of the Savior he loved and served so faithfully.
