Pratt, Forrest Dell A. (1895–1978) and Jennie Vieva (Barrows) (1892–1982)

Forrest and Jennie Pratt were among the first Adventist missionaries to enter Thailand. They served also in the Philippines and the United States.

Early Life

Forrest Dell A. Pratt was born on March 3, 1895, in Denham, Maine, to Joseph Henry Pratt and Elizabeth Bemette from Casco, Michigan.¹ Pratt was born in Durham, Androscoggin County, Maine, USA.² Pratt attended Lancaster Junior College (now Atlantic Union College) in Massachusetts and took a literary and theology course.³ He graduated with a ministerial degree in 1925.⁴

Education and Marriage

Pratt married Jennie Vieva Barrows on June 16, 1917 in Lancaster, Worcester County, Massachusetts.⁵ Born on April 11, 1892 in Orleans, Vermont, Jennie Vieva Barrows was the daughter of Willis Elsworth Burrows (1861-1912) and Jenny Marry Summer (1858-1939). Her siblings included Susan, Henry, Jesse,⁶ Victor, and Helen.⁷ She grew up to become a foreign missionary. As a missionary Jennie served as a business manager and treasurer of the West Visayan Academy in 1939. Jennie completed a nursing course in 1916 from Lancaster Junior College. She taught at a church school in Athol, Maine. Forrest and Jennie were blessed with two children named Robert Ellsworth and Ruth Elizabeth, born in the U.S.A. and Thailand, respectively.⁸

Ministry

While attending college Pratt worked as a literature evangelist in Maine.⁹ After graduation, in 1918, Pratt was called to serve in Siam (now Thailand) as director of Siam Mission (now Thailand Mission) from 1919 to 1931.¹⁰ Upon his arrival to Siam (Thailand), Pratt learned speaking communication of Thai and Chinese languages and sought to interest the people in the message. As a result, the first Adventist church in Thailand was established on June 7, 1921.¹¹ In 1932 Pratt was called to serve at the Philippine Union, particularly, serving as director of Central Luzon Mission.¹² Also he served as editor and treasurer of the Philippine Publishing House in 1936¹³ and director of West Visayan Mission in 1938.¹⁴

From 1947 to 1954 he served as Home Missionary and Sabbath School secretary of the Far Eastern Division, which was headquartered and located in Singapore. After serving in the Far East for more than three decades, he was called to serve in the Southwestern Union of the North American Division, particularly serving as a district pastor in Midland, Texas.¹⁵

Later Life

After serving for the Lord’s cause for 40 years, Pratt retired in 1955.¹⁶ Upon his retirement the Pratts were settled in the Florida Living Retirement Center, Florida, and they eventually celebrated their 60^th wedding anniversary after their retirement. Moreover, the Pratts have recalled numerous events of God’s saving acts especially during the World War II in a Japanese prison camp in Santa Tomas, the Philippines. It was on May 10, 1978 that Forrest Dell A. Pratt died at the age of 83 in Maitland, Orange County, Florida. And he was buried in Highland Memory Gardens, Forest City, Seminole County, Florida.¹⁷ Jennie Pratt passed away in Forest City, Florida, November 24, 1982.¹⁸

Legacy

Forrest and Jennie Pratt were one of the first missionaries to enter Thailand. Forrest Pratt was the first director of the Siam Mission.¹⁹ His leadership was instrumental in the organization of the first church in Thailand on June 7, 1921.²⁰ The Pratts were dedicated missionaries and faithful members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. They pioneered the work in reaching out the Hakkas in Korat and the Swatowese in Bangkok.²¹ Their effort to learn the local languages of the people whom they served gained the people’s affection wherever he served.

Sources

“A Correction.” Far Eastern Division Outlook, October 1927.

Armstrong V. T. “The Far Eastern Division.” ARH, August 10, 1944.

“Atlantic Union College.” Atlantic Union Gleaner, June 10, 1931.

Bell, F. G. “At Rest.” Atlantic Union Gleaner, June 12, 1983.

Bradley, W. “The Philippine Union Biennial Session.” Far Eastern Division Outlook, December 1939.

Figuhr, R. R. “The Onward March in the Philippines.” Far Eastern Division Outlook, October 1934.

Howard, M. D. “Welcoming the Pratts.” The Record, July 15, 1955.

“Jennie Vieva Pratt: Obituary.” Southern Tidings, February 1983.

Pratt, Forrest Dell. IDE Information Blank, Southern-Asia Pacific Division Archives, Silang, Cavite, the Philippines.

“Rev Forest Adelbert ‘Dell’ Pratt,” findagrave.com. Accessed May 29, 2022. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/191159223/forest-adelbert-pratt.

Roth, D. A. “Thailand: Challenge to Christianity.” ARH, January 14, 1971.

Spalding, Arthur Whitefield. Origin and History of Seventh-day Adventist: A Revision of the Books Captains of the Host and Christ’s Last Legion. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald, 1962.

Taylor, Clifton L. “Eight Generations of Torch Bearers.” ARH, October 17, 1963.

“The Bookwork.” Atlantic Union Gleaner, August 11, 1915.

Torrey, C. L. “Far Eastward Bound.” Far Eastern Division Outlook, December 1936.

Notes

1. Forrest Dell Pratt, IDE Information Blank, Southern-Asia Pacific Division Archives.↩

2. “Rev Forest Adelbert ‘Dell’ Pratt,” findagrave.com, accessed May 29, 2022, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/191159223/forest-adelbert-pratt.↩

3. F. G. Bell, “At Rest,” Atlantic Union Gleaner, June 12, 1983, 22-23.↩

4. “Atlantic Union College,” Atlantic Union Gleaner, June 10, 1931, 8.↩

5. “Rev Forest Adelbert ‘Dell’ Pratt,” findagrave.com.↩

6. Clifton L. Taylor, “Eight Generations of Torch Bearers,” ARH, October 17, 1963.↩

7. “Jennie Vieva Pratt: Obituary,” Southern Tidings, February 1983, 29.↩

8. Forrest Dell Pratt, IDE Information Blank, Southern-Asia Pacific Division Archives.↩

9. “The Bookwork,” Atlantic Union Gleaner, August 11, 1915, 6.↩

10. Arthur Whitefield Spalding, Origin and History of Seventh-day Adventist: A Revision of the Books Captains of the Host and Christ’s Last Legion (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald, 1962), 173.↩

11. D. A. Roth, “Thailand: Challenge to Christianity.” ARH, January 14, 1971, 6.↩

12. R. R. Figuhr, “The Onward March in the Philippines,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, October 1934, 3.↩

13. C. L. Torrey, “Far Eastward Bound,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, December 1936, 4-5.↩

14. W. Bradley, “The Philippine Union Biennial Session,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, December 1939.↩

15. M. D. Howard, “Welcoming the Pratts,” The Record, July 15, 1955.↩

16. Ibid.↩

17. “Rev Forest Adelbert ‘Dell’ Pratt,” findagrave.com↩

18. “Jennie Vieva Pratt: Obituary.”↩

19. V. T. Armstrong, “The Far Eastern Division,” ARH, August 10, 1944.↩

20. Roth, 6.↩

21. “A Correction,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, October 1927, 4.↩