Thomas Cosmades was born of Greek parentage in Istanbul on April 29, 1924.  He spent twenty-six years of his life in Turkey, also serving in the Turkish army.  He attended Greek school and then Robert College.  For a few years he worked in a commercial wholesale firm in Istanbul. 

In 1949, he had an encounter with Jesus Christ, whom he accepted as his Savior.  This happened as he was translating a message at the Bible House Immanuel Church given by Dr. A. J. Smith, an American archeologist, who was in Turkey leading a group in search of Noah’s ark.  Following Thomas’ conversion, he felt the great urge to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

In 1950, he left for the United States where he attended a few schools, the last being Northern Baptist Seminary, Chicago, in pursuance of his theological training.  In 1955, he married Lila Hansen of Wisconsin, who was a graduate of Taylor University.  In 1956, Thomas and Lila were called to minister in the state of Idaho to three small Baptist churches.  Their two daughters, Deborah and Heather, were born in Idaho.  When he resigned from these churches in 1959, with missionary service in view, he and the family traveled around the U.S. for about a year. 

In April 1960, they sailed from New York to Beirut, Lebanon, to begin their long tenure of missionary service.  For a number of years they lived in Greece, where the girls attended Greek school. Eventually they received a call from Germany to minister to foreign laborers, then called “Gastarbeiter” (guest workers). 

In 1968, they began living in Germany where the girls grew up and eventually were married.  The Cosmades couple, other than ministering to the foreign workers in Germany, were led to get involved in various ministries in the countries behind the Iron Curtain.  This undertaking went on until the downfall of Marxism in Eastern Europe.  The couple retired from missionary service in 1996, but decided to carry on the same work they had been doing, so they continue to live in Germany.   

Thomas wrote meaningful Biblical messages which he sent to people everywhere.  These are also translated and published in the Baptist magazines in Poland and the Czech Republic and from time to time by Light of Life Publications in India. A wonderful development has been the writing of life stories of worthy evangelists and missionaries who were very useful to God in Turkey.  Thomas’ wife, Lila, was a great help to him in his writings.

On September 20, 2010 Tom’s earthly tent was vacated for his transition to heaven, just after he completed the publication of the new edition of the Turkish New Testament.

The Story of the Life and Times of Thomas Cosmades