Megachurch pastor Rick Seaward, who is known for helping plant thousands of churches around the world, has died in a car accident in Brazil last Saturday.
The Victory Family Centre Singapore, which was founded by Seaward along with his wife, Diane, in 1977, announced the pastor's passing in a Facebook post on Monday.
"It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our founder, Reverend Doctor Rick Seaward, on 24th March 2018, in a car accident in Brazil," the statement read.
The church said that the 63-year-old pastor arrived in Brazil on Saturday for a missions conference. The accident occurred in the town of Tres Pontas in Minas Gerais state while Seaward was driving to his hotel after the event.
A memorial service will be held at The Star Performing Arts Center in Singapore on April 13, according to The Christian Post.
The evangelist's memorial webpage said that Victory Family Centre, which was known as Calvary Charismatic Centre when it was first established in 1977, had become a "mission-sending force" under Seaward's leadership and it has now planted over 1,000 churches in 90 nations across the globe.
The memorial page also hailed Seaward for his "revolutionary strategies" in planting churches, that would in turn allow more churches to be planted.
Other Christian leaders have expressed their grief after hearing the news of Seaward's death. Bishop Rennis Ponniah of the Anglican Archdiocese of Singapore said in a statement that he has lost a "very dear brother and a faithful fellow pastor."
"Rick Seaward embodied two values that have left an indelible mark on pastors in Singapore: a tireless sharing of the Good News of Jesus Christ with others; and a commitment to promote unity among churches," Ponniah continued.
Dorothy Lim, a longtime member of Victory Family Centre, recounted how Seaward taught her that there is no other way to live for followers of Christ other than a "life of absolute obedience to God."
"He was never shy about teaching the uncompromising truth, no matter how uncomfortable it may make us. Like houses built on the rock, our lives benefited from strong, balanced teaching applicable to daily life," she wrote in a Facebook post.
Pastor Lawrence Khong of Faith Community Baptist Church described Seaward as a "modern-day apostle" and shared how the late pastor's actions led to the Love Timor initiative.
Churches and missions organizations have been united by the initiative to "bless Timor village-by-village in practical ways with no strings attached," said Khong, who serves as the chairman of LoveSingapore, an organization that was also chaired by Seaward from 2002 to 2008.
