For nigh-on 50 years Ramon Williams has exercised a unique and important ministry in the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, with his catch cry, "Telling others what others are doing for the Lord."
In recent days Ramon Williams was taken ill and hospitalised for a short period of time with high sugar levels. Home now and under the care of his extensive family we pray his continuing recovery.
In 1959 the newly married Ramon and Dorothy arrived as missionaries in Indonesia with Worldwide Evangelical Crusade (WEC). During this time, their first three children were born. After triplets arrived in 1967 they concluded this overseas stint.
Their audio-visual work for WEC grew and became an independent mission, now called 'Worldwide Photos', whose aim was to serve missionaries and Christian organisations; to enable them to better 'show' their work as well as 'tell' of it. This has helped many of them to raise increased interest and support.
Today Ramon Williams' work is recognised as he has established a leading Religious Media Agency throughout the world. His distributions have "Ramon A Williams - Worldwide Photos" with his trade mark email "rlgmedia" (short for Religious Media).
It all functions as a faith financed mission. Only a very few organisations or individuals make a contribution to this service, most ask whether their story may be of interest hoping it will be sent around the world for nothing! His coverage of Cyclone Larey with five radio interviews, the stories and photographs cost him $2000. No one paid a cent.
Ramon Williams' photography is renowned, with pictures of such notables as Billy and Franklin Graham, Princess Diana, Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth II, Malcolm Muggeridge, Mother Theresa, Mary Whitehouse, and many political leaders and musicians.
Ramon is a silent type, he unobtrusively floats during Christian functions, and his subsequent news items are sent to leading daily religious news services around the world. He has won photographic awards and has undertaken many media and photographic assignments overseas.
Ramon Williams has an eye for media high visibility. His service has been invaluable to many missions including my Well-Being Australia ministry such as cricket, AIS athlete respite, country town tours, outreach, art, tourism, young writers and missionary respite.
Ramon's effort has been Herculean, his great joy is to see that whatever he 'distributes' is published somewhere (newspapers, magazines, bulletins, on-line), in order that someone might read of the Lord's work.
Ramon Williams doesn't have public honours and titles after his name, but his achievements will be 'published' in Heaven, where they will be written in 'Capital Letters'. His Christian media colleagues in 1987 quietly and unobtrusively recognised his remarkable contribution with the Australasian Religious Press Association's "Gutenberg Award".
The Lord constantly raises up ordinary people such as Ramon Williams who then engage in extraordinarily miraculous Kingdom endeavours for specific needs within the life of a nation's Christian community.
Ramon Williams reflects this true history of Australian Christendom, and we're able to seriously recognise his work without the gushing of popular media, and that like Nathaniel, we can say, here is a follower of Christ in whom there is no guile.
Dr Mark Tronson is a Baptist minister (retired) who served as the Australian cricket team chaplain for 17 years (2000 ret) and established Life After Cricket in 2001. He was recognised by the Olympic Ministry Medal in 2009 presented by Carl Lewis Olympian of the Century. He has written 24 books, and enjoys writing. He is married to Delma, with four adult children and grand-children.
Mark Tronson's archive of articles can be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/mark-tronson.html