Robert Rieweh Cunville, the soft-spoken Indian evangelist who proclaimed the gospel to millions across Africa, Asia and Europe and later served as an associate evangelist with Billy Graham, died Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, at a hospital in Shillong. He was 86.
Over five decades of ministry, Cunville preached to crowds large and small in dozens of countries, yet friends and colleagues say he was known less for his global reach than for his humility, prayerful life and quiet pastoral care.
Chosen personally by Billy Graham to serve with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Cunville traveled widely but avoided prominence, believing the gospel itself — not the preacher — should remain at the center. Christian leaders across India and beyond say his influence continues through the many pastors, evangelists and believers he mentored, trained and encouraged.
Cunville had been in declining health since suffering a heart attack on Dec. 26, 2025, during the Christmas holidays. Despite intensive medical care in Shillong, he died on the morning of Jan. 17.
“He was never drawn to prominence, yet his preaching carried weight because it flowed from a life rooted in prayer and obedience,” said Rev. Vijayesh Lal, general secretary of the Evangelical Fellowship of India.
From Law to the Gospel
Robert Rieweh Cunville was born on March 15, 1939, in Tezpur, Assam, to Dr. R.L. Cunville and Felicia Kharshiing, both Christians of Khasi heritage from Northeast India’s hills. He was born, according to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, to “a highly educated, upper-class family,” and his future was already mapped out: he would study law in England.
But a sermon changed everything. One evening, while listening to a barefoot preacher speaking from the porch of a house, Cunville felt convicted by God. When the invitation was given, he repented and committed his life to Jesus Christ.
“Cunville’s parents were shocked when he announced he was going into ministry, but they supported his decision and commitment to obey God’s calling,” BGEA reported.
The law books were set aside. His call to full-time ministry had come.
He pursued theological studies at Serampore University, completing his Bachelor of Divinity and Master of Theology between 1958 and 1965. The Khasi Jaintia Presbyterian Synod ordained him in 1966. He later earned a master’s degree in missions from Fuller Theological Seminary in California in 1975, with research focusing on the growth of the Presbyterian Church in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills.
After graduation from Serampore, Cunville served as a lecturer at Cherra Theological College in Sohra and as youth secretary of the National Council of Churches for four years.
In 1965, he married Carol Rani, also from Shillong. The couple would have two children. He took a position as pastor of Union Chapel in Calcutta, serving there for four years. In 1998, he formally joined the Laitumkhrah Presbyterian Church in Shillong, maintaining that connection until his death.
Cunville soon began working with the World Council of Churches in youth ministry. Then, while serving as secretary of the North-East India Christian Council, he took on the role of coordinator for Billy Graham’s historic crusade in Kohima, Nagaland, in 1972.
The Billy Graham Connection
The crusade at the Khuochiezie Local Ground in Kohima left a lasting mark on Northeast India and on Cunville himself. The event “marked a significant milestone in the Christian history of Nagaland, bringing renewed faith, unity and revival among believers,” according to the Nagaland Baptist Church Council.
Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, who attended the crusade as a youth, later recalled Cunville’s role. “It sowed seeds of faith, hope, and awakening that continue to bear fruit today,” Rio said.
Five years after that first collaboration, Graham invited Cunville to join his evangelistic team. From 1977 onward, Cunville served as an associate evangelist with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, preaching across countries. Billy Graham wrote in his autobiography, Just As I Am, that Cunville’s “humble spirit and his single-minded commitment to evangelism never cease to inspire me.”
Rev. Dr. Richard Howell, who knew Cunville for more than four decades, said Graham’s choice was deliberate. “Rev. Dr. Robert Cunville was personally chosen by Billy Graham to serve as an associate evangelist,” said Howell, principal of Caleb Theological Institute and former general secretary of the Asia Evangelical Alliance. “God used him widely across the world, and his preaching of the gospel led countless people to Christ.”
Franklin Graham, president of BGEA, said Cunville “was the last surviving evangelist who worked with my father.”
“He was one of the most humble, godly men I’ve ever known,” Franklin Graham said. “He will be greatly missed. He was such an encouragement to me and to our team.”
Unlike some evangelists who adapted their message for different audiences or added personal stories and cultural commentary, Cunville’s preaching remained consistent. He believed the gospel transcended culture and time. At a European Congress on Evangelism in Berlin in May 2025, Cunville told more than 1,000 Christian leaders: “Never forget the blood of Jesus Christ. No matter what sermon you preach, close with the blood.”
David Bruce, director of the Billy Graham Archive and Research Center, said Cunville preached to crowds ranging from 300 to 200,000 in India alone, yet his humility never faltered.
“The most incredible attribute of his life [was] his humbleness, his love for Jesus, and of course his ministry heart,” Bruce said.
Cunville’s ministry extended beyond preaching to large crowds. He was “a passionate teacher, supporting his fellow believers through evangelistic trainings, Bible conferences, and pastoral meetings,” Bruce said.
“He would multiply his ministry by training others. He has left in the wake of all he’s done extraordinary strength for the church.”
A Ministry of Presence
Cunville continued traveling and preaching well into his eighties. As recently as Nov. 30, 2025, when visa delays prevented Franklin Graham from attending “Nagaland United: A Gathering of Faith, Hope and Revival” in Kohima, Cunville stepped in to deliver the gospel message. It would be his final public preaching engagement.
Chief Minister Rio welcomed Cunville warmly that day. “To have you with us again deepens our collective sense of gratitude for God’s grace,” Rio said.
But those who knew Cunville best said his impact wasn’t measured in crowd size or countries visited. It was in the phone calls and the teaching moments.
In 2022, Cunville served as one of the Bible study leaders at the 17th Ordinary Meeting of the Church of North India Synod. The CNI said “his insights, humility, and profound understanding of Scripture enriched our collective reflection and fellowship.”
That same year, Lal of the Evangelical Fellowship of India worked with Cunville to organize a seminar for more than 500 pastors in Delhi. The event was “deeply fruitful and spiritually strengthening,” Lal said. But what he remembered most were the follow-up calls, every few months, just to check in.
“Those calls were never hurried,” Lal said. “They reflected a pastor’s heart and a sincere concern for the wellbeing of others.”
Rev. Dr. S. Duraiswamy, director of partner relations for the Evangelical Church of India, recalled meeting Cunville on several occasions alongside Bishop Ezra Sargunam, who died in 2024. Cunville shared a strong partnership with ECI and enjoyed a deep friendship with Sargunam.
“Though he carried many responsibilities and had a demanding schedule, he always made time for people,” Duraiswamy said.
One moment stood out: In 2024, during a time of devastating loss, Cunville personally came to pray for Bishop Sargunam’s daughter.
“That act revealed the true shepherd’s heart he carried,” Duraiswamy said. “It was in moments like these that I witnessed the greatness of this man of God, not in prominence or position, but in humility, compassion, and faithfulness.”
Rev. J. Edwin John Wesley, general secretary of the Evangelical Church of India, said Cunville “closely worked with our Father Bishop Ezra Sargunam to reach the nation with evangelism on behalf of ECI.”
“He was a true man of God whose sermons reflected not only profound spiritual insight but also the quiet strength he lived by each day,” Wesley said.
Howell noted that even as Cunville traveled the world, he remained devoted to his wife, Carol Rani, who had been ill.
“At home, he showed the same faithfulness in caring for his ailing wife, always ensuring he returned to her as soon as his ministry commitments allowed,” Howell said.
Will Graham, Billy Graham’s grandson, said: “Dr. Cunville was a powerful evangelist, and only God knows how many souls have been saved for eternity through his anointed ministry. Despite his remarkable impact, he did not want accolades, and he always elevated others above himself.”
A Global Witness
Cunville’s commitment to making Scripture accessible led him to leadership roles in the United Bible Societies. He was elected president in 2010 and re-elected in 2016 for another six-year term. In 2023, he was honored as president emeritus. He was the first Asian to hold the UBS presidency. He also served as president of the Bible Society of India.
His standing in the global Christian community was evident in invitations to speak at significant church gatherings. In July 2022, Cunville addressed the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Wales, speaking to dwindling congregations with a message of hope and renewal.
“The church is not just a social gathering, neither is it a religious gathering, it is a divine embassy, where God’s rule in heaven is brought to earth,” Cunville told the Welsh assembly.
He ended his message by quoting Evan Roberts, instrumental in the 1904 revival in Wales: “What we need is a fresh vision of the Cross. And may that mighty, all-embracing love of His be no longer a fitful, wavering influence in our lives, but the ruling passion of our souls.”
The Presbyterian Church of Wales mourned his passing this week, noting “the depth of this relationship” between the churches and calling him “our beloved brother” whose “wise counsel and friendship” they would miss.
When Billy Graham died in 2018, Cunville was chosen to offer prayers at the funeral, a profound honor that reflected his standing among global evangelicals. At the service, held under a massive white tent outside the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, North Carolina, Cunville stood before approximately 2,000 guests, including Christian leaders from 50 countries.
“We know that it was You, You who brought the countless souls to the foot of the cross,” he prayed. “For this is what your servant would say: ‘Oh, God, not me. Not me, but God did it.’”
Those words, friends said, could have been Cunville’s own motto.
Remembered Across India and Beyond
The Mizo people particularly remembered Cunville as the speaker at the 1988 crusade at Government High School Field and as one of the speakers at the Will Graham Crusade at Vaivakawn Field in 2012. At a 2013 Will Graham Celebration in Bidar, India, more than 41,000 people came to hear the gospel. When unforeseen circumstances kept Will Graham from preaching that night, Cunville stepped in to deliver the message.
Lalmalsawma Nghaka, treasurer of Mizoram PCC and former state president of Indian Youth Congress, called him “a committed believer and a spiritual person, a prominent proclaimer of Christ’s death and resurrection, and the message of the cross.”
Allen Brooks, spokesperson for the United Christian Forum of North-East India, described Cunville as “a beacon of faith who illuminated the North-East and beyond, Shillong especially.”
Rt. Rev. P. K. Samantroy, who served as the 13th moderator of the Church of North India, remembered him as “a good senior friend who would often call to enquire about the family.”
“I will miss him very much,” Samantroy said.
The Nagaland Baptist Church Council said Cunville “will be remembered as a humble and devoted man of God, soft-spoken, gracious, prayerful and deeply caring. His life reflected Christ-like humility, gentleness and unwavering commitment to the Gospel.”
The Church of North India, in its official condolence message, said Cunville would “be remembered for his simplicity, integrity, ecumenical spirit, and unwavering faith.”
“His life continues to inspire pastors, evangelists, and believers, especially in Northeast India,” the CNI said.
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma described Cunville as someone whose “sermons reflected not only profound spiritual insight but also the quiet strength he lived by each day.”
“A true shepherd of Christ, Rev. Cunville drew people closer to Him through a life marked by humility and a spirituality deeply rooted in faith,” Sangma said.
Dr. Paul Dhinakaran, chancellor of Karunya University and head of Jesus Calls Ministry, said in a video tribute that Cunville “fought the good fight” and “ran the race without blemish, with a name honored by heaven, honored by the people, and honored by the Church.”
Dhinakaran quoted Proverbs 20:7: “The righteous man walks in his integrity; his children are blessed after him.”
“I pray that all his children in the family, all his spiritual children in the ministry, and all of us, will continue to carry the gospel that he carried until we reach the feet of Jesus,” Dhinakaran said. “I believe that today the crown of righteousness and the crown of joy, the joy that comes from the salvation of souls, has been laid upon him.”
The Evangelical Fellowship of India concluded its tribute with a prayer that captured how Cunville would have wanted to be remembered: “May the Lord whom he loved and proclaimed receive him into eternal rest and may the witness of his life continue to encourage those who labor faithfully in God’s field.”
The Church of North India offered prayers for Cunville’s wife, Carol Rani, and their children, asking “the God of all comfort to grant them strength, peace, and hope in this time of grief.”
Cunville is survived by his wife, Carol Rani, and their two children.
His funeral is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. After a service in his residence at noon, a service will be held at Laitumkhrah Presbyterian Church at 1 p.m., followed by a service at the Christian cemetery.
