HUNDREDS of people are expected to attend the funeral of one of the leading lights of the Indian community in Oxford today.

The Rev Masih Dass Gill is due to be laid to rest at the Cowley Road Methodist Church, where he has led a congregation for more than 40 years.

A procession of family vehicles is expected to proceed from Mr Gill’s home in Buckler Road to Cowley Road at about 10.30am.

A special service will be held at 11am at the church to celebrate the life of the founder of Oxford’s Indian Punjabi Christian movement, Hundreds of people from all over the county, country and world are expected to travel to the city to pay their respects.

Mr Gill died on June 9 aged 90 after suffering with a heart condition.

Born in the small village of Heran, in the Punjab area of India in 1922, Mr Gill preached the Christian word even as a child.

But according to son Afzal Gill, his father’s passion for his faith meant he was forced to leave his family home and instead live in a tent outside the village in a bid to keep the rest of his relatives safe.

He said: “At the time Christianity wasn’t popular in India.

“When my father was a young man, around about 14, some of the villagers visited his home and said there would be trouble because of his preaching.

“So he left the village and stayed in a tent in the fields so instead of hassling the family, they would come to him.

“He took on the village.

“But he didn’t give up his faith. He was a tough cookie.”

Mr Gill Jnr said his father, who was in India to witness to the creation of Pakistan, came to Oxfordshire in the 1950s after working in Singapore, Burma and Karachi with the British Army and US Air Force.

He worked at the former US Air Force base at Upper Heyford, near Bicester, and also brought many men from his home country and found work for them at the base.

In 1967, Mr Gill – with the help of Minister Joe Gibbons – set up a weekly church service at the Cowley Road Methodist Church for the Indian Punjabi Congregation.

For more than 40 years he took services for which he refused payment and his work helped lead to many more Indian Punjabi services being set up across the country.

Mr Gill Jnr said his father was only officially ordained about 20 years ago, and instead volunteered his time, only stepping back from preaching two months ago because of ill health.

He added: “My father was a very devout man.

“He was a servant of God who did his godly duties to promote the word of Christ all of his life.

“He dedicated his entire life to helping others and would speak to and help anyone regardless of faith.

“Not only was he our father, but he was also the spiritual father for many people around Oxford and the country.

“We have discovered he changed his name to Masih Dass, which means ‘Christ’s servant’.

“And that is how he will be remembered.”

Mr Gill leaves his wife Shila, five children Afzal, James, Emmanuel, Ruth and Mary, 13 grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

All are welcome to the service.