THE IRONMAN OF HAITI
by Daniel Myers

I want to write to you today about a dear friend of mine and fellow Brother in Christ Jesus, Stanley Stankovich. Stan is a deacon at our local Baptist Church and it has and will continue to be my honor to know and to love him both in and out of Christ. He is everything a faithful God loving, God fearing man should be and I can only aspire to be half the Christian testimony he is on a daily basis. He is a deacon's deacon, ministering to God's people with both love and humility and a heart for those less fortunate than himself. Let me tell you about that testimony if I may. Stan has a heart and love for the people of Haiti like no one I've ever seen and is one of our local missionaries to Haiti. Through the Independent Gospel Missions (IGM), he runs a ministry called the Faith Cometh by Hearing Ministries which encompasses working with and assisting the national pastor, missionaries, and local church through: Short term mission trips, Discipleship, Evangelism, Bible Distribution, Orphan Assistance and sending pre-programmed solar powered radio's which are tuned to a local Haitian Gospel Channel. The closer he has gotten to God and the people of Haiti, the harder the devil has tried to thwart his efforts. After one particular mission trip, his son was stricken with two different viral infections that left him near death, a granddaughter with cervical cancer at the ripe old age of nineteen and his faith never wavered once that God's will would be done and he praised God for His greatness and continued to pray for his Haitian brothers and sisters in Christ including the various local witchdoctors he would run into. He and his wife Shirley have put countless hours and miles on promoting his Faith Cometh by Hearing Ministry in an effort to make people aware of the conditions in Haiti and the plight of the locals so we here in the states could better understand their hardships and what they were up against. Stan never left his second love, his home church and tending to God's people in his capacity of deacon. He welcomes and visits all newcomers to our church, runs a visitation ministry which I'm blessed to be a part of, takes care of his fellow deacons with various ailments by going to their home and helping out with chores that need to be done, and he is our churches supplier of candy to the children who always ask him about Jesus which he's more than happy to discuss with anyone regardless of their age. Recently, Stan against a cardiologist's advice went to Haiti to help distribute radios even though his doctors warned him of impending heart failure the people of Haiti needed him and he went. I was with him when he got back and had to go the hospital for a heart cath .. At the time, everything seemed fine but, as he was helping one of our local deacons who himself was recovering from heart valve surgery; he began to feel not like himself tired out of breath and run down. He would learn that he had to have heart valve replacement and that he would be out of service for several months. I remember him crying when he first heard the news of the Haitian disaster and seeing him solemnly learn of the second quake. His heart poured out for his beloved Haiti but the Ironman of Haiti was temporarily being sidelined, the only thing slowing him down was his own near death experience. Our church sent missionaries over in November of last year to help build benches for the people to sit on during church. The quake damaged the building so severely the pastor was afraid to go inside and recover the new benches. He informed us however that he and his congregation had a place to go and worship as a local witchdoctor and his village donated their worship facilities because they wanted to learn more about this Jesus. They wanted what other of their people had and had come to a man of God to get fed the Word. What this all has taught me and many others of my fellow believers is to never underestimate the power of the Almighty to turn tragic events into witnesses to His glory and that He will always use those who are faithful to Him. I've no doubt that God will heal Stan quickly as He has much more work for him to do and wants him back in Haiti as soon as possible. As a general rule, Stan is a man of quiet stature not wanting to draw attention to himself but have everything focus on Calvary and he has been very successful at this. If you would like to donate to the Haitian Faith Cometh by Hearing radio ministry, you can contact Stan and Shirley at: [email protected]. I'm sure they'll be happy to hear from you, and tell you about their ministry, and tell you about the beautiful people that are Haiti. We live in a pretty comfortable country all things considered. Do you know Jesus? If not, why not? People who wait until the eleventh hour to get saved end up dying at ten thirty don't be one of those people!! Since writing this article, Haiti has 250,000 dead, and instead of holding their annual Madi Gras, The President of Haiti called for 3 days of prayer and fasting. Over one million people showed up at the rally, 3000 proclaimed Christ as their personal Savior and of those saved, 101 were confirmed witchdoctors! God patiently waits on those who seek Him. If you're unsure of your relationship with our Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, contact me. Together, we'll seek guidance from the Father to eliminate those things which are interfering with your walk with God.



Copyright 2010 Dr. Myers is an Independent Christian Minister and a Biblical Counselor with an Honorary Doctorate in Psychology, and a Masters in Divinity with a PhD in Biblical Studies. He is also a motivational speaker and writer and may be reached at; [email protected] All Scriptures taken from the Zondervan 1984 NIV and used with permission. 

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com







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