Daily Topic for July 01, 2010
The Stam family understood this verse very well. They raised their children to follow the Lord. Each child in their family saw His ways lived out in their parents’ daily lives. Their son John went on to give his all to see people in China reached for Christ’s Kingdom. What a delightful legacy!
Pray that families today will take Jesus’ words to heart to the point where they will be willing to let their children go anywhere God sends them.
by AL
John Stam was born in 1907. His parents gave first place in their New Jersey home to the things of God and were strict, but loving with their children. There were fun times too, when the children, who all took music lessons, would perform as a family orchestra.
Though his brothers and sisters became workers at the Star of Hope Mission, founded by his father, young John was independent and decided he would go into business. At 15, however, he experienced a profound conviction of sin under the preaching of a blind evangelist who was conducting services at the mission. Hell became real as never before as he realized that, apart from Christ, he was lost.
John’s conversion changed him intellectually as well as spiritually. He began to study and read Greek. He also began to study human nature, walking the whole length of Manhattan Island, visiting all the neighborhoods, talking to people and learning about their problems. Greatly influenced through these experiences, John quit his job so he could work at the Star of Hope Mission. With his younger brother, Neal, he was out almost every summer evening, witnessing on some street corner. By now he was committed to missionary work at home or abroad, and decided to go to Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, trusting God alone to supply all his needs.
Pray for the Holy Spirit to direct children today in the way they should go.
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