Thirty-seven years ago I was born two and a half months premature on October 23rd in West Palm Beach, Florida. With a hole in my heart and an array of problems that accompany premature birth I was given only a 15% chance of survival. In addition the doctors told my parents that even if I did live I would be blind, profoundly deaf, mentally retarded, and stunted in growth. My parents were told to go home and be content with the other two children they had. However, my faith filled parents refused to give up. Instead they contacted pastors, ministers, friend and family who were believers and churches all over the world and asked them all to pray and agree with them for my recovery and healing.
To make a long story short God healed me miraculously! I am 5’9” and a strapping 205 lbs! I graduated both high school and college with honors. I defied the odds by the grace, mercy and hand of God on my life! The only “reminder” I was left with is a slight hearing deficiency in one ear. This “scar” has never been a hindrance to me but rather a reminder of where God brought me from. I believe that one day He will complete the healing to further my testimony of His goodness!
I share this as part of my testimony and ”life story” because I know just as my parents knew, God’s hand has always been on my life. I asked Jesus to be Lord and Savior of my life and forgive me of my sins at the age of five. At the young age of six I preached my first sermon and altar call at a backyard neighborhood church service with several of the neighborhood children in attendance. Even as a child I had a passion for seeing the lost come to Christ.
As a young man in high school I made a firm commitment to accept the call of God on my life to preach the Word of God. My weekends were spent ministering with the street evangelism team from church. After high school graduation I began my first semester at Palm Beach Atlantic College. Because of my passion to share Christ and see people turn from sin to God I started an evangelism team, REAL Evangelism. The team would minister weekly through one on one evangelism, street preaching, and truth filled drama and through meeting needs. Hundreds of people were saved. We also saw miracles and healing take place. These times of ministry were pivotal in my life. Seeing people desperate for forgiveness and making the decision to give their lives to Christ only encouraged my quest to fulfill the call of God on my life. There were people who needed to hear the message of salvation and who would need to be discipled, if He would use me I was available.
In my second year of college my mother passed away unexpectedly. My father was understandably devastated. He pulled me out of college and made preparations to move us to Tennessee. However, in spite of the tragedy that had taken place the fire in me to serve God had not diminished. I knew that my mother desired nothing more than to see me fulfill the call of God on my life. So, I opted to stay in South Florida and took a sabbatical from college. I continued evangelizing, preaching, and was mentored by my Pastor. I served in the local church in whatever capacity needed. I would lead witnessing teams one day and the next I would clean the restrooms. My heart was to serve God in whatever way possible.
In 1991 I was offered a position as Associate Pastor of a church in Central Florida. A year after moving there the Senior Pastor’s daughter, Tara and I were married. She and I had known each other since I was 14 years old. We had always been friends but God had other plans as well. We immediately began serving in ministry together in many different areas. We also had our first child Kaitlyn while we were serving there. We served there for close to three years.
In 1993 Tara and I felt impressed to return to New Harvest Church in South Florida. We joined the ministry staff at New Harvest and served in various areas including assimilation, outreach and evangelism, children’s ministry, youth ministry, pulpit ministry, and worship arts. I went back to college and received a BA degree in Theology from New Covenant International College and also earned a Ministerial Degree from Destiny Bible College.
During our time at New Harvest we also began to minister evangelistically internationally which eventually evolved into planting a church in Oxford, AL. In 2006, Tara And I felt led to join the pastoral team of an Assembly of God church in Chicago, Illinois as Connections and Outreach Pastors.
Blessings!
pastorcraigsloan@gmail.com
pastortarasloan@gmail.com
