My Life Story
My history begins in Hamilton, Ontario, 1944, where I was born, the middle of 3 boys,
to a loving set of parents, Ken & Helen Jones. Mom & Dad were wonderful Christians
and both very musical. Being very involved in a solid Biblical church, I knew early
about God’s love and, after an evening at “hobby class” I gave my heart to the Lord
– my key verse was 1 Peter 2:24. The love of God jumped out at me when my father
read the verse this way: “Jesus Himself bore Stewart’s sins in his own body on the
tree, that Stewart might die to sin and live to righteousness.” My nine-year-old heart
was overwhelmed that Jesus would have gone to the cross just for me! (Dec.1, 1953)
Throughout my teens and early twenties I was very involved in ministry in the
church, teaching Sunday School, singing in a trio, and working with the youth. At one
point two friends and I ran a street ministry for the kids on the Hamilton mountain. After
my marriage in 1971, I was blessed with three children, two boys Kevin & Stephen, and
one girl, Katie. After numerous other jobs, I went into teaching in 1972 and taught
everything from grade 2 to 12, focusing in the area of Special Education; retired in 2001
after 29 years.
Throughout my middle years, I went through many difficult struggles, especially
with the death of my older brother Lawrence in a vehicle accident caused by a drunk
driver. Lawry was working on his Doctorate in English at Leicester University in England.
Later I watched as my father fought the cancer battle for 8 years, passing away the
same year that my first marriage came crashing down, 1991. The death of my mother
and a final divorce happened shortly after.
But my God is so faithful and true and sovereign and loving – first He brought a
wonderful Christian lady into my life, Gwen; we were married in 2001 and started
attending Calvary Baptist Church. God then allowed me to be on the Board of the church
as we went through the amazing change to Harvest Bible Chapel; shortly after, in 2004,
I was asked to come on staff and be the director for the Seniors Ministry, which started
as a part-time position and is now full-time. We have grown from an initial group of
about 70 seniors to close to 250 in 2010. Isn’t God awesome?
My favorite verse through all the valleys and mountains of my life has been “Not
that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my
own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own…But one thing I do: forgetting what
lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the
prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” from Philippians 3:12-14. I look forward
to working in the seniors ministry for a few more years and pray for God’s wisdom and
strength to serve Him humble and faithfully. “I can do all things through him who
strengthens me.”
Hope For Harvest
My hope for Harvest is that we would never lose sight of our four pillars – preaching the
Word, lifting high the name of Jesus in worship, believing in the power of prayer and
reaching out to the lost with boldness and compassion. May God give us the grace to
fulfill our purpose with energy and love. May we all pray as David did, “The Lord is my
strength and shield; in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults and with
my song I give thanks to Him.” Ps.28:7