Still a God of Miracles

From his six-year-old grandson to his seven-year church councilman, Dave Stewart’s healing was a journey in which God divinely used family and friends to usher in the healing hand of God.

David “Dave” E. Stewart, 63, was visiting the United States for the Assemblies of God General Council at the invitation of former General Superintendent George O. Wood, in 2011. At that time, Stewart and his wife, Lisa, were missionaries in India and were nearing their 16th year of ministry in the country. While in the U.S., Stewart met with Mike Rakes, who was serving as a guest professor for a master’s class at Southeastern University in which he was enrolled.  It was there that Stewart received confirmation that he and his wife were being called back to the U.S. to take on a pastor role. Although he did not know how or when this would happen, Stewart trusted that God would open the doors he needed if it was His will. In 2014, a few years after his conversation with Rakes, Stewart took a senior pastor position in Leominster, Massachusetts at New Life Church.

After five years of serving as lead pastors, Stewart’s world came to a dizzying halt. In May of 2021, Stewart received news that he had a cancerous tumor on his bladder. Upon receiving the news, Stewart went to the sanctuary of his church to cry out to the Lord for healing and to ask the Lord for a word. “God led me to Isaiah 42:1 and Isaiah 41:10 which speak of God upholding us and helping us,” he states. “I was able to hold onto those verses for the next several years and these promises were a source of strength.”

In December of 2022, after having four separate surgeries to remove tumors, Stewart faced a bladder and prostate removal due the recurring tumors. “My bladder could not handle any more surgeries at this point,” he recalls. It was at this stage of his illness that his daughter, Andrea, shared the news of her father’s cancer with her six-year-old son, David. As David went to bed that night, his mother heard him crying and went in to ask what was wrong. David said that he was not sad but that, in fact, he was happy because God had just spoken to him and told him that his grandfather was being healed.

A month later, only days before his pre-surgical biopsy, Samuel Ayree, a deacon on New Life Church’s council, felt impressed in his spirit that he was to call the council of the church to a seven-day period of prayer and fasting. “It was a quickening in my spirit,” he says, “and I knew what God was asking us to do.” Ayree states, “a lot of people pray for others but it is a rare thing that we fast on behalf of one another.” But, obediently, Ayree shared his conviction with the council.

For the next seven days, the leaders of the church fasted together and held daily prayer sessions on Stewart’s behalf. “It was the last day of the fast,” Ayree recalls, “that a woman on the church council shared that she felt God had told her that Pastor Stewart was now healed.”

In keeping with his treatment plan, Stewart returned to the doctor on January 12, 2023 for his pre-op biopsy. When the doctor came to deliver his report, he stated that not only was there no evidence of cancer in his bladder but there were also no longer any residual cancer cells from previous surgeries to be found. Stewart has remained cancer free and doctors remain unable to find any indication that cancerous cells had once been in his body.  

Stewart states, “from my grandson hearing from God to the church council’s obedience in prayer and fasting, my healing is a modern-day miracles that demonstrates God is still a God of miracles.”

Stewart shares his testimony wherever he speaks and is honored to be a vessel for God to use both in ministry and in testimony. “I feel like one of the ten lepers that Jesus healed outside the city gates. I want to share my testimony so that I can give him all the praise and glory for what He has done for me,” he says.