Stanley Tam does not have many of the traits that the world associates with greatness . He ’ s not tall . His voice is rather plain . He grew up on a farm near a tiny town . He didn ’ t graduate from college . But by any measure , Stanley Tam is a great man .
Stanley is a great businessman . As a young man in the 1930s , Stanley took a patented device to recover silver from photographic film and turned it into a highly profitable business with a network of customers all over the United States . Then , he turned that silver recovery company into a plastics business that continues to grow today ( www . usplastic . com ).
Stanley is a great community leader . He has been instrumental in starting radio and television stations and Teens for Christ , which reaches young people on middle school and high school campuses across the Midwest . Stanley has also served on the boards of multiple institutions , including Asbury University .
Stanley Tam has lived a long life . He is 98 years old . And he is in good health . By God ’ s grace , he overcame life-threatening cancer years ago . Stanley drives to work each day to operate his woodworking business . You may wonder why a man who has had business success for more than 70 years needs to operate a business .
As much as Stanley enjoys making things out of walnut and oak , he doesn ’ t run his business to get sawdust on his hands . His woodworking business is on a main road into Stanley ’ s hometown . The sign out front says “ Come in for a free Bible .” Stanley goes to work so he can share the Good News of Jesus with people who don ’ t know Him . Stanley is a great soul winner , always looking for ways to share the love of Christ with lost people . Through personal witness , from behind a lectern , in the open air or sitting on an airplane , Stanley tells people about Jesus and invites them to turn from their sin and put their trust in Him .
Stanley Tam is a great philanthropist . He loves people , and because of that love , his generosity has resulted in tens of millions of dollars being directed through One Mission Society ’ s Every Community for Christ ( ECC ) ministry to lead people to the Savior in more than 60 countries around the world . OMS would not be the dynamic , fruitful ministry it is today without the generosity of Stanley
Tam . His provision enables OMS and our partners to deploy more than
1,000 full-time evangelistic church planters across the globe . Stanley has been honored for all of these activities . But they are not the key to his greatness . The thing that makes Stanley great is that he listens to
God and obeys Him right away . When God says to witness , Stanley does . When
God said , “ Give Me your business ,” Stanley did . ( His book , God Owns My Business , details that obedience .) When God says to pray for your family , your business and the ECC workers around the world , Stanley does , in a very systematic way . Stanley Tam hears from God by reading His Word and listening to the Spirit ’ s voice . Then , he does what God says he should do … without delay . Obeying God right away is the key to Stanley Tam ’ s greatness . Do you want to do great things ? Do you want to be a great man or woman of God ? Follow Stanley ’ s example . Listen to God ’ s voice . Obey God right away .
photo page 18 : Stanley Tam , standing in front of the U . S . Plastic building . photo page 19 : Stanley melts and pours silver into a mold , turning it into a highly profitable business .
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