"Before I was born, the Lord told my mother, I would be His handmaiden", said Mrs. Joan Stewart, referencing Mary's words to the angel Gabriel in Luke 1:38. Mrs. Stewart was born into faith 85 years ago - and into an Italian family in Brooklyn, New York. She received Jesus Christ as her personal Lord and Savior at the age of eight and has been serving the Lord ever since. Her father was a street preacher and she remembers going to Coney Island every weekend during the summer to evangelize with her family. "That's where I cut my teeth", said Mrs. Stewart. She explained how a crowd would gather as she began to give her testimony in the middle of it all. Mrs. Stewart recalled how on one particular day, an older man clapped back at her and said, "Young lady, you don't know what you're missing", but she immediately replied, "I know what I'm missing. I'm missing hell!"
When Mrs. Stewart was about 18 years old, her family moved to Long Island. Her heart's desire was to become a missionary and she attended Zion Bible Institute in Rhode Island (now Northpoint Bible College in Massachusetts). After about a year, she transferred to Eastern Bible College (now the University at Valley Forge) in Pennsylvania - and that's where she met the young Jerry Stewart. "He asked me out, two weeks before his graduation", she explained "and it was my birthday!" Soon after, the Stewarts were married and Mrs. Stewart's uncle, the late Rev. Sal Greco (with whom there was only an age difference of four years) officiated at the wedding. Rev. Joan Stewart was ordained with the Assemblies of God (and still is today) and served along-side her husband for over 50 years, preaching, teaching and building up the body of Christ. "We were a team", she said as she explained how the Lord answered her prayer. She believed she had become a missionary to the various people groups and nationalities right here, in the New York metro region.
The Stewarts served at Shirley Assembly of God for 12 years and then at Bethpage Assembly of God for 25 years - and just when they thought they were retiring and turned the church over to their son-in-law, Rev. Sal Bennardo who is married to the Stewart's middle daughter, Darlene, they were called upon to serve as Interim Pastors in 10 churches for the next several years, including Church of the Revelation and Glad Tidings. They were traveling to the Bronx four times a week while they lived in Quogue. Mrs. Stewart said, "I loved it! I would do it all over again. When the Lord calls you, it's in your genes."
The Lord's calling didn't end when the seasons changed. It's been about a year and a half since the Lord called her husband home, but the passion to serve still burns in Mrs. Stewart's heart. She continues to lead Bible studies and she has returned to her street witnessing roots - sharing the good news of the Gospel with shoppers at the Tanger Outlets in Riverhead where she walks three times a week. "The most important thing for women is that they are women of the Word", Mrs. Stewart said. "We know most Christians don't read the Word consistently. Women have to find that secret place that Psalm 91 speaks of. They have to find, individually, the secret place and they have to live there. They have to dwell there. That’s not only for leadership. That’s why so many are floundering. They are fearful. They are not living in the Word. They have not found the secret place. Reading God’s word every day, spending time with God every day – that’s when we are sheltered from everything Psalm 91 tells us about. We must find the secret place with God. We must be faithful to read and meditate on God’s Word. Because it is His Word that will keep us in perfect peace.
Rev. Debra Valentin Spagnoletti
