“When he first told me, I thought it was some kind of a joke.” Those were the words of Marcus Johnson after he was approached by Jeremiah Stanley, Dean of Students at Trinity Baptist College, and told that someone wanted to give him a house. “My wife and I are very thankful.”

In July, 2012, Jeremiah Stanley received a call from James Mead, 1999 TBC Alumnus and Senior Pastor of New Covenant Church in Knoxville, Iowa, indicating a desire to “gift” a trailer home in Jacksonville to a current student at the college. “When I was in college with a wife and two kids,” Mead said, “I would have been so relieved if I did not have to worry about a house payment. There were so many other things with school, work, and family matters; one less burden would have been great.”

James Mead knows what it means to be on the threshold of devastation and see God’s divine hand of blessing on life. On December 8, 2008, Pastor Mead suffered a massive stroke in his cerebellum and brain stem; surgery was not performed until December 10 – nearly 40 hours after his stroke. His wife and family were told that the situation was very bleak. The neurosurgeon, Dr. John Piper (no relation, but interesting), said that “surgery is an attempt at saving his life. Because of the progressive swelling that he has developed and the anticipation that this is heading downhill fast enough, he will die from the brain stem compression.” He went on to explain to the family that “the stroke may progress and he may be significantly disabled or even die despite doing surgery.” As a result of the stroke, nearly 80% of Mead’s cerebellum had to be removed and he had two major strokes in his brain stem. Mead’s family was told to expect nothing short of one year inpatient rehabilitation and up to two years of outpatient rehabilitation for him to regain any type of normal activity. When he started rehabilitation on December 29, 2008, many were praying for a speedy recovery. No one, however, could have anticipated what happened. On December 31, 2008, after a mere 3 days of therapy, he was released from rehab, and on January 1, 2009 he was sent home from the hospital and was able to enjoy New Year’s Day in his own home. Less than a month later, on January 25, 2009, he was again in the pulpit declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ and sharing his miraculous story of faith and God’s guidance. In 2011, he wrote a book entitled, Living the Life of a Miracle: Finding God’s grace during a deep trial to chronicle his story. In the years since his stroke, he has been active pastoring and using his experience to share God’s truth in stroke rehabilitation centers, brain injury units and churches.

Perhaps because he had been through so much and seen God’s hand of protection, when the final payment was made on his trailer, Mead said that he had one thought. “I just want to be a blessing to a student in college preparing for ministry. This trailer is a gift to Marcus and his family, no strings attached. My only desire is to be a blessing to his family.”

James Mead’s book is available for purchase on Amazon. ISBN for the book, Living the Life of a Miracle, is 978-0-9831961-1-2.