Greg Stier grew up in a violent family, but one day a preacher knocked on his uncle's door …,Greg Stier grew up in a violent family, but one day a preacher knocked on his uncle's door …,,
He’s from the one of the toughest families in the roughest part of town but, as a child huddled under the kitchen sink reading the Bible by torchlight, Greg Stier knew he was different.
“I was a scared little kid growing up in this very dangerous and violent family, and I didn’t fit into it.
“I used to hide under the sink with a Bible and a flashlight and just read,” he told Sorted magazine. “I could barely understand the language, but I knew the answers were there.”
His grandparents, one wholesome influence in his life, were Baptists who taught him to read God’s Word.
It was comfort amid the violence he saw all around. When he was only five, for example, his stepfather pulled up and Greg, sat on the porch, watched as his mum stormed out of their home, baseball bat in fist, and smashed up the car – then gave his stepdad a savage beating.
Such violence was part of life for Greg as he grew up in apartment blocks and trailer parks.
“My family was wild and crazy. I have five uncles. Three of them were competitive bodybuilders, the fourth a bouncer, and the fifth a golden gloves boxer. One had been shot five times. He survived and killed the guy that did it.
“My mum was the only girl, but they were all afraid of her.
“The Denver Mafia nicknamed my uncles ‘The Crazy Brothers’. It’s not good when the Mob thinks your family is dysfunctional.”
All the while, though, his grandparents were praying for the troubled family’s salvation. It worked.
PREACHER
“One day her prayers were answered when Jesus sent a hillbilly preacher nicknamed ‘Yankee’ Arnold into the most dangerous suburbs of Denver to plant a church,” recalls Greg.
The preacher knocked on the caravan door of Greg’s huge, tattooed, “beast of a man” Uncle Jack. He’d gone to tell him about Jesus and, surprisingly, Jack listened.
When he’d finished telling him about Jesus, there was a simple question: “Do you understand everything I’ve been talking about?”
“Hell, yeah,” replied Jack and, within a month, he’d brought 250 bodybuilders, bouncers, gang members and others to the new church.
‘Yankee’ Arnold took Greg and 600 other youngsters under his wing and taught them the art of preaching.
Greg led his mother to Christ when he was aged 15, and realised he’d found his purpose in life.
Eventually, he was part of a full youth congregation, so started showing other churches how to share the gospel with youngsters, calling the places of worship and pitching ideas.
Things changed on 20 April, 1999, when there was a school massacre 15 miles from Greg which left 13 dead and 24 seriously injured.
“Columbine was a real turning point for me and my mission,” Greg told Sorted. “I knew a lot of the kids, my wife was a public-school teacher in the same district and we thought to ourselves, ‘We must focus on the teenagers’.”
So he formed Dare 2 Share, which supports millions of teenagers and young people across the world through training courses, guides and a free curriculum. An app has been created in 16 languages.
“Our mission is for every teen, everywhere, to hear the gospel from a friend.”
Greg’s also an author, writing more than 20 books, and he’s just released his first memoir, Unlikely Fighter. “I’m older, wiser, and I understand my story will resonate with a lot of people. I felt, at 56, it was time I wrote a memoir.”
It’s focus can be distilled into one succinct message.
“The power of the gospel changes everything,” says Greg. “What struck at the root of evil in my family was the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
From New Life Newspaper issue 339
