Donald Means Spiers was born to the family of a Protestant minister in Newton, Massachusetts, USA on May 3rd 1926. From a tender age, he had a love for the things of God, and a desire to serve Him. His little heart rejoiced to hear the Bible stories taught in Sunday school. Donald did not have friends growing up, because of a disability that made it difficult to speak; yet all of his childhood days, he knew the voice of the Lord to be his best Friend.
During this time, the family moved to Ontario, Canada, and then to Cincinnati, Ohio, where Don went on to study and practice architecture. He continued to study the necessary engineering for "earthquake-proof" design. "I loved my profession of designing and building buildings. I thought there was nothing greater in life than to conceive, design and build buildings, and admire my construction."
Donald was getting along very well in life, and was about to make marriage plans, when one day the Word of the Lord came to him - "Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart" (Jer 29:13). He developed a great hunger and thirst to read the Bible, and he began to spend every available moment devouring the Word.
"One day I was standing in front of a building for which I was the architect, and commending myself for the work I had done, when I was suddenly arrested by Jesus' word in Matthew Ch 24 about the building of Herod: " There shall not be left here one stone upon another' The impact of that truth upon my life was profound. It just took from my heart all interest in my profession. I saw how foolish the wisest man in the world was - of all the buildings that Solomon had build nothing is left! I realized I was finished as an architect. I asked the Lord how I can dedicate my life for something that would not pass away - something permanent and lasting. Wonderfully He led me to the last chapters in the Bible where I read about the City of God whose Architect and Builder is God. My heart fell in love with New Jerusalem, and He told me to go and search for living stones to help build that City."
"The Lord clearly showed me from the Scriptures that it was His will for my life that I should never marry. After struggo with the Lord on the matter for some months, He won the battle of my heart; and I promised Him I would implicitly obey Him for the rest of my life. Thereupon the Lord began to work quickly and asked me to leave my house and family." In 1949, Don made the dedication to forsake family, friends and fiancée and moved to California.
It was a Presbyterian minister who prayed with Brother Don to receive the Holy Spirit. "I thank God, when I got saved God took me immediately out of my daddy's church where they never preached about salvation. God took me to a Presbyterian church where the Pastor had his doctorate. He had graduated from a great university and was a very famous man who had written many books. In his old age he had got saved, and he was preaching salvation. When I went to his church, he took me to his room and gave me this verse in Luke 11:13 - " If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?" He said, "Let's ask the Father" We asked the Father, and God gave me the Holy Spirit. How wonderfully God had provided for me!" This same pastor counselled Brother Don against going to Bible School, insisting that God had something better for him.
Then Brother Don was drafted into the army, which sent him to Germany, where he learned about water baptism. "When I got over to Germany, I met a missionary. He had not been baptized; he was also Presbyterian. He said, 'Brother Don, look what I found - water baptism!' I said, 'Wow, I never saw that!' So we both went and got baptized." In the military service, his life drew many to the Lord; he was also involved in evangelistic work which took him to parts of Ireland, England and Israel, over the space of about two years.
When Brother Don returned to the Stated, he was guided to serve in a mission on "Skid Row" - a ministry to drunkards, prostitutes and the homeless in downtown Los Angeles. There, from 1952-55, he saw many of society's outcasts transformed into evangelists and pastors by the power of God and His Word.
In March of 1955, Brother Don was sent to Argentina. He laboured and suffered in unreached areas, and was able to establish many churches there, as well as in Chile and other South American countries. Many young people would follow him in his missionary journeys, and being thus discipled in a life of faith, he went on to serve in churches throughout Argentina and beyond.
About five years later, Brother Don returned to the US, and he went with another group to minister in Mexico. After returning from Mexico, he worked with some evangelists in New York. During both of these outreaches, thousands were led to Christ.
Brother Don then began to feel that, beyond evangelism, he ought to spend time seeking God. The Lord had told him two things - one, he should never get married, and two, that he should live only by faith; and he sincerely started seeking to find an apostolic ministry like that of St. Paul. The call to seek God had revolutionized his life back then, and the same was about to happen again.
In 1961 Brother Don met a brother who had graduated from the New York Theological Seminary. He worked with David Wilkerson and he was a theologian par excellence. "When I gave him my testimony about how God had called me to live by faith, and not to marry, and so on, he got all excited and said, 'You sound just like some people who have come from India. You have to meet them.' I couldn't stay there, but God really worked. He exercised my heart to give myself to prayer and I started looking for a place to really spend some time in prayer. And I called this brother and said 'Have these people from India come again?' - because he had told me they spent their whole time in prayer. He said, 'Yes, they are here. I've joined them now.' So I went there and went to their apartment.
This brother was there with his family and he told me, 'Pastor AC Thomas, an apostle, is here.' I thought, 'Well, let me see what a living apostle looks like,' and I walked into the room. It was cold. They couldn't afford to heat the place - they were poor in those days. Pastor AC Thomas was not used to the cold, and he had a knit cap down over him and was all bundled up and sitting in an easy chair that slopped down to the floor. So all I saw was two little eyes coming out of that bundle. I thought, 'So, that's an apostle!' Anyway I sat on the floor.
Just a few people were gathered and Pastor AC Thomas was talking. He just talked for a while, and as he did, God answered all the questions my soul had been asking. I heard a voice within clearly saying, 'These are words of eternal life.' And when he mentioned Mt. Zion, and the calling to be a eunuch for the kingdom of heaven's sake, oh, it was like somebody had turned the lights on and my mind and heart rejoiced! what a joy, what a rest! Once again I could clearly see God's will for my life, and I was overjoyed to know that a large fellowship of brethren served God according to the apostolic calling. "
Brother Don laboured with our former chief pastor, Pastor Jacob, in the beginning of the work in the West, and went on to open faith homes in Brooklyn, Washington (1971), and Toronto, Canada (1976). After 1980, the work began to spread in the States, and in other countries throughout the Caribbean, Latin America, Africa, and the South Pacific; and the existing churches throughout the Middle East and Europe also flourished under Brother Don's ministry.
"The search for living stones for the City of God has been an exciting and rewarding adventure. And what precious stones God has given - black, white, red and yellow, big and small, old and young! Normally precious stones are formed deep in the earth, and precious pearls are found in the depths of the sea. It is quite exciting to see the precious stones embedded in the heart of the Lord Who created them."
"For the little bit of rubbish I counted as loss and left behind, God has given more than a hundredfold: brothers, sisters, mothers, houses and lands. Even the persecution He spoke of has only given added cause to leap for joy, as the reproaches of Christ give assurance of a richer reward in heaven'
" He Whose strength is made perfect in weakness, has faithfully kept me until this day and had proven His Word to be true a thousand times over. When the call first came, He revealed that the just live by faith, so that it would never be necessary to ask anything from any man but just to look to God alone. He has provided every need exceeding more abundantly. Although I started to minister quite ill-prepared, the Lord faithfully taught me the truths of water baptism, baptism in the Holy Spirit, divine healing, preparation for the Second Coming of Christ, and Zion. He had been a faithful Shepherd for this poor, dumb sheep. Jesus Christ is all in all. To Him be praise, honour and glory for evermore."
Brother Don's ministry taught much, but not nearly as much as his life. Unspoken volumes on his humility were published daily just by his actions and reactions. One experienced the Father's love both from his corrections and his care, often seeing how love can suffer long, and be kind at the same time. He demonstrated what it was to have a continuous conversation with the Lord: he embodied the longing for heaven and the desire to see his Saviour.
On August 19th 2004, the Lord granted him his heart's desire.
During the funeral, the glory of God descended; one could sense the Father's holy presence honouring His servant.
(Extracted from the book 'Pastor Don Spiers: The Man and his Message' published by 'The Pentecostal Mission')
During this time, the family moved to Ontario, Canada, and then to Cincinnati, Ohio, where Don went on to study and practice architecture. He continued to study the necessary engineering for "earthquake-proof" design. "I loved my profession of designing and building buildings. I thought there was nothing greater in life than to conceive, design and build buildings, and admire my construction."
Donald was getting along very well in life, and was about to make marriage plans, when one day the Word of the Lord came to him - "Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart" (Jer 29:13). He developed a great hunger and thirst to read the Bible, and he began to spend every available moment devouring the Word.
"One day I was standing in front of a building for which I was the architect, and commending myself for the work I had done, when I was suddenly arrested by Jesus' word in Matthew Ch 24 about the building of Herod: " There shall not be left here one stone upon another' The impact of that truth upon my life was profound. It just took from my heart all interest in my profession. I saw how foolish the wisest man in the world was - of all the buildings that Solomon had build nothing is left! I realized I was finished as an architect. I asked the Lord how I can dedicate my life for something that would not pass away - something permanent and lasting. Wonderfully He led me to the last chapters in the Bible where I read about the City of God whose Architect and Builder is God. My heart fell in love with New Jerusalem, and He told me to go and search for living stones to help build that City."
"The Lord clearly showed me from the Scriptures that it was His will for my life that I should never marry. After struggo with the Lord on the matter for some months, He won the battle of my heart; and I promised Him I would implicitly obey Him for the rest of my life. Thereupon the Lord began to work quickly and asked me to leave my house and family." In 1949, Don made the dedication to forsake family, friends and fiancée and moved to California.
It was a Presbyterian minister who prayed with Brother Don to receive the Holy Spirit. "I thank God, when I got saved God took me immediately out of my daddy's church where they never preached about salvation. God took me to a Presbyterian church where the Pastor had his doctorate. He had graduated from a great university and was a very famous man who had written many books. In his old age he had got saved, and he was preaching salvation. When I went to his church, he took me to his room and gave me this verse in Luke 11:13 - " If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?" He said, "Let's ask the Father" We asked the Father, and God gave me the Holy Spirit. How wonderfully God had provided for me!" This same pastor counselled Brother Don against going to Bible School, insisting that God had something better for him.
Then Brother Don was drafted into the army, which sent him to Germany, where he learned about water baptism. "When I got over to Germany, I met a missionary. He had not been baptized; he was also Presbyterian. He said, 'Brother Don, look what I found - water baptism!' I said, 'Wow, I never saw that!' So we both went and got baptized." In the military service, his life drew many to the Lord; he was also involved in evangelistic work which took him to parts of Ireland, England and Israel, over the space of about two years.
When Brother Don returned to the Stated, he was guided to serve in a mission on "Skid Row" - a ministry to drunkards, prostitutes and the homeless in downtown Los Angeles. There, from 1952-55, he saw many of society's outcasts transformed into evangelists and pastors by the power of God and His Word.
In March of 1955, Brother Don was sent to Argentina. He laboured and suffered in unreached areas, and was able to establish many churches there, as well as in Chile and other South American countries. Many young people would follow him in his missionary journeys, and being thus discipled in a life of faith, he went on to serve in churches throughout Argentina and beyond.
About five years later, Brother Don returned to the US, and he went with another group to minister in Mexico. After returning from Mexico, he worked with some evangelists in New York. During both of these outreaches, thousands were led to Christ.
Brother Don then began to feel that, beyond evangelism, he ought to spend time seeking God. The Lord had told him two things - one, he should never get married, and two, that he should live only by faith; and he sincerely started seeking to find an apostolic ministry like that of St. Paul. The call to seek God had revolutionized his life back then, and the same was about to happen again.
In 1961 Brother Don met a brother who had graduated from the New York Theological Seminary. He worked with David Wilkerson and he was a theologian par excellence. "When I gave him my testimony about how God had called me to live by faith, and not to marry, and so on, he got all excited and said, 'You sound just like some people who have come from India. You have to meet them.' I couldn't stay there, but God really worked. He exercised my heart to give myself to prayer and I started looking for a place to really spend some time in prayer. And I called this brother and said 'Have these people from India come again?' - because he had told me they spent their whole time in prayer. He said, 'Yes, they are here. I've joined them now.' So I went there and went to their apartment.
This brother was there with his family and he told me, 'Pastor AC Thomas, an apostle, is here.' I thought, 'Well, let me see what a living apostle looks like,' and I walked into the room. It was cold. They couldn't afford to heat the place - they were poor in those days. Pastor AC Thomas was not used to the cold, and he had a knit cap down over him and was all bundled up and sitting in an easy chair that slopped down to the floor. So all I saw was two little eyes coming out of that bundle. I thought, 'So, that's an apostle!' Anyway I sat on the floor.
Just a few people were gathered and Pastor AC Thomas was talking. He just talked for a while, and as he did, God answered all the questions my soul had been asking. I heard a voice within clearly saying, 'These are words of eternal life.' And when he mentioned Mt. Zion, and the calling to be a eunuch for the kingdom of heaven's sake, oh, it was like somebody had turned the lights on and my mind and heart rejoiced! what a joy, what a rest! Once again I could clearly see God's will for my life, and I was overjoyed to know that a large fellowship of brethren served God according to the apostolic calling. "
Brother Don laboured with our former chief pastor, Pastor Jacob, in the beginning of the work in the West, and went on to open faith homes in Brooklyn, Washington (1971), and Toronto, Canada (1976). After 1980, the work began to spread in the States, and in other countries throughout the Caribbean, Latin America, Africa, and the South Pacific; and the existing churches throughout the Middle East and Europe also flourished under Brother Don's ministry.
"The search for living stones for the City of God has been an exciting and rewarding adventure. And what precious stones God has given - black, white, red and yellow, big and small, old and young! Normally precious stones are formed deep in the earth, and precious pearls are found in the depths of the sea. It is quite exciting to see the precious stones embedded in the heart of the Lord Who created them."
"For the little bit of rubbish I counted as loss and left behind, God has given more than a hundredfold: brothers, sisters, mothers, houses and lands. Even the persecution He spoke of has only given added cause to leap for joy, as the reproaches of Christ give assurance of a richer reward in heaven'
" He Whose strength is made perfect in weakness, has faithfully kept me until this day and had proven His Word to be true a thousand times over. When the call first came, He revealed that the just live by faith, so that it would never be necessary to ask anything from any man but just to look to God alone. He has provided every need exceeding more abundantly. Although I started to minister quite ill-prepared, the Lord faithfully taught me the truths of water baptism, baptism in the Holy Spirit, divine healing, preparation for the Second Coming of Christ, and Zion. He had been a faithful Shepherd for this poor, dumb sheep. Jesus Christ is all in all. To Him be praise, honour and glory for evermore."
Brother Don's ministry taught much, but not nearly as much as his life. Unspoken volumes on his humility were published daily just by his actions and reactions. One experienced the Father's love both from his corrections and his care, often seeing how love can suffer long, and be kind at the same time. He demonstrated what it was to have a continuous conversation with the Lord: he embodied the longing for heaven and the desire to see his Saviour.
On August 19th 2004, the Lord granted him his heart's desire.
During the funeral, the glory of God descended; one could sense the Father's holy presence honouring His servant.
(Extracted from the book 'Pastor Don Spiers: The Man and his Message' published by 'The Pentecostal Mission')
