8 Pastors = 8 Heroes Part 4 of 4

In May of 2002 My pastor of 12 years decided to move to the blue grass of Tennessee from the tropical weather in Fort Myers.  His replacement was selected by him and correctly so.

But as he left, another Pastor arrived in Fort Myers, Florida (I still don’t know if they’ve met) from Long Island, New York and though there was and is no doubt that he is God’s man he looks more like a mobster and he’s named like one, Gaspar Anastassi!

I have never met such a single minded individual; he truly believes in the power of God and that unshakable belief has transformed the lives of thousands through Jesus Christ and the centers he has for men recovering from addiction and alcoholism.  I will not tell you his story in the hopes that you visit his Word of Life either in Fort Myers or New York and experience it for yourself.  But, I can tell you what God did for me through him.

On the day after I was diagnosed with cancer; I was depressed and angry wondering why GOD let this happened to me.  After all I never smoked or worked in unhealthy environments and try to avoid any actions associated with cancer.  Earlier I had e mailed Pastor Gaspar Anastassi and told him of my condition knowing that he was in a convention in New York and thinking he would e mail me back by that coming Sunday after he returned.

A few MINUTES later my cell phone rung and the Pastor was calling me.

“Victor I can’t stay on the phone long but I’m calling to tell you that God can heal you” were the first words out of his mouth.

I was floored.  This guy took time out of his schedule to call me asap!

“Make sure that you come to service on Sunday so I can pray with you.”

“Okay” I said and I was in the verge of tears.

That Sunday he prayed for my healing and asked that no one else pray for my healing BUT anyone else could pray thanking God for my healing and he gave me these four instructions 1> Pray everyday 2> Read the Bible everyday 3> Worship everyday and 4> fellowship with this caveat: “I have been in ministry 25 years and this formula has never failed!”

He was right.

During a trip to Israel I told his New York worship leader “I’d go to hell with him and back if he asked me too.”  That still holds true today even though we are separated by distance. 

Of my Pastor and Friend Gaspar Anastass I can only say this: On the day he receives his crown in glory; he’s gong to need help carrying it.

My book Victor Over Cancer is available at http://www.xlibris.com

 

8 Pastors = 8 Heroes part 3.5 of 4

In early 1991 I did the unthinkable -I moved form New York City to Fort Myers, Florida- talk about culture shock. In New York the only time you heard about “grit” was when you talked about dirt; In Fort Myers people ate them. In New York when you drive your hand is always on the horn; In Fort Myers nobody honks the horn and the term “Winter Wonderland” has a totally different meaning!

It was in Fort Myers that I met Pastor Tom Sterbens the Senior Pastor of Covenant Community Ministries. Tom and I had a good relationship in which there was a lot of trust. It was a trust never expressed in personal verbiage but expressed in deeds. He trusted me to teach the children of the church in Sunday School, He trusted me to work with the Youth as Director of The Christ Centered Basketball League, he trusted me to Pastor CCM Espanol, He trusted me to be in the choir, He trusted me to be a performer and actor every Christmas during the CCM Christmas Spectacular and he trusted me to be a percussionist every Sunday Morning behind his keyboard playing (even though he never invited me to play on his albums).

Tom is an exceptional pianist, an inspired composer, a confusing preacher, a man of God. He is currently in Tennessee pastoring a church called Mew Hope and a few years ago became a grandfather.

I wold be remiss if I didn’t mention his wife, Brenda! She and I butted heads a lot but it was almost in a “sibling” kind of way and I dare to say that she enjoyed it! When I remarried in 2001 she told me “I’ll take care of everything.” and she did. It wasn’t until after the honeymoon that my wife and I found out everything that went wrong that day! Statuesque, tall and beautiful I don’t doubt that she would have been a super model if she was not in the ministry. If you happen to be in Tennessee, visit them and tell them “Victor sent me!”

8 Pastors = 8 Heroes Part 2

Growing up in Brooklyn several Pastors (Heroes) influenced me.  Among them were two n particular who happened to be brothers: Reverend “Albert” Cardona and Reverend Jose Anibal Cardona.

Reverend “Albert” Cardona (I put his name in italics because even though I know him for over 40 years I don’t think that’s his real first name) was the most unlikeliest person to become a Pastor.  Professionally he dealt in junk cars and before he became a pastor he seemed to always be swirled in the shady side of the business.  However he was always cleared as far as I can remember.  His business prospered throughout the years and the one thing that you always knew about Albert was this: he worked hard!  When his father retired he assumed the role of Pastor at the independent church Arca Cristiana (Christian Ark) and at this writing he is still pastoring today.  The church has established ministries in the Dominican Republic and Honduras.  But there were 2 instances in which he was led to help me that affected me the most.  First: Shortly after my son was born (Feb 78) I was going through some financial hardship and one particular night I did not even have money for pampers.  I went to church and all I could do was pray and cry.  During my prayer, Albert slipped behind me and put a $20.00 dollar bill in my hand stating that “The Lord told me to give you this.”  God with flesh on.  The second time was when I took it upon myself to beat up one of my fellow musicians (I was a drummer and he a guitar player).  Now beating up a person may not be a big deal (I’ve been on both sides) but if you do it in a house of worship  , before an entire congregation, on the same night that your Pastor has informed you that you are being promoted…well that could get a little complicated. The next day  I was so  depressed.  I had disappointed my pastor (Albert’s father), my church, my band members and had been stripped of all privileges in the church. The next day one man took it upon himself to visit me in my depression: Albert!  I remember that he sat at the edge of my bed (where I was contemplating suicide) and gently told me about God’s forgiving nature and that the guy i beat up deserved what he got saying :You did what a lot of us wanted to do!” All I know is that when he spoke I felt forgiven. Albert is married to Rebecca and has 4 kids (I could be wrong about the kid count) and as of today he still pastors at 1155 Halsey Street in Brooklyn.  Albert stood beside me in January 1990 as I watched my mother being buried.

Revered Jose Anibal Cardona Junior is Albert’s younger brother and I met him in 1970 when my family stared to attend his fathers church at 1055 Dekalb Avenue (Holy Ground).  Joe sang to me while playing his guitar.  We became friends instantly.  I was a drummer so shortly after I started attending we were band brothers at the church.  In 1978 he formed a musical group (Los Trovadores de Dios = God’s Troubadors) ad along with our other band members we toured New York, Massachusetts and Florida.  Joe moved to Florida in 1979 and invited me over when he married and his son was born.  I moved to the same city in 1991.  Joe wrote a play for that Easter and cast me as Satan to rave reviews.  Shortly after Joe and I had a falling out (Through no fault of his own).   I attended another church (Joe was pastoring a small congregation),  and I was under the impression he didn’t care and that the love between us was gone.  Then i was stricken with cancer and he proved that I could not be more wrong.  He prayed for me; had his congregation pray for me; he visited me, comforted me and gave me money on more than one occasion.  His wife, Daisy, was always beside him and supportive (It’s hard not to love her).  Joe and I are still good friends and he is the Pastor of “The Fountain of Living waters on Ballard Street in Fort Myers.

NEXT WEEK: 2 More Pastors (Heroes)

8 Pastors = 8 Heroes Part One of Four

I met Jesus Christ n 1963 however, he usually doesn’t make physical appearances!  He leaves that task to men or women that he refers to in Revelation as “angels”.

In my life my Pastors (hereinafter referred to as Heroes) have had quite an impact on me.  These heroes were not flawless or perfect they were men who answered God’s calling in their lives.  Regular men with regular lives who said “Not my will but your be done.”  I will share with you my first two today and my next six in the next three weeks.

Reverend Louis Ortiz came into my life when he took the position of Pastor at Roca Eterna (Eternal Rock) in the mid 1960’s.  This church was in the very bad neighborhood of Williamsburgh a section of Brooklyn.  Louie was about 5’9″, dark skinned, second generation Hispanic with a wife (Cleo) and two daughters Nilda and Madelyn).  Louie faced physical violence from criminals in the church surroundings (a guy walked into a service with a gun looking for him); damage to his property (one day while he was preaching; his car tires were slashed) and routine verbal abuse.  Yet Louie never ever departed his walk; never lost his kind smile and continued to preach the word.  Louie left us a few years ago after a bout with cancer but the strength of his enduring character lives on!

Reverend Jose Cardona Senior was the most incredible man I have ever met.  I could never do justice in relating in any artistic form all the things I learned from him.  I met him when my family moved from (frying pan) Williamsburgh to (fire) Bedford Stuyvesant around 1970.  At 15 and under the strict guidelines of my parents I was not allowed to travel from the fire back to the frying pan.  My Dad came home one day and advised my Mom tat he had met a man who was sweeping the sidewalk in front of his church and thought she might want to visit and we did.  Thus began a relationship that last until today through my fathers son and the hero’s sons.  Cardona, as we called him, worked a regular job, was fiercely independent with a “my way or highway”  type of demeanor.  The church is called Arca Cristiana and it still exists today at 1155 Halsey Street in Brooklyn.  Brutal honesty, integrity, hard was his staple and what I learned from him.  When he moved from Brooklyn, New York to Fort Myers, Florida I helped him move and drove his car.  We got lost (this was before I-75) and separated from another vehicle that was with us.  The 24 hour ride turned into a nightmare for me and shortly before arriving I was pulled over by a sheriff in the middle of the night for swerving, not turning off my high beams and things like that.  He asked me to step out of the car and I did gingerly because Cardona was asleep.  The sheriff berated me; dressed me down, poked me as he yelled at me.  Then told me to get in my car and leave!  

“You’re not giving me a ticket?”

“LEAVE!”

I got in the car, started and took off down Highway 80 and Cardona slept through the whole thing!

“Victor” (he was awake and rarely addressed me by my first name) “did you just ask that policeman why he didn’t give you a ticket?”

“Yeah!”

A GROAN and a dissertation regarding my stupidity followed and he never even turned around from his sleeping position.

Next Sunday: The two sons (Heroes) of Jose Ccardona