"Almost as far back as I can remember, just about every minister who came through our church would declare over me that I had been called into the ministry and that signs, wonders and miracles would occur through my life," says Stephen Strader, Senior Associate at Carpenter's Home Church in Lakeland Florida. "I never rebelled against it, but neither did I have a burning bush experience where I felt that God had called me to be a preacher." At Bible school, he had developed a strong interest in radio then went on to attend seminary at Oral Roberts University and got a job working for the Oral Roberts Television Ministry.

"I ended up working on the Oral Roberts television show. Through that experience, my dad was introduced to Oral Roberts, and they became best friends. Today, my dad is on the Board of Regents at ORU and the Board of trustees for the International Charismatic Bible Ministries."

"I came home in the fall of 1978 to run our TV ministry, I was ordained by the Assemblies of God and became an associate pastor ." In March 1993, Rodney Howard-Browne came to minister at Carpenters Home Church. "Rodney had encouraged people that if they wanted a fresh start, that they should go ahead and be re-baptized. Unbeknownst to me, my wife had signed us up as well. We had both been baptized when we were seven or eight years of age, but really didn't remember it." When he and his wife entered the tank that evening they felt this tingling sensation. "I thought the water pump was shorting out and electrocuting everyone in the water. I was thinking, 'How are we going to stop the service? But I was so drunk in the Holy Spirit, I couldn't talk." The ushers had to carry both of them out of the pool and lay them on the platform. All the while, Strader was trying to get the electricity out of his body. "Then I relaxed and let the power of God wash over me and change me. From that moment on, I knew my life would never be the same again."

Howard-Browne ministered at Carpenter's Home Church until January of 1994, at which time he invited Strader to travel with him for a year. "Rodney just said, 'Why don't you give up television, come with me and see what God does with your life? He would say that God's hand was on me and that I was supposed to be involved in miracles, signs and wonders'". After praying about it with his wife, Strader and his family made the decision to leave everything behind for one year and travel with Howard-Browne. "After seven months, Rodney came up to me and said, 'Okay, it's your turn, you're supposed to start your own ministry."' Strader started getting inquiries from pastors who were interested in knowing what he was going to do when his commitment to Howard-Browne was complete. "I told them this was my last week, and immediately they started extending invitations to come to their church."

"The first revival I had was in Houston, where we stayed for eight weeks. We baptized close to five hundred people in water, and about one thousand were saved. It was phenomenal!. I went from not preaching at all to preaching twelve times a week. Today I have been in ten countries of the world, and although I am now full time with my dad as a senior associate, I still go places every seven or eight weeks and conduct meetings. Revival has totally transformed my life,"

Stephen Strader's ministry is to Ignite, restore, and fan the flames of revival. God uses him in more than just renewal. He operates in an Apostolic mantle that imparts to congregations what ever they need from the Holy Spirit. Signs & Wonders flow in his services. His goal is to enable people to have a POWER ENCOUNTER that they will never doubt or forget.

"One of the biggest mistakes people make when they think of revival is that they focus on the laughter, but the real message of it all is holiness. It's all about returning to your first love and having a true commitment to the Lord, and out of that comes the joy of the Lord. I believe without hesitation the glory of God is going to increase dramatically, and we are going to experience things that we have never seen or heard of before."

"Pastors, it is not too late for revival! Contact me and I would be honored to come to your church or recommend someone who we know is doing the work of an Evangelist & Revivalist that would be better able to assist you.