Origins and Early Ministry
According to his official biography, Stewart is the youngest of six-children and at age 13, Don had developed a severe bone disease, but after four major surgeries when he was 15 years old "\God miraculously healed him. Currently, he lives in a $2.5 million Paradise Valley, Arizona, home owned by his church, and his family earns hundreds of thousands of dollars from his church. The Arizona Republic reports "His ministry, the Don Stewart Association, operates out of a nondescript warehouse in an industrial park near Interstate 17." Stewart's son, Brendon Stewart conducts his own "Miracle Crusades."
Stewart first worked with Allen, starting with "pounding tent stakes at Allen's revivals to driving a truck to preaching". One of Allen's rising young evangelistic proteges during the early 1960s along with the likes of R. W. Schambach and Leroy Jenkins, Stewart served as evangelist and secretary treasurer of Allen's organization, and "was hit with allegations of embezzlement by Allen's brother-in-law, of pocketing offerings from the revivals" in the wake of Allen's death. When the controversial Allen died from alcohol poisoning as a result of nn alcoholic binge in 1970, Stewart tried to clean up the Allen's room before the police came. After Allen's death, Stewart gained complete possession of Allen's organization, including his Miracle Valley property, and renamed Allen's Miracle Life Fellowship International the Don Stewart Evangelistic Association (and later the Don Stewart Association). On the property from 1979 until 1982, nearly 300 members of a group isolated themselves with Frances Thomas professing what locals said was an "anti-white doctrine." Immigrants from Chicago and Mississippi rioted, which resulted in the death of Therial Davis, a six year old. In 1982, the group had several confrontations with utility workers, neighbors and eventually law enforcement resulting in an October shoot out where two members of the church and a deputy were killed. The land was abandoned within a couple of weeks.
That same year Miracle Valley's main administration building and vast warehouse were set on fire by arson, which resulted in the total destruction of the facilities. The main building was valued at $2 million dollars. Stewart sent multiple donation requests to some people on his 100,000 person mailing list "even though his ministry is not associated with the college and the fire damage was insured." According to the press, one of his letters "gave the impression ... the fire had crippled Stewart's ministry" and another purported to include the buildings ashes with a request for $200 donations. He was "accused by another church of committing arson for an insurance payoff." His own church had issues over Stewart's financing and "questioned Stewart's fundraising techniques" before.
Read more about this topic: Don Stewart (preacher)
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