Georgia Pastor Mike Stone's Daughter Sarah, 19, Dies After 12 Weeks in Hospice
The family of the former SBC Executive Committee chairman says Christ was Sarah's hope in life and in death, and a ministry she began with a $25,000 gift will carry on.
See where this is ›BLACKSHEAR, Ga. —
Sarah Ellington Stone, the 19-year-old daughter of Pastor Mike Stone of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Blackshear, Ga., died Tuesday after a long illness and 12 weeks in hospice care, The Christian Index reported. Mike Stone is a former chairman of the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee.
“Christ was her hope in this life,” the family said. “He is now her hope in death.” The family shared the news with words from Job 1:21.
“the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”
Job 1:21, KJV
Sarah was born Sept. 3, 2007, and became a Christian at age 6, according to the report. Mike and Andrea Stone told friends in August that she had entered hospice. Two days before her death her father wrote, “But my Sunshine is a fighter. And God is Sovereign.”
On her 19th birthday, about two months before she died, the family announced the SonShine Foundation, a ministry Sarah started with a personal gift of $25,000.
A memorial worship service is planned for Sunday at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Blackshear, with a video at 2:30 p.m. and the service at 3 p.m., the report said.
“We have a hope that is steadfast and sure, an anchor for the soul, that is the Lord Jesus,” Mike Stone said. The Christian Index story, by Henry Durand, was republished Nov. 6 by Kentucky Today.
