![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/644\/2021\/06\/stanley-tam-portrait.jpg\")
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So to my delight, I spoke with then-102-year-old Stanley Tam. (And to my further surprise, before posting this blog, we confirmed that Stanley is still living at age 105!)<\/p>\n Here\u2019s his story, with parts of our conversation woven in.<\/p>\n In 1934, as a young door-to-door salesman, Stanley Tam met a farmer\u2019s wife who told him about Jesus. Six weeks later, while in a church, he placed his faith in Christ.<\/p>\n With twenty-five dollars of his own in his pocket, plus twelve dollars from his father, he launched United States Plastic Corporation, in Lima, Ohio.<\/p>\n Stanley told me, \u201cI started the business in 1936, and I soon went broke. I was so discouraged. Then the Lord spoke to me: \u2018Turn it over to me; I\u2019ll make it succeed.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n So Stanley legally made God the company\u2019s majority owner\u201451\u00a0percent of company stock was given to a nonprofit, which in turn gave all the earnings to God\u2019s Kingdom. Stanley believed that God wanted to run the business with Stanley as his employee.<\/p>\n Stanley became familiar with an effective international ministry that he heard was closing due to lack of funds. He contacted them and said, \u201cIf I could trust God to provide $50,000 more per year to give you, would you open the ministry back up?\u201d<\/p>\n They said yes.<\/p>\n In our conversation over the phone, Stanley\u2019s voice grew animated, and he sounded half of his 102 years. He told me, \u201cThat ministry is still going. We\u2019re now in forty-two countries, and we have thousands of people going door-to-door bringing people God\u2019s Word and the plan of salvation.\u201d<\/p>\n I loved that he said \u201cwe.\u201d Where your treasure is, there your heart will also be (Matthew 6:21), and when you give to God\u2019s work, you invest in his Kingdom. You are thinking and acting like someone with vested interests. When we spoke in 2017, more than 140,000 people had professed Christ the previous year through the ministry Stanley supported, and many churches had been planted.<\/p>\n Stanley told me about a meeting in South America in 1955 where he spoke and saw God work powerfully in people\u2019s lives. He explained, \u201cGod spoke to me and said, \u2018Stanley, if a soul is the most precious thing in the world, would you go back to the United States and turn your entire business over to me? And would you use the profits to spread the gospel around the world?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLord, you already have 51\u00a0percent of it,\u201d Stanley replied. \u201cIsn\u2019t that enough?\u201d<\/p>\n Then Stanley sensed God saying to him, \u201cStanley, on the cross, I paid it all for you. Now you\u2019re my disciple. And I want you to do what I ask.\u201d<\/p>\n You might be thinking that since Stanley is an extraordinary man of faith, this all came easily for him. It didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n Stanley said, \u201cYou\u2019ll never know the struggle I went through that night. Finally I said, \u2018All right Lord, you can have it.\u2019\u201d He added, \u201cI just wanted to be obedient.\u201d<\/p>\n Though Stanley\u2019s salary was a mere fraction of that of a typical CEO, he gave substantially out of his income. In fact, he told me, \u201cWhen my salary was $78,000, our personal giving was about $30,000.\u201d<\/p>\n The company now produces more than 30,000 products and serves more than 85,000 customers. Stanley Tam had a wonderful business career in which he brought the world high-quality plastics. But more important, he brought the world what will last forever.<\/p>\n So what did Stanley do when he retired? He opened a small woodworking shop a mile up the street. His sign outside said, \u201cAre you seeking peace in your heart? The answer is in the Bible.\u201d Underneath was this offer: \u201cCome inside for a free Bible.\u201d<\/p>\n Wes Lytle, Stanley\u2019s successor as president of U.S. Plastic Corp., said, \u201cWe\u2019re different than most companies. We\u2019re similar in that we want to make as much money as we possibly can, but the purpose is totally different.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0. What is that purpose? To give away as much money as we possibly can, for the glory of Jesus and the good of others!\u201d1<\/sup>\u00a0U.S. Plastic Corp. has cumulatively contributed more than $150 million to God\u2019s Kingdom.<\/p>\n Is Stanley Tam \u201ccoasting\u201d now that he\u2019s nearing the end of his life? Not even close. At the time we talked, he was praying a few hours in the morning and again in the evening. He told me, \u201cI\u2019ve talked to more than one hundred people about Jesus in this retirement home. And I\u2019ve led twelve to the\u00a0Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n If we truly believe that God owns everything and that we owe him everything for giving us all the goodness we\u2019ve ever known or will ever know, then Stanley Tam\u2019s actions make perfect sense. While the details of our circumstances may vary, the heart behind generosity can be the same. Stanley\u2019s life, and the lives of others like him, should stir us to say, \u201cWhat can I do that would express the same faith in God\u2019s ownership and lordship of all I am and all I own?\u201d<\/p>\n As I heard Stanley speak, I could imagine another voice\u2014a\u00a0louder and stronger voice\u2014saying to him, \u201cWell done, my good and faithful servant.\u201d<\/p>\n If you\u2019re interested in learning more about Stanley\u2019s story, here\u2019s an hour-long\u00a0documentary of his life<\/a>. And here\u2019s\u00a0a 39-minute presentation<\/a>\u00a0that Stanley gave ten years ago. His story is also told in the book\u00a0God Owns My Business<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n For more on giving, see Randy\u2019s books\u00a0Giving Is the Good Life<\/a>,\u00a0The Treasure Principle<\/a><\/em>, and\u00a0Money, Possessions, and Eternity<\/a><\/em>.<\/samp><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When I was writing my book\u00a0Giving Is the Good Life, there were some people of times past I wished I could have interviewed. One of them was Stanley Tam, whom I\u2019d read about years earlier. I couldn\u2019t find Stanley\u2019s date of death online, but considering he was born in 1915, it seemed safe to assume […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2661,"featured_media":4439,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[103],"tags":[3196,4094,4091,18,1764,44,290,53,1006,393,4088],"class_list":["post-4438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christians","tag-business","tag-ceo","tag-generosity-us-plastics","tag-giving","tag-giving-is-the-good-life","tag-god","tag-ministry","tag-missions","tag-obedience","tag-serve","tag-stanley-tam"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Giving](\"https:\/\/cdn11.bigcommerce.com\/s-2s3kbsk\/images\/stencil\/1280x1280\/products\/361\/491\/Giving-Is-the-Good-Life__00000.1555695021.jpg?c=3\")
When I was writing my book\u00a0Giving Is the Good Life<\/em><\/a>, there were some people of times past I wished I could have interviewed. One of them was Stanley Tam, whom I\u2019d read about years earlier. I couldn\u2019t find Stanley\u2019s date of death online, but considering he was born in 1915, it seemed safe to assume he had already died. I contacted a friend who\u2019d known Stanley to find out more about his life. I was shocked by his response: \u201cWant to talk to Stanley on the phone this Saturday?\u201d<\/p>\nGod Was Just Getting Started<\/strong><\/h4>\n
![\"Stanley](\"https:\/\/www.epm.org\/static\/uploads\/images\/blog\/stanley-tam-young.jpg\")
It turned out 51\u00a0percent wasn\u2019t enough!<\/p>\nA Call to Obedience<\/strong><\/h4>\n
![\"Stanley](\"https:\/\/www.epm.org\/static\/uploads\/images\/blog\/stanley-adventures.jpg\")
Stanley\u2019s wife, Juanita, agreed to follow the Lord in this too, and the Tams gave 100\u00a0percent of the company to God, meaning all the profits went to gospel ministry. It was only then that Stanley found the joy in giving over to God what he knew belonged to him. Stanley had a new plant built, four times bigger and facing an interstate, with huge letters installed on the side of the building: \u201cChrist Is the Answer.\u201d<\/p>\nServing God in the Twilight Years<\/strong><\/h4>\n
![\"God](\"https:\/\/www.epm.org\/static\/uploads\/images\/blog\/God-owns-all-book.jpg\")
At the end of our conversation, Tam said, \u201cPeople used to tell me, \u2018Stanley, you\u2019re giving it all away! Why aren\u2019t you keeping it?\u2019 I told them, \u2018I am putting it in the bank account in Heaven.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n