One Story

A new man - God's man

There are few ways a man can be more thoroughly broken than Sheldon Mickelson was.

He suffered deep "father wounds," endlessly seeking validation from his own dad, who'd never been able to give it. His children were distant, some fighting their own battles with drugs and drinking. Under indictment from the FBI, he faced a certain 18-month prison sentence on fraud charges.

And then, something unexpected happened. The judge let him off. Probation, from a judge who never granted probation.

"That was when I really started to see the heart of God," says Sheldon (pictured here with daughter Melinda), who lives in Wellington. "Why would God do that for me? That was when I realized God was someone different than I'd grown up knowing about. I didn't know God had a heart."

Children pleaded for a change

Sheldon and Annette, his wife of 30 years, began family counseling at their children's insistence. "That was a big turning point in understanding that I wasn't the perfect person I thought I was," he says. "Then the counselor told me to start pursuing my kids."

And so he began to accept their invitations, first to worship at Christ Fellowship and later to attend Christian conferences and training.

When he eventually gave his life to Christ, he heard God speak to him: "You haven't given me your hopes, your dreams, your business, your kids, your wife ? you haven't given me anything yet.' I tell you, I don't know what happened. I became a mess. And that was when I realized I hadn't surrendered."

Taking his ministry global

That was when the transformation really took place. The family grew closer than ever. Sheldon and Annette devoted themselves to studying God's Word; it seemed they couldn't get enough.

So Sheldon began to reach out in big ways to spread the Good News. Last year, he traveled to southern Mongolia to help establish a ministry center to equip Mongolian believers to share God's message with their countrymen.

There, Sheldon met a missionary named Jardel, whom God had called from his home in Brazil to serve among the Mongolian people. They have become close, brothers in Christ, and Sheldon has invested heavily in Jardel's future in a land where fewer than 1 percent of the population is Christian.

Think about it: Only God could bring together a South Florida businessman and a Brazilian soccer standout in service to Him ? in Mongolia.

Believers in the marketplace

God now comes first at work, too. "I sense God has called me to marketplace ministry," says Sheldon, who owns S&S National Waste in West Palm Beach. "Our business is a light in the dark construction world. We're looking for an opportunity to lead people to the Lord, looking for an opportunity to build friendships, not just make money."

Except for his youngest daughter, who's still in school, all his children work in the family business. They hold office prayer meetings once a week, and he's witnessed God's blessing on the company: "Since I started seeking the heart of God, business has grown fourfold. It's His, and we're there to serve it and be good stewards of what He has given us.

"Six years ago, my whole view of life was looking good to the rest of the people in the world, looking successful. I had no other mission. Today, it's totally the opposite. I don't care how I look to people today. I just want to be obedient."

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