Birth : 09-02-1885
Home Calling:30-07-1967
Native Place : Redfern
Country : Australia
Place of Vision: Australia
Arthur Malcolm Stace (also known as Mr. Eternity) was born in a slum in Sydney. Being a neglected child, he suffered under the hands of alcoholic parents. He became a petty thief from almost his earliest age, stealing milk and bread and whatever he could just to survive. He had no education and could barely write his name. By his 20s, he had developed a heavy drinking habit, and no matter what he tried, he could not give up drinking. He enlisted himself in the Australian forces during World War I. After around three years he was declared medically unfit and discharged from the army. After returning to Australia, he went to his old habit of drinking.
During this time in 1930, an Evangelical Anglican Church announced free food for those who listened to the preaching. Being hungry, hopeless, and desperate, Stace wandered into one of those meetings. The message of Salvation he heard at the meeting changed his heart. He immediately went out and cried, “Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.” From that day on, for the rest of his life, he was a living testimony to God’s saving power.
Two years later, he attended a meeting where an evangelist was preaching, “where will you spend Eternity?” Immediately, the word ‘ETERNITY’ caught his attention. Though he could hardly spell his own name, he started writing one word, ‘ETERNITY’ on footpaths, doorsteps, railway station entrances, and anywhere else he could think of. His one-word message made people think about their eternal destination. For the next 35 years of his life, Stace would wake up early in the morning and write the word ‘ETERNITY’ at least 50 times a day.
Stace’s unique method of street preaching won many souls for God. Sometimes he was arrested for writing so, yet he didn’t give up. He also used to gather people in the crossroads and shared whatever little he knew about the Word of God. There are still few places in Sydney where the word ‘ETERNITY’ written by him survives, still reminding people of their inevitable eternity.
