Abbeville pastor received his call from God to be a preacher at the age of 7

Steve Delino received the calling from God to preach when he was seven years old. He answered it when he was a child but then put God on hold for 20 years.

Today, Delino is the new lead pastor of Harvest Time Tabernacle in Abbeville. Two months ago he replaced the retiring Pastor Robert Wells as the lead pastor.

“It is wonderful,” said Delino about the last two months. “I tell people that I am busier than I have ever been before,  but I am more satisfied than I have been before. I am more happy and satisfied. 

“I am doing [answering] exactly that call from seven years old, which I knew I was called to do.”

Today, at the age of 50, Delino is happy and content with his life. But the road to get where he is today was not always an easy one. While the Lord may have sent him a message when Delino was seven,  Delino ignored it  and went on a different path.

Delino, a 1981 Abbeville High graduate, spent the first five years after high school living the party life by getting involved in heavy drugs and breaking the law. In 1984 he checked into a substance abuse center for drug addiction, which led to him getting trouble with the law. 

“I was living the lifestyle that was extremely devastating,” said Delino. “I spent one night in jail and that is all it took. That was the path I was going on - high risk and loose living.”

He met and married his wife, Sheila Graham, in 1985 and began to climb back after hitting rock bottom a year earlier.

With the help of his wife, Delino finally decided to answer God’s call in 1989. 

“I had what people call a ‘Come to Jesus moment,’ he said. “I realized it was time to quit running from the call.  We had a meeting at the church (Harvest Time) that made me have a reflection moment. A come back to the Lord moment.”

Delino said he submitted himself to God to ministry to others. He began his calling helping in the youth ministry at Harvest Time.   Eventually he worked his way up and began preaching to the youth of the church.  

By age 29 in 1992,  Delino and other young ministers from the church were able to preach 10-minute sermons during the church’s “Golden Nugget Night.”  Delino took advantage of his few minutes behind the pulpit.

A year later, Pastor Wells phoned him asking him to deliver a Sunday morning sermon. That equates to being called up to the Major Leagues from the minor leagues in professional baseball.  He had two weeks to prepare a sermon. 

Delino’s first sermon in front of a packed Sunday morning crowd was one to remember. When the church followers walked in, near the pulpit was a treadmill.  He climbed on the treadmill and began preaching. Over time, the treadmill went faster and faster with him on it. 

He said the sermon was about walking with God. 

Over time Delino began branching out and preached at other churches and to youth camps and conferences.  His preaching took him into Mexico, as well as, many states.

From 2003 to 2006, Delino left Harvest Time to become a full-time itinerant evangelist. He went from church to church, conference to conference, preaching. He created “Delino Ministry International.” Once again, he preached all over the United States.

He was also named the pastor at the Glad Tidings Church in Pecan Island, where he still serves today. While in Pecan Island, he  also spoke a few times at Harvest Time.   Delino said he had dreamed of one day being the lead pastor at Harvest Time when Pastor Wells would retire one day. He kept that an inside secret for years until that door would open. 

 They met in February of 2012 about who would take over as lead pastor. “We met in  the office where  I was  asked if I had ever thought about being lead pastor at the church,” Delino said. “I told him I had thought about it every day for the last five years.”

Today, he is living his dream by being the lead pastor. He has since made a few changes to the church in hopes of growing . 

The church’s central theme is “Because people matter, to come in and get equipped and take what they have learned to the world outside of the church.”