Tom Stewart reveals how God sustained him through a decade of abuse, a life of adversity & how he forgave his abuser
“I never imagined my own life story was going to be published with its dramatic themes of horrific abuse, chaos and tragedy,” writes Stewart. “I embrace the compassion that my difficult circumstances have given me. I’ve learned how to understand the weary, the weak, and the faint—because I was one of them.”
Boy Scout at Center of Abuse Scandal Tells All, Shares How Faith Pulled Him Through in New Memoir, ‘On Wings like Eagles’
In 2003, Tom Stewart made headlines as he and his brother sued Boy Scouts of America for the sexual abuse they suffered as young boys and adolescents at the hands of their Scoutmaster, revealing a massive, gaping hole in the security measures being taken by the organization to protect their young, innocent members from sexual predators.
In his tell-all memoir, On Wings like Eagles (Redemption Press, September 14, 2021), Stewart reveals never-before-told details of the childhood stolen from him by his abuser, bringing readers along his journey through the physical abuse, its psychological aftermath, cancer, divorce and the loss of a child, revealing how his faith in God led to healing, redemption and forgiveness.
After graduating from high school and escaping the reign of Bruce, his abuser, and his tyrant mother who refused to believe him when he told her of the abuse, Stewart breathed a quick sigh of relief before being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma as a college sophomore. He believed that if God could bring him through the abuse, that he would also bring him through cancer. And after three months of intense treatments, Tom was cancer free.
Not fully dealing with the psychological aftermath of a decade’s worth of sexual abuse until the age of 40, romantic relationships proved tumultuous, including a broken engagement and three divorces, one of which resulted in driving his two sons to addiction. And at the young age of 23, his son Benny died from an accidental drug overdose.
But through all of these obstacles, the one thing that sustains Stewart is his strong faith. He believes his experiences uniquely enable him to help others who are hurting, and he hopes that his landmark court case against Boy Scouts of America will help to protect many vulnerable young lives from future abuse.
“My purpose in life is to be an advocate for how faith in God can sustain us. I want to encourage those experiencing abuse not to allow evil to consume them, but to strive to understand the why, and overcome as victors instead of victims… I’ve learned forgiveness is what releases us and sets us free on the path to healing and freedom.”
About the Author
A native of Western Washington, Thomas Gregory Stewart has enjoyed a thirty-five-year career as a chemical engineer at the Boeing Company, where his work focuses primarily on eliminating carcinogens from the workplace. But his true calling is to advocate for how trusting in God can sustain us through life’s trials. Drawing from his own hardships and healing, Tom’s life mission is to bring hope to the hopeless.