From Angry Boy to Preacher of Righteousness – The Life Story of Tom Ascol

Tom’s family background was plagued by heartache. Tom’s dad, as a young boy, witnessed his father being shot dead while the two sat together on a wagon. The state then awarded Tom’s father and his two siblings to become indentured servants — slaves, in effect — who were chained in a farmer’s field to pick various crops. The oldest of three, Tom’s dad grew up to be a womanizer who drank heavily, while also teaching Sunday School.

Tom grew up embarrassed by his own father. Embittered that his dad served as deacon in their church, while living a life of moral failure, he harbored an angry distrust for pastors. Despite these struggles, Tom confessed Christ at age 8, due in part to the earnest prayers of his godly mother. Then, at age 16, Tom felt called to the ministry. Still struggling with a dislike for pastors, God slowly softened his heart and, in time, propelled him to not only become pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, Florida, but to launch Founders Ministries.