Man dedicates life to his ministry
Everyone has a story. Tales We Tell is an occasional series about people in Washington and Greene counties and the events in their lives they are willing to share.
Dan Kraf calls himself a “sit in the back of the church kind of guy,” content to attend weekly services.
Which is why he was surprised that six years ago, at the age of 51, he felt called to the ministry.
“I believe the Lord was calling me into the ministry, which was stunning to me because I never envisioned myself doing this. If someone told me I’d be involved in this, I’d say ‘No way,'” said Kraf, 57, of Canonsburg.
After 32 years of service, Kraf retired from his job at Mayview State Hospital in 2008 to start a ministry, Stirred Not Shaken.
He grew up Catholic but didn’t accept Christ until 1972, when his brother, Ed, returned from Vietnam where he served with the U.S. Navy.
“He looked like Ed and he sounded like Ed, but he was a completely different person. He was zealous for the Lord and filled with faith,” said Kraf. “That’s when my walk with the King began, but it hasn’t been an easy walk. I’ve been up and down and back and forth quite a bit, to my shame.”
At Mayview, Kraf was part of the crisis response team, which intervened in situations where patients’ mental or emotional condition posed a threat to themselves or another person. He also taught crisis response to Mayview employees.
Kraf wasn’t certain he wanted to start a ministry, but his pastor at Calvary Chapel in Pittsburgh, Kevin Mallon, prayed and talked with him about the direction Kraf felt his Lord was leading him.
Mallon encouraged Kraf to pursue his ministry.
So, he launched the Stirred Not Shaken ministry, which focuses on end times, in the living room of his home.
He holds a weekly Wednesday Bible study in a room at Jeffrey’s Drug Store in Canonsburg. About a dozen people attend regularly. Kraf also sends out monthly tapes and CDs of his sermons and messages from Olive Tree Ministries to 60 followers throughout the country and produces an online monthly newsletter he distributes to 25 people.
There is an audience for his ministry.
A 2013 finding from the research firm Barna Group, which focuses on faith issues, said two-fifths of Americans believe we’re at the end times, living out Revelation biblical principles. An estimated 41 percent of respondents in the poll who were at least 18 agreed “the world is currently living in the end times as described by prophesies in the Bible.”
“Through my ministry, I want to wake people up to the day in which we’re living. I think there are several signs that indicate we’re living in latter times. I don’t think my brothers in the Evangelical movement, like Joel Osteen, who is handsome and very upbeat, are really sharing the Gospel. Our culture is so much into self. Somehow, we’ve gotten to the point in ministry where we’re all looking for the positive, building self-esteem, teaching that you can have your best life now and God wants you to have fancy cars and big houses,” said Kraf, who is influenced by ministers including Michael Youssef, Charles Stanley and the late Chuck Smith, founder of the worldwide Calvary Chapel who was once called one of the most influential figures in American Christianity and repeatedly predicted the end of the world.
Much of Kraf’s life now revolves around his faith.
A college and professional football fan (he roots for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Penn State Nittany Lions), Kraf belongs to a Christian fantasy football league. All trade and waiver pick money is placed in a pot that is donated to the Ronald McDonald House of Pittsburgh, which provides free or significantly reduced lodging for families who travel to Pittsburgh to be with their sick children.
Kraf, a former competitive power lifter who qualified for national competition with a 380-pound bench press and ran the Cincinnati marathon in 2008, used to attend all home Steelers games, but he quit going five years ago to attend services at Calvary Chapel.
He’s also a motorcycle enthusiast and rides his Harley Davidson to North Carolina for an annual men’s retreat and Bible study.
The father of two also enjoys spending time with his four grandchildren – a fifth is expected any day.
Kraf knows there are people who don’t agree with his end times ministry, and that’s OK with him. He’s dedicated to his message.
“I’m getting better at this. I’m herky jerky as a speaker, but the Lord’s working with me on that,” said Kraf. There are people who don’t want to hear (his message) and I understand that. Even if you disagree with it, your walk with Jesus should be pure, The Bible is not a candy store for us, where you can pick and choose what you want to believe. We’re all looking for the positive. Jesus died for our sins and wiped away our sins. That’s pretty positive for me.”