10/07/2026
This month we celebrate a sister who has shown us what it means to be resilient – to trust God through the peaks and valleys of life, to adapt to changing circumstances and to come through every trial victorious on the other side.
Sis. Portia is originally from Venice, California and has called Houston home for more than 46 years. She arrived in Houston at the young age of 19, married, started a family, and began nursing school. Looking back over her life, she gives God the glory, saying:
“There is no way I could have made it from then to now without the Power and Presence of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word. In my youthful days, my prayers were all about asking for my personal needs and reading the Bible when I got a chance. God has matured me and I now choose to do His will”.
Sis. Portia’s first role model was her mother. Her father passed away when she was a toddler and she witnessed the presence of God through the life of her mother who faithfully took her to church on Sundays, during the week and also to revivals.
That influence of a Godly woman continued through her late mother-in-law, Sis. Oras Bell Williams who introduced her to Pleasant Grove. Sis. Oras was an active member of Usher Board #1. Sis. Portia recalls, I started coming to Pleasant Grove at her insistence and have been coming ever since. For years however, to me it was her church. As I kept coming,
bringing my children, and hearing and listening to the Gospel being taught by the late Pastor C.L. Jackson, it became my church as well.”
An articulate and thoughtful speaker, Sis. Portia was often asked by our late Pastor, Dr.C. L. Jackson, to speak on our church programs and to offer impromptu comments on lessons that had been taught.
Among the many valuable lessons, she learned from Pastor C.L. Jackson was the importance of beginning each day with God: Begin your day with
prayer, open your Bible every morning, and ask the Holy Spirit to give you something in God’s Word. He wants you to hear from Him so you can develop a fellowship with Him. Learn to seek Him first so you can know His voice.”
Pastor Jackson also taught that God gives us intellect, emotions and a will – our ability to know, feel and to do. These must be guided by and placed under the authority of the Holy Spirit. Sis. Portia learned that when we refuse to obey God and decide to handle our problems in our own strength, trouble often follows. Yet even then, God does not abandon us. He remains with us, patiently bringing us to the point where we are willing to listen, surrender our will, and allow His will to become our will. She carries that lesson with her today.
Pastor Dr. S.L.J Jackson continues to teach and encourage us. From the lesson “The Ministry of Listening”, Sis. Portia learned that “the power of listening will unlock the Heaven in our life. Ask the Lord to fix our ears to listen, and to hear what God is saying right where we are.”
Sis. Portia was very active at Pleasant Grove. At the request of her Sunday School teachers, Associate Pastor David Vasser Sr. and the late Dea. Joe Brown, she gladly used her professional knowledge and experience to teach the class about physical, mental and spiritual health.
A registered nurse by profession, Sis. Portia was part of the first nursing program at Houston Community College. She earned an Associate Degree in Nursing and began her career at Houston Methodist Hospital where she worked in the Newborn Nursery. While working there, she continued her education at the University Of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, earning her Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing.
Sis. Portia has shown us how to live, persevere and thrive even while facing serious illness. After 10 years of working as a registered nurse, she was forced to retire because of systemic Lupus. Hers is a powerful testimony of the all-sufficiency of God and proof that we can “count it all joy” (James 1:2).
In her own words, “After the diagnosis of Systemic Lupus, I was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension, a condition in which the pressure in the pulmonary artery becomes extremely high, causing fatigue, shortness of breath and placing additional strain on the heart. There was a doctor who performed a heart catheterization on me in 1985 or 1986 and told me with this pressure you will probably need a heart and lung transplant in 10 years. At that time, there was little available treatment.
But God. Sis. Portia testifies: “The Lord has kept me, provided for me and sustained me thus far. More medications have been developed, and I have taken different ones. So far, my pulmonary pressure remains high, but my faith and trust are still in the Lord”. Her testimony also reminds us that faith does not mean refusing wisdom or medical care. God has taught her that seeking medical care is not an indication of a lack of faith.“Because of my faith, I’m going to be willing to let Him work in my life as He sees fit.”
Sis. Portia readily acknowledges that she did not always understand this lesson. She once tried to be her own physician and eventually ended up hospitalized with bilateral pneumonia for a week.
Through these experiences, she has learned to trust God more deeply. “I have learned that sometimes God wants to teach His people through me. Therefore, I keep praying and expect healing, knowing that the Lord is in control of it all.”
Her testimony reaches beyond physical healing. She speaks of the importance of mental and spiritual healing as well: “My greatest healing came when the Lord worked on me mentally and spiritually. He restored my mind, changed my perspective, and gave me greater insight.”
She holds tightly to the promise found in 1 Peter 5:10: “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered awhile, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”
Even while dealing with her illness, Sis. Portia received another assignment from God: raising one of her granddaughters. She admits that she was afraid, I complained to the Lord I was too sick, I was tired, and most of all I was scared to death. I didn’t know anything about raising girls. I am used to boys and football, barber shops, model cars. Where do I get lacy socks and pretty dresses? But God answered her through Esther 4:11-14, reminding her that she had been called “for such a time as this”. She came to understand that this assignment was not preferential treatment of one grandchild over another. It was simply what God had called her to do. And, as she humorously discovered:
‘‘You get on her backside just like you did the boys.” We watched Adanya grow under her care and become a delightful young woman-a beautiful testimony to Sis. Portia’s obedience to God’s assignment.
Sis. Portia is married to Dea. Leon Stots whom she describes as her loving support system through tough times. She is the mother of 3 sons: Chris Bell, Brandon Bell and Ryan Bell and the mother-in-law of Amber. A proud grandmother of 6 grandchildren: Brandon,(Aliyah), Adanya, Christopher, Khalia, Carson and Chason and a proud great-grandmother to Kylen Bell. Through her marriage to Dea. Stots, she has also been blessed with a “bonus” daughter, Necole Stots, a “ bonus” son Anthony Stots, 5 “bonus” grandsons and one “bonus” great-granddaughter.
Sis. Portia has many favorite scripture verses. She says, “My favorite verse is the one the Lord sends at a specific time for a specific purpose”. However, one passage that the Lord continually brings back to heart is Matthew 9:27-30A:
“And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou son of David have mercy on us. And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, believe ye I am able to do this? They answered him, Yea Lord. Then he touched their eyes saying, according to your faith, be it unto you. And their eyes were opened.”
These words beautifully reflect the faith that has carried Sis. Portia through more than four decades in Houston, through marriages and motherhood, education and career, illness and recovery, fear and responsibility, and every peak and valley along the way.
Let’s continue to pray for Sis. Portia Stots, asking God to continue to heal her body, give her peace and joy, strengthen her faith and use her life as a witness to his glory and honor.
