THE MIRACLE OF MANNHEIM
Rhein River Baptist Church
1985-2012
“Are you prepared to deal with the constant
turnover of personnel in a military church?” That was the question posed to us when Dottie
and I were praying about going to Germany to serve our U.S. military through a small
church in Bobenheim-Roxheim, Germany. I
confidently said, “Yes”, not having any idea what that question really meant or
how difficult the reality of it would be.
But Dottie and I had perfect peace that God was calling us to serve this
little military church near our U.S. base in the city of Mannheim,
Germany. Rhein River Baptist Church was
getting ready to close if they did not get a pastor immediately, so we did what
we do not recommend to young missionaries to do today - - we went woefully
under-supported. The little church had
an apartment and with the money we had raised from selling all of our earthly
possessions we had a little cushion to live on for a few months.
On the first Sunday we arrived in August of
1992 there were approximately 20 people in attendance. Because of God’s anointing and hard work, by
the end of our first year the church was averaging over 300. To say we were packed like sardines is an
understatement. Early on we established what
was to be the lifeline of Rhein River Baptist Church: the preaching of the gospel, the emphasis on world-wide
missions, and the constant training of soul-winners, teachers and workers. Those early days were exciting as fired-up
soldiers and families spread out each Saturday over our area bases to knock on
doors and pass out flyers for ‘Operation Saturation’. God rewarded our efforts and we saw a steady
stream of soldiers, their families, and even nationals come to know Christ as
their Savior.
In our third year on the field it
became obvious that we had to have a larger building so we contracted to occupy
an old car garage and showroom in the city of Mannheim, Germany. In the meantime the difficult nature of a
military ministry became a reality - - within ninety days we lost approximately
150 soldiers and their families as an entire brigade was transferred to the
states. Every Sunday night for three
months we had soldiers and their families lined up across the front of the
church as we cried and sang, “We’ll Never Say Goodbye in Glory” and sent them
on their way to a new duty station. We
soon discovered that, NO!!, humanly
speaking, we were not prepared to deal with the turnover of personnel in a
military church. Dottie and I both told
the Lord that we must have His help if this was the way it would be going
forward. And God did help us! We soon were able to see our turnovers, not
as losses, but as another way to send the gospel to the four corners of the
earth through our wonderful military families.
There were some challenges in
losing so many people so quickly; but we proceeded to move to our new building
in Mannheim, Germany. Our new church
building needed much work, but it was in a million dollar location - - a
stone’s throw from our largest military base housing. For over twenty years we continued our
emphasis on preaching, missions, soul-winning, teaching and disciplining. Throughout those twenty plus years, and at
various times, we were blessed to have an outstanding ministry team to help us
serve those amazing soldiers and their families in the Mannheim, Germany
area. God used His servants Larry and
Phyllis Simensen, John and LeeEtta Hornbeck, Chuck and Linda Truitt and Mark
and Julie Lancaster to help us in church planting, teaching, music, the Single’s
Center, military confinement center, discipleship, and Faith Bible
Institute. The church records show that over
1500 decisions were made for Christ during those twenty years. We saw over forty people surrender to full
time Christian service as pastors, missionaries and Christian educators.
John and LeeEtta
Chuck and Linda
Mark and Julie
Larry and Phyllis
The banquet at one of our Missionary Christmas Retreats
God gave us two special
ministries that we never planned for or expected to have when we went to the field.
One was a ministry that God laid on Dottie’s heart, the annual Euro-Wide
Ladies’ Retreat, a ministry to military and missionary wives in Europe. A
sister military church joined hands with us to sponsor this annual retreat and
for over seventeen years, and still today, it was and is greatly used to
strengthen and refresh women. Dottie
continues to hear from ladies today who say how the retreat blessed their
lives. Another unexpected ministry was a
ministry of encouragement to missionaries in Europe. In 1994 God allowed our church to be a help
and encouragement to a missionary family serving in the Republic of
Georgia. They had suffered great
persecution and desperately needed a break.
Our church took them in, loved on them, encouraged them and they
returned to their field refreshed. My
thought was, ‘Why can’t we do this for many missionary families serving in
Europe?’ And so the annual Missionary
Christmas Retreat was born. At our
first retreat we had approximately seventy missionaries who were within easy
driving distance of our church. At the
last retreat before our base closed we had over three hundred missionaries and
their families coming from a dozen different countries, as far away as
Russia. Through the sacrificial giving
of our people we were able to give free lodging and meals to all the
missionaries who came. On several
occasions over the years a missionary couple would tell me that they had been
discouraged to the point of leaving the field, but the retreat and interaction with
other missionaries had encouraged them to go on. God grew our people, and increased their love
for missions and missionaries as they poured their hearts into helping with
these special projects.
Perhaps one of the greatest
‘miracles of Mannheim’ was the mission’s program. For a little military church that rarely
averaged over two hundred members, God chose to allow us to support over 130
missionaries around the world and for the last several years before our base
closed our missionary budget was well over $200,000 a year.
In August of 2012 our base
officially closed and Dottie and I headed back to the states to begin a broader
ministry to our U.S. military through BIMI.
We left a little piece of our hearts at that old car garage and
showroom, but the people whose lives were changed are all over the world
now. Every other year we gather for a
Rhein River Reunion in Pigeon Forge, TN and what a blessed time it is as we
remember Rhein River Baptist Church, THE MIRACLE OF MANNHEIM.
.
Reaching Our Military at Home
by Tom Lancaster
Approximately
1,500,000 Americans now serve in
the U.S. military. Of that number there
are approximately 1,138,000 serving here on U.S. soil at any given time. Some are single, some are married, many have
children. They have unique circumstances
and because of their mobile life they can often fall through the cracks if they
are not purposefully targeted. Here are
some thoughts about reaching this needy segment of our society. .
1.
PRAY FOR THEM. Pray for their
salvation, their safety and their moral.
Pray for their families. Pray for
their leaders. Pray for their
responsibilities.
2.
LOOK FOR THEM. Locate them. Look for men and women in uniform and thank
them for their service and sacrifice. If
time and circumstances permit, introduce yourself. Find out if they are stationed in your city. Find your reserve headquarters and your
National Guard armory. Introduce
yourself and ask if there is anything that you or your church can do to assist
them.
3.
INVITE THEM. Have many ways to
invite the military to your church. Not
only should we be aware of their presence all around us, but we should discover
the places where they congregate and are accessible to the civilian
population. Where do they enter and exit
the base? Is there off base
housing? Talk to a realtor. Have tracts and church invitations targeted
to the military. Target the military on
your website. Advertise in the base
paper. In your ads emphasize your appreciation and commitment to serving our
military. If possible get permission to
place your flyers on the base bulletin boards.
4.
MEET THEM. Try to arrange a
meeting with the highest ranking officer that will grant you an
appointment. This should be a
non-chaplain officer. Pray and ask God
to give you favor. You might take a gift
with you. Protocol may not permit an
officer to receive the gift, but you
could take it anyway. A gift should only
be offered after a conversation so there is no appearance of seeking
favor. Over the years I have presented
several new commanders a very good grade Bible with his name and rank inscribed
on it and a personal handwritten note assuring him of my support and
prayers. Another gift could be a good
book on leadership. At the meeting
invite him (if it is the commander) to your church so you can introduce him to
your congregation. He is the military
base "mayor". In your meeting
assure him of your commitment to keep the base rules and regulations while
ministering to the base community. Ask
if you can pray for him and his responsibilities before you leave.
5.
GO GET THEM. Run a bus
route. If you cannot get on base,
arrange a pick-up location as close to the main gate as possible. Put your phone number, pick up time and
location on your website and all material.
6.
PREPARE FOR THEM. Integrate them
into the church family as quickly as possible.
They will not be with you as long as civilian members. Pay particular attention to the children and
teenagers. They have moved many times
and have had to make new friends each time.
Have a special fellowship for wives and also single soldiers.(More about this in future
articles.) Recognize the deployed
soldiers from the pulpit and also on some type of display in the church.
7.
WIN THEM TO CHRIST. They are one
of the most receptive segments of our
society. They need the Lord. More than they need body armor, they need
Christ. More than they need advanced
weaponry, they need salvation. More than
they need better health care, and they do need that, they need Jesus.
8.
DISCIPLE THEM AND INVOLVE THEM.
They are away from home, family and home church. Get them before the world does. I have heard many, many testimonies from
service personnel who have said they did their most significant growing as a
Christian while they were in the military.
I believe statistics would back me up when I say that the largest
percentage of full time Christian
workers come from the ranks of the U.S. military.
~ More Fruit of Military Missions ~
"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."
Mark 16:15
Serving our U.S. military is so tremendously rewarding! From August, 1992 to August 2012 we served our military stationed in Mannheim, Germany through Rhein River Baptist Church. The rewards in terms of soldiers and members of their families who were saved and impacted during those 20 years are immeasurable. We saw many soldiers surrender to full time Christian service who are now serving as pastors, missionaries and Christian educators. There are BIMI missionaries serving our U.S. military stationed on foreign fields around the world who could give this same testimony. But there is another reward of military missions on foreign fields that is not as widely reported, and that is the opportunity to reach nationals and internationals with the gospel. Our military base at Mannheim, Germany closed in August of 2012, but because we had preached the gospel to every "creature" there are men and women of various nationalities who are serving the Lord today. And we praise the Lord that we were able to leave a strong, international independent Baptist Church when all our military were gone. Here are a few "more fruit of military missions" from Rhein River Baptist Church.
The Stefan Calin family. Stefan, who is Romanian, and two of their children were saved at Rhein River Baptist Church. His German wife, Sandra, was saved before they came to RRBC but she did much of her growing there. They both were right arms to us in ministry. God has called the Calins to take the gospel to Stefan's homeland of Romania. They have already completed their deputation are
on the field.
on the field.
Alex Abraham is a young man from Eritrea who lived and worked in Mannheim. He started attending our church with a friend and was saved and called into full time Christian service at RRBC. In May 2013 he graduated from Crown College.
Marina Francisco Johnson was eleven year girl when her Angolan father and French mother were saved at RRBC. Marina was in Dottie's junior Sunday School class but could not speak English well. Dottie began having private sessions with her to help her with her English and her Sunday School lesson. It was at one of these sessions that she received Christ as her Savior. She graduated from West Coast Baptist College in 2015 and is serving the Lord faithfully . She is married to a young man who attended Bible College with her and they are serving at a great independent Baptist church in California.
Patricia Lentz was a German University student who was invited to RRBC by an American exchange student. She accepted Christ at her second or third visit to our church. She began growing in Christ and never stopped. She is graduated from West Coast Baptist College in 2015 and is now married to a German pastor.
UPDATE: Benedict is now in heaven. Benedict Efionayi is a Nigerian who was saved when he began attending RRBC but was struggling spiritually. Benedict became more and more faithful to Christ over the years.He became the teacher of our African Sunday School class, completed our Bible Institute program and has now gone back to Nigeria to reach his own people. Benedict is on the left.
Michael Nnavick is also a Nigerian who was a Christian when he came to RRBC. Michael began growing in the Lord and became a real student of the Word. Michael completed our Bible Institute program and has returned to Nigeria with a special burden to take the gospel to his people living in remote villages.
THREE REASONS WHY WE MUST REACH THE MILITARY
Is the United States military a legitimate mission field? Does this segment of the world’s population merit special emphasis? Some would say no; after all, they are Americans with all the unique spiritual opportunities that Americans have. In America, the Gospel can even be heard on radio and television. Why do we need to emphasize the American military as a mission field?
1. The Command of Our Lord
“And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15
There are American military “creatures” stationed in over 150 countries of the world. Many of these American military personnel have their families with them at their duty station and this increases the number of Americans living on foreign soil. They are wives, sometimes husbands, teenagers, children and sometimes even parents of the soldiers. They are all souls that the Lord loves and has commanded us to go and reach.
2. The Urgency of the Task
It is urgent because of the open door that could be closed. Most military missionaries have access to the military base, but it is getting more difficult to distribute literature, make visits, openly witness and to generally have access to the base.
It is urgent because of the transient nature of the military. They move often and many times their spiritual needs are not seen soon enough. They can fall through the cracks.
It is urgent because of the dangerous vocation of the military. Military people are dying every week. They are being killed in combat. They are sometimes at risk as a result of dangerous training.
It is urgent because of the tremendous stress that military life puts on the individual soldier and his or her family. A very high divorce rate is a reality in the military as well as a startling number of suicide deaths. Long work hours, long periods of separation, multiple deployments and a generally unsettled life all add to the extreme stress of military life.
3. The Fruit of Military Missions
Souls saved. Military missions is a tremendously fruitful field of souls being saved. Not only do an unusual number of military personnel per capita get saved, but many people in the host country receive the Gospel as a result of the influence of the military and a military church.
Trained workers. Because of the transient nature of military churches on a foreign field there must be consistent training of workers to replace those that will be transferred. Military churches send trained workers to churches all around the world and especially to American independent Baptist churches.
Full-time Christian workers. The U.S. military is perhaps the segment of American society that produces the largest number of full-time Christian workers. As our Christian military personnel are sent to places all over the world, the Gospel is spread all over the world. Many of these places are where the pastor, the missionary, and the civilian church member cannot go. The United States military is a great tool of God for spreading the Gospel.
Yes, the United States military is a true mission field. It certainly falls under the mandate of the Great Commission. The field is white unto harvest and the laborers are few. Will you pray for our military personnel and also pray for more laborers to reach them?
When military people are saved and discipled they make great church members. They are different than the average church member due to the nature of their work:
- They may not be in your church as long as your average civilian members.
- They must be integrated on purpose.
- There is the possibility that they have been trained in a good military church.
Don’t treat them as outsiders. Realize their great need and their great potential for the cause of Christ. Below are some pointers on integrating military families into your church.
1. Realize That Their Families Have Unique Needs
- The children—they have moved many times and need to be embraced quickly by members, teachers, and other children.
- The teenagers—the teenagers have made friends and left them on more than one occasion. The best teenagers in the church must reach out to the military teens.
- The wife—she has many special needs. She needs a good Christian friend. One who will be there when troubling news comes (his unit came under attack—or worse). She needs a weekly opportunity for a mother’s day out. Forming a support group for wives of deployed soldiers would be a great blessing. She needs an accessible, loving pastor’s wife.
She needs to be offered the opportunity to serve in the church. Many times in a well established church every job is filled by an ‘old timer,’ and the military wife is looked upon as temporary. Make a place for her to serve. Be there for her. Keep in touch with her regularly. Someone should know about the car or any repair that needs to be done at the house. The teens could be led to take care of the yard while her husband is deployed.
2. Remember Deployed Soldiers
- Pray for soldiers privately.
- Pray for soldiers publicly. Call their names in church meetings, Sunday school classes, prayer meetings, and the pulpit.
- Correspond with deployed soldiers.
- Send deployed soldiers gift boxes periodically.
- Lead your people or a class to adopt a deployed soldier and his family.
3. Have Special Days to Recognize the Military
Having special days where you emphasize the military will help to keep your people thinking about their needs all the time. Veteran’s Day, Memorial Day, and Independence Day are great times to show appreciation for the military and their families.
- Put special days on your calendar and plan well ahead of time. Announce them regularly and make them special.
- Decorate the church in a patriotic theme.
- Preach and teach on a military theme. The Bible is full of them. Don’t criticize the government or the Commander-in-Chief on these special days. No matter what you may think of our government or our president, our military people do not react well to criticism of their authority.
- Consider having a special guest who has a great testimony and is, or was, in the military.
- Encourage your active duty people to wear their uniforms.
- Have an honor guard post the colors when you pledge to the American flag and sing the national anthem. Your local reserve or National Guard unit can help you.
- Have some military gifts for the children. Your local recruiting station will be glad to help you.
- Two or three weeks ahead of time ask your people to turn in the names, addresses, and phone numbers of any active duty or retired military person or family that they know who lives within driving distance of your church. Send them an invitation stating that you would like to honor them for their service to our country. Follow up with a personal phone call.
- In the service, mention the wars Americans have fought.
- Recognize the active duty military personnel in the service. Ask their families to stand and give them a gift such as a camouflage New Testament.
- Follow up on military guests with a letter of appreciation. Call them and ask for an appointment to talk to them further.
The military people are great people. They are paying a great price for our freedom. Let’s do everything we can to reach them and to show our appreciation for them.
