March 2021 Prayer Letter
MARCH 2021 PRAYER LETTER
Dear Friends and Ministry Partners,
Greetings to you in the precious name of Jesus. Dottie and I are reminded so often of Psalm 103:8 – “God is merciful and gracious…….. plenteous in mercy.” I love that His mercy is emphasized twice. We have certainly experienced God’s grace and mercy in the past few weeks.
I have been constantly amazed as we travel, at the churches and pastor’s who are not aware of the field of military missions and have never thought of the need for military missions. Recent statistics reveal that a little under a million and a half Americans are serving in our U.S. military. They are serving in 150 different countries. In addition, 40,000 are serving in unspecified locations throughout the world. Some of these overseas assignments, such as Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, South Korea, Great Britain, are places that families may accompany. This represents tens of thousands of Americans. These are wives, husbands, children and sometimes a dependent parent. The conclusion that we came to years ago is that it was our responsibility to try to get the gospel to these men, women and their families who are sacrificing so much for us,……wherever they are serving. If possible, they need a good church, a caring pastor who preaches the gospel and a supporting church family. Their children need a Sunday School. They need to be trained to carry the gospel wherever they go, even to the battlefield. The Bible mandate is “every creature.” The churches’ responsibility in church planting is wherever there is a need and can be accomplished. That is not limited to the great cities, small towns, or rural communities of America. It is our responsibility to reach these people who have given so much for us. This is my and Dottie’s heart! For over 35 years that has been our mission and pastoring and serving these military families has been our joy. We have a special burden now for raising the awareness of churches and pastors for the need of military missions and trying to recruit men and women who will give their lives for this great task. We thank you for your faithful love and support over the years and ask that you would continue to pray with us about this need.
The rescued military work in Baumholder, Germany is going very well. They have called a good veteran missionary/pastor. I talked to the new missionary, Bro Joe Passaro, last week and he is very excited about all that God is doing there. Thank you for your prayers and please continue to pray that this church will reach its full potential. An urgent need is a missionary on the ground in Daegu, South Korea. Please pray for this great need.
This has been a year of great challenges all over the world. We are so thankful for our military missionaries, as well as our supporting churches, that have faced all the issues pertaining to COVID-19 and have stuck with it. Dottie and I have had to face these same issues - - meetings cancelled, travel restrictions, rescheduling, etc. And then on the 24th of January while beginning a mission’s conference in Nashville, TN it became apparent that I was having some stroke like symptoms - - weakness in my left arm and leg, slightly slurred speak. The pastor arranged to have me driven back to Chattanooga where I immediately went to the ER and the doctors confirmed that it was indeed a mild stroke. I spent three days in the hospital and was released and instructed to stay close to home for several weeks for healing. I have been improving day by day and have very little residual affects of the stroke now. God has indeed been gracious and merciful to us. We cannot thank him enough for his great mercy. It could have been so much worse. I am looking forward to getting back to my normal schedule in a couple of weeks. If Dottie and I can be a help in anyway. mission’s conference, mission’s Sunday, reporting, etc, it would be an honor.
Your servants for Christ,
Tom and Dottie Lancaster
December 2020
Dear Friends,
“O come, let us
worship…….Psalm 95:6
Dottie and I want to wish
all our dear friends a very merry Christmas.
The advent of the Savior sets forth the pattern for all mankind. God wants His creation to worship Him. On that first Christmas the angels worshipped Him, the shepherds worshipped Him, the Magi traveled a
great distance to worship the babe at Bethlehem. He is to be worshipped as we acknowledge who
He is. That babe in the manger was the
Son of God…very God, and very human. He
is to be worshipped through repentance and receiving Him as Savior. He is to be worshipped in serving Him. He is to be worshipped in acts of praise and
adoration, not just at the Christmas season, but we are to worship Him all our
days, with all of our being. O come let us worship Him.
Since our last prayer letter
I have been blessed to preach mission’s conferences and present the field of
military missions in Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Virginia, South
Carolina, Indiana and Georgia. It is an
honor to try to challenge the faith of churches and pastors to do more for the
cause of Christ around the world. We are
constantly amazed at the generous giving of God’s people. A particular church where I have preached annually
for several years, with a huge heart for world evangelization, has exhibited
extraordinary faith over the years. It is a small rural church with a congregation
that averages less than a hundred. This
past year their faith-promise commitments approached $300,000. Not a rich person in the church, just people
who have grown in their faith year after year.
To God be the glory.
We have a great need in
Military Missions at BIMI for more couples who will give themselves to take the
gospel to our U.S. military stationed around the world. An
urgent need we presently have is for a missionary to take a strong military
church in Daegu, S. Korea. The
missionary/pastor who was there had to return to the states and the missionary filling
in will only be there until the middle of January. Please pray that God will provide this urgent
need. The military church in Baumholder,
Germany, that many of you have prayed for and helped support financially for a
period of time, is doing well in spite of Covid-19. Please continue to pray for missionary/
pastor, Joe Passaro and his dear wife as they minister to this military
community.
Dottie and I are so thankful
for our supporting churches, pastors and
friends who have been faithful to us and our ministry to the
military for these many years. God has
been so good to let us continue to serve Him and we know that your prayers and
support have made this possible.
God bless you and merry Christmas
to you and yours.
Tom and
Dottie Lancaster
Missionaries to our U.S. military
Baptist International Missions
September 2020
Dear Friends and Prayer Partners
After many weeks of cancelled meetings, postponed meetings, quarantines, etc. we are beginning to see some meetings opened up again. Our first mission’s conference since March will be with Pastor Bart Spencer and the good folks of Lighthouse Baptist Church in Holland, MI. This is a mission’s minded church and the pastor and people have a particular heart for military missions. We will also be preaching the mission’s conference at Bible Baptist Church in West Point, MS, pastored by Bro. Terry Thrun. This is a small work that Bro. Thrun is trying to revitalize, and that includes building a strong mission’s program. Please pray that God will move in a special way to challenge the faith of these good people to get more involved in supporting worldwide missions
We ask you to please pray for two tremendous opportunities we have to challenge young people to consider missions. I will be speaking in chapel at Hyles-Anderson College on September 11 and afterwards I will have a session with students who are interested in missions, followed by a Q & A. Please pray that God will turn some young heart toward missions. Of course military missions is always on our hearts so we especially pray that some heart will be challenged for the need to get the gospel to our troops. I will also be teaching a nine hour modular course on missions at Tri-State Baptist College, outside of Memphis, TN, October 5-7. A fine man who is now a missionary to our military in Germany was reached through this college when I taught there several years ago. We are asking God to do that again
We praise the Lord for His goodness in protecting us during this pandemic and for so faithfully meeting our needs. We have often felt like fish out of water, but we also have appreciated the extra time to spend in God’s Word, reading, studying, writing, telephoning and, when possible, spending time with our family. God is always good
Thank you for your love prayers and faithful support.
His Servants,
Tom and Dottie Lancaster
Sending Church: Open Bible Baptist Church, 3992 N. Oak St. Valdosta, GA 31605
Sent Through:
Baptist International Missions (BIMI), P.O. Box 9,
March 2020 Prayer Letter
Tom and Dottie Lancaster
January 2020 Prayer Letter
June 2020 Prayer Letter
Dear Friends,
Since our last prayer letter we, like so many other
missionaries, have had our normal schedules interrupted by the Covid-19
pandemic. Dottie and I have spent more
time at home in the last three months than we have in the last three
years. And while it has been good to get
some needed rest and catch up on some projects at home, we are restless to get
busy doing what God has called us to do.
Because we have
had so many restrictions placed on our travel, we have tried to be creative in getting
the gospel out. On the anniversary of my
57th spiritual birthday I recorded a Facebook video of my testimony
in a message called ‘The Best Is Yet to Come’.
It was shared by many friends and we believe God is using it. As restrictions are being relaxed we are
beginning to reschedule mission’s conferences and other meetings. If we can help any of our supporting
churches with mission’s conferences, military appreciation, or patriotic
services we would be honored to do so.
We are happy to report that the military church in
Baumholder, Germany is moving forward after many weeks of live streaming the
services. The church has officially
called Bro. Joe Passaro as their missionary/pastor. The church is averaging about 15-20 a
service. There is such a great need for
a good church in this military community.
A year ago the church had already begun the process of closing because
there was no pastor and all but one family was being transferred to other duty
stations. Several preachers stepped up
and filled the pulpit and many of you helped keep the church open by helping
with the monthly rent of $1200. We had
asked for financial assistance with the rent through August , but with the
affect of Covid-19 the church is going to need further help. We
are asking our supporting churches to please consider helping with this need
beyond the August date. Support can be
sent to BIMI, P.O. Box 9, Harrison, TN 37341 and marked “Baumholder Project’. We will continue to give updates on the
progress of the church.
Please continue to pray for us as we labor to get the
gospel to the world and especially to our U.S. military and their
families. We love you and thank God for
you and your faithful prayers and support.
Tom and Dottie Lancaster
March 2020 Prayer Letter
Dear Friends,
Much
has changed in the world since our last prayer letter. Most of us had never heard of the word
Coronavirus” or ever thought we would be in the midst of a world-wide
pandemic. And yet here we are. Lives
have been altered as travels have been limited, meetings have been cancelled
and precautions and protocols have been put in place to avoid being infected
with the virus. Much has changed in the
world, but praise God, OUR GOD NEVER CHANGES.
He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Hebrews 13:8. Dottie and I have peace in our hearts that
God is in control and we trust Him for the future. However, our hearts are heavy for those who
have lost their lives. How many knew Christ as their Savior? This is an opportunity for us to share Christ
with those who do not know Him and for those who are fearful for the
future.
Like
many missionaries, we have had meetings cancelled as churches and pastors try
to use wisdom and heed the recommendations that those in authority have given
us concerning social distancing. Dottie
and I are in the “elderly” category, so we have tried to use wisdom in making
decisions, while also trusting God for our protection.
In
spite of adjustments in our schedule, we are happy to report to you the
goodness of God in the meetings we have been in. We had
a great missions conference at Temple Baptist Church, Lacey, WA where Pastor
Mike Kinney is the pastor. This is a
tremendously mission minded church under the leadership of our good friend,
Bro. Kinney. Another great conference
was at Parkview Baptist Church in Waco, TX where our long-time friend, Pastor
John Collier has served for over 30 years.
They had an outstanding commitment to world- wide missions. Praise the Lord!
We
are happy to report that Grace Baptist Church in Baumholder, Germany, may have
a pastor soon. They have not issued a
call to the missionary as of this writing, but we will report as soon as the
call is official. Thank you to those who
have given to help rescue this military church.
We are still in need of help with the rent on the building until the
church stabilizes a little more. The
rent is $1200 a month and can be sent to BIMI, P.O. Box 9, Harrison, TN 37341
and marked BAUMHOLDER PROJECT.
We
appreciate your faithful love, prayers and support. May God richly bless you.
Tom and Dottie Lancaster
Sending Church: Open Bible Baptist Church, 3992 N. Oak St.
Valdosta, GA 31605
Sent Through: Baptist International Missions (BIMI), P.O.
Box 9, Harrison, TN 37341
January 2020 Prayer Letter
Dear Friends,
Dottie
and I are very excited about the opportunities that God has planned for us in
2020. A new decade! How exciting!
When we left Germany, almost a decade ago, we had no idea all that God
had in store. We knew we were in God’s
will because our military base closed, and we knew God had a plan. And it has been an exciting plan indeed. What a privilege it has been to help and
encourage military churches and missionaries on foreign fields and to challenge
stateside churches to get involved in getting the gospel to the regions beyond.
I
have made our supporting pastors aware of the need at Grace Baptist Church in
Baumholder, Germany, a military church with a great history of reaching
soldiers for Christ. We were made
aware several months ago that this good church was already in the process of
closing because of families transferring to other duty stations and the lack of
a permanent missionary pastor. After
prayer and counsel, our mission board committed to be responsible for the rent
on the church building and supplying temporary fill-ins until a full-time
missionary was available. God has been
good to provide those needs and the church is moving forward. We have a missionary who is praying about
taking the work, but he is still on deputation. We are thankful for the several
churches that have helped with the rent on the building, but we still have a
need. It is so important that we keep
this work going so that there is a lighthouse in this needy community. This is a U.S. military base that is
continuing to grow and it needs a gospel witness. The rent is $1200 a month and if you could
help with a month’s, or part of a month’s rent, it would be greatly
appreciated. You can send your support
to BIMI at the address on this letter.
Be sure and mark your check “Military/Baumholder.”
One
of the areas that God is using us is in is raising support for missions and
missionaries. We have seen His hand of blessing in mission’s conferences and
special mission’s Sundays. We’ve not
only seen more missionaries sent to the field, but we have seen precious souls
saved in the conferences. If I could
ever be a help in your mission’s conference or special mission’s emphasis, it
would be an honor. Thank you for your
love and prayers and faithful support.
Sincerely in Christ,
Tom and Dottie Lancaster
December 2019 Prayer Letter
Dear Friends and prayer partners,
It has been said that ‘Jesus is the reason for the season.’ Realistically He is the primary reason for
everything: worship, life, service,
thankfulness, devotion and sacrifice. We
have eternal life through Him and He is our reason for living. What a wonderful reminder the Christmas
season is to all the world. Dottie and I
are so blessed to serve our precious Savior.
The past few weeks we have been
privileged to be in mission’s conferences, mission’s Sundays and patriotic
services in churches in Tennessee, Virginia, Missouri, South Carolina,
Mississippi and Georgia. Mission’s
commitments were increased in every conference and more missionaries were taken
on for support. We had two saved in services and two saved in
personal soulwinning. I had the joy of
winning the night manager at the hotel where I was staying to the Lord, as well
as the young server at a restaurant where I was eating.
The military church in Baumholder,
Germany that we have been involved in “rescuing” is still open and moving
forward. We have a fine pastor who is
filling in now, and a couple of other men who will take time from their
ministries to help keep this good church afloat until we can get a permanent
missionary in place. Finances are coming
up, but we are still in need of help with the monthly rent until finances are
more stable. The rent is $1200 per month
and if you should wish to help with this need, funds can be sent to BIMI at
P.O. Box 9, Harrison, TN, 37341. Be sure
it is marked ‘military missions/Baumholder’.
Please continue to pray for this needy work and for God to meet every
need.
Dottie and I want to
thank you for your faithful prayers and support of our
ministry to our military. This year
I will celebrate my 80th birthday.
God has been so good to us, allowing
good to let us serve Him all these
years: over 20 years pastoring in the
states,
20 years as missionaries to our U.S. military
in Germany and now these 7 years
traveling, trying to win souls,
helping military churches, challenging churches to
do more for missions and trying to
get more missionaries to the field.
Merry Christmas dear friends. May the Lord bless you and yours.
Tom and Dottie Lancaster
Dear Friends and Prayer Partners,
God
has been good to us in the past three months as we have safely traveled thousands
of miles and have seen Him bless in the meetings we have been in. I have preached mission’s conferences at
Temple Baptist Church, New Iberia, LA, Lighthouse Baptist in Missoula, MT,
White Oak Baptist in New Haven, CT and Fellowship Baptist in Kronnewetter, WI. Each church saw a significant increase in
their mission’s commitments and took on new missionaries. It was a special blessing to see eight
precious souls come to know Christ as their Savior in these meetings. I also preached a mission’s Sunday at
Galilee Baptist in Stevensville, MT
In
April Dottie and I flew to Germany for our biennial BIMI European Military
Field Conference. It was a blessed time
of refreshing for our military missionaries who so faithfully serve the Lord in
Europe. It was also a bittersweet time
as our director, Dr. Jeff Alverson, announced that he would be stepping down as
our BIMI military director due to health issues. He will continue in service as an
International Representative for military missions. He introduced to our missionaries our new
director, Bro. Bryan Baggett, and his wife, Kris. We ask that you pray for the Baggetts as they
transition to this new position. Dottie
and I would also like to say a special thank you to those churches and
individuals who helped us with the financial needs of this trip. We thank you from the bottom of our
hearts.
In
May it was my privilege to preach my 14th annual mission’s
conference at Calvary Baptist Church in Daegu, S. Korea. Our beloved friends, Bro. and Mrs. Larry
Ferguson, have faithfully served this predominately military church for all
those years. This year they turned the
work over to Bro. Brandon Neal and his wife, Devona. The Neals put much prayer and preparation
into the conference and the Lord blessed their efforts. Thank you for your
prayers for us. Every day we realize how
much we need your prayers. And thank you
for your faithful support of our ministry to our U.S. military. May God bless you richly.
Tom and Dottie Lancaster
Dear Friends and Prayer Partners,
2019
began with a ministry trip that I had been praying for and planning for over a
year. When you think of missions you
don’t ordinarily think of Hawaii, and yet it is one of the neediest in terms of
military missions. There are nearly 100,000 military personnel and
their dependents that make up about 8% of Hawaii’s population. That is the highest proportion of any state in
the country. One of my burdens was to
get into as many independent Baptist churches near military bases as possible
to encourage and challenge them to do more to reach our U.S. military and their
families. My other burden was to
challenge young couples with the need for more missionaries to reach our
military. I spent 17 days in Oahu and
was able to speak 8 times in various churches.
I do believe God did some good things.
We saw 6 people saved during that time.
Dottie was unable to make the trip because of some physical issues and
you can imagine how disappointing that was to both of us. Accompanying me on this trip was Pastor and
Mrs. Bart Spencer from Lighthouse Baptist Church, Holland, MI who were saved as
a young couple in a military church in Germany.
Their testimonies about the need for military missions was such a
blessing in the meetings. Also
ministering on the trip was Pastor Spencer’s son, Luke, and his sweet
family. Luke added so much to our
meetings with his beautiful music. Luke
also in his generosity funded much of the mission’s trip. Special thanks to pastor Wayne Surface for
his help in putting this ministry trip together. Please pray that good will continue to come
from those meetings.
We
had a good Faith-Promise Sunday with pastor David Moody at The Baptist
Tabernacle in Covington, GA. There was a
tremendous increase in their Faith-Promise commitments and a real sweet spirit
in the services. We were also in a mission’s emphasis Sunday at Victory Baptist
Church with pastor Aaron Swain, and Fellowship Baptist Church, with pastor
Curtis Wells, both in Sevierville, TN.
Dottie
and I rarely call upon our supporting churches for special needs. Because of you, and churches and individuals
like you, our personal support is good; however, when our responsibilities with
Baptist International Missions include international travel we must raise these
funds in addition to our regular monthly support. In April we will travel to
Germany for our biennial military field conference where we will meet with our
European military missionaries for a time of encouragement, reporting and planning. The cost of this trip will be approximately
$3750.00. Dottie and I learned in our
twenty years of service to military missions while in Germany that a meeting
like this is of tremendous benefit to the missionaries. If God should lay on your heart to help with
this need you can send your gift to Baptist International Missions at the
address below. Our account number is
1331. Please mark your check ‘Field
Conference’.
Thank you for your faithful
love and prayers for Dottie and me. We
have never been more keenly aware of our need for your prayers. God bless you.
Tom and
Dottie Lancaster
BIMI European Military Field Coordinator
_________________________________________________
________________________
Sending Church: Open Bible Baptist Church, 3978 N. Oak St.
Valdosta, GA 31605
Sent Through: Baptist International Missions (BIMI), P.O.
Box 9, Harrison, TN 37341
2018 CHRISTMAS LETTER
Dear Friends,
Christmas to many of us is a time of REFLECTION. Dottie and I are REFLECTING on the goodness of God. It is wonderful to know Him as our Savior. We love all the traditions of Christmas: the sights, the sounds the music, the gatherings - - all touch our hearts and make us look forward to this special time of the year. But above all Christmas is a wonderful time to REFLECT on the reason for the celebration. We love RFLECTING on the babe in the manger, but His purpose for coming to the earth, through the miracle o the virgin birth, was to set an example for life, die on an old rugged cross for the payment of our sin and to victoriously rise again from the dead so that we might have eternal, abundant life. Hallelujah what a Savior.
Christmas isi also a time where GIVING is emphasized. We remember that God GAVE his Son that we might have eternal l ife. We celebrate by GIVING. We can give Him our heart as well as our devotion and obedience. We can GIVE others the gospel, the example of the Christian life and our unconditional Christian love.
Christmas is also a time for GRATITUDE. Dottie and I are GRATEFUL for life. We realize it comes from Him. We are also deeply GRATEFUL for eternal life. Both of us and each of our children and their children have given testimony of receiving Christ as their Savior. We are so GRATEFUL for that. Please pray that we, and all our family, will live our lives for Him and be used of Him. We are GRATEFUL for our health. This past year as been filled with some physical difficulties for Dottie and me, as well as our son, Mark, but God has met our needs through it all. We are also GRATEFUL for the opportunity this year to preach and promote missions in churches and Bible colleges and to see precious souls saved. To be used of God is our desire. We are also GRATEFUL for our partners in ministry who have been so faithful to pray for and support the work that God has called us to do. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Merry Christmas to you all.
Tom and Dottie Lancaster
October 2018 Prayer Letter
Dear
Friends,
The
past few weeks have been extremely busy ones filled with many blessings and even
a few challenges. Praise the Lord that
He is always in the midst of our blessings AND
our challenges. Since our last prayer letter we have been in six mission’s
conferences in Mississippi, Illinois, New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, and
Oregon. As we get this prayer letter ready
to send out I am preparing to leave for another conference in Baraboo, WI. One of
the churches we were in is pastored by two of our spiritual children who were
saved from our ministry in Germany. It
was such
a blessing to see how God is using John and Ulrike Couillette at First Baptist Church in Black River, NY. Another blessing was preaching the mission’s conference for Pastor Brandon Dillard in Mapleton, IL. Bro. Brandon was a teenager in the church I planted and pastored for nearly twelve years in Memphis, TN. WHAT A BLESSING to see those in whose lives we have invested continuing to serve the Lord.
a blessing to see how God is using John and Ulrike Couillette at First Baptist Church in Black River, NY. Another blessing was preaching the mission’s conference for Pastor Brandon Dillard in Mapleton, IL. Bro. Brandon was a teenager in the church I planted and pastored for nearly twelve years in Memphis, TN. WHAT A BLESSING to see those in whose lives we have invested continuing to serve the Lord.
One
of our great burdens is getting into Bible Colleges to challenge young people
to pray and consider missions, and in particular military missions. I recently preached in chapel at Tri-State
Baptist College outside of Memphis, TN.
It was also my privilege to teach a couple of classes on missions. I had an excellent question and answer
session with the students concerning missions.
Would you please pray that God would call
some student to take the gospel to a needy mission field.
Dottie
and I both have faced some physical challenges in the past few weeks. Dottie’s heart has once again gone into Afib
and will require yet another cardioversion.
I have recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and also macular
degeneration. We are trusting that we
can get these issues under control. One
thing we know for sure…OUR GOD IS IN CONTROL and we are trusting HIM. Would you please pray for these physical
needs as well as the financial needs that these medical issues and treatments
incur.
In August we held our eighth biennial RRBC Reunion in Pigeon
Forge, TN. Every other year former
members from our military church in Germany meet in Pigeon Forge for a time of
preaching, singing, testimonies, reminiscing and family fun. Our base closed in 2012 but there is still a
strong bond with our Rhein River family.
It is always amazing that people will come who were stationed in Germany
at different times over the twenty years we were there. Some will know each other, some will be
strangers, but by the end of the reunion everyone is family and there is still
that same sweet spirit we had at RRBC.
Thank you, dear friends, for your love, prayers and support of our ministry. We love you and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for partnering with us in furthering the gospel of Christ.
Tom and Dottie Lancastre
Tom and Dottie Lancastre
2018 May-July Prayer Letter
Dear Friends,
What a mighty God we serve! And what a
joy and privilege it is to serve Him! Dottie
and I have been serving Him now for over 50 years. Nearly 25 of those years were in pastoring
and church planting here in the states and now for over 25 years we have given
our lives to help get the gospel to our
U.S. military serving around the world.
What
a blessing!
In May I preached the
mission’s conference for Pastor Corey
Nepshield and the good folks at Clearview Baptist Church in Southaven, MS. Not only did we have a good increase in
mission’s giving, but we saw 4 people saved!
Praise
the Lord! It was a blessing to be with Dr. David
McCoy at People’s Baptist Church in McDonough, GA. This good church has partnered with us for
many years in military missions. I am
privileged to participate each year in a meeting called ‘Old Guns/Young Guns’, sponsored
by Dr. Craig Bennett and Calvary’s
Harvest Baptist Church, Jonesboro, GA. The
main purpose of the meeting is for older preachers and missionaries to mentor
and encourage younger preachers. I think
I was the ‘oldest gun’ there, but my heart was encouraged by the young
preachers that are coming up, especially from our black community. There was a good emphasis placed on the
urgent need to get the gospel around the world.
Of course, I always look for the opportunity to try to challenge young
men to consider military missions.
In June I preached in one of
my favorite places: Monticedo Baptist
Church in Ontario, CA. Dr. Ezekiel
Salazar is the good pastor and dear friend.
We had a very unusual moving of God in the services. Praise the Lord for His goodness! One of the highlights of the past couple of
months for this old marine was my meeting at Maranatha Baptist Church in
Jacksonville, NC, the home of Camp LeJeune marine base where Dottie and I spent several years in the
early days of our marriage. The church
was packed and there were many marines in the service. The altar was filled at the invitation. I flew through Atlanta to the meeting and was
able to spend a good bit of time passing out tracts to soldiers and marines in
the airport. What a privilege to serve our mighty God.
Tom and Dottie Lancaster
__________________________________________ ___________________________________________________
Sending Church: Open Bible Baptist Church, 3978 N. Oak St.
Valdosta, GA 3160
Sent
Through: Baptist International Missions
(BIMI), P.O. Box 9, Harrison, TN 37341
2018 March/April Prayer Letter
Dear Friends,
Dottie and I have just
returned from a six week ministry trip to Daegu, S. Korea. (April 3-May 7) For
the past ten years I have had the privilege of preaching the annual mission’s
conference for Calvary Baptist Church in Daegu, a church that ministers to our
U.S. military, as well as Korean nationals.
And for the past four years we have remained for an extra three to eight
weeks to give the missionary pastor, Larry Ferguson, and his wife, Kay, the
opportunity to take a much deserved short furlough. We saw the Lord do some good things during
our six weeks there. There was a good increase in their Faith-Promise giving so
they were able to take on two new missionaries.
Three precious souls received Christ and one couple surrendered their
lives for full time Christian service.
In March I preached three
mission’s conferences that God blessed tremendously. We were with Dr. Craig Bennett and the good
people of Calvary’s Harvest Baptist Church in Jonesboro, GA. One precious soul
trusted Christ as Savior in the conference.
We love this church and pastor.
There is always a sweet spirit in this mission-minded church. I was blessed to preach the mission’s conference at
Lighthouse Baptist Church in Missoula, MT where Bro. Tom Lemmons is the good
pastor. God blessed with a good increase
in Faith-Promise commitments and new missionaries were taken on. From Missoula I went on to Willamette Valley
Baptist Church in Aumsville, OR where Bro. Rick Donley is the pastor. My how God blessed in this conference - - a
great increase in FP commitments and new missionaries taken on. The gospel will definitely go forward through
these good churches and conferences.
The Lord opened up the
opportunity to win a cab driver to the Lord on my way to the airport to catch
the plane to Missoula. And then on our
way to S. Korea we had a long layover Atlanta and while waiting in the Delta
lounge we were able to witness to and win a sweet Filipino lady to the Lord. God is good and the gospel is still
powerful. Thank you, dear friends, for
you faithful prayers and support. Please
continue to keep us in your prayers.
Tom and Dottie Lancaster
January/February 2018 Prayer Letter
Dear Friends,
‘We must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the
night cometh, when no man can work.’
John 9:4. Dottie and I are excited about what God has been doing and
what He has in store for the rest of 2018.
In JANUARY we were
blessed to speak in a tremendous pastor’s conference at Twin Points Baptist Church in Superior, WI where Bro.
Mark Wagenschutz is the pastor. Bro.
Wagenschutz and his good people have been hosting this conference for many
years and it is always well attended. I
spoke six times and I believe God encouraged His servants through His Word,
especially in the area of missions.
Dottie was also blessed to be able to have a session with the ladies at
the conference.
FEBRUARY was a very busy and fruitful month. I was invited to Open Door Baptist Church in
Potts Camp, MS to teach a series that I
have taught in several churches before on ‘The Care of the Pastor’, sharing
five commandments that God gives the church concerning the pastor. We had three
precious souls saved in the mission's revival at Sweet Springs Baptist Church
in Huntsville, MO where Bro. Tim Gibson is the good pastor. On February 18 we were blessed to be with Dr.
Bruce Barton and our friends at Central Baptist Church in Panama City, FL. It was my privilege to participate again in
the Asian Spiritual Leadership Conference in Manila, Philippines, February
23-March 1. My how God blessed!! There is not space in a prayer letter to
share all that God did in the conference, but I had the privilege of speaking
at Bethany Baptist Church and Living Word Baptist Church in the Manila area and
saw 21 people trust Christ as their Savior.
I also spoke at a Filipino youth rally where 44 young people were
saved. I cannot praise the Lord enough
for His goodness.
Dottie has continued to have
issues with heart arrhythmia. She has
had to have a pacemaker implanted and we are hoping and praying this will help
her. Thank you for holding her up in prayer. I continue to improve from knee
replacement. We thank you for your prayers for our ministry, as well as our
health. We thank God for friends who
support us with their love and prayers.
God bless you.
.The
Lancasters
~ LANCASTERS 2017 Blessings ~
As we come to the end of
this another year we wanted to write and give our family and friends an update
on the Lancaster family.
We moved back to Chattanooga
at the beginning of 2017 and have enjoyed being close to both of our children
and their families. We downsized to a
small townhouse and the low maintenance has been ‘wunderbar’.
Dottie and I feel blessed to be able to be used of God at an
age where many are settling into a life of retirement. We have been in over 20 mission’s conferences,
patriotic services and special services this year. We have also been on
mission’s trips to Austria and South Korea and spoken in three Bible Colleges
trying to promote missions, and in particular, missions to our military. We are thankful for our sending church, Open
Bible Baptist, in Valdosta, GA, our local church, Moriah Baptist in Ft. Oglethorpe, GA and our mission board, Baptist International
Missions and the churches and pastors who
encourage us with prayer and financial support in our ministry.
We
celebrated our 54th wedding anniversary on April 5. Our years together just get sweeter and
sweeter. We also celebrated 50 years of full
time ministry this past year. What a
blessing to serve the Lord together.
It
has been a year of some physical challenges.
Dottie has struggled with atrial fib.
The last heart procedure she had done (one of six) seems to have helped.
She goes back to the doctor for a follow
up in the next few days. Tom had a much needed knee replacement in November and
is still going to physical therapy.
Mark
and Julie accepted a position with Preach Evangelistic Ministries and are in
the process of moving to their headquarters in Seymour, MO. Mark will be helping to mentor and train new
missionaries. Mark continues to deal
with serious and painful physical issues but his spirit is indomitable. Julie has served in the office of our home
church, as well as being used greatly, as always, with her piano talent. We ask
for prayer for our Emily who still has spiritual needs.
Dawn,
Mitch, Bradley, Madison and Haley live down the street from us which makes this
Opa and Oma very happy. Mitch will soon have been with the Chattanooga Police
Force for twenty years. Dawn is studying
for her realtor’s license, as well as teaching over 20 piano students. Bradley turned 21 this year and is enjoying
his job at Volkswagen. Madison
celebrated her sweet sixteen birthday this year and is beginning to look at
colleges. Haley is 11 years old and is
still our baby. Dawn and her family are
very active in their local church.
We look forward to 2018 and
the many opportunities for service that
are before us. We love you and wish you
a very happy new year. If you are ever
in Chattanooga please drop by for a warm meal, comfortable bed or just a cup of
coffee. If we are at home our door is
always open.
Tom and Dottie Lancaster
Thanksgiving 2017 Prayer Letter
Dear Friends and Prayer Partners,
Psalm
95:2-4 “Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful
noise unto him with psalms. For the Lord
is a great God, and a great King above all gods.”
Dottie and I have
much to be thankful for and we give all praise to our great God who is so
faithful. He has given us eternal life,
a home in heaven, and an abundant life here on earth. He has blessed us with a loving family, sufficient
good health to serve Him and a purpose for living. We are so thankful for His goodness.
The past few weeks
have been very busy, and we have seen God do some good things. We were with pastor Dean Miller at Central
Baptist Church in Hattiesburg, MS for an outstanding military appreciation
Sunday. One precious soul trusted Christ
in the meeting. I preached three times
in an old fashioned camp meeting at First Baptist Church in Brighton, IL., with
Pastor Don Letson We were with our
friend, pastor Lee Bowman, at Calvary Baptist Church in Mannington, W. VA for
another military appreciation Sunday. I
preached on Monday night at the mission’s conference at Lancaster Baptist
Church where Dr. Paul Chappell is the great pastor. Over 30 missionaries were in the conference
presenting their various fields. It was
my privilege to preach the mission’s conference at First Baptist Church in
Black River, NY where Bro. Jack Young is the pastor. A precious military couple trusted Christ the
first night and were at every service afterward. I also enjoyed preaching in chapel at Crown
College and West Coast Baptist College “fishing” for new missionaries to the
military.
Thank you, from all
our heart, for your love, prayers and
faithful support.
Tom and Dottie Lancaster
Dear Friends and Prayer Partners,
Dottie and I are in Potts Camp, MS finishing up
a mission’s conference at Open Door Baptist Church. This is the third year that I have been
privileged to preach their mission’s conference. The pastor, Bro. Tony Moore, has informed me
that their mission’s commitment for 2016-17 has come in double from what was
committed at the last conference. That’s
a blessing you don’t often get to see. And
tonight we had a young man surrender to missions. Praise the Lord!
PERSONAL NEED:
We rarely, if ever, mention specific personal needs
that we have but we would like to share a need that is coming up soon. God has blessed me with invitations and
responsibilities that require international travel. While our regular personal support is sufficient
to meet our monthly needs, when international travel is involved we are
required to raise additional funds for those expenses. There are two international trips coming up
in the next seven months that we are asking the Lord to supply the need. In October Dottie and I will be hosting,
along with our BIMI military director, Dr. Jeff Alverson, our bienniel European
Military Field Conference in Salzburg, Austria. Also, I have been invited to participate
again in the Asian Spiritual Leadership
Conference in Manila, Philippines in February.
God blessed in a tremendous way in the 2016 conference and I am excited
to participate again in 2018. The best
we can calculate these two international trips will cost us approximately $5000
(plane fares, car rental, hotel, meals).
This is surely a test of our faith, but we know that God can
supply. If you would like to help with
this need you can send your gift to our BIMI account # 1331 and mark it ‘mission’s
trips’. It would also be a help if you
would email us to let us know if you are planning to help. tomdottiel@yahoo.com. We are praying that
the funds will come in early so that we can get the best prices on airline
tickets. The address of BIMI is listed
above. Thank you for your consideration
of this need.
Thank you for your love and prayers as we
continue to serve Him.
Tom and Dottie
Lancaster
May/June 2017 Prayer Letter
Dear Friends and Prayer Partners,
Dottie and I have just returned from seven
weeks of ministry at Calvary Baptist Church in Daegu, S. Korea. This was our tenth year to preach their
annual mission’s conference and our third year to extend our stay beyond the
mission’s conference to allow their missionary pastor, Larry Ferguson, and his wife, Kay , to get away for some rest and
rejuvenation. The Fergusons surrendered
to missions while he was in the army and members of our church in Germany and
they hold a very special place in our hearts.
Our prayer was that God would use us to build on the great foundation of
their pastor and be a help and blessing to the people. In addition to preaching on Sunday morning, I
felt led to teach three series: The
Family, Sharing Your Faith and The Disciplines of a Dedicated Christian and I
believe they did help the people. We
also saw three precious souls saved during the seven weeks. Praise the Lord!
Five couples who have
surrendered to military missions went
through our BIMI Candidate School this past month. Please pray for these couples to be able to
raise their support quickly and get to the field that God has called them
to. And please pray that God will send
us more missionaries to the U.S. military.
One of my goals this year is to get into more churches, and especially Bible
Colleges, to try and “recruit”
missionaries to the U.S. military.
In our last prayer letter we were waiting to
find out if Dottie’s two heart ablations were successful. Unfortunately they were not. Her heart was still out of sinus rhythm. The doctor recommended a more intense heart ablation
which he did on June 20. The surgery
went well and when we left the hospital her heart was in perfect sinus rhythm. Praise the Lord! Our prayer going forward is that it will stay
in perfect rhythm. We will know better
in six to eight weeks. We appreciate all the prayers, calls, and messages
during this time. The love and
concern of family and friends has been
such an encouragement. Again we have to
say, PRAISE THE LORD!
We ask your prayers as we, along with our BIMI
military director, Dr. Jeff Alverson, plan our European Military Field
Conference in October. This biennial
meeting will be held in Salzburg, Austria this
year and is a special time for our missionaries to the military in
Europe, and their families, to be able to come aside for some much needed
R&R and spiritual encouragement.
Dottie and I thank you for your love, your
prayers and your support. We certainly
could not do what we are doing without you.
Love in Christ,
Tom and Dottie Lancaster
March-April 2017 Prayer Letter
Dear Friends and Prayer Partners,
What a privilege we have to share the
gospel – the good news – with those who do not know Him, those who do
not have the hope of eternal life with Him.
Dottie and I have a special burden for our U.S. military and their
families, but we want to share the good news with ‘every creature’ as we are commanded
in Mark 16:15. At this season of the
year we are reminded that the gospel is the story of the
death, burial and resurrection of our savior, Jesus Christ. I read a quote recently that said, “the
gospel does not explain the resurrection, but rather the resurrection
explains the gospel.” There would
be no gospel if there was no resurrection. Praise the Lord for the resurrection of our
Lord.
The last few weeks have been filled with a few
challenges as well as many blessings.
Even our challenges can be blessings if we receive them as from the hand
of an almighty, all loving God. So many of you have prayed for Dottie as she
has been going through some proceedures to try and restore her heart to sinus
rhythm. In January she had two cardio versions to try and shock her heart
back into rhythm. Both failed. The next step was a heart ablation. On March 7 she had an ablation to the right
chamber of her heart and on March 14 she had an ablation to the left
chamber. She will go for her follow up
on April 20 and we will know more about the success of the proceedures
then. Please continue to pray for
her. She is in great spirit and is just
looking forward to getting energy and strength back.
I praise the Lord for some outstanding mission’s
conferences in the past few weeks. We
had a good conference with our good friend, Pastor Tom Lemmons, and Lighthouse Baptist Church in Missoula,
MT. Their faith-promise commitments were
increased and I believe the people’s burden for world wide missions was
increased. I preached my third or
fourth mission’s conference at Willamette Valley Baptist Church in Aumsville,
OR. Pastor Rick Donley and his family
have become such dear friends and we rejoice in what God is doing through
them. We had a tremendous conference and
God did above all that we asked or thought in the mission’s commitments. I will
begin a mission’s conference this weekend in Pumpville, TX with Pastor Rick
Bond. This will be my second time at
this good church and I am looking forward to it. It is like stepping back into the old west -
- thirty five miles to the nearest service station, sage brush,
rattlesnacks. These are good
people and I am looking forward to what God is going to do through them for
world wide missions. I also had the
opportunity to preach at a camp meeting in Arnold, MO. It was a blessing and I think God did some
good things in some hearts. I was able
to present our ministry to the military and several pastors have indicated an
interest in having us come to their churches to present the need of miliary missions to their people.
Dottie and I will leave on April 25 for Daegu, South
Korea where we will serve Calvary Baptist Church for seven weeks. This is a military/Korean church planted and
pastored by two of our spiritual children from our military work in
Germany. The Fergusons have done such a
tremendous work there for nearly fifteen
years and we are so happy to be able to relieve them so that they can have a
little time to rest and refresh. Please
pray that God will use us.
Thank you, dear friends, for your love, prayers
and support for us and our ministry to our U.S. military. We are grateful from the bottom of our
hearts.
Tom and Dottie
Lancaster
January 2017 Prayer Letter
Dear Friends and Prayer Partners,
Here we are at the
beginning of a brand new year and as Dottie and I reflect on 2016 we look back
on some changes and some challenges, but as Psalms 48:2 and 3
says, He has been beautiful for every situation. The year began with the privilege of being
part of the ministry team for the Asian Leadership Conference in the
Philippines. We saw God do some great
and mighty things under the leadership of Dr. Paul Chappell. As soon as I returned to the states I was
faced with the challenge of being hospitalized with double pneumonia. But God was there and provided every need
that Dottie and I had during that challenging time.
It was a busy and
blessed year of ministry. Dottie and I
were in a total of 31 churches for mission’s conferences, mission’s Sundays and
patriotic Sundays. In every opportunity
that God gave us we tried to promote military missions and encourage men and
couples to see the need of missionaries to our U.S. military. God blessed with funds raised for sending
missionaries to the field as well as precious souls being saved. We also spent seven weeks in South Korea
helping with the military ministry of Calvary Baptist Church in Daegu.
In December we saw
a change
as we moved back to Chattanooga, TN from Panama City, FL where we have lived
for the past three and half years. Both
of our children and three of our grandchildren live in the Chattanooga area so
this is a real blessing. We have placed
our church membership at Moriah Baptist Church where Bro. Randy Lynn is the
good pastor. We look forward to the
fellowship of the good folks at Moriah when we are not traveling. Our sending church of over 25 years remains
Open Bible Baptist Church of Valdosta, GA where Dr. Carrol Joye is the faithful pastor. One of the blessing of our recent move was that I had the opportunity to
witness to and lead to the Lord one of the U-Haul service representatives in
Panama City. Her name is Tori and because of some circumstances in her life her
heart was prepared to receive the gospel.
Also, please pray for a young man named Josh who I met at Cabela’s in
Ft. Oglethorpe, GA. He served our
country and lost both legs in a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.
He has a great attitude and knows he needs to be saved and has asked me
to come and talk to him about salvation.
We are trying to work out a time so please be in prayer for this
situation.
Dottie has faced
some health challenges this year as well.
She has struggled with lack of energy and shortness of breath for some
time and it was discovered that she has atrial fibrillation. She had a cardioversion at the end of
November to try and shock her heart back into sinus rhythm. Unfortunately it did not work so she had a
stronger cardioversion on January 23. We
are trusting that this one will do the trick and that she will soon be 100 %.
We have a full
schedule this year and we ask you to please pray that God will use us for His
honor and glory. A special prayer request
for 2017 is that God will open up many opportunities for us to get into good
Bible colleges where we can challenge young men to give their lives to take the
gospel to our U.S. military, especially on foreign soil. Once again we thank you for your love, your
prayers and your support of our ministry to our U.S. military. We never take it for granted! May God bless you, dear friends.
Tom and Dottie Lancaster
Christmas 2016 Prayer Letter
~Merry Christmas from Our
Home to Yours~
Dear Friends and Prayer
Partners,
Dottie and I send our warmest
Christmas wishes to you at this “most wonderful time of the year”. As we
write this prayer letter we are in the midst of packing boxes and preparing to
move back to Chattanooga, TN on December 9. We have enjoyed our time in Panama
City, FL, even though we knew it would be temporary. God provided a beautiful
home for us to live in at the generosity of dear children in the Lord. He also
provided a wonderful church home at Central Baptist and a good pastor, Dr.
Bruce Barton. We were traveling in ministry most of the time, but when we were
able to be home our souls were refreshed and fed. We will certainly miss our
church family when we leave.
Since our last prayer letter we
have had three good mission’s revivals with Pastor Rob Ellard and the folks at
Bath Springs Baptist Church in Bath Springs, TN; Pastor Randy Lynn and our
friends at Moriah Baptist Church in Ft. Oglethorpe, GA; and also at our sending
church, Open Bible Baptist Church in Valdosta, GA, pastored by my dear friend,
Dr. Carrol Joye. These churches have a burden for military missions and have
supported our work with the military for many years. We had a tremendous
Veteran’s Day service at Grace Baptist Church in Bath Springs, MS. There were
over 40 veterans in the service and 6 people received Christ as their Savior.
Dottie has had a struggle for
the past few months with atrial fibrillation. It resulted in shortness of
breath and lack of energy that affected her quality of life. After several
tests the doctors decided that she should have a cardioversion to try and shock
her heart back into sinus rhythm. She had the cardioversion done on November 28
and at this point her heart seems to be back in rhythm. Please pray that this
procedure will keep her heart in rhythm and will not have to be repeated. We
want to praise the Lord for His grace and mercy on our son, Mark, as He brought
him through two extremely serious back surgeries this past month. Please
continue to pray for his complete healing and that he and Julie can soon be
back on the revival trail.
Please pray for us as we serve
Him in this new year. We will be in Europe, in Asia, in Bible colleges, in
churches, doing all that we can to reach and disciple precious souls,
especially those among our United States military. We believe that through the
grace of God, working in this new administration, there are exciting days ahead
for our ministry with the U.S. military. We rarely, if ever, mention financial
needs but this has been an unusual year of medical expenses and now moving
expenses so we would appreciate your prayers for this need.
We pray that
you and your family will have a wonderful, Christ-centered Christmas. We find
joy in all the sights and sounds of Christmas and especially the joy of family,
but above all let us remember the reason Christ came to this earth. “And she
shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save
his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21.
July – August 2016 Prayer Letter
Dear Friends,
Great is the Lord and greatly to be
praised……….. Psalm 48:1. Dottie and I can say AMEN! to that
truth. Our God has shown His greatness
to us in so many ways and is certainly worthy of our praise. We are thankful that we can report to you
some of God’s blessings these past few weeks
Two weeks ago I was in a mission’s conference
at Hillcrest Baptist Church in Eastvale, CA.
This church was planted by Pastor Paul Choi a little over a year ago. It was the church’s second mission’s emphasis and God blessed tremendously. I believe this church and pastor are going to
make a real impact for Christ in their community and in the world. In July we were in a great mission’s
conference at Open Door Baptist Church, Potts Camp, MS where Bro. Tony Moore is
the good pastor. Bro. Moore succeeded
his father-in-law, Bro. David Helmic, who went home to be with the Lord this
past year. Bro. Helmic was a great man
of God and a dear friend. We saw four
precious souls come to know Christ during the conference and one teenager
surrender her life to missions. This is
our second conference here and there is always such a sweet spirit in the
church. We are just finishing a
mission’s conference at Lighthouse Baptist Church in Holland, MI where Bro.
Bart Spencer is the good pastor. This is
an exciting church and these folks have a heart for missions. It is always a blessing to be with them. God blessed in their mission’s commitments
and I believe they will be taking on new missionaries for support.
On August 5th It was a thrill and
blessing for me to marry one of our young women from our former military church
in Germany. Her family was one of our
international families – her father is Angolan and her mother is French and the
entire family was saved at Rhein River Baptist Church. Dottie led Marina to the Lord when she was
about eleven years old. In spite of many
obstacles she was able to attend West Coast Baptist College and graduate last
year. She fell in love with a young man
who was also a student at WCBC and who has a heart to serve the Lord as she
does. My and Dottie’s hearts are full
and running over to see God’s hand on her life.
Please pray for Marina and Ben as they begin their life together.
Many of you know of our
son, Mark’s, struggle with his health these past three years. He has had seven back related surgeries, four heart ablations and a multitude of other
health issues, all the while experiencing extreme pain. In spite of these
challenges he has continued to serve the Lord and God is using him in a tremendous
way. God is using him in mission’s
conferences and revivals as well as Sunday meetings. He just
finished a revival in Jacksonville, NC where nearly a dozen souls were
saved. I heartily recommend him and his
sweet wife, Julie. Their beautiful music
is an added blessing. You can contact
him at 423-208-4471.
Thank you for your love and prayers and
faithful support. Dottie and I never
forget that we could not do what we do without your help. God bless you, friends.
Tom
and Dottie Lancaster
April- June 2016 Prayer Letter
Dear Friends,
“ And this is the confidence that
we have in him, that, if we ask any
thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us,
whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” I John 5: 14,15. We want to thank our family, friends, supporting pastors and
supporting churches for the prayers, cards, phone calls and visits while I was
recuperating from pneumonia. After
spending 8 days in the hospital in Ontario, CA, the doctor asked me to cancel
all my meetings in March in order to fully recuperate. I did just that and I am doing well and
almost back to 100%. I know that God’s
grace and the prayers of caring people made this possible.
Our first meeting after my
recuperation was our annual trip to
South Korea for the mission’s conference at Calvary Baptist Church in
Daegu. We remained for three more weeks in Korea in order to relieve missionary
pastor Larry Ferguson and his wife, Kay, so they could get some much needed rest. It is always a blessing for us to minister to
this good church serving our U.S. military and Korean nationals. Bro. and Mrs. Ferguson are two beloved spiritual children and we are
happy to be able to help them take a little time off.
In May it was a great blessing to preach
the 30th anniversary service of Pastor Mike Kinney and Temple
Baptist Church in Lacey, WA. Pastor
Kinney is one of the finest men I know. He and his church have a great heart for
missions. It is always a blessing to be
with them. While in Washington I was also blessed to preach and present military
missions at Calvary Baptist Church in Roy, WA., Mountain Highway Baptist Church
in Spanaway, WA , Berean Baptist Church in Puyallup, WA and Moses Lake Baptist
Church in Moses Lake, WA. We saw one man
saved in Roy, Washington and many other decisions were made in these meetings.
We praise the Lord for the three new
military mission’s families that came through BIMI candidate school in June.
Please pray that God would turn more couple’s hearts toward the field of military
missions.
I want to close with an
amazing story of God’s goodness. We were
blessed to attend the Spiritual Leadership Conference in Lancaster, CA. After the conference we drove our rental car
back to Enterprise in Los Angeles to
turn it in and catch our flight back to Panama City. Several of us were standing and waiting for
the airport shuttle when a nice looking
young man approached me and asked, “Are you Dr. Tom Lancaster?” I told
him yes I was. “You led me to the Lord
fifteen years ago as a 17 year old teenager in Powderly, TX and I am now an
assistant pastor in Lubbock, TX.” He
had also been at the conference in Lancaster.
What a blessing! Praise God for
fruit that remains.
Tom
and Dottie Lancaster
February/March 2016
Dear Friends,
Psalm 37:23 says, “The steps of a good man are
ordered by the Lord…” Dottie and I
truly believe that. We have seen God do some amazing things in the
past two months that have taken us to the mountaintop. And God has also taken us down a path that
caused us to lean on Him as never before.
On January 28 I flew to Manila,
Philippines, to participate in the Asian
Leadership Conference sponsored by Lancaster Baptist Church. On Sunday, January
31, It was my privilege to preach at
Bethany Baptist Church in Makati, Philippines,
where Dr. Gerry Nable is the good pastor. The Lord blessed the service with the
salvation of 7 precious souls. From the ministry team of preachers who went out
on Sunday to churches across the Philippines, over 1200 salvation decisions
were registered. National pastors/missionaries
from over 20 different nations gathered for the conference. It was truly a spirit of revival. It is my firm belief that what took place
there in Manila during those 3 days will be taken back to countries in that
part of the world, particularly countries in the 10/40 window. I spoke twice on Sunday and then spoke during
the conference on the subject of revival and missions. I praise the Lord for the vision that God
gave Dr. Paul Chappell for this great conference. I am grateful to the Lord for the opportunity to
participate in the conference and to the churches and individuals who gave to
help with the expenses of this trip.
I flew from the Philippines to Los Angeles to
begin 4 weeks of meetings in California.
It was a blessing to preach at Lighthouse Baptist Church in Morino
Valley, Barstow Baptist Church, Barstow, CA,
and Bible Baptist in National City where I had the joy of winning a
young sailor to the Lord who was stationed at the Naval Air Station in San
Diego, very near where I boarded ship for Vietnam over 50 years ago. Dottie
flew out and joined me at Faith Baptist in
Canoga Park and Montecito Baptist in Ontario, CA. We saw a total of 17 saved in those
meetings. I had
been feeling very badly since returning
from the Philippines with flu like symptons, including a very bad cough. As we were preparing to leave Ontario, CA, I
became very ill and had to be taken to the emergency room by ambulance. I was admitted to the hospital with double
pnuemonia and remained there for 8 days.
It is never pleasant to be ill, but especially
when you are away from home. It was a
challenge for us as Dottie was unable to drive because of eye problems. But God is always faithful as He orders the steps
of His children. Dr.Ezekiel Salazar and
the good people of Monticedo Baptist as well as Dr. Paul Chappell and Lancaster
Baptist were used of God to be a help and blessing to us and we will forever be
grateful. We are back home now and the
doctor has ordered a month’s rest to continue recouperating, I cancelled my remaining
March meetings and have been trying to obey.
We are scheduled to fly to South Korea for five weeks on March 29. We would appreciate your prayers that God
would hasten my healing and that He would use us for His honor and glory as we
continue to serve Him.
Tom
and Dottie Lancaster
Happy New Year 2016
Not as though I had already attained, either were already
perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am
apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing
I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those
things which are before, I press toward the mark for
the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Philippines 3:12-14
Dear Friends and
Prayer Partners,
We want to wish you, our friends and
prayer partners, a very happy new year.
We pray that it will be a year of spiritual growth for you, your family,
and your church and that God will provide many opportunities this year for you
to further the kingdom of God. Dottie
and I have recommitted ourselves this year to being more faithful in the basics
of Christianity: bible reading, prayer,
soul-winning, service. We ask for your
prayers that we can fulfill this commitment.
We look back on 2015 and thank the
Lord for the opportunities He gave us to share the gospel and to encourage
folks to get involved in world-wide missions, especially in the field of
military missions. We were in over 30
churches in mission’s conferences, patriotic services, Bible Colleges and even
two couples’ retreat. We spent a month
in South Korea assisting Calvary Baptist Church, a military/Korean church, as
their pastor and his wife took a well-deserved short furlough. We are constantly amazed and thankful that
God would continue to let us serve Him.
2016 already has many opportunities
before us, both at home and abroad. I
will leave on February 28 for Manila, Philippines to participate in the Asian
Leadership Conference. We leave on March
30 for another month in Korea and I will go to Germany in October on a military
ministry mission’s trip. Please pray for
us that God will use us and help us to win precious souls to Christ.
We praise the Lord that $2000 has
come in toward the mission’s trip to the Philippines to participate in the
Asian Leadership Conference.
We
need $1000 more to cover the expenses of the trip. In addition to
speaking at the conference, I will also be
speaking in a local Filipino church. The
purpose of the conference is to encourage national pastors, as well as minister
to their people. If you would like to
help with the expenses of this trip you can send your offering to our BIMI
account. The address is Baptist
International Missions, P.O. Box 9215, Chattanooga, TN, 37412 and mark your
check 'Mission Trip/Tom Lancaster, Account 1331'.
Thank you for your faithful prayers
and support for our ministry to the U.S. military.
The Lancasters
- Serving as the European Military Field Coordinator for Baptist
International Missions -
Christmas 2015 Prayer
Letter
Dear Friends and Prayer Partners,
Having
just celebrated Thanksgiving and approaching the Christmas season, Dottie and I
realize we have so much for which to be thankful. All of our thanks giving is a result of what
Jesus did for us. He left heaven, came
to this earth through the miracle of the virgin birth, died on the cross to
take away our sin and rose again to intercede for us. He truly is a wonderful Savior. He has also given us a part in the greatest
task the world has ever known: giving
the gospel to lost people all over the world.
Dottie and I have particularly been called of God to reach the U.S.
military, wherever they are. We thank
God for this great calling the Lord has given us and for wonderful partners who
labor with us in the task.
Since
our last prayer letter we have been in seven churches preaching mission’s
conferences, mission’s Sundays and patriotic services. We have had the joy of seeing people saved,
Christians surrender to His service, a moving among Christians, faith-promise
increases and in some places a genuine spirit of revival. On a personal note, in Ranson, WV, while Dottie
and I were at a tire store waiting to have tires replaced, I had the
opportunity to strike up a conversation with another customer who was also
waiting on tires. The conversation
turned spiritual and the man soon trusted Christ as his Savior. Also, while returning from a dinner
appointment with Pastor Rick Bonds near Del Rio, TX I had the opportunity to
lead a border patrolman to the Lord that we stopped to speak to as he was
parked along our route.. Praise the Lord
for the opportunity to share the glorious gospel that continues to save those
who are lost in their sin.
We mentioned in our last prayer letter that we are trying to
raise $3000 to cover the expenses of the mission’s trip to the Philippines to
participate in the Asian Leadership Conference in February. In addition to speaking at the conference, I
will also be speaking in a local Filipino church. The purpose of the conference is to encourage
national pastors, as well as minister to their people. If you
would like to help with the expenses of this trip you can send your offering to
our BIMI account. The address is Baptist
International Missions, P.O. Box 9215, Chattanooga, TN, 37412 and mark your
check 'Mission Trip/Tom Lancaster, Account 1331'.
Dottie
and I wish you and your family a blessed Christmas filled with love and joy
with those you love the most. Thank you
for your faithful prayers and support for our ministry to the U.S. military. MERRY CHRISTMAS!
The Lancasters
- Serving as the European Military
Field Coordinator for Baptist International Missions -
September/October 2015 Prayer Letter
Dear Friends and Prayer Partners,
Greetings from the beautiful northeast
in Black River, NY, just below the Canadian border, home of Ft. Drum, one of
our largest U.S. army bases. We are in
mission's conference at First Baptist Church with Bro Jack Young, pastor. Dottie and I have been in four mission's
conferences, 2 special mission's Sundays and one Bible College since our last
update. On this particular trip we will
have been on the road for six weeks and we have seen God do some good
things. It was a blessing to be with
Pastor Sean Cuthberson and Liberty Baptist Church in Pine Bluff, AK for a
special patriotic service. We were in mission's conference at Lighthouse Baptist
Church in Holland, MI, where Bro. Bart Spencer is the good pastor. There was such a sweet spirit throughout
the conference and they had a tremendous increase in their faith-promise
commitments. We were also in mission's
conference at First Baptist Church in Ranson, WV, with Pastor Michael Withem. The church had a significant increase in
their faith-promise commitmments. I had
the privilege of presenting a special certificate of appreciation on behalf of
BIMI to Mr. Ensley Hicks, a 93 year old
WWII veteran, during the mission's
conference at First Baptist. What an
honor! We were also in a conference at Faith Baptist Church, Raymore, MO, Jerry
Wass, interim pastor. At Faith Baptist we were happy to meet fellow
BIMI missionaries to the military, Ben
and Rebekah Edwards and their sweet children. They are on deputation raising
their support to go to Japan.
Dottie is doing well after 10
radiation treatments for the squamous cell carcinoma skin cancer we reported in
our last prayer letter. As far as we
know all is well. She goes in for a
follow up when we return home from this ministry trip. I had to reschedule my
Germany trip due to Dottie's medical issues.
The Lord willing I will make that trip in October 2016.
In addition to the Germany ministry
trip in 2016, I will also be part of the
ministry team for the Asian Leadership Conference in Manila, Philippines in
February and then Dottie and I will be returning to S. Korea in April. As you can imagine these trips are very costly. In particular we need help for the trip to
the Philippines. In addition to
encouraging national pastors and missionaries through the Leadership
Conference, I will be preaching in a Filipino church and also investigating the
feasibility of military works as a result of the proposed reopening of U.S. bases in the
Philippines. We are asking the Lord to
help us raise $3000 toward this ministry trip.
If
you would like to help with the expenses
of this trip you can send your offering to our BIMI account. The address is Baptist International
Missions, P.O. Box 9215, Chattanooga, TN, 37412 and mark your check 'Mission
Trip/Tom Lancaster, Account 1331'.
The Lancasters
- Serving as the European Military
Field Coordinator for Baptist International Missions -
July/August 2015 Prayer Letter
Dear Friends and Prayer Partners,
"Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things,
which thou knowest not." Jeremiah 33:3. God is constantly amazing us with His
great and mighty works. This month we have seen His mighty works in the
the miracle of salvation, in answered prayer, in renewal of hearts, in His faithful
provision and in the beauty of His creation.
In July God opened up an unusual opportunity for me to speak to a monthly
men's meeting in Pensacola, FL, sponsored by a group of business men. Each
month they invite business men and their guests from the community, as well as
men from the rescue mission, to come and enjoy a steak dinner with all the
trimmings and, afterwards, to hear a gospel message. It was my privilege to
preach to about 275 men. Fifteen men received Christ as their Savior. Praise the
Lord for His goodness!!
Also in July I was blessed to attend our BIMI European Field Conference in one
of the most beautiful spots on this earth, Beatenberg, Switzerland. We had a
combined conference with missionaries to the nationals, as well as our European
military missionaries. We had four days of anointed preaching by our General
Director, Bro. David Snyder. I was able to speak privately to our military
missionaries and get plans finalized for my trip to Germany next month. It was
a wonderful four days, despite the fact that Dottie was unable to go with me.
We had a great mission's conference at Open Door Baptist Church in Potts
Camp, MS. They saw a tremendous increase in their faith promise commitments
and look to taking on two or three new missionary families. We also had a good
mission's emphasis Sunday at Calvary Baptist Church in Trumann, AR and a
moving patriotic Sunday at Liberty Baptist Church in Pine Bluff, AR.
On a personal note Dottie had to have another facial skin biopsy and the biopsy
revealed another squamous cell carsinoma which will have to be removed on
August 18. We would ask your prayers that the skin cancer will be confined to a
small area and be successfully removed.
I would ask that you pray for my scheduled trip to Europe next month to visit some
of our military churches to sound the call for more missionaries to our U.S. military
around the world. I believe those who are benefiting from military missions are the
ones who should be most open to the challenge. We will invite men from our
European military churches to a special Saturday meeting where we will talk in
depth about military missions and answer any questions they might have. If you
would like to help with the expenses of this trip you can send your offering to our
BIMI account. The address is Baptist International Missions, P.O. Box 9215,
Chattanooga, TN, 37412 and mark your check 'Tom Lancaster, Account 1331'.
The plane ticket and car rental will be approximately $1600.
The Lancasters
- Serving as the European Military Field Coordinator for Baptist International Missions -
May-June
2015 Prayer Letter
Dear Prayer Partners,
For the eighth year it was my and Dottie's
privilege to minister at Calvary Baptist Church in Daegu, S. Korea, in their
annual mission's conference. For the
past two years we have stayed for several weeks following the conference in
order to give the missionary/pastor and his dear wife an opportunity to take a
brief, and well deserved, furlough. Even
though the church has experienced one of their most challenging loss of members
due to the military rotation, we had a good conference and they were able to
begin increasing their mission's support
that had to be decreased because of the rotation. It was a real blessing for Dottie and me to be
able to serve the military families, as well as the Korean families, while the pastor was away. We love traveling on behalf of military
missions, but we must confess that we do miss the hands on, day to day
relationship with a church family
Thanks Pastor Ferguson and Calvary Baptist for giving us this
opportunity.
In addition to our four weeks in South
Korea, we have been in six other
churches during May and June trying to raise the awareness of the need for
military missions and missionaries to serve the military around the world. We had a great meeting at Grace Baptist in Middletown,
OH where it was my privilege to teach Sunday School and preach the morning and
evening service. Dr. Max Fernandez is
the new pastor and doing a wonderful job.
The auditorium was packed and we felt the same sweet spirit that has
been at Grace for so many years. All of
June we were on the west coast. We began
in Oregon at Timberline Baptist Church in Sherwood, OR. They are without a pastor now, but the
assistant pastor, Bro. John Couillette, is doing a great job filling in the gap
until a new pastor is called. Dottie led
both Bro. Couillette and his wife (then fiancée) to the Lord when they began
attending our church when he was a soldier in Mannheim, Germany over 20 years
ago. We were also with Pastor Rick
Donley at Willamette Valley Baptist Church in Aumsville, OR; Pastor Rick Stonestreet, Calvary Baptist
Church in Fairfield, CA; and we will be
with Pastor Jonathan Fountain and New Life Baptist Church in Castaic, CA this
weekend.
We praise the Lord for providing the means
for us to attend the West Coast Baptist College graduation of three of our
former kids from Rhein River Baptist Church in Germany. One was the son of a former military soldier,
one was a German young lady who was saved the first Sunday she attended our
church about six years ago and one was a French-Angolan young woman whose
entire family was saved at our church in Germany. This shows the diversity of a military
church on a foreign field. All three are
going into full time Christian service.
Our hearts are overflowing!
Please pray with us about the special need
that we have for two important upcoming ministry opportunities in Germany and
the Philippines.
May the Lord bless you.
The Lancasters
- Serving
as the European Military Field Coordinator for Baptist International Missions -
March/April 2015
Dear
Friends and Prayer Partners,
Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I
will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold
thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Isaiah 41:10. How thankful we are for this
precious promise from God. We have
claimed God's peace, strength and help in the past few days as Dottie has faced
some unexpected medical issues. Through
surgery to remove a serious skin cancer ,
a skin graft and breast biopsy that was found to be benign, we have much
for which to be thankful. We appreciate
so many of our friends and prayer partners praying with us during this time.
In the past few weeks we have seen God do some
marvelous things. I was privileged to
preach the mission's conference at our home church, Central Baptist in Panama
City, FL. Our pastor reported that it
was the largest Faith-Promise commitment that had been received in the years he
has been pastor. We were able to take on
three new missionary families. We also
had a great mission's conference at Willamette Baptist Church in Aumsville,
OR. The church saw a 30% increase in
their Faith Promise commitments. There
was such a sweet spirit in this good church.
In the mission's revival at Lakewood Baptist Church in Powderly, TX we
saw four precious souls come to know Christ as Savior. I spoke in chapel at Crown College in March
and had a good response from the students.
Following chapel I met with about 20 students who indicated an interest
in Military Missions. We will be
following up on these students. We are
now in Daegu, S. Korea at Calvary Baptist Church where I am preaching their
mission's conference and then relieving the missionary/pastor for four
weeks. We thank the Lord for these
opportunities to serve Him and we praise Him for every good thing that has been
done.
FRUIT THAT REMAINS - We have many stories of victories
won from our twenty years serving our military in Germany. But none sweeter than Marina Francisco. While our church, Rhein River Baptist,
primarily served our U.S. military stationed in Mannheim, Germany, we also
reached many nationals and internationals.
Marina's dad, an Angolan refugee, was saved as a result of randomly
passing by our church and asking to come in to use the restroom. One of our soldiers led him to Christ before
he left that day. Subsequently he
brought his French wife and three little daughters to church, Their oldest daughter, Marina, was around 11
years old and began attending Dottie's Sunday School class. Because she spoke very little English Dottie
met with her on Tuesdays to help her with her Sunday School lesson. On one of those Tuesdays Marina received
Christ as her Savior. She began to grow
in the Lord and had a desire to serve Him.
As she got older Marina felt God calling her into His service. Her desire was to go to Bible College in the
states, but for many reasons that looked
almost impossible. But with God ALL
THINGS are possible! To make a long
story shorter, by faith, and with the help of some of our people, this young teenager who had never traveled
much outside of Germany boarded a plane
alone and headed to Bible College in the
states. For four years she has worked
hard, studied hard and has been a testimony for Christ. She has seen her family only 2 or 3 times
because of finances. On May 6 Marina
will graduate from West Coast Baptist College. Unfortunately her family will not be able to
attend. Dottie and I have asked the Lord
to let us be there to love and support her when she graduates. She already has a position secured as a K-5
teacher in a Christian School in Canoga Park, CA when she graduates. Please pray for Marina.
Tom and Dottie Lancaster
* Serving as the
European Military Field Coordinator for Baptist International Missions *
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015
Dear Friends and Prayer Partners,
What a grand thing to have a brand new year before us with all the opportunities and prospects it holds. 2014 was both a blessing and a challenge. We spent nearly three months in Daegu, South Korea, relieving beloved missionary friends while they took a short furlough. We traveled many thousands of miles in the states challenging churches and individuals for the need to get the gospel to a lost world. And of course our heart's special burden is for our U.S. military around the world. We are thankful that God continues to open doors for us to serve Him. We were in 26 churches last year for mission's conferences and/or mission's Sundays. In all of these we were able to challenge folks with the need for more missionaries to our military. It was my honor to preach the ordination service for Bill Ensley, who is beginning deputation to raise his support to go to Germany to work with a veteran missionary to the military. We praise the Lord that we have two men now serving military churches in Germany who God allowed us to have a small part in their getting to the field. And another couple, now working hard raising support to go to Germany, surrendered their lives to missions when I preached in their Bible college. To God be the glory! We want to see this happen many times again. One of our goals for 2015 is to get into more Bible colleges. I will be speaking at Crown College in a few weeks and will have the opportunity after chapel to have a special session for any students who are interested in military missions. I ask that you would pray with us about this opportunity.
In January I preached a mission's Sunday at Westwood Baptist Church in Fort Walton Beach, FL. Greg Wells, pastor. I was also honored in January to preach a weekend mission's revival at our sending church, Open Bible Baptist Church in Valdosta, GA, Dr. Carrol Joye, pastor. As we get this prayer letter ready to send out we are finishing a couple's retreat in Rome, GA for Calvary Harvest Baptist Church, McDonough, GA , Dr. Craig Bennett, pastor. Dr. and Mrs. David McCoy were also part of the retreat and were a real blessing. Bro. Bennett and Bro. McCoy are two of our supporting pastors and it is always a blessing to be with them. We will finish February with meetings in Anniston, AL with Dr. Bud Grinstead , Trinity Baptist Church and then Liberty Baptist Church, Lacey, WA, Bro. Mike Kinney, pastor. As always we covet your prayers that God would use us for His honor and glory.
It has been a blessing to go soul-winning with my home pastor, Dr. Bruce Barton, on occasions when we have been home. On one of those recent occasions we were able to lead a young man to Christ who followed the Lord in baptism and has been attending our church regularly. I am thankful for a pastor who loves souls. Recently I was blessed to meet missionary Jimmy Odom, who was one of the men who helped to plant Rhein River Baptist Church in Mannheim, Germany back in the 80s. This, of course, was the military church I pastored for 20 years. It was an emotional meeting for both of us.
Every two years I host a tour to the beaches of Normandy. It is a tour that will stir your patriotism like nothing else. Many who have gone on the tour have said it was one of the major highlights of their life. This will be my eighth tour and the dates are July 19- 24, 2015. If you would like more information concerning the tour please email me at tomdottiel@yahoo.com.
Thank you for your love, support and prayers.
The Lancasters.
* Serving as European Military Field Coordinator for Baptist International Missions*
2014 CHRISTMAS PRAYER LETTER
Dear
Friends and Prayer Partners,
Dottie
and I want to wish you a wonderful, Christ-centered Christmas and thank you for
standing with us in the great cause of world evangelism, especially the evangelization and support of
our United States military. As far as
our military is concerned, reaching them for Christ and supporting them and
their families is needed now more than ever.
We ask you to please pray for our troops who will be separated from
their families during the Christmas season.
Try to think of all of the things that many of them have missed that we
take for granted: Christmases,
birthdays, graduations, births, etc.
We
thank the Lord for the privilege of being used in His service. We also thank the Lord for faithful
supporters, both in prayer, financial support, as well as encouragement over
these years. Since our last prayer
letter we have had the joy of seeing
people saved, as well as others surrendering to full time Christian
service. Among the highlights of the
past couple of months was a mission's conference at Forest Hills Independent
Baptist Church in Hartsville, SC.. I
planted this church in 1967 and it is still a vibrant, growing church pastored by Bro. Jim
Murray who was saved as a teenager while I was pastor of the church. I was
also in Open Bible Baptist Church, Williamstown, NJ, pastored by Bro. George
Riddell. The pastor had done such a good
job in preparation and there were great missionaries present in the
conference. There was a good increase in
commitments and all five missionary families were taken on for support.
We
spent the month of November in the west and northwest. One of the highlights of our west coast trip
was the Mission's Conference at Lacey, WA.
Bro. Mike Kinney is the long time pastor of Temple Baptist Church. Over the years he has received many of the soldiers
from our church in Germany who were transferred to Ft. Lewis. Several years ago he received twelve of our
families from Rhein River Baptist Church at one time. We had a great victory in the mission's
conference at Temple. There were people
saved and God worked in the hearts of
Christians. As a result of a 35%
increase in mission's commitments the missionaries at the conference who were
in need of support were taken on. It was
also a blessing to preach the closing service of the mission's conference at
Lancaster Baptist Church, Lancaster, CA
where Dr. Paul Chappell is the good pastor.
Bro. and Mrs. Chappell are such
gracious hosts and dear friends. Every speaker was anointed of God, the
mission's presentations were moving, there were people saved, and several
surrendered to full time Christian service.
Two declared to me that they were surrendering to military
missions. Their mission's commitments
went over $1,000,000.00. On the Sunday
through Tuesday, Veteran's Day, Dottie and I were with Bro. and Mrs. Ted
Patterson, Jacksonville Baptist Temple in Jacksonville, AR, near Little Rock
Air Force base, for a Patriotic Rally.
This brother is doing a great job and I am tremendously excited about what the
Lord is doing through this church and pastor.
This next year will see us returning to Korea to assist in a military
church there and also to Germany for a special military ministry project.
We
want to close on a note of praise and thanksgiving for God's blessings on our son, Mark. He had
his seventh back related surgery just a few weeks ago, He has suffered so greatly in the past two
years but at this writing the last surgery appears to have been successful and he
is almost completely free of the debilitating nerve pain he has had. Praise the Lord!!!! Please pray for Mark and Julie as they seek
God's perfect will for their future.
And please continue to pray for Dottie and me to be yielded vessels that
God can use.
The Lancasters
2014 JULY/AUGUST PRAYER LETTER
Dear Friends and Prayer Partners,
On July 14 we returned from ten weeks of relief ministry at Calvary Baptist Church in Daegu, S. Korea. This is a military church that is very close to my and Dottie's heart. We have been going there for their annual mission's conference for many years and the missionary/pastor and his wife are spiritual children from our former military church in Germany. We spent a day or two each week on the base witnessing, inviting and giving out tracts to soldiers. It was a blessing to see three new families come into the church while we were there and we understand from Pastor Ferguson that they are already active in ministry. Praise the Lord! The wife of one of the families was a young single in our ministry in Germany. What a blessing to find spiritual children all over the world......the reward of military missions.
On our first Sunday back I preached a military appreciation service at Bethel Baptist Church in Walls, MS. This great church, just outside of Memphis, is pastored by Dr. Ron Westmoreland. Bethel Baptist sponsors Tri-State Baptist College where men and women are being trained to serve the Lord. It was my honor to teach there for seven years while pastoring in Memphis. Dr. Westmoreland invites me to teach and preach at the college on a fairly regular basis trying to challenge young men to consider giving their lives to take the gospel to our U.S. military. Patrick and Sheila Wolfe surrendered to military missions on one of those occasions and are now BIMI missionaries on deputation and raising their support to go to Germany.
July 23-25 was our biennial Rhein River Reunion that we have been holding for over ten years now. It has been two years now since our base closed in Mannheim, Germany. Dottie and I spent twenty wonderful years serving our soldiers and their families stationed there; so as you can imagine these reunions are more precious to us now than ever before. Former members came from as far back as our first year on the field. It is always a little touch of heaven.
As we write this prayer letter I am just finishing a military emphasis Sunday at First Baptist Church, Black River, NY, pastored by Bro. Jack Young. This church ministers to the Ft. Drum military community. We praise the Lord that one soldier was saved in the meeting.
On a personal note of praise we celebrated Dottie's 71st birthday with all the family together. We are thankful that the results of cardiac tests she had this month were good. We ask your prayers for two upcoming cataract surgeries that she will have soon.
Please pray for us as we continue to get into as many churches and Bible colleges that we can to raise the awareness of the need for more military missionaries to get the gospel to our troops. We leave next month on a five week ministry trip to the west coast. We thank you for your love, prayers, encouragement and support.
Tom and Dottie Lancaster
May/June 2014 Prayer Letter
Dear Friends and Prayer Partners,
As we write this prayer letter we are in our sixth week of relief ministry at Calvary Baptist Church in Daegu, S. Korea, with four weeks to go. It has been a blessing for Dottie and me to fill in here so that the missionary/pastor and his wife, Bro. and Mrs. Larry Ferguson, can have a much needed short furlough. It has been so good to once again have a hands on ministry in a military church. It has been a personal blessing for us to fill in for the Fergusons because they are products of our ministry in Germany. Bro. Ferguson was saved at Rhein River Baptist Church in the early 90s while he was stationed at Mannheim and soon afterward they surrendered their lives to the mission field. They have been serving our U.S. military in S. Korea for over ten years and doing a great job.
I have enjoyed going to the base (Camp Walker) a couple of times a week witnessing and passing out tracts. We have many opportunities to pass out tracts to Koreans as well. There are quite a few English speaking Koreans in the church and we're praying that God will send a translator soon for the benefit of the few Koreans who do not understand English well. We have had several visitors to the services in the past few weeks. Two single women who are here in Korea as teachers have been coming - one is from Ireland and one is from South Africa. We do ask that you pray that we can reach more military families while we are here.
Dottie has had a severe case of bronchitis since we have been here. She had to take several trips to the doctor but she seems to be over it now. She has had had the opportunity to teach the junior Sunday School class, host a ladies' Bible study and luncheon and help with the music and church office work. These are things she loves to do and doesn't have the opportunity as much since we are normally traveling most of the time.
Since our last prayer letter we have seen our oldest granddaughter, Emily Joy Lancaster, graduate from Bible college. Emily is such a precious young woman with a heart to serve God and others. Her burden is for the deaf and we ask that you pray that God will lead her into His perfect will for her life. On another personal note, I praise the Lord that I was able to celebrate my 74th birthday on May 9. God is good! Other than an occasional visit from one of the 'ritus brothers I feel great and look forward to many more years serving the Lord. I want to ask you to please continue to pray for our son, Mark, a BIMI missionary to the U.S. military, who is still dealing with very serious and painful health issues. In spite of his health issues he continues to serve God faithfully. We ask you to pray for his physical needs and also for the tremendous financial burden that nine surgeries in two years has amassed.
We will fly back to the states on July 14 and have a very full schedule for the rest of the year.
Our hearts desire is to get the gospel to our U.S. military. Please pray that God will give more laborers for the field. Thank you for your love, prayers and support for Dottie and I.
We are always aware of the fact we could not do what we do without the help from our supporting churches and friends.
Love In Christ,
The Lancasters
March/April 2014 Prayer Letter
Dear Friends and Prayer Partners,
It is a blessing to report to you what God has been doing in our lives in the past few weeks and opportunities we have in the next few weeks. We are preparing to leave for Daegu, S. Korea on May 7 for ten weeks of relief ministry for missionaries Larry and Kay Ferguson. The Fergusons minister to Camps Walker, Henry and George in Daegu. We are looking forward to this great opportunity of service. The Fergusons are products of our military ministry in Germany and are doing a great work there in Daegu. Please pray that the Lord will use us to win precious souls and to disciple the saints in this good military work.
In the past six weeks I have preached in mission's conferences and military emphasis Sundays in Georgia, Illinois, South Carolina, Virginia and Michigan. It was a special blessing to be in three churches that minister to our military. We had a great mission's conference with Pastor Jeremy Rands at Grace Baptist Church in Columbus, GA. This church ministers to the soldiers at Ft. Benning. The Lord blessed in the mission's conference with Dr. Scott Baker, pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Belleville, IL This good church ministers to Scott Air Force Base. God also blessed in the mission's conference at Hampton Road Baptist Church where Dr. Roger Sebrell is the good pastor. This church ministers to Langley Air Force Base. I just finished a mission's conference at Parker Memorial Baptist Church in Lansing, MI. It was a blessing to get to know the pastor, Dr. Don Green, who is still going strong for the Lord at 84 years of age. I believe all these churches saw good increases in their Faith Promise commitments. And we rejoice over 5 precious souls that came to know the Lord.
We ask your prayers as we prepare to move to Florida this month. God has used long time friends to provide an amazing housing opportunity for us there. We will miss our family, friends and church here in Chattanooga, but they all agree with us that this opportunity is from the Lord and that we should not pass it up. Our ministry does not restrict us to any certain area so our new home base will be Panama City. We have already met with Dr. Bruce Barton, the pastor of Central Baptist Church, where we will be placing our church membership. Open Bible Baptist Church in Valdosta, GA remains our sending church as it has been for nearly 25 years.
On April 5 Dottie and I celebrated our 51st wedding anniversary. We have so much to be thankful for! God has blessed us with children and grandchildren who love us and love and serve the Lord. We are blessed with friends and spiritual children all over the world. And what an incredible blessing it has been for us to serve the Lord together these 51 years. We look forward to serving Him for many, many more years to come.
God has given me unusual opportunities for personal soul-winning this year. For the second time in recent days the Lord opened the opportunity to witness to a server in a restaurant and she was sweetly saved. I was eating out with a family in Lexington, SC and God had this young ladies' heart prepared. These divine appointments never cease to amaze me.
Thank you for praying for us. We need your prayers.
Love in Christ,
Tom and Dottie Lancaster
January/February 2014
Friends and Prayer Partners,
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." Mark 16:15.
Dottie and I thank you for your prayers for us as we have entered into a new year with new challenges and new opportunities for sharing the gospel and trying to raise the awareness of the need for military missions and missionaries to serve our troops wherever they are in the world. God is opening doors for us to get into churches near military bases to be able to encourage and instruct the pastor in effective ways to reach the military in their area. In January we were in independent Baptist churches near military bases in Visalia, CA, Charleston, SC and Sumter, SC. In February we were at Central Baptist in Panama City, FL, near Tyndall Air Force Base and we will finish up the month in churches near Millington Naval Air Station and Camp LeJuene, NC. Several of these good pastors are already trying to reach the military in their area but are looking for ways to be more effective. Please pray for us that we can be a help in this way.
While in Visalia, CA I was introduced to a 94 year old World War II veteran named Manuel Toledo. He was twice wounded in combat, once in the Aleutian Island of Attu and once in the Philippines. He was thought to have been dead due to the injuries in the Philippines and was placed among the dead when someone discovered he still had a faint heart beat. It was a true honor for me, on the behalf of BIMI, to be able to present him tokens of appreciation for his extraordinary service to our country.
Dottie and I had the opportunity to speak at Mt. Abiram's annual International Conference on World Evangelism in Ft. Worth in January. It was a blessing to see how God is using this mission agency to get the gospel out around the world. We were also privileged to speak to couple's from Calvary's Harvest Baptist Church, McDonough, GA. at their first annual Couple's Retreat. It is always a blessing to be able to share the things God has taught us (and is teaching us) in these 51 years of marriage.
As we enter into 2014 Dottie and I begin our 48th year serving the Lord together. We praise the Lord for this great blessing. Thank you for praying for us. We need your prayers. And PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR TROOPS.
Love In Christ,
The Lancasters
~ Christmas 2013 ~
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Dear Friends and
Prayer Partners,
"Hark the herald
angels sing, “Glory to the newborn king." Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled." - Charles
Wesley. In the midst of all of the
sights, sounds, excitement and blessings of the season, let us not forget that
the purpose of Christmas is as Charles Wesley wrote: reconciliation. God, before the foundation of the world,
ordained to bring repentant, lost sinners to himself through the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. He has not
only reconciled us to Himself but has given us a ministry of
reconciliation and a word of reconciliation to guide us in this ministry. Our message is very simple - be reconciled
to God through His Son, Jesus Christ. II Corinthians 5:18-21. And that is what Dottie and I have been
doing together now for over 50 years. In
the last 20 plus years God has directed
our focus primarily to the United Sates military and
their families in Germany through preaching, soul-winning, discipleship, church
planting and advancing the cause of missions.
We thank the Lord that He has given us the opportunity to reach other
nationalities, tongues and peoples along the way.
Since our military base
closed in Germany over a year ago, we
have had adjustments, new opportunities,
new challenges and many blessings and our mission remains the same - - reconciling
men to God. Our field is the United
States military and one of the great needs we have in reaching our troops is
for His people to see the great potential and the great responsibility we have
in getting the gospel to them wherever they are....MORE LABORERS! Dottie and I have traveled thousands of miles
this year trying to challenge people with this great need. Yesterday I received a phone call from a
young man who surrendered to military missions through our ministry. He is now at 65% support and preparing to take the gospel to our troops in Europe.. I received an email this morning from a man in a church where I
will be preaching just after the first of the year. He heard me preach and bare my heart for
military missions while I was speaking at the Bible College where he attends
and he feels God calling Him to take the gospel to our troops. Another
fine couple from this same Bible College surrendered to military missions
over two years ago when I spoke there
and they are now on deputation. I am now
in contact with over 25 men, women and families that have responded this past
year to the message of military missions.
Please pray for more laborers and pray for us as we desire to be used to
reconcile men to our great God.
Merry Christmas and
Happy New Year.
Tom and Dottie Lancaster
November 2013
Dear Friends and Prayer Partners,
Happy Thanksgiving! Dottie and I send our love and best wishes to
all of our supporting pastors, churches and prayer partners. We hope you are able to share this special season
with those you love. Every year that
passes we realize how precious family is and Thanksgiving is such a wonderful
time to be together.
We thank the Lord for the many opportunities we have
had in the past few weeks to raise the awareness of missions, and in particular
the need to get the gospel to our U.S. military around the world. One of the most special services we have had
recently was at Calvary Baptist Church in Ft. Walton Beach, FL with Pastor Mark Stevens. I
preached to nearly 200 veterans, active duty personnel and their families for a
moving Veteran's Day celebration. Afterwards
we were able to fellowship with them over a
delicious meal.
Our travels in the past eight weeks have taken us to
Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, West Virginia and Florida. In every church we have presented the need
for men, women and couples who will carry the gospel to our sons and daughters
who are serving our country, particularly in foreign lands. Please pray with us that we will see many
answer the call to go.
God continues to open up opportunities to speak in
our good independent Baptist colleges to present the field of military
missions. I recently spoke at Crown
College and was able to follow up the chapel service with a special meeting
with all students who were interested in the field of military missions. Over 20 students attended the meeting
indicating they were praying about military missions. We have followed up with correspondence and
will continue to follow up in the days ahead.
Dottie and I had the special privilege of
ministering together in a couple's retreat in Gatlinburg, TN, sponsored by
Bethel Baptist Church, Walls, MS. We
were able to share many things that God has taught us over the 50 years we have
journeyed together. The pastor, Dr. Ron
Westmoreland and his wife, Kim, are special friends and we were blessed to be
with them and the fine couples from their church.
It was a
great honor to preach in the mission's conference at our sending church, Open
Bible Baptist in Valdosta, GA., Dr. Carrol Joye, pastor. On Sunday morning I spoke to over 100 people
in their Spanish church and at the close of the service eight precious souls
came forward for salvation. What a
blessed day!! It was also an honor to
preach the mission's conference in our home church, Moriah Baptist, Bro. Randy
Lynn, pastor. We saw God do some good
things in both conferences and we are so thankful for these dear pastors and
churches.
I am thankful for the unusual opportunity to lead a
waitress to the Lord recently who was serving our table in a restaurant in
Albany, GA.. God had all things
prepared. Praise His name!
The Lancasters
Sent by: Open Bible
Baptist Church, Valdosta, GA * Sent
through: Baptist International Missions
Email:
tomdottiel@yahoo.com * Phone:
706-581-4273 * Blog: lancasterstothemilitary.blogspot.com
August/September 2013
And he said unto them, Go ye into
all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." Mark 16:15.
One
year ago our U.S. military base in Mannheim, Germany closed and we said goodbye
to our last military family at Rhein River Baptist Church where Dottie and I
served for 20 years. Leaving Germany was
perhaps the most difficult thing we have ever had to do. But we have found that peace and joy in
serving God is not based on a place, or even a people, but in being in God's
perfect will. Today we have perfect joy
and peace in the new ministry to the military that God has called us to. As military missionaries we have given the
rest of our lives to reaching our troops with the gospel, raising the awareness
of military missions in conferences and
special services , aiding military churches in any way we can and trying to
recruit more missionaries to the military, especially in our good independent
Baptist Bible Colleges. We are thankful that our schedule has been full
and we have seen God do some wonderful things in meetings. We
have had the joy of seeing 2 precious souls come to know
the Lord this month. We ask for
your prayers as we endeavor with God's help to serve Him.
Since
our last prayer letter our travels have taken us to Germany, France, South
Carolina, Arkansas, Mississippi, Georgia and Tennessee. In July I hosted a
group of pastors and BIMI missionaries on a tour of the beaches in Normandy,
France. It was a blessed time of thanksgiving for our
brave soldiers who gave so much for our freedom. I had the opportunity to preach in two
military churches in Germany as well as our old church which transitioned to an
international church. We had a very
special meeting at Forest Hills Independent Baptist Church in Hartsville,
SC, the church that we planted over 40
years ago and I pastored for nearly 10 years.
A special blessing is that many of the current congregation were there 40
years ago and the man who is pastor now was saved and called to preach as a
teenager when I was pastor. Another
special blessing was participating in the 40th anniversary of Tri-State Baptist
College in Walls, MS, a ministry of Bethel Baptist Church. I taught there for 7 years while I
pastored in Memphis and it continues to be an outstanding training center for
young men and women who want to serve God.
The pastor and president of the college, Dr. Ron Westmoreland, has opened the door for me to come on a
regular basis to present military missions and try to recruit some military
missionaries.
Dottie
and I thank you for your faithful prayers and support of our ministry to the
military. Please continue to pray for
us.
The Lancasters
Sent by: Open Bible
Baptist Church, Valdosta, GA * Sent
through: Baptist International Missions
Email:
tomdottiel@yahoo.com * Phone:
706-581-4273 * Blog: lancasterstothemilitary.blogspot.com
June 2013
Dear friends and prayer partners,
Dottie and I have taken as our ministry verse, "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." As we travel the world on behalf of military missions we want to be aware of "every creature." In the pas tmonth we have seen four "creatures" that are precious to God come to know Him as their personal Savior. Praise the Lord!! Our travels this month have taken us to
Georgia, California and Arizona.
On June 3-7, 2013 the annual candidate school was held at the Baptist International Mission’s mission center. Four new couples were accepted as missionaries for the field of military missions. Dottie and I have had the privilege of helping and encouraging two of the couples as they prayed and considered the field of military
missions. Patrick and Sheila Wolfe surrendered to military missions when I preached at Bethel Baptist Church and Tri-State Baptist College in Walls, MS acouple of years ago. Dottie and I had the honor of pinning them on the final night of candidate school. They are open to wherever the Lord wants them to go, but they have a love for Germany. Jason and Leah Harvell were also accepted as military missionaries and are well into deputation. The Harvells came over to our church inGermany for a short internship and were a real blessing to us. They will be going to serve in Germany. One of our great burdens is to try and reach more couples who will surrender to take the gospel to our U.S. military around the world. Will you please pray that God will continue to use us to get the gospel to our troops?
Pinning the Wolfes at the closing night of candidate school
Jason and Leah Harvell
It was a blessing for me to preach two patriotic services in the past few weeks. These are always excellent opportunities to emphasize the need for planting military churches, especially on foreign soil. I preached the Memorial Day service at Berean Baptist Church in McDonough, GA. and the fourth of July service at our home church, Moriah Baptist Church in Ft. Oglethorpe, GA. The pastors, Bro. Mike Pinson and Bro. Randy Lynn are dear friends and have a real heart for missions, and in particular the field of military missions. Dottie spoke to the ladies during the Sunday School hour in both of these churches.
We want to take this opportunity to thank the Lord for His watch care over our son Mark during his recent spinal surgery. This was Mark's fourth back related surgery in the past few months and by far the most extensive and serious. He continues to heal each day and PRAISE THE LORD since his surgery he has not
had the debilitating nerve pain that he has suffered with for so long. Please continue to pray for him and for Julie as their hearts are longing to be back to their work in Germany. He is praying that he can be back by the end of the summer if all goes well.
Thank you, dear friends, for your love, prayers and support for us. We appreciate it from the bottom of our hearts.
May 2013
God Is
Good - All The Time
Dottie and I praise the
Lord for the opportunity to serve Him together these fifty plus years -
especially these past 21 years trying to get the gospel to our U.S. military
around the world. In the past few months
we have traveled many thousands of miles speaking in churches and Bible
Colleges on behalf of world-wide missions and particularly the field of
military missions.. Our next project will be a trip to Romania in
2014 to further evaluate the opportunities at the U.S. military air base in Kogalniceanu.
On a personal note Dottie and I recently celebrated our 50th wedding
anniversary and I my 73rd birthday. God
has been so good to us. Praise His name!
God's
Divine Appointments
I love when God orchestrates divine appointments
in our lives. Recently we had to rent a vehicle
at a meeting in California. A rep from
the car agency brought the vehicle to our hotel. On our way back to the agency
the conversation turned to
spiritual things and It was soon obvious
that God had arranged this meeting and prepared this woman’s heart. When we arrived at the rental agency we were
able to take the Scriptures and lead her to the Lord. We were able to give her name and address to
the pastor for follow up and we have emailed with her.
New
Military Missionary Candidate
One
of our goals and burdens is to raise the awareness for the need of more missionaries to take the gospel to
our troops stationed on foreign fields around the world. A man who surrendered his life to military
missions when I spoke at Bethel Baptist Church and Tri-State Baptist College in
Walls, MS has just been accepted for the June candidate school at BIMI. Please pray for Patrick Wolfe
Mission's
Trip To South Korea
For several years it has
been our privilege to hold the annual mission’s conference at Calvary Baptist Church in Daegu, S.
Korea.. We saw God do some amazing
things this year. Two men surrendered to
full time Christian service, the Faith Promise commitments were increased significantly
and the church took on new missionaries. The missionaries at this great
military church, Larry and Kay Ferguson, surrendered their lives to military
missions at our church in Germany.
More
Fruit of Military Missions
Another blessing of
military missions on a foreign field is the opportunity to reach many
nationalities. While God has called us
to the field of military missions, during our 20 years in Germany we did our
best to give the gospel to "every creature." On April 14
I was blessed to preach the ordination and commissioning service for
Stefan Calin, a Romanian who was saved at Rhein River Baptist Church in
Germany. He and his family have
completed deputation and are on their way to Romania. We were also blessed to attend the graduation
of Alex Abraham at Crown College on May 6.
Alex is from Eritrea and was also saved at Rhein River Baptist Church. After post graduate work he is planning on
returning to his homeland with the gospel.
See lancasterstothemilitary.blogspot.com.
Alex Abraham
The Calin Family
With grateful hearts,
Tom and Dottie Lancaster
March/April 2013
Fifty Wonderful Years:
On April 5 Dottie and I celebrated a wonderful milestone in our lives - our 50th wedding anniversary. God has blessed us with a love that has grown deeper and deeper over the years. What a blessing to serve the Lord with the love of your life. God has given us precious children who love and honor us and four grandchildren that bring so much joy to our lives. God has been so good to us!
Faith for the Family Couple’s Retreat:
It was a privilege for Dottie and me to speak at this year’s Faith for the Family Couple’s Retreat in Gatlinburg, TN. We were not only blessed to speak, but also just to be at the conference. Dr. Eddie amd Jamie Lapino were also speakers and they were a real blessing. There was such a sweet spirit in the meeting.
Dottie and I with the Lapinos at the Couple's Retreat
Military Emphasis Sundays:
One of our goals is to raise the awareness of the need in the field of military missions and the need for more missionaries who will take the gospel to our U.S. military and their familes, especially on foreign fields. In the past iweeks we have presented the field of military missions in these churches: Open Bible Baptist, Valdosta, Ga * Grand View Baptist, Beaver Creek, OR * Greater Portland Baptist, Portland, OR * Valley Baptist, Aumsville, OR * Galilee Baptist, Stevensville, MO * Lighthous Baptist, Misula, MO * Liberty Baptist, Republic, WA and Mose Lake Baptist, Moses Lake, WA.
In most every church we have been in we have seen the Lord dealing with people’s hearts about military missions. We would ask for you to pray that God will continue to work in hearts and that we will see fruit from these meeings.
Two Great Mission’s Conferences:
We saw the Lord do some great things in mission’s conference at Faith Baptist Church in Canoga Park, CA and Faith Baptist Church in Spokane, WA. These two churches have a real heart for missions and missionaries and we saw God do some amazing things that will further the gospel around the world.
A Great Week at West Coast Baptist College:
A highlight for us this past month was spending a few days on the campus of West Coast Baptist College speaking in chapel and visiting with several students who came through our church in Mannheim, Germany. What a blessing to see these young people,. Several were just junior age when they were in Germany, and now they are going on to serve the Lord. A special blessing was seeing two of our international students who were saved in our church in Germany and are so excited about serving the Lord. We had a little get together for our kids as well as a couple of missionary kids from Germany and had a wonderful time.
With grateful hearts,
Tom and Dottie Lancaster
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013
Dear Friends,
Psalm 37:23 - "The steps of a good man are ordered by the
Lord: and he delighteth in his way." Dottie and I are thankful
for God's leadership in our lives, and especially for his leadership in these
past few months. We believe that God is giving us a greater opportunity
to make an impact for the cause of Christ through military missions. Our
desire is to see the lost come to know him, to disciple new believers and to
aid and facilitate the spread of the gospel through helping to start churches
near military bases around the world.
In November when Dottie and I returned from Korea it was obvious
that I was going to have to have surgery on my right knee. Consequently
the first part of January was spent with doctor's visits
and ultimately surgery for two torn meniscus. After some
therapy and a couple of week's recovery time we are once again back to our
"main task." I was recently at Tri-State Baptist College in
Walls, MS, a good independent Baptist college sponsored by Bethel Baptist
Church. I preached in all the services on Sunday and presented military
missions. One teenage young man accepted the Lord as his Savior.
On Monday I taught 2 hours on military missions in the college and
preached the chapel service. Five men and one young lady indicated
that they were interested in and would be praying concerning military missions.
One man who was at all the Sunday services and has already graduated from
Bible College is ready to begin initial steps toward military ministry.
Their pastor, Dr. Ron Westmoreland, is excited about the possibility of
these folks serving the Lord through military missions and we have already put
them in touch with BIMI military ministry and our director has corresponded
with them. Please pray for these folks that they will follow God's
leading.
Bethel Baptist Church and College
As I write this prayer letter we are finishing a mission's
conference at Lakewood Baptist Church in Powderly, TX. The pastor has
allowed me to put special emphasis on military missions and the need for
military missionaries. On Sunday morning we saw two young people, a
brother and sister, follow the Lord in believer's baptism.
There are several U.S. military bases around the world that need
a good independent Baptist church near them. Dottie and I are
particularly burdened for three areas: Constanta, Romania;
Stuttgart, Germany and Darwin, Australia. 1. Please pray
that God will send forth laborers who we can train and who will go with us to
plant churches. 2. Pray that God will supply the funds to do any
ground work that is needed. 3. Pray that we can see more people
surrender their lives to take the gospel to our U.S. military.
We cannot begin to tell you how much we appreciate your love,
prayers and support for our ministry with our U.S. military. Thank you
from the bottom of our hearts.
With grateful hearts,
Tom and Dottie Lancaster
CHRISTMAS 2012
Dear Family and Friends,
This has already been a wonderful holiday season for the
Lancaster family. For the first time in
twenty years we were able to spend Thanksgiving with all our children and
grandchildren. Of the twenty years we
served in Germany the toughest times were being away from family, especially on
holidays and birthdays. It was a joyous
day for Dottie and me. Lots of tears
were shed as we took turns sharing the things for which we were thankful this
year. The one thing that we all were
most thankful for was the salvation of our youngest grandchild, Haley
Grace. Haley is six years old and she
asked Jesus to be her Savior in an after school Good News Club. We are all still rejoicing!
We are anticipating the blessings of this Christmas season with
the opportunity to devote a lot of our attention to our family. Our son and daughter-in-law, Mark and Julie,
missionaries to the military in Wiesbaden, Germany, have had to come back to
the states for a short medical furlough.
As we write this prayer letter it has been two days since he underwent a
spinal fusion surgery on his neck. We
are thankful that the surgery went well and now we are waiting to see if he
will need further surgery on his lower back.
We ask that you would please pray with us about these needs.
We just returned from a four week mission trip which began in
Sherwood, OR at Timberline Baptist Church where Bro. Jared Rhodes is the good
pastor. His very able and trusted
assistant pastor is Bro. John Couillette. Bro. Couillette and his wife both accepted
Christ soldier at Rhein River Baptist Church in Germany, when he was stationed
there. Dottie led them to the Lord after a morning
service. He got out of the military,
graduated from Bible College and has been working at Timberline for many
years. Dottie and I I love this family
and rejoice that they are "fruit that remains" from military
missions. The people responded
tremendously in their commitment to reach souls both near and far. It was the largest Faith-Promise commitment
that the church had ever had.
We spent three weeks in Daegu, S. Korea at Calvary Baptist
Church, a mission church to our U.S.
military. It is pastored by Bro. Larry Ferguson who was
saved as a soldier at Rhein River Baptist Church in Germany and surrendered to
preach under our ministry. He and his
wife, Kay, are very dear to Dottie and me.
We filled in for them while they returned to the states to be with his
Dad who has been diagnosed with cancer.
It was a great opportunity for passing out tracts on the base, street evangelism, as well as teaching and
preaching at the church. One of the
highlights of our three weeks was the opportunity to preach weekly at his "K-2"
ministry. K-2 is a Korean military base
and I was able to preach in their chapel with both Korean and American military
attending. Dottie prepared a meal each week
for fellowship afterward and I believe great good was done.
We are praying that our partners in the ministry will have a
blessed and wonderful Christmas as well as a new year filled with His
blessings. Thank you for standing with us and praying for
us. Please continue to hold us up in
prayer as we labor to reach souls for Christ, and especially our United States
military. Please pray for our military
and their families. May God bless you
and may you have a Christ-centered Christmas.
His Servants,
Tom and Dottie Lancaster
Missionaries to the U.S. military
OCTOBER 2012
Dear Friends and Prayer Partners,
Greetings to you from Daegu, South Korea, the land of the morning calm. We have just finished an amazing mission’s conference at Lighthouse Baptist Church in Pyeongtaek, S. Korea, where we saw God honored and glorified through the faith of this good military church and its pastor, Bro. Bruce Rosko. One young man surrendered to full time Christian service. One soldier, who was invited to the Saturday night service while we were on soul-winning earlier in the day. came and I was able to lead him to Christ after the service. Please pray for Paul who is now concerned for his wife who is in the states. We also met a young married soldier who is already committed to military missions and has begun his preparation by enrolling in online Bible college courses through BIMI while he completes his military service. The church’s mission’s commitment was truly a demonstration of the grace of God. It doubled the previous year’s commitment and was the highest one year commitment the church had ever had. Bro. Rosko was so grateful to God and the grace bestowed upon his people. We are now at another military church, Calvary Baptist Church in Daegu, South Korea, where we will be ministering for the next three weeks while the missionary/pastor and his wife, Bro. Larry and Kay Ferguson, take a furlough to be with his parents. His father has been recently diagnosed with cancer. We are particularly blessed to be able to help Bro. and Mrs. Ferguson, who are products of our ministry to the military in Germany and much like our own children.
September was a very busy and fruitful month. We praise God for the opportunity to serve Him! We were in meetings in Carthage, MO at Crossroads Baptist Church, a great mission’s minded church, pastored by a life-long friend, Bro. Bob Morgan. It was such a blessing to be able to spend time with our dear friends, the Morgans. Three precious souls were saved in that meeting. We were also blessed to be a part of the mission’s conference at First Baptist Church of Milford, OH pastored by Dr. Bill Duttry. The church at Milford has a great history of missions and a great reputation for detail in presenting world evangelism to their people. Dottie and I believe that it was one of the best conferences that we have ever been in. There were two people saved and a great response to world evangelism in Faith-Promise and people surrendering to do the will of God. I spoke at the opening service of the mission’s conference at Grace Baptist Church in Middletown, OH, where our dear friend Dr. Roger Green is the pastor and was able to promote military missions to these good folks. Dottie spoke at a Sunday afternoon ladies’ tea just prior to the evening service. We were also able to promote military missions at First Baptist Church, Germantown, OH , pastored by Bro. Ted Ricci and Elizabeth Terrace Baptist Church in Rossville, GA , pastored by Bro. George Pinion. We praise the Lord for all these good pastors.
Also in September I spoke at a chapel service at Crown College in Powell, TN. I was given the opportunity to promote military missions as well as speak at the chapel service. I spoke on the subject of God’s leadership in your life and the Lord was pleased to bless with a real moving at the time of invitation. Also several students who are interested in military missions spoke to us at the end of the service. One of our main goals is to challenge Christians for service in military missions , especially in some of our good independent Baptist Bible Colleges. God is opening doors for us in that area and we look forward to the opportunities.
We ask you to please continue to pray for our son, Mark, who has had to return to the states for a few weeks for further medical procedures. His heart issues are improving, but now he is having major back problems which may result in surgery. God is blessing his church in Wiesbaden, Germany, in a tremendous way and having to take this time away from the work has been a struggle for him, but his counselors have advised him that it is absolutely necessary. We are thankful that he has a good missionary working with him to carry on the work while he is away.
Thank you, dear friends, family and prayer partners for holding us up before the Lord. We know that we could not carry on without your prayers and support. We love you and thank God for you.
With grateful hearts,
Tom and Dottie Lancaster - Mark 16: 15
AUGUST 2012
~Goodbye Germany~
Dear Friends,
Our plane departed from Frankfurt, Germany on Monday, July 30 at 11:05 a.m. We had taken that same flight dozens of times over the past twenty years, but on this day it was different as we watched the land disappear beneath us. This time we would not be returning to Mannheim, Germany as the missionary-pastor of Rhein River Baptist Church. After twenty years of serving the U.S. military stationed in Mannheim, the base is now closed. The Lord has sent us back to the states where we will be based outside Chattanooga, TN and will now begin traveling and serving our military through church planting, assisting military churches and pastors, enlisting and training military missionaries and doing all we can to promote missions. We are excited and we ask for your prayers as we begin this new journey. We also ask your prayers for the German/International church that is now Rhein River Baptist Church. We are so thankful that we were able to leave a strong international work.
Our last days at Rhein River were such a blessing. The new pastor, Walter Clark, and his dear wife, Dalene, did everything they could to make our last days memorable. Our final service on Sunday, July 29, will never be forgotten. About 30 of our former members who are still stationed in various places in Germany came back for our final service. It was a joyous service filled with special music, testimonies, laughter, joy and lots of tears. We leave a big piece of our heart with our Rhein River family. We were also thrilled and surprised to be welcomed home by a delegation of family and friends at the airport in Chattanooga.
As soon as we arrived in the states we immediately drove to Pigeon Forge, TN for our biennial Rhein River Reunion. What joy to see all those soldiers and their families whose lives were touched by the ministry of Rhein River Baptist Church down through the years and who have continued serving the Lord. There were former soldiers from all the way back to 1992, our first year in Germany.
The remainder of August has been spent getting settled into our home and reporting to our supporting churches in the Chattanooga area. We have had good meetings at Victory Baptist Church, Rossville, GA; Moriah Baptist Church, Ft. Oglethorpe, GA; Pleasant Valley Baptist Church, Ringgold, GA and Welcome Hill Baptist Church in Ringgold, GA. A very special opportunity was speaking to the 327th Chemical Company Reserve Unit in Chattanooga for their annual “Dining Out” banquet. Our son-in-law, Major Mitch Moss, arranged the opportunity and “warned” them before hand that the gospel would be presented. About 150 were in attendance and three responded to the invitation to receive Christ.
We were blessed to have our oldest granddaughter, Emily Joy, with us for a couple of weeks before she registered for her junior year of Bible College. Mark and Julie are back in Germany now and we filled in for them in getting her settled in the dorm and loved every minute of it. We would ask your prayers for our son, Mark, as he continues to have medical issues. He is faithful as he serves our U.S. military in Wiesbaden, Germany, but he is in pain on a daily basis. He is seeing several German doctors and we are praying that they will be able to help him with some of these issues. Please pray with us!
We expect our goods to arrive in New York on September 4. The container must then clear customs and then will be on its way to us. We still need about $2000 to finish paying for our shipping.
We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for supporting us with your love, prayers and financial support.
Your Servants,
Tom and Dottie Lancaster
JULY 2012
Our last military family at Rhein River Baptist Church. The Joshua Deverse family.
Dear Friends,
“Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.” Psalm 481,2. What a joy and peace in knowing that our great God is present and powerful for every situation in our lives. Dottie and I are certainly finding that true as the Lord closes the door (literally closing the military base here in Mannheim, Germany) and opens the door to our new broadened ministry to our U.S. military worldwide.
In June I traveled to Lancaster, CA for the Leadership Conference at Lancaster Baptist Church and the leadership meeting of BIMI military ministry that was held during the conference. At the conference I met with two couples and a single that the Lord is leading into military missions. The two couples stated that God had been speaking to them about military missions since I spoke on military missions at Lancaster Baptist Church’s mission’s conference three years ago. One couple and the single have already sent in an application to BIMI for association as military missionaries. From the Leadership Conference I traveled to Ft. Worth, TX and spoke at Worth Baptist Church where Dr. Willie Weaver is the good pastor. I had three great opportunities to speak in this great church and the response was such a blessing. Our good friends, Dr. and Mrs. Mike Patterson were in the congregation and we certainly enjoyed their fellowship. While at the hotel in Ft. Worth I noticed an unusual number of people in military uniforms. They were there for a farewell service, getting ready for deployment to Afghanistan. I began making the rounds with thank yous and tracts and eventually had the opportunity to talk to a young couple and lead them to the Lord. Please pray for Diamond and Cintie.
On June 30 I traveled to Baumholder, Germany to preach the ordination service of Bro. Brett Skillen. It has been my honor to be used of God is a small way in Bro. Brett’s life, and his calling to military missions. He is serving at Grace Baptist Church in Baumholder with my dear friend, Pastor Steve Meyer.
After 28 years we no longer have any military people at Rhein River Baptist Church. God has given us grace, and more grace, as we have said final farewells to those last ones, taken down our branches of the military flags and stopped singing “God Bless Our Troops”. Our wonderful congregation of German/International folks is continuing to grow both numerically and spiritually. We love these precious people and they will keep a little piece of our hearts. They will vote on July 15 to call their new pastor, Bro. Walter Clark. Please pray for this transition. Bro. Clark and his family have been with us now for over nine months serving as our director of German ministries. I have spent much time with him praying, mentoring and doing all we can to make this a smooth and effective transition.
Thank you for standing with us with your love, your prayers and your faithful support. We are keenly aware of the part that you play in our ministry to the military....and we are most grateful.
Sincerely in Christ,
Tom and Dottie Lancaster
