Steve and Ruth Lancaster – Corsham Baptist Church https://corshambaptists.org Equipping God's people to build His Kingdom in Corsham and the surrounding area Fri, 23 Dec 2022 19:17:26 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://corshambaptists.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/cropped-cropped-cbc-logo-blue-bg-32x32.jpeg Steve and Ruth Lancaster – Corsham Baptist Church https://corshambaptists.org 32 32 124314796 A Review of ’22 https://corshambaptists.org/uncategorized/a-review-of-22/ Fri, 23 Dec 2022 19:17:00 +0000 http://corshambaptists.org/?guid=4edda872198ccff389ab230c537feeba This post by Steve and Ruth Lancaster was originally published at Life in the Lancs Lane

Working for “The Word for the World” 
 2022 has been an encouraging year for TWFTW, and there’s a real sense of growth for us as a support base as we look to increase our support for Bible translation projects in Africa and Asia. We exhibited at the hottest Keswick Convention ever (+30 degrees is a rarity in Cumbria!) and at the Bible by the Beach conference in Eastbourne; we took part in the illumiNations Europe fundraising event together with other Bible translation agencies; the number of monthly donors has increased; we have matching-donor funding in place for the next 3 years (!), and I’ve been able to travel far and wide to preach and present at 20 different churches. I’ve also been involved in teaching God’s word at a TWFTW conference in Slovakia, an Oak Hall Bible weekend, and at our church’s men’s weekend in the Brecon Beacons. 

Life at Corsham Baptist & Inspired Act: I (Ruth) have continued to juggle two part-time jobs this year and I’m grateful that both are based in Corsham, a 10 minute walk apart. My church administrator role has expanded as we’ve had a change of Treasurer and I’ve picked up some of the financial administration. The new Treasurer is a younger man and he’s keen to get our paper processes into the 21st century and online! I’m all for it! My role at Inspired Act (Ops Manager) is as busy as ever as I try to fit a full-time job into part-time hours. Hmmm….

2022 Short Summary: Away from the pulpit and the desk we’ve also had a busy year.  Having
hankered after the wintry slopes of the Swiss Alps for a few years, we were able to head out to the Eiger area on an Oak Hall skiing trip. This time round it was role-reversal, with Ruth leading the trip and me tagging along as a guest! Great skiing and great weather and, whilst we didn’t return with any injuries, we did return with the much-mentioned virus, which laid us low for a week or so. 
Oak Hall Israel trips in April & October went very well, although for the April trip there was an anxious wait for Covid results, as we all had to be tested at Tel Aviv airport! The dipper barely touched the sides of my mouth, so I wasn’t too surprised to get a negative result hours later! Tensions in Jerusalem were also heightened in April with Ramadan and Passover coinciding but, whilst we didn’t see any trouble, we could hear it! I’m reminded of a quote from Simon Sebag Montefiore (Jerusalem; the Biography’) that sums up this city of tension: “The city is so loveable in many ways and yet so hate-filled in others. It is always bristling with the hallowed and the holy, but also with the brash and the hasty. It can be outrageously vulgar and yet visually exquisite. Jerusalem seems to live more intensely than anywhere else; everything stays the same – yet nothing stands still”. 

 In June I was also able to scale the Scottish heights with a week of Munro magic, based up near Aviemore with my parents. And when the mountains weren’t beckoning, I was able to spend some time ‘spoiling a decent walk’ by wildly swinging a golf club through the heather of Nethy Bridge golf club! Highlight of the week, at least on the course, was scoring a 99 over 18 holes; not exactly Rory McIlroy form, but a milestone for a zig-zagging golfer like me! 

We then headed back to Scotland in August to spend time with family, and to run the Nairn half-marathon, with Ruth getting a PB on her birthday! She also had to dodge the pipe-band on the approach to the finish line! Towards the end of September we were able to jet-off to Majorca for a week of birding, cycling, running & reading. And then during the month of November, Ruth made a return to Africa with a small team from our church, to help out with the youth work at an AIM Conference in Nairobi, Kenya. She was delighted to use her Swahili tongue again and, whilst on the subject of tongues, she jumped at the opportunity for a return visit to the Giraffe sanctuary where she was greeted with a not-so-holy kiss by one of the inmates! 

We thank God for the opportunities we’ve had this year, and for the good year of growth in TWFTW. To those of you who pray for us, we appreciate that and thank you muchly! And we wish you all a very blessed and happy Christmas, with best wishes for the New Year ahead.  
A Christmas Reflection: Ordinary Christians Changing History! Over the last few months our TWFTW monthly newsletters have focussed on the subject of ‘What it takes to be a Bible translator’. We’ve noted that heart-language Bible translators are ordinary Christians who are changing history as they work, due to the fact that they impact whole communities and generations beyond their own. We’ve also noted that translation work can be arduous, and for some, dangerous. Some of our translators work in war zones, refugee camps, high-poverty countries, and some have even been kidnapped and killed. 

As we head into the Christmas season, it’s good to try and imagine what life was actually like for a couple of very ordinary God-fearing people, whose obedience changed history; Mary & Joseph. They lived under the occupation of the Romans; they were a peasant couple from the backwater town of Nazareth, and donkey-riding journeys were often dangerous – just ask the good Samaritan! I imagine therefore that life was somewhat tough for Mary and Joseph. Due to our romanticised and sanitised view of that first Christmas, I think we often forget how tough it must have been for this ‘ordinary’ couple. 

Imagine what happens behind the verses that we read in Matthew & Luke. Here’s a young teenage girl who’s had to try and explain to her parents and her ‘righteous’ fiancé that she is pregnant……… with the Son of God! Where do you start?! Here is a young woman who has accepted the words of a powerful angelic being and whose response has been, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.” Wow!! Here is a heavily pregnant teenager who has had to travel over 80 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem on the back of a donkey, just because the Roman authorities have said they must. Here is a young woman who has had to give birth in a cowshed because there wasn’t any other option, and who then lays her firstborn child in a cattle feeding trough! What woman would want this as her first childbirth experience!? Here’s a young woman who has seen a bunch of excited shepherds (the outcasts of society) crowd into her humble maternity suite just a few hours later to ‘glorify and praise God’ for the arrival of this swaddled baby. Oh, the shock value of it all! 
And in all of these incredible scenes, at the centre of all that is happening, lies the Son of God; the firstborn over all creation, the Word becoming flesh, and the second person of the trinity pitching his tent amongst humanity! Hard to believe eh?! But this is what our Bibles tell us, and oh, how marvellous and humbling, and awe-inspiring is this plan of salvation hatched by the Almighty God! This Christmas season, as we celebrate the birth of Christ, and as we seek to sift the meaningful from the commercialism, may we take the time to marvel in reverence at what He has done for us. May we “grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” as he stooped to become one of us – in order to save and restore humanity. And how do we know all of this? Because we have the gift of God’s Word in a language that we can understand! 

Birds of the Year: we were chuffed to see a Wryneck in Majorca

Dartford Warbler, Poole Harbour

]]> 15208 A Review of ’22 https://corshambaptists.org/uncategorized/a-review-of-22-2/ Fri, 23 Dec 2022 19:17:00 +0000 https://corshambaptists.org/?guid=4edda872198ccff389ab230c537feeba This post by Steve and Ruth Lancaster was originally published at Life in the Lancs Lane

Working for “The Word for the World” 
 2022 has been an encouraging year for TWFTW, and there’s a real sense of growth for us as a support base as we look to increase our support for Bible translation projects in Africa and Asia. We exhibited at the hottest Keswick Convention ever (+30 degrees is a rarity in Cumbria!) and at the Bible by the Beach conference in Eastbourne; we took part in the illumiNations Europe fundraising event together with other Bible translation agencies; the number of monthly donors has increased; we have matching-donor funding in place for the next 3 years (!), and I’ve been able to travel far and wide to preach and present at 20 different churches. I’ve also been involved in teaching God’s word at a TWFTW conference in Slovakia, an Oak Hall Bible weekend, and at our church’s men’s weekend in the Brecon Beacons. 

Life at Corsham Baptist & Inspired Act: I (Ruth) have continued to juggle two part-time jobs this year and I’m grateful that both are based in Corsham, a 10 minute walk apart. My church administrator role has expanded as we’ve had a change of Treasurer and I’ve picked up some of the financial administration. The new Treasurer is a younger man and he’s keen to get our paper processes into the 21st century and online! I’m all for it! My role at Inspired Act (Ops Manager) is as busy as ever as I try to fit a full-time job into part-time hours. Hmmm….

2022 Short Summary: Away from the pulpit and the desk we’ve also had a busy year.  Having
hankered after the wintry slopes of the Swiss Alps for a few years, we were able to head out to the Eiger area on an Oak Hall skiing trip. This time round it was role-reversal, with Ruth leading the trip and me tagging along as a guest! Great skiing and great weather and, whilst we didn’t return with any injuries, we did return with the much-mentioned virus, which laid us low for a week or so. 
Oak Hall Israel trips in April & October went very well, although for the April trip there was an anxious wait for Covid results, as we all had to be tested at Tel Aviv airport! The dipper barely touched the sides of my mouth, so I wasn’t too surprised to get a negative result hours later! Tensions in Jerusalem were also heightened in April with Ramadan and Passover coinciding but, whilst we didn’t see any trouble, we could hear it! I’m reminded of a quote from Simon Sebag Montefiore (Jerusalem; the Biography’) that sums up this city of tension: “The city is so loveable in many ways and yet so hate-filled in others. It is always bristling with the hallowed and the holy, but also with the brash and the hasty. It can be outrageously vulgar and yet visually exquisite. Jerusalem seems to live more intensely than anywhere else; everything stays the same – yet nothing stands still”. 

 In June I was also able to scale the Scottish heights with a week of Munro magic, based up near Aviemore with my parents. And when the mountains weren’t beckoning, I was able to spend some time ‘spoiling a decent walk’ by wildly swinging a golf club through the heather of Nethy Bridge golf club! Highlight of the week, at least on the course, was scoring a 99 over 18 holes; not exactly Rory McIlroy form, but a milestone for a zig-zagging golfer like me! 

We then headed back to Scotland in August to spend time with family, and to run the Nairn half-marathon, with Ruth getting a PB on her birthday! She also had to dodge the pipe-band on the approach to the finish line! Towards the end of September we were able to jet-off to Majorca for a week of birding, cycling, running & reading. And then during the month of November, Ruth made a return to Africa with a small team from our church, to help out with the youth work at an AIM Conference in Nairobi, Kenya. She was delighted to use her Swahili tongue again and, whilst on the subject of tongues, she jumped at the opportunity for a return visit to the Giraffe sanctuary where she was greeted with a not-so-holy kiss by one of the inmates! 

We thank God for the opportunities we’ve had this year, and for the good year of growth in TWFTW. To those of you who pray for us, we appreciate that and thank you muchly! And we wish you all a very blessed and happy Christmas, with best wishes for the New Year ahead.  
A Christmas Reflection: Ordinary Christians Changing History!
Over the last few months our TWFTW monthly newsletters have focussed on the subject of ‘What it takes to be a Bible translator’. We’ve noted that heart-language Bible translators are ordinary Christians who are changing history as they work, due to the fact that they impact whole communities and generations beyond their own. We’ve also noted that translation work can be arduous, and for some, dangerous. Some of our translators work in war zones, refugee camps, high-poverty countries, and some have even been kidnapped and killed. 

As we head into the Christmas season, it’s good to try and imagine what life was actually like for a couple of very ordinary God-fearing people, whose obedience changed history; Mary & Joseph. They lived under the occupation of the Romans; they were a peasant couple from the backwater town of Nazareth, and donkey-riding journeys were often dangerous – just ask the good Samaritan! I imagine therefore that life was somewhat tough for Mary and Joseph. Due to our romanticised and sanitised view of that first Christmas, I think we often forget how tough it must have been for this ‘ordinary’ couple. 

Imagine what happens behind the verses that we read in Matthew & Luke. Here’s a young teenage girl who’s had to try and explain to her parents and her ‘righteous’ fiancé that she is pregnant……… with the Son of God! Where do you start?! Here is a young woman who has accepted the words of a powerful angelic being and whose response has been, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.” Wow!! Here is a heavily pregnant teenager who has had to travel over 80 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem on the back of a donkey, just because the Roman authorities have said they must. Here is a young woman who has had to give birth in a cowshed because there wasn’t any other option, and who then lays her firstborn child in a cattle feeding trough! What woman would want this as her first childbirth experience!? Here’s a young woman who has seen a bunch of excited shepherds (the outcasts of society) crowd into her humble maternity suite just a few hours later to ‘glorify and praise God’ for the arrival of this swaddled baby. Oh, the shock value of it all! 
And in all of these incredible scenes, at the centre of all that is happening, lies the Son of God; the firstborn over all creation, the Word becoming flesh, and the second person of the trinity pitching his tent amongst humanity! Hard to believe eh?! But this is what our Bibles tell us, and oh, how marvellous and humbling, and awe-inspiring is this plan of salvation hatched by the Almighty God! This Christmas season, as we celebrate the birth of Christ, and as we seek to sift the meaningful from the commercialism, may we take the time to marvel in reverence at what He has done for us. May we “grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” as he stooped to become one of us – in order to save and restore humanity. And how do we know all of this? Because we have the gift of God’s Word in a language that we can understand! 

Birds of the Year: we were chuffed to see a Wryneck in Majorca

Dartford Warbler, Poole Harbour

]]> 19500 Moving home for Christmas… https://corshambaptists.org/uncategorized/moving-home-for-christmas-2/ Wed, 15 Dec 2021 21:01:00 +0000 https://corshambaptists.org/?guid=4caa6a48a4577ccade40b78250a8b5c1 This post by Steve and Ruth Lancaster was originally published at Life in the Lancs Lane

The last time we sat on our Corsham lounge 
floor was in July 2013 as we packed
up for Tanzania!

 …or is it “driving home for Christmas”?!  This time last year, we were wrapping up our time in Tanzania, saying our hot and sweaty goodbyes, and packing up our worldly belongings into five suitcases!  Exactly one year on and we’re getting ready to pack up once again and make the move from the old silk mill in Malmesbury to our revitalised house in Corsham!  This time round, instead of a 7,000 mile flight, we’ll only have a 15 mile drive in a hire van, the temperatures will be slightly cooler, and we’ll finally be able to unpack our lives into a house that we last lived in 8.5 years ago!  During the last few months the painters have painted, the plumbers have plumbed, the carpetters have carpeted, the electricians have electrified, the kitcheners have kitchened, and the plasterers are now plastered!  And thanks to Ebay we’ve been able to replace most of what we sold when we were emptying the house to go to Tanzania!  Here are a couple of tips for those looking to collect washing machines and bookcases: make sure the outflow hose is ‘corked’, otherwise your car seats will get very wet!  And always check the measurements of the bookcase you’ve said ‘yes’ to on Freecycle, otherwise it will be a wasted journey!!    

It didn’t take a genius to realise it wasn’t
going to fit!


WWW. Working for the Word for the World. In our last blog post (September) I mentioned my new role with the Bible translation agency The Word for the World.  Coming into this role, I knew quite a bit about Swahili/English translation but very little about Bible translation!  The past few months have therefore been a journey of discovery as I learn more about the need for Bible translation.  Did you know that out of the 7,361 known languages on planet earth only 717 of them have a full Bible, and only 1582 languages have the New Testament?!  There is still much work to be done with nearly 4,000 not having any Scriptures.  Things are at least speeding up though, as it now takes only 3 years (?!) to translate the New Testament, whereas it used to take 40! 

A Malawian reading his Sena bible

Last week we were able to send funds to Malawi for the distribution of 5,000 Sena Bibles.  The personal connection for me is that the town they are being sent to (Nsanje) is a place I stayed in briefly during the early 2000’s whilst on African Quest, and the man in charge of the distribution happens to be a good friend of a Malawian pastor I stayed with whilst there and who I am still in touch with.  If I’m honest I don’t have too many pleasant memories of Nsanje!  Sauna-like heat, plenty of dust, the early morning squawking of the guineafowl, mice nibbling on my toes during the night, and a bout of malaria – not the ideal place to get sick!  But I do remember helping to distribute Bibles in that area, which were published and printed by ….The Word for the World!  Isn’t it great when these so-called random connections happen, bringing people and situations together, across the miles and across the years?!  It’s all to do with the Sovereign God whom we worship, who is in the habit of orchestrating events for His glory! 


Here’s another personal connection from the more recent past!  Our current fundraising project is called ‘Sponsor a Verse’ – and the language we’re currently focussing on is the Lughuru language.  Guess where that language is spoken?  In the Uluguru mountains just behind Morogoro, which is of course where we lived for 7 years!  And I had nowt to do with choosing that language!  The Lughuru are a people group numbering just under 1 million and, although their New Testament was completed in 2015, they still don’t have the OT.  Our translators are halfway through, so the push is now on to see it through to completion.  If you’d like to contribute to this work, please get in touch, or ‘sponsor a verse’ by donating £26 using this link: www.sponsoraverse.org – you’ll get to choose a verse, and then be sent a piece of artwork (your choice of design) with the verse of Scripture in English and Lughuru.  It might be hard to believe, but it’s even more colourful than the ‘sponsor a toilet’ certificate that adorns toilet walls in many a Christian household! 

Ruth’s New Job!  Ruth also has a new job.  In November she reduced her hours with Inspired Act and began work as Corsham Baptist Church’s new Administrator.  Thankfully both offices are only 5 minutes’ walk apart, and only 15 minutes’ walk from home.

Celebrating a defining moment! Immanuel – God with us.  The history of the world is full of stunning moments!  Whether it be the end of world wars, men walking on the moon,  developments in medicine and vaccines, great political speeches that inspired change, or sporting comebacks (who can forget Dennis Taylor in the 1985 World Snooker Champs?!).  I’m sure that we all have particular incidents and moments that were defining for us.  Yet there is one moment that is more stunning than anything that has ever taken place: the coming of Jesus into the world.  There has never been another moment like it in the whole of history.  God breaking into the world He created is a remarkable, once-in-a-lifetime event!  And whilst the incarnation of the Son of God might be hard for us to get our heads around, think about what it was like for the second person of the Trinity about to perform the most sacrificial act of all time!    

This is what the Christian author Jeff Lucas wrote about the miracle of the incarnation: “What did it feel like Jesus, the day that you peered over the parapet of heaven and prepared to take your dive into humanity?  Did you stare and recoil at the swirling madness below?  Did the stench of hollow religion drift up and wrinkle your nostrils?  You were to take a dive from your lofty, ordered, Father’s house, down and down and still further down, into the murky morass of blood and pain so far below.  You were to plummet from that calm place of love and song, into our writhing chaos: from the world of rapture – to our world of rape and rebellion: from immortality – to the grime and tedium of time.  Did you look around you at the sea of stunned angel faces, bowed and paled now at the sight of this holiest sacrifice?  Was there any moment of farewell as you stepped, in a millisecond of time, from being the richest to being the poorest?  Can we tiptoe for a moment onto that holy ground, and consider the magnificent Christ becoming a tiny, embryonic speck?”

It’s one of my favourite Christmas quotes and one that I’m sure I’ve used before, but it’s a quote that causes you to ponder in wonderment at what the real celebration of Christmas is all about. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:14)  It’s an amazing fact that God should stoop to clothe Himself in humanity to put His rescue plan into operation.  We praise God for Jesus, and all that He has done for us.  It’s also our hope that as we prepare to see in another New Year, that having the Word of God, the Scriptures, would become a reality for many more people, and that this powerful Word would find dwelling in more and more homes across the world. 

Many thanks for your prayers and support. We wish you a healthy and happy Christmas, with huge amounts of best wishes for 2022. See you in the New Year!  

Praise & Prayer Points: 

  • We’re thanking God for the way He has provided and guided during this last year. This is what we wrote exactly a year ago whilst preparing to leave Tanzania: “At this point, we’re still not sure what the next chapter looks like, and the canvas is looking fairly blank! However, we believe that the Artist in charge of the next tapestry will reveal the pattern according to His timing and purpose”.  Well, as the year unfolded, so did the new pattern!  Local employment has been provided for Ruth, and an unexpected door was opened for me to work for The Word for the World, enabling me to be involved in an itinerant preaching ministry.  
The new/old house in Corsham
  • Praise God that a lot of work has now been completed on our house in Corsham without any setbacks, and we’re ready for the move on 18th!  We’re also thanking God for various people who have helped us in this process.  We’ve loved living in Malmesbury and we’ve very much enjoyed the silk mill setting.  It’s provided ‘an office with a view’, and the opportunity to watch kingfishers whilst working! 

  • Please pray for Steve as he represents TWFTW and preaches in various churches; that he would “correctly handle the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15) and that God would “enable him to speak God’s Word with great boldness” (Acts 4:29).  

  • Please pray that the distribution of the 5,000 Sena Bibles happening this week would go well; that they would fall into the hands of people who are hungry for God’s Word. 

Steve’s Diary Dates: 

9th Jan: Corsham Baptist morning services

13-22 Jan: Bible teaching on Oak Hall Ski trip to Switzerland  

6th Feb: Preaching at Strete Evangelical Church, Devon (AM) 

12th Feb: TWFTW Board meeting in Bedford

13th Feb: Ladyfield Evangelical Church, Chippenham morning service

27th Feb: Preaching at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Mold, North Wales 

3rd Mar: TWFTW Presentation – Ladyfield EC, Chippenham (PM) 

6th Mar: Preaching at Wootton Baptist, Bedford (AM) 

13th Mar: Corsham Baptist morning services

20th Mar: Preaching at Hebron Evangelical Church, Carlisle (AM) 

27th Mar: Corsham Baptist morning services  

3rd April: Orrell Park Baptist, Liverpool morning service

12-21 April: Oak Hall Israel/Palestine trip – to be confirmed

24th April: South Oxhey Baptist Church, Watford morning service

29th Apr – 2nd May: Bible by the Beach, Eastbourne  

5th-8th May: “IllumiNations” Europe Conference (Bible translators) in Scotland

Bird(s) of the month: the humble starling!  Steve saw 3,000
of them on the Somerset Levels last month in their murmuration

Random Stats and Facts about Christmas! 

• It was the custom to eat goose at Christmas until the 16th century when Henry VIII decided to tuck into a turkey instead!  Over 90% of the UK population will eat turkey on Christmas Day. 

• We use enough wrapping paper at Christmas to cover the island of Guernsey!!

• In the UK the Holy Days & Fasting Days Act of 1551 states that every citizen must attend a Christian church service on Christmas Day, and must not use any kind of vehicle to get to the service!  This act has not been repealed! 

• Pope Julius I declared Christ’s birthday as December 25th in AD440. Before that, in pagan religious calendars, 25th Dec marked the birthday of the sun. Now it marks the birthday of the Son! 

• When was Jesus actually born? We know from Luke Ch 1 that Elizabeth was six months pregnant when the angel visited Mary. John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, was a priest serving in the Temple during the course of Abijah (Luke 1:5), which apparently corresponded to June 13-18 in that year. Assuming that John was conceived at the end of June he would therefore be born in March. Mary goes to see Elisabeth when she is 6 months pregnant which would mean she visited in December, which was at the start of Mary’s pregnancy. If this is correct, Jesus would have been born in September. So much for “In the bleak mid-winter”! 

]]> 19502 Moving home for Christmas… https://corshambaptists.org/uncategorized/moving-home-for-christmas/ Wed, 15 Dec 2021 21:01:00 +0000 http://corshambaptists.org/?guid=4caa6a48a4577ccade40b78250a8b5c1 This post by Steve and Ruth Lancaster was originally published at Life in the Lancs Lane

The last time we sat on our Corsham lounge 
floor was in July 2013 as we packed
up for Tanzania!

 …or is it “driving home for Christmas”?!  This time last year, we were wrapping up our time in Tanzania, saying our hot and sweaty goodbyes, and packing up our worldly belongings into five suitcases!  Exactly one year on and we’re getting ready to pack up once again and make the move from the old silk mill in Malmesbury to our revitalised house in Corsham!  This time round, instead of a 7,000 mile flight, we’ll only have a 15 mile drive in a hire van, the temperatures will be slightly cooler, and we’ll finally be able to unpack our lives into a house that we last lived in 8.5 years ago!  During the last few months the painters have painted, the plumbers have plumbed, the carpetters have carpeted, the electricians have electrified, the kitcheners have kitchened, and the plasterers are now plastered!  And thanks to Ebay we’ve been able to replace most of what we sold when we were emptying the house to go to Tanzania!  Here are a couple of tips for those looking to collect washing machines and bookcases: make sure the outflow hose is ‘corked’, otherwise your car seats will get very wet!  And always check the measurements of the bookcase you’ve said ‘yes’ to on Freecycle, otherwise it will be a wasted journey!!    

It didn’t take a genius to realise it wasn’t
going to fit!


WWW. Working for the Word for the World. In our last blog post (September) I mentioned my new role with the Bible translation agency The Word for the World.  Coming into this role, I knew quite a bit about Swahili/English translation but very little about Bible translation!  The past few months have therefore been a journey of discovery as I learn more about the need for Bible translation.  Did you know that out of the 7,361 known languages on planet earth only 717 of them have a full Bible, and only 1582 languages have the New Testament?!  There is still much work to be done with nearly 4,000 not having any Scriptures.  Things are at least speeding up though, as it now takes only 3 years (?!) to translate the New Testament, whereas it used to take 40! 

A Malawian reading his Sena bible

Last week we were able to send funds to Malawi for the distribution of 5,000 Sena Bibles.  The personal connection for me is that the town they are being sent to (Nsanje) is a place I stayed in briefly during the early 2000’s whilst on African Quest, and the man in charge of the distribution happens to be a good friend of a Malawian pastor I stayed with whilst there and who I am still in touch with.  If I’m honest I don’t have too many pleasant memories of Nsanje!  Sauna-like heat, plenty of dust, the early morning squawking of the guineafowl, mice nibbling on my toes during the night, and a bout of malaria – not the ideal place to get sick!  But I do remember helping to distribute Bibles in that area, which were published and printed by ….The Word for the World!  Isn’t it great when these so-called random connections happen, bringing people and situations together, across the miles and across the years?!  It’s all to do with the Sovereign God whom we worship, who is in the habit of orchestrating events for His glory! 


Here’s another personal connection from the more recent past!  Our current fundraising project is called ‘Sponsor a Verse’ – and the language we’re currently focussing on is the Lughuru language.  Guess where that language is spoken?  In the Uluguru mountains just behind Morogoro, which is of course where we lived for 7 years!  And I had nowt to do with choosing that language!  The Lughuru are a people group numbering just under 1 million and, although their New Testament was completed in 2015, they still don’t have the OT.  Our translators are halfway through, so the push is now on to see it through to completion.  If you’d like to contribute to this work, please get in touch, or ‘sponsor a verse’ by donating £26 using this link: www.sponsoraverse.org – you’ll get to choose a verse, and then be sent a piece of artwork (your choice of design) with the verse of Scripture in English and Lughuru.  It might be hard to believe, but it’s even more colourful than the ‘sponsor a toilet’ certificate that adorns toilet walls in many a Christian household! 

Ruth’s New Job!  Ruth also has a new job.  In November she reduced her hours with Inspired Act and began work as Corsham Baptist Church’s new Administrator.  Thankfully both offices are only 5 minutes’ walk apart, and only 15 minutes’ walk from home.

Celebrating a defining moment! Immanuel – God with us.  The history of the world is full of stunning moments!  Whether it be the end of world wars, men walking on the moon,  developments in medicine and vaccines, great political speeches that inspired change, or sporting comebacks (who can forget Dennis Taylor in the 1985 World Snooker Champs?!).  I’m sure that we all have particular incidents and moments that were defining for us.  Yet there is one moment that is more stunning than anything that has ever taken place: the coming of Jesus into the world.  There has never been another moment like it in the whole of history.  God breaking into the world He created is a remarkable, once-in-a-lifetime event!  And whilst the incarnation of the Son of God might be hard for us to get our heads around, think about what it was like for the second person of the Trinity about to perform the most sacrificial act of all time!    

This is what the Christian author Jeff Lucas wrote about the miracle of the incarnation: “What did it feel like Jesus, the day that you peered over the parapet of heaven and prepared to take your dive into humanity?  Did you stare and recoil at the swirling madness below?  Did the stench of hollow religion drift up and wrinkle your nostrils?  You were to take a dive from your lofty, ordered, Father’s house, down and down and still further down, into the murky morass of blood and pain so far below.  You were to plummet from that calm place of love and song, into our writhing chaos: from the world of rapture – to our world of rape and rebellion: from immortality – to the grime and tedium of time.  Did you look around you at the sea of stunned angel faces, bowed and paled now at the sight of this holiest sacrifice?  Was there any moment of farewell as you stepped, in a millisecond of time, from being the richest to being the poorest?  Can we tiptoe for a moment onto that holy ground, and consider the magnificent Christ becoming a tiny, embryonic speck?”

It’s one of my favourite Christmas quotes and one that I’m sure I’ve used before, but it’s a quote that causes you to ponder in wonderment at what the real celebration of Christmas is all about. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:14)  It’s an amazing fact that God should stoop to clothe Himself in humanity to put His rescue plan into operation.  We praise God for Jesus, and all that He has done for us.  It’s also our hope that as we prepare to see in another New Year, that having the Word of God, the Scriptures, would become a reality for many more people, and that this powerful Word would find dwelling in more and more homes across the world. 

Many thanks for your prayers and support. We wish you a healthy and happy Christmas, with huge amounts of best wishes for 2022. See you in the New Year!  

Praise & Prayer Points: 

  • We’re thanking God for the way He has provided and guided during this last year. This is what we wrote exactly a year ago whilst preparing to leave Tanzania: “At this point, we’re still not sure what the next chapter looks like, and the canvas is looking fairly blank! However, we believe that the Artist in charge of the next tapestry will reveal the pattern according to His timing and purpose”.  Well, as the year unfolded, so did the new pattern!  Local employment has been provided for Ruth, and an unexpected door was opened for me to work for The Word for the World, enabling me to be involved in an itinerant preaching ministry.  
The new/old house in Corsham
  • Praise God that a lot of work has now been completed on our house in Corsham without any setbacks, and we’re ready for the move on 18th!  We’re also thanking God for various people who have helped us in this process.  We’ve loved living in Malmesbury and we’ve very much enjoyed the silk mill setting.  It’s provided ‘an office with a view’, and the opportunity to watch kingfishers whilst working! 

  • Please pray for Steve as he represents TWFTW and preaches in various churches; that he would “correctly handle the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15) and that God would “enable him to speak God’s Word with great boldness” (Acts 4:29).  

  • Please pray that the distribution of the 5,000 Sena Bibles happening this week would go well; that they would fall into the hands of people who are hungry for God’s Word. 

Steve’s Diary Dates: 

9th Jan: Corsham Baptist morning services

13-22 Jan: Bible teaching on Oak Hall Ski trip to Switzerland  

6th Feb: Preaching at Strete Evangelical Church, Devon (AM) 

12th Feb: TWFTW Board meeting in Bedford

13th Feb: Ladyfield Evangelical Church, Chippenham morning service

27th Feb: Preaching at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Mold, North Wales 

3rd Mar: TWFTW Presentation – Ladyfield EC, Chippenham (PM) 

6th Mar: Preaching at Wootton Baptist, Bedford (AM) 

13th Mar: Corsham Baptist morning services

20th Mar: Preaching at Hebron Evangelical Church, Carlisle (AM) 

27th Mar: Corsham Baptist morning services  

3rd April: Orrell Park Baptist, Liverpool morning service

12-21 April: Oak Hall Israel/Palestine trip – to be confirmed

24th April: South Oxhey Baptist Church, Watford morning service

29th Apr – 2nd May: Bible by the Beach, Eastbourne  

5th-8th May: “IllumiNations” Europe Conference (Bible translators) in Scotland

Bird(s) of the month: the humble starling!  Steve saw 3,000
of them on the Somerset Levels last month in their murmuration

Random Stats and Facts about Christmas! 

• It was the custom to eat goose at Christmas until the 16th century when Henry VIII decided to tuck into a turkey instead!  Over 90% of the UK population will eat turkey on Christmas Day. 

• We use enough wrapping paper at Christmas to cover the island of Guernsey!!

• In the UK the Holy Days & Fasting Days Act of 1551 states that every citizen must attend a Christian church service on Christmas Day, and must not use any kind of vehicle to get to the service!  This act has not been repealed! 

• Pope Julius I declared Christ’s birthday as December 25th in AD440. Before that, in pagan religious calendars, 25th Dec marked the birthday of the sun. Now it marks the birthday of the Son! 

• When was Jesus actually born? We know from Luke Ch 1 that Elizabeth was six months pregnant when the angel visited Mary. John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, was a priest serving in the Temple during the course of Abijah (Luke 1:5), which apparently corresponded to June 13-18 in that year. Assuming that John was conceived at the end of June he would therefore be born in March. Mary goes to see Elisabeth when she is 6 months pregnant which would mean she visited in December, which was at the start of Mary’s pregnancy. If this is correct, Jesus would have been born in September. So much for “In the bleak mid-winter”! 

]]> 13400 In praise of mountains…..and The Maker! https://corshambaptists.org/uncategorized/in-praise-of-mountains-and-the-maker-2/ Sun, 26 Sep 2021 16:56:00 +0000 https://corshambaptists.org/?guid=e88ceb0856f090d2f5a2af4da9987f90 This post by Steve and Ruth Lancaster was originally published at Life in the Lancs Lane

Scottish mountain
The mighty Ben Nevis

What do these names all have in common: Moriah, Gilboa, Sinai, Tabor, Olives, Zion, Carmel, Hermon?  Yep, you’re right – they’re all mountains mentioned in the Bible.  Maybe the clue was in the title, or maybe you just know your holy mountains!  Significant biblical events took place on each of these mountains. Some of them were indeed super-significant for the whole of humanity!  As a lover of the mountains I am chuffed that they feature so much in the Bible – apparently more than 500 times!  Well, during this sabbatical ‘year’ I (Steve) have had plenty of opportunity to head to the hills, and in the process have been extremely blessed. This year has turned out to be a year of mountain madness for me!  These little legs have clocked up 235 miles over 73 summits, climbing over 79,000 ft in the process, in places like the Lakes, the Brecon Beacons and the Highlands of Scotland – where much of the walking has been easier than pronouncing the summit names! 

I was introduced to the mountains at an early age by my dad, and over the years have loved being in the hills – but since returning from Tanzania, that thirst for the heights has been even stronger.  Why such a desire?  There’s many an answer to that one, not least because I haven’t been able to scale many UK heights in the last seven years!  However, the answer is best summed up in the words of one of my favourite Runrig songs: “When I walk among the hills I can hear you. When I walk among the hills I feel near you.”  I’m not entirely sure who the band were referring to, but for me, when I apply those words to myself and God, it sums up why I enjoy being on the heights so much.  There is something special about being out in the wilds of God’s creation.  The majesty and grandeur of the mountains causes me to want to praise the Creator, and makes me marvel at the fact I can pour out my heart to the Maker himself.  For me, the mountains are places where praise flows more freely and where I feel closer to God – and I thank Him for the opportunities I’ve had this year for more mountain time!  These adventures have certainly played a part in helping to restore my energy levels. 

“The Sovereign Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to go on the heights.” (Hab 3:19). 

“He who forms the mountains…..and treads the high places of the earth……the Lord Almighty is his name.” (Amos 4:13). 

“Praise the Lord….you mountains and all hills…..let them praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted, His splendour is above the earth and the heavens.” (Psalm 148).

What else has been happening?  Our time with AIM officially came to a close at the end of March, although just a few weeks ago, I was able to attend the AIM Fellowship conference, this time as a retired AIM missionary, which still sounds rather strange!  Due to complications associated with the wretched Covid bug, the planned Oak Hall trips to Israel and Austria were cancelled, but Ruth and I were able to enjoy a family holiday in the Outer Hebrides, where we cycled through the islands of Lewis and Harris.  Apart from the expected saddle-soreness, a few punctures, bike-chain malfunctions, and lost car keys, the trip went without hitch!  Lochs and beaches, mountains and moorland, white-tailed eagles, seals and sunsets, picnics and dolphins – an awesome Scottish adventure!  I’ve been able to do a bit of gardening work here and there, and we’ve also been able to visit a few RSPB reserves to get our birding fix.  We’ve been out running, we’ve read books, and we’ve spent good time with family……and since the middle of May, Ruth has had the pleasure of being back in work and being the chief bread-winner!  

Over to Ruth: I’ve been working with Inspired Act since May as Operations Manager. The  company specializes in providing professional role play actors for training situations. It’s been a steep learning curve and an interesting insight into a world of which I knew little, but I’m enjoying it. 

Our house in Corsham has finally been returned to us, although not without its issues, as I am sure many a landlord has experienced!  We hope to be able to move from the ‘mill in Malmesbury’ back into our house towards the end of the year when a few necessary refurbishments have been completed!  It will be good to be based in Corsham again and to be able to walk to work!

It’s been so good to attend Corsham Baptist regularly over the last few months and to reconnect with people.  I’m looking forward to being more involved in church life, especially as restrictions lift and activities return to being face-to-face rather than online.  I’ve already signed up to join the monthly craft group!  

A New Chapter: Actually, I’ll be working with an organisation that deals with 1189 of them (chapters!).  After nine months of ‘time-out’ the opportunity is now there for me to get back in the saddle!  On 27th Sept I’ll start working for a ministry called “The Word for the World”, which is a Bible-translation agency.  The ministry was started in South Africa back in 1981 and there are now supporting offices in USA and the UK.  Across 15 countries, mainly in Asia and Africa, 165 Bible translation projects are currently in progress, or have been completed by TWFTW.  The aim of the organisation is to train and equip indigenous people to translate the Bible into their own languages.  Even in this so-called advanced world that we live in, there are still many places that don’t yet have the Bible in their own language. The stats are that 2,500 language communities already have some, or all of the Bible – but that still leaves a staggering 4,000 languages without access to God’s printed Word!  The aim of TWFTW is therefore to help alleviate Bible poverty across the world, and to bring the good news of Jesus to people that haven’t yet received it in their own tongue. 

So, where exactly do I come in, especially as I have absolutely no experience in Bible translation?!  My remit will be to represent and promote the work of The Word for the World here in the UK, mainly through preaching and presenting in various churches, but also at various conferences and events.  I’m hoping to inspire people into supporting the work of Bible translation as part of the task Jesus gave us in the Great Commission verses, but in preaching God’s Word I also want to encourage believers to get deeper into their Bibles, making more of the fact that we have such easy access to God’s written Word.  If you feel there might be an opportunity for me to visit your church, please feel free to get in touch. And if you want to find out more about the ministry, the unique way in which Bible translation is done by TWFTW, and in which countries they work, please click on the following links for more info: 

The Word for the World UK – Translating the Bible into every language (twftw.org.uk)

The Word For The World Bible Translators (twftw.org)       

On the UK website you’ll also find details of the “Sponsor a Verse” project, so if you want to send someone a Christmas present with a difference, or simply want to invest in helping TWFTW in their translation work, please click here for more details. 

And if you would like to be kept up-to-date with the work I’ll be involved in, plus the wider work of the ministry, please send me an email and I will add you to the mailing list.  You will then receive a short emailed newsletter approximately once every two months from TWFTW.  So, just so that it’s crystal clear – if you only want to receive the “Life in the Lancs Lane” blog update, then you do not need to do anything: this will be a general ‘Steve & Ruth’ update sent out twice a year, but if you want further updates on TWFTW and my involvement in the ministry, I do need to hear from you. 

Praise & Prayer Points:

– Thanking God (and Ruth!) for the opportunity I’ve had to take time out. The stomach issues have settled, the head is clearer, the energy and enthusiasm is returning, and the sleep is a bit better than it was! 

– Thanking God that Ruth has had employment for the last four months, and for the fact we’ve felt very settled in the old Silk Mill here in Malmesbury. It’s been such an ideal stop-over place whilst waiting for our house in Corsham to be vacated. 

– Please pray that I would settle into my role with “The Word for the World” and that, as I continue to preach, “I would fearlessly make known the gospel” and “correctly handle the Word of Truth”.     

Thanks for your prayers,

Love, Steve & Ruth

Bird of the month – the bearded tit.  We didn’t take
this picture but we saw them at RSPB Titchwell
on a short break to Norfolk – the fulfillment of
a birding ambition!

Celebrating Ruth’s birthday in August with pizza!

]]> 19504 In praise of mountains…..and The Maker! https://corshambaptists.org/mission-and-ministries/overseas-mission/in-praise-of-mountains-and-the-maker/ Sun, 26 Sep 2021 16:56:00 +0000 http://corshambaptists.org/?guid=e88ceb0856f090d2f5a2af4da9987f90 This post by Steve and Ruth Lancaster was originally published at Life in the Lancs Lane

Scottish mountain
The mighty Ben Nevis

What do these names all have in common: Moriah, Gilboa, Sinai, Tabor, Olives, Zion, Carmel, Hermon?  Yep, you’re right – they’re all mountains mentioned in the Bible.  Maybe the clue was in the title, or maybe you just know your holy mountains!  Significant biblical events took place on each of these mountains. Some of them were indeed super-significant for the whole of humanity!  As a lover of the mountains I am chuffed that they feature so much in the Bible – apparently more than 500 times!  Well, during this sabbatical ‘year’ I (Steve) have had plenty of opportunity to head to the hills, and in the process have been extremely blessed. This year has turned out to be a year of mountain madness for me!  These little legs have clocked up 235 miles over 73 summits, climbing over 79,000 ft in the process, in places like the Lakes, the Brecon Beacons and the Highlands of Scotland – where much of the walking has been easier than pronouncing the summit names! 

I was introduced to the mountains at an early age by my dad, and over the years have loved being in the hills – but since returning from Tanzania, that thirst for the heights has been even stronger.  Why such a desire?  There’s many an answer to that one, not least because I haven’t been able to scale many UK heights in the last seven years!  However, the answer is best summed up in the words of one of my favourite Runrig songs: “When I walk among the hills I can hear you. When I walk among the hills I feel near you.”  I’m not entirely sure who the band were referring to, but for me, when I apply those words to myself and God, it sums up why I enjoy being on the heights so much.  There is something special about being out in the wilds of God’s creation.  The majesty and grandeur of the mountains causes me to want to praise the Creator, and makes me marvel at the fact I can pour out my heart to the Maker himself.  For me, the mountains are places where praise flows more freely and where I feel closer to God – and I thank Him for the opportunities I’ve had this year for more mountain time!  These adventures have certainly played a part in helping to restore my energy levels. 

“The Sovereign Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to go on the heights.” (Hab 3:19). 

“He who forms the mountains…..and treads the high places of the earth……the Lord Almighty is his name.” (Amos 4:13). 

“Praise the Lord….you mountains and all hills…..let them praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted, His splendour is above the earth and the heavens.” (Psalm 148).

What else has been happening?  Our time with AIM officially came to a close at the end of March, although just a few weeks ago, I was able to attend the AIM Fellowship conference, this time as a retired AIM missionary, which still sounds rather strange!  Due to complications associated with the wretched Covid bug, the planned Oak Hall trips to Israel and Austria were cancelled, but Ruth and I were able to enjoy a family holiday in the Outer Hebrides, where we cycled through the islands of Lewis and Harris.  Apart from the expected saddle-soreness, a few punctures, bike-chain malfunctions, and lost car keys, the trip went without hitch!  Lochs and beaches, mountains and moorland, white-tailed eagles, seals and sunsets, picnics and dolphins – an awesome Scottish adventure!  I’ve been able to do a bit of gardening work here and there, and we’ve also been able to visit a few RSPB reserves to get our birding fix.  We’ve been out running, we’ve read books, and we’ve spent good time with family……and since the middle of May, Ruth has had the pleasure of being back in work and being the chief bread-winner!  

Over to Ruth: I’ve been working with Inspired Act since May as Operations Manager. The  company specializes in providing professional role play actors for training situations. It’s been a steep learning curve and an interesting insight into a world of which I knew little, but I’m enjoying it. 

Our house in Corsham has finally been returned to us, although not without its issues, as I am sure many a landlord has experienced!  We hope to be able to move from the ‘mill in Malmesbury’ back into our house towards the end of the year when a few necessary refurbishments have been completed!  It will be good to be based in Corsham again and to be able to walk to work!

It’s been so good to attend Corsham Baptist regularly over the last few months and to reconnect with people.  I’m looking forward to being more involved in church life, especially as restrictions lift and activities return to being face-to-face rather than online.  I’ve already signed up to join the monthly craft group!  

A New Chapter: Actually, I’ll be working with an organisation that deals with 1189 of them (chapters!).  After nine months of ‘time-out’ the opportunity is now there for me to get back in the saddle!  On 27th Sept I’ll start working for a ministry called “The Word for the World”, which is a Bible-translation agency.  The ministry was started in South Africa back in 1981 and there are now supporting offices in USA and the UK.  Across 15 countries, mainly in Asia and Africa, 165 Bible translation projects are currently in progress, or have been completed by TWFTW.  The aim of the organisation is to train and equip indigenous people to translate the Bible into their own languages.  Even in this so-called advanced world that we live in, there are still many places that don’t yet have the Bible in their own language. The stats are that 2,500 language communities already have some, or all of the Bible – but that still leaves a staggering 4,000 languages without access to God’s printed Word!  The aim of TWFTW is therefore to help alleviate Bible poverty across the world, and to bring the good news of Jesus to people that haven’t yet received it in their own tongue. 

So, where exactly do I come in, especially as I have absolutely no experience in Bible translation?!  My remit will be to represent and promote the work of The Word for the World here in the UK, mainly through preaching and presenting in various churches, but also at various conferences and events.  I’m hoping to inspire people into supporting the work of Bible translation as part of the task Jesus gave us in the Great Commission verses, but in preaching God’s Word I also want to encourage believers to get deeper into their Bibles, making more of the fact that we have such easy access to God’s written Word.  If you feel there might be an opportunity for me to visit your church, please feel free to get in touch. And if you want to find out more about the ministry, the unique way in which Bible translation is done by TWFTW, and in which countries they work, please click on the following links for more info: 

The Word for the World UK – Translating the Bible into every language (twftw.org.uk)

The Word For The World Bible Translators (twftw.org)       

On the UK website you’ll also find details of the “Sponsor a Verse” project, so if you want to send someone a Christmas present with a difference, or simply want to invest in helping TWFTW in their translation work, please click here for more details. 

And if you would like to be kept up-to-date with the work I’ll be involved in, plus the wider work of the ministry, please send me an email and I will add you to the mailing list.  You will then receive a short emailed newsletter approximately once every two months from TWFTW.  So, just so that it’s crystal clear – if you only want to receive the “Life in the Lancs Lane” blog update, then you do not need to do anything: this will be a general ‘Steve & Ruth’ update sent out twice a year, but if you want further updates on TWFTW and my involvement in the ministry, I do need to hear from you. 

Praise & Prayer Points:

– Thanking God (and Ruth!) for the opportunity I’ve had to take time out. The stomach issues have settled, the head is clearer, the energy and enthusiasm is returning, and the sleep is a bit better than it was! 

– Thanking God that Ruth has had employment for the last four months, and for the fact we’ve felt very settled in the old Silk Mill here in Malmesbury. It’s been such an ideal stop-over place whilst waiting for our house in Corsham to be vacated. 

– Please pray that I would settle into my role with “The Word for the World” and that, as I continue to preach, “I would fearlessly make known the gospel” and “correctly handle the Word of Truth”.     

Thanks for your prayers,

Love, Steve & Ruth

Bird of the month – the bearded tit.  We didn’t take
this picture but we saw them at RSPB Titchwell
on a short break to Norfolk – the fulfillment of
a birding ambition!
Celebrating Ruth’s birthday in August with pizza!
]]> 12949 The Last Words! https://corshambaptists.org/uncategorized/the-last-words-2/ Sat, 08 May 2021 16:34:00 +0000 https://corshambaptists.org/?guid=6d03b18af547ddaa580a1b2bca0b04a8 This post by Steve and Ruth Lancaster was originally published at Life in the Lancs Lane

2nd January: High Pike in the Lakes

The very last words of Tolkien’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ novel are a tad underwhelming considering what has gone before.  Samwise Gamgee, the ever-faithful travelling companion, arrives back in the Shire after completing his quest to help Frodo deposit the magical ring in the fires of Mount Doom.  He has fought off giant spiders, battled with orcs and trolls, trudged over mire and mountain, and finally arrived back at his Hobbiton home.  He slumps into a chair in his cosy hobbit-hole and says to his wife in a rather understated manner, “Well, I’m back.”

Well, we’re back!  And this is where our AIM journey comes to an end.  We haven’t had to fight any trolls, at least not in the physical realm!  Who knows how many spiritual trolls have been encountered during our journey?!  We have encountered a few big spiders and scorpions, but not on the scale that Sam and Frodo had to deal with.  We haven’t had to trudge over mire and mountain, unlike many of the early AIM missionaries, but we did clock up a lot of miles on the potholed roles of Tanzania as we ministered to pastors and missionaries across the country.  We didn’t have a magical ring to deal with, although, just as Tolkien’s ring had the power to destroy all evil, our mission was to teach God’s Word, a story that deals with the ultimate battle between good and evil, and the eventual demise of our enemy.  Revelation ch. 20 states that Satan will indeed be thrown into a lake of fire, and on that day, his influence will be no more!  The victory has been won!  Now, I realise that you can take analogies too far (Tolkien might disagree!) but the fact is that Ruth and I have completed our AIM journey and we’re finally able to say with Sam Gamgee, “Well, we’re back.”  It is the end of that story – but if you’d like to watch a summary of our final term ‘adventures’, see the penultimate paragraph for more details! 

Winter Wonderland: It’s now just over four months since we arrived back in the UK.  We enjoyed a quarantined Christmas, staying in a cosy Cumbrian cottage in the village of Baggrow – not ‘Bag End’!  Due to the fact that we couldn’t do any face-to-face deputation and that we hadn’t got a home to go to, we decided to head north to Scotland where Ruth’s sister has a holiday cottage that we could rent for a few months.  We stayed in the town of Nairn, or as one resident referred to it, Nairnia!  It certainly felt like Narnia during January when the snow came down and covered the frozen harbour!  Here’s a strange connection: the actress who played the evil ice queen in the Narnia movie actually lives in Nairn! 

Coming out of the heat of Tanzania, Ruth and I had both wanted to experience a proper cold winter, and up in Nairn we certainly got that!  We were told that Nairn hadn’t seen as cold a winter for at least 10 years, so it seems we were there at the right time!  With mountains on the doorstep, beaches to walk along, forests to wander through and birds to spot, these two months provided a real Rivendell experience for us; a place to rest and relax, to unwind and unravel, to chill and be chilled!  We loved it!  We managed to do a few online presentations and I was also able to preach a couple of times.  In fact, the wonders of modern technology meant that I could be halfway up a mountainous Munro but at the same time preaching in Carlisle!  Whilst preaching a pre-recorded sermon to a laptop does have some advantages, it isn’t quite the same, so I’m looking forward to getting back in a live pulpit sometime soon. 

A wintry Munro in the Highlands of Scotland

Morogoro to Malmesbury: Following our time in Scotland we headed south and began the process of finding somewhere to rent.  To cut a long story short, we’ve ended up in the small Cotswold town of Malmesbury where we have been able to rent a flat in an old workhouse!  Actually, it’s an old silk mill that was built in 1793 to process raw silk from China.  You’ll see from the photo that the building has numerous large windows in it, designed to let lots of natural light into the rooms, thereby avoiding having to use oil lamps and candles.  This was all with safety in mind as the silk material being processed was highly flammable!  We’ve been here just over a month and have settled in really well, and so far haven’t come across any ghostly silk-millers looking for their silk!  We had initially wanted to rent in Corsham itself but found that there was very little on the rental market that was available for just six months, so we opted for this flat in Malmesbury, only a 20-minute drive away. The silk mill will be our home for the next few months whilst we wait for our tenants to move out of our house in Corsham.    

The town of Malmesbury seems to have three notable claims to fame.1 . Athelstan, the first king of England was buried here in the abbey in the year 939. 2. A tower in the abbey was used for an early attempt at human flight way back in 1010.  One of the monks jumped into a hand-made glider and launched himself off the tower.  It flew for 180 metres before crashing to the ground, leaving him with two broken legs!  3. Nowadays it’s home to the Dyson company, an employer of over 4,000 people who design and produce all sorts of household gadgets.

Sunset on the Solway Firth

And so to the ‘what next’ question!  We’ve certainly enjoyed our home assignment months, even though they’ve been a bit different due to Covid restrictions.  Tanzania already seems a world away from where we are now; there are no geckos on our walls here, no ants crawling over the kitchen top, no snakes to be mindful of!  We now drink water from the taps without a second thought and are still amazed by the food choices available in the supermarket!  Despite what people may say, the roads here are a pleasure to drive on, and having my car serviced here only takes a day, rather than week!!  And it still seems strange that it’s not getting dark at 6.30 every night!  I guess that these, and a thousand other differences, add to the variety of life that we’ve experienced during the past 7 years, and it’s going to take a bit more time to fully adjust back into UK culture.  We’re grateful for most of these experiences (!) and thankful to God for a good re-entry!  

Ruth has been actively looking for employment and had hoped to find a job with a Christian ministry.  However, the Lord seems to have another direction in mind for her at this time and on 10th May she will start a new job as the Operations Manager of a small company that specializes in providing training through role play (see www.inspired-act.co.uk for more information).  This opportunity came about through a member of Corsham Baptist Church who runs the company.  Please pray for Ruth as she settles into the role. 

As for me (Steve), there are a few possibilities, but nothing definite to report on.  I’ve found it hard to know exactly what I want to do in this next chapter, and I’m content to wait for the right opportunity, knowing that God will show me the right door to walk through as and when that door appears!  I’d like to continue in Christian ministry through preaching and teaching but working out the right context in which to do that, at this point in time, is the hard part!  Meanwhile, Oak Hall has asked me to lead and speak on a few trips during the summer and, now that travel restrictions are beginning to ease, there is a better chance of them actually happening.  Israel is one country that has just been given a ‘green light’, meaning that there won’t be a requirement to quarantine on return.  The Israel trips I hope to be leading will be 31st July-10th August, and 8th-18th Sept, and I also hope to be doing the Bible teaching on the Oak Hall Alpine Bible week in Austria towards the end of August.  It’s always good to see a few familiar faces on these trips, so if you fancy joining me, please have a look at the Oak Hall website, or click the following links: 

Oak Hall – Israel—trip codes IS34 and IS40 

Pastor Batano & Tony 
at Sanga Sanga

News of Sanga Sanga: Our former team mates Tony & Cath Swanson visited Sanga Sanga in February to run a training course for pastors and reported back to us that the ministry appears to be thriving.  The buildings were spick and span and visitor bookings were growing.  We’re so thankful to hear this news and to know that our Tanzanian colleagues are doing a great job.  Please do continue to pray for Pastor Batano, the accountant John, evangelist Francis Manungu and all the team there.  You can receive occasional updates of Sanga Sanga through the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/aictsangasanga.

Magical Memories and Memorable Moments: Back in March we put together a video presentation of our third term in Tanzania, a summary of our final term and a collection of our memorable moments.  It was done primarily for folks at our home church in Corsham because we couldn’t report back to them face-to-face, but we thought we’d make it available on the blog for anyone to watch.  You might be familiar with some of the photos and stories, as they’ve appeared in various newsletters, but we hope that it gives the full flavour of our final term in Tanzania.  So, if you’d like to see some footage of an elephant up close and personal, some grown-up men and women getting excited over a piece of birthday cake, a Muslim-majority primary school class singing God’s praises, and some Masai dance moves, head to the previous post on the blog entitled “Video – a look back at our last term” and click on the link which says “3rd term video for Corsham Baptist”.  A word of warning to those strapped for time, the presentation lasts for 46 minutes!! 
This is the 41st and final edition of our AIM-related newsletter and, if you’ve read all 41 editions, you deserve a medal!  A note of thanks to Ma and Pa Lancs for printing and distributing those 41 editions!  We hope you’ve enjoyed the journey and have felt a part of what we’ve been doing over these last 7.5 years.  We may well continue to write an occasional blog update (depending on what happens next), so if you would prefer not to be on the blog update list, please let us know.  If we don’t hear from you, we’ll assume you’re happy to hear from us occasionally!  
Our formal service with AIM officially ended on 31st March, although we’ll continue to be inactive members for the time being.  We had good debriefs with our colleagues in the Nottingham office and are grateful for all they’ve done to administer our service and smooth our transitions to and from the field.
To those who have written to us at various times, to those who have encouraged us, to those who have prayed for us, and to those who have supported us and our work at IBM financially, we want to say the biggest THANK YOU possible – asante sana kabisa for your support!  You’ve been a huge blessing!  And I guess all that’s left to say is ‘goodbye’…. for now!   
Every blessing,
Steve & Ruth
Prayer Points
– Praise God for the way in which He has helped us to adjust back to life in the UK and for the provision of accommodation.
– Please pray for Ruth as she starts her new job soon.  Pray too for Steve as he considers the future and waits for God’s direction.
– Please pray for Pastor Batano and his team at Sanga Sanga, that the ministry will continue to bless the pastors and evangelists of the AICT.  Pray for wise management and increasing visitor numbers to sustain the work.
Bird of the month: Long-tailed Duck,
seen at Hopeman, Moray

Steve, his niece Grace and sister
Bev at the end of the unofficial
Nairn half marathon in March!
]]> 19506 The Last Words! https://corshambaptists.org/mission-and-ministries/the-last-words/ Sat, 08 May 2021 16:34:00 +0000 http://corshambaptists.org/?guid=6d03b18af547ddaa580a1b2bca0b04a8 This post by Steve and Ruth Lancaster was originally published at Life in the Lancs Lane

2nd January: High Pike in the Lakes

The very last words of Tolkien’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ novel are a tad underwhelming considering what has gone before.  Samwise Gamgee, the ever-faithful travelling companion, arrives back in the Shire after completing his quest to help Frodo deposit the magical ring in the fires of Mount Doom.  He has fought off giant spiders, battled with orcs and trolls, trudged over mire and mountain, and finally arrived back at his Hobbiton home.  He slumps into a chair in his cosy hobbit-hole and says to his wife in a rather understated manner, “Well, I’m back.”

Well, we’re back!  And this is where our AIM journey comes to an end.  We haven’t had to fight any trolls, at least not in the physical realm!  Who knows how many spiritual trolls have been encountered during our journey?!  We have encountered a few big spiders and scorpions, but not on the scale that Sam and Frodo had to deal with.  We haven’t had to trudge over mire and mountain, unlike many of the early AIM missionaries, but we did clock up a lot of miles on the potholed roles of Tanzania as we ministered to pastors and missionaries across the country.  We didn’t have a magical ring to deal with, although, just as Tolkien’s ring had the power to destroy all evil, our mission was to teach God’s Word, a story that deals with the ultimate battle between good and evil, and the eventual demise of our enemy.  Revelation ch. 20 states that Satan will indeed be thrown into a lake of fire, and on that day, his influence will be no more!  The victory has been won!  Now, I realise that you can take analogies too far (Tolkien might disagree!) but the fact is that Ruth and I have completed our AIM journey and we’re finally able to say with Sam Gamgee, “Well, we’re back.”  It is the end of that story – but if you’d like to watch a summary of our final term ‘adventures’, see the penultimate paragraph for more details! 

Winter Wonderland: It’s now just over four months since we arrived back in the UK.  We enjoyed a quarantined Christmas, staying in a cosy Cumbrian cottage in the village of Baggrow – not ‘Bag End’!  Due to the fact that we couldn’t do any face-to-face deputation and that we hadn’t got a home to go to, we decided to head north to Scotland where Ruth’s sister has a holiday cottage that we could rent for a few months.  We stayed in the town of Nairn, or as one resident referred to it, Nairnia!  It certainly felt like Narnia during January when the snow came down and covered the frozen harbour!  Here’s a strange connection: the actress who played the evil ice queen in the Narnia movie actually lives in Nairn! 

Coming out of the heat of Tanzania, Ruth and I had both wanted to experience a proper cold winter, and up in Nairn we certainly got that!  We were told that Nairn hadn’t seen as cold a winter for at least 10 years, so it seems we were there at the right time!  With mountains on the doorstep, beaches to walk along, forests to wander through and birds to spot, these two months provided a real Rivendell experience for us; a place to rest and relax, to unwind and unravel, to chill and be chilled!  We loved it!  We managed to do a few online presentations and I was also able to preach a couple of times.  In fact, the wonders of modern technology meant that I could be halfway up a mountainous Munro but at the same time preaching in Carlisle!  Whilst preaching a pre-recorded sermon to a laptop does have some advantages, it isn’t quite the same, so I’m looking forward to getting back in a live pulpit sometime soon. 

A wintry Munro in the Highlands of Scotland

Morogoro to Malmesbury: Following our time in Scotland we headed south and began the process of finding somewhere to rent.  To cut a long story short, we’ve ended up in the small Cotswold town of Malmesbury where we have been able to rent a flat in an old workhouse!  Actually, it’s an old silk mill that was built in 1793 to process raw silk from China.  You’ll see from the photo that the building has numerous large windows in it, designed to let lots of natural light into the rooms, thereby avoiding having to use oil lamps and candles.  This was all with safety in mind as the silk material being processed was highly flammable!  We’ve been here just over a month and have settled in really well, and so far haven’t come across any ghostly silk-millers looking for their silk!  We had initially wanted to rent in Corsham itself but found that there was very little on the rental market that was available for just six months, so we opted for this flat in Malmesbury, only a 20-minute drive away. The silk mill will be our home for the next few months whilst we wait for our tenants to move out of our house in Corsham.    

The town of Malmesbury seems to have three notable claims to fame.1 . Athelstan, the first king of England was buried here in the abbey in the year 939. 2. A tower in the abbey was used for an early attempt at human flight way back in 1010.  One of the monks jumped into a hand-made glider and launched himself off the tower.  It flew for 180 metres before crashing to the ground, leaving him with two broken legs!  3. Nowadays it’s home to the Dyson company, an employer of over 4,000 people who design and produce all sorts of household gadgets.

Sunset on the Solway Firth

And so to the ‘what next’ question!  We’ve certainly enjoyed our home assignment months, even though they’ve been a bit different due to Covid restrictions.  Tanzania already seems a world away from where we are now; there are no geckos on our walls here, no ants crawling over the kitchen top, no snakes to be mindful of!  We now drink water from the taps without a second thought and are still amazed by the food choices available in the supermarket!  Despite what people may say, the roads here are a pleasure to drive on, and having my car serviced here only takes a day, rather than week!!  And it still seems strange that it’s not getting dark at 6.30 every night!  I guess that these, and a thousand other differences, add to the variety of life that we’ve experienced during the past 7 years, and it’s going to take a bit more time to fully adjust back into UK culture.  We’re grateful for most of these experiences (!) and thankful to God for a good re-entry!  

Ruth has been actively looking for employment and had hoped to find a job with a Christian ministry.  However, the Lord seems to have another direction in mind for her at this time and on 10th May she will start a new job as the Operations Manager of a small company that specializes in providing training through role play (see www.inspired-act.co.uk for more information).  This opportunity came about through a member of Corsham Baptist Church who runs the company.  Please pray for Ruth as she settles into the role. 

As for me (Steve), there are a few possibilities, but nothing definite to report on.  I’ve found it hard to know exactly what I want to do in this next chapter, and I’m content to wait for the right opportunity, knowing that God will show me the right door to walk through as and when that door appears!  I’d like to continue in Christian ministry through preaching and teaching but working out the right context in which to do that, at this point in time, is the hard part!  Meanwhile, Oak Hall has asked me to lead and speak on a few trips during the summer and, now that travel restrictions are beginning to ease, there is a better chance of them actually happening.  Israel is one country that has just been given a ‘green light’, meaning that there won’t be a requirement to quarantine on return.  The Israel trips I hope to be leading will be 31st July-10th August, and 8th-18th Sept, and I also hope to be doing the Bible teaching on the Oak Hall Alpine Bible week in Austria towards the end of August.  It’s always good to see a few familiar faces on these trips, so if you fancy joining me, please have a look at the Oak Hall website, or click the following links: 

Oak Hall – Israel—trip codes IS34 and IS40 

Pastor Batano & Tony 
at Sanga Sanga

News of Sanga Sanga: Our former team mates Tony & Cath Swanson visited Sanga Sanga in February to run a training course for pastors and reported back to us that the ministry appears to be thriving.  The buildings were spick and span and visitor bookings were growing.  We’re so thankful to hear this news and to know that our Tanzanian colleagues are doing a great job.  Please do continue to pray for Pastor Batano, the accountant John, evangelist Francis Manungu and all the team there.  You can receive occasional updates of Sanga Sanga through the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/aictsangasanga.

Magical Memories and Memorable Moments: Back in March we put together a video presentation of our third term in Tanzania, a summary of our final term and a collection of our memorable moments.  It was done primarily for folks at our home church in Corsham because we couldn’t report back to them face-to-face, but we thought we’d make it available on the blog for anyone to watch.  You might be familiar with some of the photos and stories, as they’ve appeared in various newsletters, but we hope that it gives the full flavour of our final term in Tanzania.  So, if you’d like to see some footage of an elephant up close and personal, some grown-up men and women getting excited over a piece of birthday cake, a Muslim-majority primary school class singing God’s praises, and some Masai dance moves, head to the previous post on the blog entitled “Video – a look back at our last term” and click on the link which says “3rd term video for Corsham Baptist”.  A word of warning to those strapped for time, the presentation lasts for 46 minutes!! 
This is the 41st and final edition of our AIM-related newsletter and, if you’ve read all 41 editions, you deserve a medal!  A note of thanks to Ma and Pa Lancs for printing and distributing those 41 editions!  We hope you’ve enjoyed the journey and have felt a part of what we’ve been doing over these last 7.5 years.  We may well continue to write an occasional blog update (depending on what happens next), so if you would prefer not to be on the blog update list, please let us know.  If we don’t hear from you, we’ll assume you’re happy to hear from us occasionally!  
Our formal service with AIM officially ended on 31st March, although we’ll continue to be inactive members for the time being.  We had good debriefs with our colleagues in the Nottingham office and are grateful for all they’ve done to administer our service and smooth our transitions to and from the field.
To those who have written to us at various times, to those who have encouraged us, to those who have prayed for us, and to those who have supported us and our work at IBM financially, we want to say the biggest THANK YOU possible – asante sana kabisa for your support!  You’ve been a huge blessing!  And I guess all that’s left to say is ‘goodbye’…. for now!   
Every blessing,
Steve & Ruth
Prayer Points
– Praise God for the way in which He has helped us to adjust back to life in the UK and for the provision of accommodation.
– Please pray for Ruth as she starts her new job soon.  Pray too for Steve as he considers the future and waits for God’s direction.
– Please pray for Pastor Batano and his team at Sanga Sanga, that the ministry will continue to bless the pastors and evangelists of the AICT.  Pray for wise management and increasing visitor numbers to sustain the work.
Bird of the month: Long-tailed Duck,
seen at Hopeman, Moray
Steve, his niece Grace and sister
Bev at the end of the unofficial
Nairn half marathon in March!
]]> 12298 Video – a look back at our last term https://corshambaptists.org/uncategorized/latest-update-march-2021/ Mon, 08 Mar 2021 19:01:00 +0000 http://corshambaptists.org/?guid=a04c29638fec5332401dfe573cd3ae7d This post by Steve and Ruth Lancaster was originally published at Life in the Lancs Lane

 Hi folks,

We’ve been back in the UK for a couple of months now.  It’s been a good time for us to process our final term in Tanzania and adjust to life back here, and especially life under lockdown.  We’ll be sending out a final newsletter in a few weeks’ time but for now we thought you might want to watch a video that we put together for our church, Corsham Baptist, that gives the highlights of our final year, some memorable moments and some things that we’d love you to pray for.  The video is 45 minutes long so get yourself a cuppa and get comfortable!  To access the video, clink the link below (it will look like it’s buffering but if you press play it will start).

Enjoy!

3rd term video for Corsham Baptist

]]> 11851 Video – a look back at our last term https://corshambaptists.org/uncategorized/video-a-look-back-at-our-last-term/ Mon, 08 Mar 2021 19:01:00 +0000 https://corshambaptists.org/?guid=a04c29638fec5332401dfe573cd3ae7d This post by Steve and Ruth Lancaster was originally published at Life in the Lancs Lane

 Hi folks,

We’ve been back in the UK for a couple of months now.  It’s been a good time for us to process our final term in Tanzania and adjust to life back here, and especially life under lockdown.  We’ll be sending out a final newsletter in a few weeks’ time but for now we thought you might want to watch a video that we put together for our church, Corsham Baptist, that gives the highlights of our final year, some memorable moments and some things that we’d love you to pray for.  The video is 45 minutes long so get yourself a cuppa and get comfortable!  To access the video, clink the link below (it will look like it’s buffering but if you press play it will start).

Enjoy!

3rd term video for Corsham Baptist

]]> 19508