2010 Year in Review

2010 Year in Review

It is a privilege to report on what the Lord has done over the past year.  We cannot take any pride in this, for a few reasons:

1.  We are more aware than ever before how dependent we are upon the Lord’s provision for this ministry.  Our main source of income has been cut; however, the Lord continues to provide through donors and other means to keep TLC going.

2.  We are more aware than ever before how frail we are as believers.  The fact that TLC Ministries is continuing into its fourth year is solely a token of God’s grace.  We do not deserve anything from His gracious hand, yet He continues to allow us to serve Him.

3.  We are more aware than ever before that the Lord does not “need” TLC Ministries.  He can accomplish His Sovereign purposes without our work.  If He should so choose, TLC Ministries could go completely out of existence and He would continue to build the Church.

In the light of all of this, all we can do is simply cover our mouths, bow before the Lord and worship Him.  We are blessed beyond measure to be able to play a small role in the Lord’s harvest field.  As we share what He has done, please remember that it is what He has done.

This year, the Lord has had us busier in evangelism ministry than at any time in our experience doing full time evangelism since 2005.  It is surprising what the Lord has done through a small ministry based in a small town with oversight by a small church.

TLC Ministries seeks to fulfill the Acts 1:8 model of missions.  We aim to reach our Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth.

Our Jerusalem (Dallas\Ft. Worth)

Azle, TX

This year, the Crawfords have joined the Speeds at FBC Briar.  We’ve been blessed to work with our church to take the gospel to Azle, TX and mobilize the church for evangelism.  We’ve assisted with the Reformation Day celebration, Thanksgiving basket outreach, Christmas caroling\gift distribution at Walmart, evangelizing local parks, and more.  Several of the members have come out to our local outreaches as well.

Weekly Outreaches

When we are not on the road, we are out on the streets taking the gospel throughout the Metroplex.  Venues include Sundance Square, various parades, the Dallas Cowboys stadium, various festivals, the DART station in the West End, and more.  Some of our team members take the gospel regularly to the Truck Stop north of Ft. Worth on I-35W, the skate park in Allen, and the Department of Public Safety in Denton.  In May, we were able to do a festival booth at the Justin Fun Day, a local festival right here in the town we live in.

Debates\Dialogues

TLC Ministries was blessed to be able to coordinate a debate and a dialogue with leaders of other religions.  Jon did a dialogue with a Mormon PhD candidate from UNT at the LDS Religious Institute near the campus of UNT.  The gospel was clearly presented and many Mormons heard the gospel in one-to-ones afterwards.

In September, TLC Ministries coordinated a debate at FBC Briar between Tyler McNabb of Romans121.com and Khalil Meek, a leader in the Muslim community in Dallas.  Randall Easter presented the gospel at the end.  Both of these events were well attended and the gospel was proclaimed.

Texas Revival Series III

This year about 100 believers from around Texas (and several other states) came to Allen (a suburb of Dallas) to get equipped in evangelism.  Tony Miano, Randall Easter and Jon Speed all preached on the theme of the Supremacy of Christ in Evangelism.  Afterwards, most of the participants invaded a local Allen outdoor mall with the gospel.  TLC Ministries coordinated all of the logistics for this event.

World Series

Tim Crawford and Sports Fan Outreach took the gospel to the World Series.  Several of these games were played in Arlington, TX since the Texas Rangers made it to the finals.  Tim and Bill Adams led teams out for each of these games at the stadium.

Texas Motor Speedway

This year we were able to assist TXARM with evangelism at the NASCAR races at Texas Motor Speedway for our third year.  Thousands of the NASCAR Trivia tracts from One Million Tracts were distributed.  Jon and Tim got to preach to some fans at the Sunday morning worship services in April and November on the infield at turn #1.  Andy Schmelzer and Rhonda Stroud of Fishers for Men Medical Ministries joined us for the November race.

NBA All Star Game

Tim Crawford worked with Bill Adams of Sports Fan Outreach to take the gospel to the NBA All Star Game in Dallas this year.  It was very cold, but many got the gospel, including some NBA players.

Judea (Texas)

College Campus Ministry

In 2010 we proclaimed the gospel on a regular basis at the University of North Texas.  We also preached a few times at Texas Womans University.  We also assisted Living Waters’ CAUSE project by leading a team to the University of Texas at Austin.  The Lord blessed us with another opportunity to preach at the University of Oklahoma with a large team comprised of Sports Fan Outreach, Bezeugen Ministries and other team members.

Samaria (The United States)

Super Bowl

A group of about seven from TLC Ministries attended the Super Bowl Outreach in Miami, FL.  There were about 100 or so attendees.  Jon and Tim both led a team at South Beach and many thousands heard the gospel via tracts, preaching and one-to-ones.

Ambassadors Academy

In 2010, TLC Ministries assisted Living Waters’ Ambassadors Academy by assisting as team leaders for this vital evangelism training ministry.  Jon and\or Tim traveled to Los Angeles for five of the six Academies and assisted by leading small teams out to venues such as Hollywood Boulevard, Santa Monica, Glendale, and Huntington Beach.  We partnered with One Million Tracts to distribute free copies of Jon’s “Evangelism in the New Testament” to all of the graduates of the Academy in 2010.

The Five Hundred Outreaches

Once again, we were privileged to partner with Transplant Ministries, Living Waters and Wretched Radio to coordinate the outreaches after the Psalm 119 and Deeper Conferences.  The Psalm 119 Conference was held in the Fort Worth, TX area.  About 120 believers were mobilized to hit four different venues.  At the Deeper Conference in the Covington (KY)\Cincinnati (OH) area, four teams totaling 200-250 were mobilized to take the gospel to the largest Oktoberfest in the nation.  TLC Ministries provided logistics and team leadership for both events.

Speaking Engagements

Jon Speed was blessed to take the following speaking engagements in 2010:

* Easter Week Meetings @ FBC Briar (Azle, TX)
* Sovereign Grace Bible Church (Flagstaff, AZ)
* Genesee Country Church (Oakfield, NY)
* Genesee Country Church Snow Camp (Amboy, NY)
* Delhi Community Church (Delhi, NY)
* Fresh Spring Baptist Church (Angleton, TX)
* Great Commission Baptist Church (Ft. Worth, TX)
* Go, Stand, Speak Conference (Brooklyn, NY)
* Texas Revival Series III (Allen, TX)
* Super Bowl Outreach (Miami, FL)
* Heart of the Gospel Conference (Shelton, WA)

The Uttermost Parts (International)

The Olympics (Canada)

Tim Crawford traveled to British Columbia, Canada to work with Bill Adams and Sports Fan Outreach to bring the gospel to the nations at the Olympics.  Again, many people from many nations heard the gospel.

FIFA World Cup (South Africa)

Tim Crawford had another chance to do an international trip with Sports Fan Outreach to the World Cup in South Africa.  Just as at the Olympics, people from all over the world, and some closed countries, heard the gospel.  The locals were also evangelized, in small towns around the soccer venues.  There were several professions of faith.

Resources (Global)

TLC Ministries produced an audio DVD containing MP3 messages from Texas Revival Series II featuring messages from Keith Daniel, Mike Gendron, Randall Easter and Mack Tomlinson.  We are appreciative of Byron Porter, who took care of the production and editing of this resource.  It is available for a suggested donation of $10.00.

Jon continues to work with One Million Tracts to provide editing for their tracts.  He also contributed a feature article for the first issue of their new magazine, “The Evangelist”.  He is a contributing writer on www.thisjesus.blogspot.com.  Our website, www.lostcauseministries.com, is visited by people from around the world.  For example, this year we have corresponded with a man from Singapore who has realized that he is a false convert as a result of listening to Jon’s testimony and has since come to faith in Christ!

Weekly Evangelism Update (Global)

Our weekly email report has been a real ministry to the 600+ people who receive it.  We have been told many times how much it has blessed those who read it.  It not only communicates our local outreaches, but it provides the readers with evangelism resources, evangelism quotes, reports on outreaches, and news about big outreaches.

Future Plans

The 2011 calendar is already filling up quickly.  We are making plans for Texas Revival Series IV, more 500 events, and assisting Living Waters with Ambassadors Academy.   Potential mission trips include a possible trip to Mexico, a trip to the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland) and a trip to New Zealand.  All of our “regular” outreaches will continue into 2011.

We are most excited about the attempt to plant a church in Syracuse, NY.  Jon Speed has been called, and FBC Briar has confirmed this call, to plant a church there.  Jon will also lead a 4 month program called The Log College.  The Log College will be an intensive theology and preaching program designed to train open-air preachers in sound doctrine and open-air preaching.  Jon is in the process of trying to sell his home and make the move.  As soon as his house sells, the wheels will be set in motion to make real progress towards raising up a biblical, evangelistic church in Syracuse.

Finances

How much does this kind of ministry cost?   After all, thousands of people are hearing the gospel, believers are being trained and the gospel is going around the world.  The answer is: just a fraction of what you might think!

As many of you know, our financial support was dropped this year.  Many of you have responded, and now we are at about $1154.00 per month per family, or about 39% of our support. We are on a campaign to raise $6,000.00 per month so both families can function at a reasonable standard of living.  Right now we are not there.  The Lord graciously provides, via other part time work and unexpected personal gifts. 

On a monthly basis, we have $1,741.00 pledged.  In 2010 we received another $6,800.00 in one time giving.  While we’re extremely grateful for the one-time gifts, when you spread that money over 12 months it comes out to about $567.00 per month.  In order to pay the staff mortgages, we’ve been issuing payments, once per month, for a total of $2400 per month to cover both families.  Mathematically, we won’t be able to continue to do even this much for each family as the one-time gifts are tapped.

Therefore, for fundraising purposes, we are considering the real number we’re working with to be $1,741.00.  To meet $6,000 in monthly contributions, we must raise $4,259.00 per month.  If we can find 426 people who will support us at $10.00 per month, this need can be met. 

Stop for a moment and consider what you have just read about our finances compared with the ministry activity you’ve seen for 2010.   There have been gas expenses, parking fees, meal expenses (on the road), other fees.  These expenses, up until October, were paid out of a bigger salary (more than double).  Since October, they have been paid out of a far more meager income, as well as other income we’ve had to raise by working part time.  Jon has a small business selling used books on the internet which averages between $750 and $850 per month.  Tim works for an insurance company on an “as needed” basis (and did not work in December).  Our bills being what they are, if the support is not there we are forced to cut back on ministry and do other things to raise money.  But even these other things are barely providing our needs.

We apologize for having to ask for help.  We wish we didn’t have to.  But these are the real numbers we are working with and unless we share this information with you, there’s no way you can know where we are financially.

We know that there are many good, worthwhile ministries out there.  Please consider donating to TLC Ministries (after you have given to support your local church).  For less than the price of a postage stamp per day, you can support extensive evangelistic outreach throughout the world.

You can donate today here.  Please note that our PayPal account is set up to take recurring donations; if you want to do that option, you must set it up when you donate.  Or you can send a check made payable to The Lost Cause Ministries at:

The Lost Cause Ministries
P.O. Box 1125
Justin, TX  76247