2022 Faithful Servants: John and Deb Sauser
October 7, 2022
John and Deb Sauser were married in August of 1973. They have four children: Courtney Larson, Jordan Sauser and his wife Laura, Ryan Sauser and his wife Allison, Whitney Georgakakos and her husband Pete. They have eight grandchildren. It’s a blessing for them to have all their children and grandchildren living nearby and serving the Lord at Harvest Baptist Church in Williamsburg, Iowa.
John graduated from Faith Baptist Bible College in 1978 with the B.A. and Th.B. degrees. After graduation he and his wife, Deb, moved to Tacoma, Washington, where he attended Northwest Baptist Seminary, receiving a Master of Divinity degree in 1982. Those were four wonderful years of the Lord’s continuing preparation in their lives for ministry. During that time the Lord nurtured within their hearts a burden for church revitalization and church planting, consistent with how the Lord led them in their three ministries throughout the following 40 years of ministry.
From seminary they moved to their first church in Caldwell, Idaho. While ministering there the Lord blessed their labors, and the church multiplied and grew in the area of the faith of the gospel, increasing their burden for discipleship and spiritual training.
In April of 1986, God led them to a revitalization ministry in Iowa City, Iowa, where they served for 16 years at Faith Baptist Church. As the church grew, the people recognized that God was doing a work in Williamsburg. As a result, a vision grew to plant a church there.
In 2001 the Lord directed them in preparation for a church planting ministry under Baptist Church Planters. They were then commissioned by Faith Baptist Church along with 20 believers, who were coming from Williamsburg, to plant a church in their community. Faith, the mother church, called a new pastor that same year. This new church was born and held their first service on October 14. They met in the elementary school for the next six years. The Lord then led them under Continental Baptist Missionary Builders to assist in the construction of a new building, which was completed in 2007. In March of 2020, God brought their son and family, Jordan, Laura, Tinley, and Ridley to minister and serve as associate pastor and wife.
John and Deb rejoice in the Lord as they look back at the path of ministry the Lord laid out before them.
Thank you, John and Deb Sauser, for five decades of faithful service in pastoral ministry, for your service on the FBBC&TS Board of Directors, for your ardent support of the work of the college and seminary, and for being faithful servants by taking the Word to the World.