Photos courtesy of Steven and Ginger Lingo
The son of missionary parents, Steven Lingo fell severely ill when he was six. Learning of his plight, Ginger’s Sunday School class decided to get him a bicycle as motivation to get out of bed.
Steven and Ginger Lingo have been an active duo serving at Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale, FL, for more than 30 years as instructive missionary leaders and dedicated members of the Spanish translation ministry—impacting churches, missionaries, and leaders far beyond the walls of the church. Prior to this, they faithfully served within the Independent Baptist church and missions. Upon attending a conference where Dr. W.C. Criswell, a well-known Baptist pastor and author, was speaking, he prayed over the Lingos, foretelling they would reach people all around the globe.
As newlyweds, Ginger and Steven decided to host dinner for Steven’s parents before they returned to Chile as missionaries. After a successful meal, Ginger and her mother-in-law were washing dishes. Ginger recalled: “His mom said, ‘Ginger, you need to know that Steven got really sick at one time. In fact, I think it was your church that gave him a bike.’” Suddenly, Ginger’s mind reeled back to a childhood Sunday school lesson. “I’ll never forget it. I ran to my bedroom, threw myself on my bed, and started bawling.”
Purple Schwinn
A Sunday school teacher was reading a flannelgraph story—a storytelling system using a flannel material board—about a family in Santiago, Chile. “The teacher would bring you to an epic point in the story, then stop and read a letter from the missionary. They really made it live!” exclaimed Ginger. The letter, written by the family’s mother, described how terribly ill their young son was. When the teacher asked the class what they should do, they all agreed to send him something that would motivate him to get out of bed and feel better—a bicycle.
Months prior, when walking in downtown Springfield, MO, with her dad, 6-year-old Ginger excitedly pointed out a gorgeous purple Schwinn bike glistening in the sun from a store window display. On his pastor’s salary, her dad explained that he could not afford to buy it for her but encouraged that if she worked hard and prayed, maybe she could get that bike. “I worked every which way I could to get that bike. Raking leaves for neighbors, doing things for my grandparents, even a crazy thing—saving potato chip bags. There was a contest, if you saved potato chip bags you could get so much [money] for them,” she offered.
Ginger had thought about that bike morning, noon, and night as she determinedly worked to save for it. “It was such a dream, and it was hard for me to give that up,” she admitted. “But I knew it was God’s. I walked up to the Sunday school teacher and said, ‘I have the money for the bike.’”
Crying on her bed from this recollection, Ginger said she understood what God had done. That young, sick missionary’s son grew up to be the husband the Lord had given her in exchange for that purple Schwinn bike. After more than 50 years of marriage to her best friend, three wonderful children, and a passel of grandchildren, Ginger acknowledges, “One of the things you learn is that you can never pay God enough of anything or sacrifice enough because He just goes way over the top for us.”
Early Married Life
In her college years, Ginger met Steven when he began attending her dad’s church. “We immediately knew we were for each other. Our first date was at a pizza place, but just prior we had attended the college’s Valentine’s Day party together,” she divulged. Explaining to their parents they wished to be married, it was decided that they would be wed on June 25, 1972, four months later, just before Steven’s parents would return to Chile as missionaries. Ginger noted, “Our church supported them as missionaries, so our parents knew each other, but as kids we didn’t get together.”
Growing up with missionary parents, Steven thought he and Ginger would be missionaries as well. During an internship, Steven understood he was not called to this ministry. After a phone call from Ginger’s father describing a small church in east Texas that needed somebody to deliver a Christmas sermon, they went. “By that evening, they had voted for us to be their pastor and pastor’s wife,” Ginger remarked. After 12 years in Longview, TX, Steven felt God calling them to something different—business. Moving to Florida, they first worked in insurance before opening their own real estate office. Working side by side throughout their entire married life, they became inseparable whether at family life, work, or on mission for God.
Finding Home at Calvary Chapel
Ginger had been serving as a women’s director at their church when she heard about Calvary Chapel. “We kept hearing about ‘Calvary Chapel’; everything was Calvary Chapel,” she recalled. “When we walked in, I felt like Simeon and Anna who had been waiting all their life to see the Messiah, baby Jesus, in the temple. I’ve waited for this my whole life. I am here, and I am home. Here you don’t sound crazy when God puts you in a direction, and you know you’ve heard His voice. Where I came from, it just wasn’t that way.”
After that first service, they committed to do whatever the Lord desired. Initially, they taught missions for many years. Then the church felt the burden to reach the growing Hispanic community around them, and Steven began translating Sunday sermons. Never translating before, he struggled with this new ministry. Ginger noted, “I was so frustrated about this. One day, again at my sink doing dishes, I told God, This has to quit today. From that day on, Steven was able to just go right on with it.”
For 28 years, Steven faithfully served as CC Fort Lauderdale’s translator, even interpreting multiple, large conferences and Christmas and Easter services. “We have to be available every weekend as this is something high-level that needs to be done; you can’t just put anybody in there,” Ginger pointed out. “It has been worthwhile, because we have seen all kinds of churches come from it, like ones in South America. We would send over the translation on tape, they’d be a week behind, but they are strong Calvary Chapel churches right now.” This also sparked the birth of a Spanish church on another CC Fort Lauderdale campus, led by a pastor who was saved through the translation ministry.
“At the end of your life, you want to know what has evolved from your obedience,” Ginger shared. “God has shown me how some of the main leaders in our church came from that, because they only knew Spanish. Now they are elders, teachers, and missionaries serving all over the place. As I pray, I feel God impressing that I am just not going to know the full impact. Even what I do see, that is not the most effective or powerful. All the time I see people going forward at the altar call with those headsets on. I feel God saying, It’s going to be those people you don’t even know about.”
Not long after the Lingos were married, Ginger learned that the boy she donated her hard-earned bicycle money to was the man she just married .
married.
Married for over 50 years, Steven and Ginger have worked side by side through their careers, family life, and ministry.
For God’s Glory
Unexpectedly, after Ginger’s bike story was initially shared by Billy Graham’s grandson, Stephan Tchividjian, she was contacted by a local newspaper writer well known for his brutal hit pieces. “He never did good stories, so I told him No,” Ginger stated. “He insisted so much that he showed up with a guy to take pictures and with something to sign. He needed to have something positive. I agreed to it.”
At that time, Ginger wanted to go on a trip for their anniversary but couldn’t because of her and Steven’s commitment to the translation ministry. “In my flesh, I was asking God, Why did You do this? But His reminder to me was, Look what I did for you.” The article was published along with their picture in the local paper. From there it went to Guideposts magazine where many pastors have used it in their sermons—and still do today. “How God rewards obedience, nothing is so good as sacrificing your all,” she reassured.
Outgoing and ebullient, with a sincere love for people and Jesus, Ginger has found her ministry calling in real estate. “When I was a pastor’s wife, people had this wall where you couldn’t get to know them. When I got into real estate and started my company, I found out people are real. I’ve been able to show them Jesus like I haven’t in any other way.” Ginger giggled, “One of my girlfriends says I’m just an undercover pastor’s wife.”
The Lingos say they have no plans for retiring—from work or ministry. “We’ve always said we aren’t going to plan anything that looks good, we are just going to follow God and keep doing what He has us doing. Our prayer is that for the rest of our lives, He uses us even more powerfully than before.”
Ginger and Steven’s story, “Giving Up a Little Sometimes Brings a Lot,” written by Michael Mayo, was originally published in 2005 in the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
This story about the Schwinn bicycle and Steve’s illness originally appeared in Issue 16 of Calvary Chapel Magazine, published in the summer of 2003.
Thank you for reading! If this story inspired you, we invite you to partner with us in continuing the ministry God started over 26 years ago. We appreciate your prayerful consideration in joining us to reach more souls for Jesus.
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