Missions Minute - Tom and Bev Hawkins (June 5, 2026)

June 8th, 2026
by Kate I.

Updates

Tom met with the oncologist and has been cleared to travel this summer.
He will begin oral chemotherapy soon (twice daily), with treatment lasting approximately eight cycles through late fall.
Although side effects are expected to be relatively mild, fatigue remains a concern.
To simplify travel and allow for more rest during treatment, the family has removed Ohio from their summer itinerary.
They regret missing opportunities to connect with supporters, including events in Perrysburg and at The Summit.
Praise: All of Tom’s recent tests and biopsies came back negative.
The family continues to see God’s faithfulness and provision through a season of unexpected challenges, including Tom’s health journey and broader global uncertainties.

Prayer Requests

Pray that Tom experiences few or no side effects from chemotherapy.
Pray for strength, energy, and minimal disruption to daily life during treatment.
Pray for wisdom and endurance as the family balances travel plans with Tom’s health needs.
Pray for continued healing and favorable results throughout the remainder of Tom’s treatment.
Pray that the family continues to find refuge, peace, and spiritual renewal in God during this season.
Pray for their ongoing ministry in France and for God’s continued work through their service.

A Letter From Tom & Bev
Dear friends at The Summit,

Greetings from spring in northern France! What a delight it is to be enjoying all the seasonal flowers as spring passes through its different stages: first the forsythia, daffodils, tulips (all of these are gone already), lilacs (already gone and pruned) and wisteria (my favorite—I am beyond delighted to have a gorgeous one by my patio!).The flowering trees were beautiful too, but everything is pretty much leafed out now. This week marks the “last fling” of winter; it is the week of the “ice saints.” In the traditional French calendar every day is associated with a saint and the three saints for May 10-11-12 (or is it 11-12-13 – I can never remember) are known as the “ice saints” because it is not recommended to plant your garden before then as there might be a late frost. I guess it’s not all old wives’ tales because yesterday morning we were only at about 36-37 degrees and it seems we might have one more of those this week before things warm up again!

Some words that come to mind in spring are:
RE-birth – being born again
RE-new – being made like new again
RE-store – being brought back to a place of well-being
RE-vigorate – getting our vigor back (who of us over 60 wouldn’t love THAT on a daily basis?)

The cycle of the seasons without interruption points us to God’s faithfulness in each of them. Spring RE-freshes me and reminds me to look to the Lord for the spiritual renewal that I need oh-so-often! Spring flowers can go a long way but only God truly makes things new! I’m guessing (hoping?) spring has finally made its mark in OH? My folks in northern PA have indicated that it seems very slow in arriving this year, and a friend in WI and a cousin in CO have both recently had snowfall . . . how great that spiritual renewal from the Lord knows no timeline!

If you have been following our recent updates you know that spring has been full of unexpected surprises with Tom’s medical journey in particular, but also an unforeseen war in the Middle East with gas prices in Europe rising to over $10 a gallon (they peaked in France when I (Bev) was driving 3 hours a day back and forth to the hospital to see Tom). In January God led me to the word REFUGE, and at the time I thought I understood why. Turns out I had no clue! How good to claim our refuge in God’s everlasting love and not in our health, our bank account or political stability in the world. This season has been packed full of evidences of God’s hand at work and his faithfulness toward us – you should have received our newsletter over the weekend (if not, check your spam!) which has more details. The best news is that all of Tom’s tests and biopsies have been negative! Yay God! We go to the oncologist later today to find out what treatment (if any) she will recommend to finish this leg of the journey.

For now, I’m actually writing to thank you for your faithful support of our ministry. We appreciate your collective interest in our work here and also those of you who have chosen to partner with us individually! Thank you for investing in God’s kingdom advance in France. May He pour return blessings into your life so that you are unable to contain them all; yes, THAT is our God!!

Many blessings,
Bev (for Tom too)