HOPE 4 KYIV #053 ---- 3/22/07
Posted by: lifeunlimited <lifeunlimited@...>
Hope 4 Kyiv
The Monthly Praise and Prayer Letter Of
Bob and Jo Ann Tolliver
Missionaries to Kiev, Ukraine
Number 53
Date 3/23/2007
Our Dear Friends, InPact Partners, and Family:
Today as we write, we remember the August day we walked to this building for our first informal worship service and informational meeting just two weeks prior to the beginning of Kiev International Bible Church. As we approached the building in a light rain, the sun broke through the clouds and this brilliant rainbow adorned the cross on the steeple of the place we would eventually call home. The image is as vivid in our minds today as it was that day in 2005. And, just as God made a promise to Noah and confirmed it with His prismatic signature, so we also stand on the promise He made to us to raise up a church, mighty in spirit, clear in vision, committed in strategy, and courageous in ministry. And, as we remember that day, we are in awe even more so today than we were then.
Urgent Needs! We begin our report this time with two major financial needs for two of our ministry leaders. We have written often about them in the past. Please read carefully. Both are important; the first is urgent.
+ As you know from past letters, M., the leader of our Persian ministry, has had great difficulty in obtaining necessary documents in order to remain legally in the country once his passport expires a few months from now. At this point, he has apparently exhausted all sources but one. The various papers on file with UNHCR, the embassies, and the local authorities have all "coincidentally" disappeared, and he is now living as a non-person. In talking with an attorney, he has found one way to receive Ukrainian citizenship. This possibility is enhanced because he is married to a Ukrainian young woman.
If he is able to become a Ukrainian citizen with a Ukrainian passport, he will be fully protected as a citizen and will be exempt from arrest or deportation as an alien or refugee. The process is legal but very expensive. We plan to personally help with this project, and Bob will also be proposing the same to our church leadership. We ask you to pray about this very special need. If God moves in your heart to help in some way, please drop us a note. We want to do this as quickly as possible. This is something that cannot be done alone. So, if this touches your heart, please drop us a note right away for more details.
+ Pastor F. leads our newly formed Chinese ministry. As a citizen of China, and as an independent missionary, he has virtually no financial undergirding other than the small amount our church provides monthly and what his brand new little congregation provides in the way of food and meager financial help. We feel this is a critical new ministry God has given us, because it gives us the opportunity to lead many Chinese citizens to Christ, train them as disciples, and equip them to be leaders before they return to their homeland.
Amazingly, over 90% of all Chinese students return to China, so we have the opportunity of impacting a nation and building up the church in a country we could otherwise never touch. Several of our students have already returned to China as new believers and are involved in local house churches throughout the country. We need substantial financial undergirding for this ministry . . . at least $1,000 a month to cover rent ($500), utilities, living expenses, and ministry expenses. If God has put the Chinese nation in your heart and you'd like to be part of this ministry through prayer and financial support, please contact us by e-mail. Or, you may know of a church, a mission agency, or a denominational entity that might like to take this on as a mission project. This is an ongoing need.
Updates: Since our last letter, . . .
+ More translations into Russian, Ukrainian and Persian are taking place. We are now having some of Bob's studies translated, along with other study materials that are not available in some of those languages. We also hope to have some translated into Chinese since our Chinese work is growing so rapidly, and also into Arabic, our newest ministry.
+ Attendance on Sundays has remained strong with new faces almost every week. And, as a result of "The Blessed Life" study and how God moved in the hearts of people, our offerings have nearly doubled in amount. We see new faces virtually every week, and more and more people are calling KIBC their church home. While we don't take a head count, we seem to consistently run in the high 70's to 90's most Sundays, plus another 30 to 40 in the Spanish work, ten or so in the Farsi group, and ten to twenty in the Chinese service. So, on any given week, we're probably seeing 130 to 150 people involved weekly, representing about fifteen to twenty countries.
+ The Chinese, Persian, and Hispanic language groups continue growing. The Hispanic group celebrated its second anniversary on February 25th, the very same day that the Chinese group had its first official Sunday worship service under the leadership of Pastor F. The Chinese group had two adult men saved during that service. This work now functions both in Chinese and English. Those who prefer English services continue attending our regular English service and other activities, bringing more first-timers almost every week. Pastor F. also travels once or twice a month to another city to minister to a Chinese group there as well.
+ We are both feeling better physically, although we've both had battles with flu, sinus congestion, and allergy problems (along with the chronic "come and go" back pain). Bob had a major bout that lasted almost three weeks . . . most unusual for him since those things usually hang on for just a few days. Currently Jo Ann is suffering severely from allergies (it's unbelievably windy with lots of junk in the air), and also is having severe lower back pain as well as continued sporadic discomfort from her TMJ episode back in January. Bob is presently fighting another episode with his back and apparently got a disc out of alignment between his shoulders.
+ The projection screen is awesome! . . . almost 14 feet wide. We use it in every service. We just have one problem . . . the light from the windows behind it show through the screen and wash out the images terribly. So, while we patiently wait for curtains to be made, we hang sheets of black plastic in the windows every Sunday. Nonetheless, it's a wonderful addition.
+ We've had some setbacks with our translation system we wanted to buy . . . we found that the method that had been proposed to us was borderline illegal. So, because we want to avoid even the appearance of evil, we chose not to go that route. So, we're still looking. Nonetheless, nearly every Sunday we'll have people quietly translating into at least two and sometimes four languages. Our church is patient in putting up with the quiet background talk, knowing that those for whom translation is being made are receiving God's Word.
+ Well, . . . would you believe it! We thought this episode would be over, but we still don't have high speed internet. We were told this week that, while we can get it on the lines currently in the building, the lines that the particular phone company installed are inferior, and it's not recommended that we use them. So, we're currently examining two more options before we go that route . . . having a new line installed in the building for ADSL, or having a wireless system installed. We hope to know something next week. Believe it or not, after seventeen months, we really are getting closer. In the meantime, a reminder . . . please do NOT send us attachments with lots of graphics. We still sometimes get stuff that takes an hour of expensive time to download.
+ We have begun using the Alpha Course and the "Creation To Christ" materials we mentioned last month. Our Persian ministry now has a Sunday afternoon Bible study using the Alpha Course, and Tania is preparing to teach the "Creation To Christ" in a Hispanic Bible study. This will expand in the future. The most exciting thing, though, is that God is really beginning to put together what we feel will be an outstanding curriculum core for our entire church ministry. We're trying to assemble materials that will both teach the unbeliever and equip the believer the fundamental truths of the Gospel.
The more we look at this, the more convinced we are that most churches make major mistakes in simply continuing from one study to another with very little strategic and intentional planning, seldom repeating a study after it has once been taught. We've come to the conclusion that a church will minister best if it has a core curriculum that it simply uses everywhere possible and systematically repeats. Then it can add additional topics as needed.
+ Our ministry to young adults and singles is one of our great blessings. We just love them so much. Not only are many of them involved in our various language groups and Timothy/Esther groups, but also in our periodic "Food, Fellowship, and Film" nights and our weekly Sunday lunches. Most Sundays, as you can see below, we'll have 15 to 20 stay for some of Jo Ann's great cooking and an afternoon of relaxing and fellowship. This is one of our smaller turn outs. They love Jo Ann's cooking. She fixes soups, casseroles, sandwiches, and always some special dessert such as one of her famous cakes or cookies. Then, sometimes we'll order in pizza.
Front -- M and Joel. Middle -- Albert, Sasha, Iryna, Emily, and
Ira. Back -- Maxim, Marie, Jo Ann, Sintel, Leonid, and F.
+ "The Blessed Life" series takes a three-week interlude this coming Sunday, March 25th. In addition to the four DVD's by Robert Morris, Bob has also preached three related messages, Stan preached one during our absence, and Bob will speak Sunday with being blessed abundantly as a witness. Then on April April 22 or 29 he will speak once more on the subject before moving on to other things.
+ Our trip to Germany was all we had anticipated, and much more. It was a time of physical, emotional, and deep spiritual refreshing. We arrived a day early and stayed two days after the conference program. Thanks to the generosity of Phil Waldrep Ministries and supporters, all of us were given wonderful rooms and breakfast in a Marriott luxury resort hotel and enjoyed a conference of great Bible teaching, amazing worship, and practical ministry at no cost. There were about 190 people in attendance, all adults except two. Even though we were responsible for other meals and all our travel, it was truly a blessing we would not have otherwise experienced. It was held in Garmishch, Germany, the site of the 2007 Men's World Ski Championship the week before, and the site of the 1936 Winter Olympics. We were tremendously blessed by the teaching of Phil Waldrep, Jim Henry, and others, as well as being blessed in worship by former 1984 Miss America Kelly Cash, niece to country singer Johnny Cash. It was a treat to renew fellowship with Jim Henry after so many years. Jim recently retired from FBC in Orlando, FL, and was past president of the SBC.
Current Happenings and Plans:
The past two weeks have been an exciting time for us. Just about the time we catch our breath to give a big "Praise The Lord!", God just does something more.
+ "The Blessed Life" series we mentioned above has resulted in a completely new level of commitment and excitement in the church. Morris's approach to financial giving absolutely strips away all the legalism and phony excuses for being obedient to the Lord with ALL our time, talents, and material resources, and puts the joy and thrill back into biblical stewardship. Over the past three Sundays we've had the two largest offerings in the history of the church thus far. God is honoring the obedience of His people. We highly recommend this series to any person or church who wants to truly know the joy of cheerful stewardship. If you're interested, we can tell you how to get both the book and the DVD or VHS set in the States.
+ Several weeks ago a young Lebanese believer who has been part of Bob's Timothy Fellowship for several months came to him with the burden to begin an evangelistic Bible discussion group to Arabic speakers. This, as with the Persian language, is a risky and potentially dangerous ministry. Praise the Lord that God has not let him off the hook and, beginning this Sunday, we will add a ministry to Arabic speakers. So, please pray for another "M" as he leads that group. You might say that we now have our own "M 'n M" leading Persian and Arabic ministries. God is so awesome!
+ Two weeks ago a young Ukrainian woman indicated she wanted to be a member of our church. Last Sunday she approached Bob again saying she felt the Lord telling her she needed to be serving in some way. This is just the latest in a series of such conversations as God Himself puts it in the hearts of people to have a particular ministry and then raises them up. This sure beats Nominating Committees!
+ Last Sunday a young Chinese girl brought a Japanese girl to service. This is the first person from Japan we've ever had. What a joy! Immediately she asked if we could have a Bible discussion group for Japanese students. God had put the Japanese people on our hearts at the very beginning of the church's founding in September, 2005, so here is another answer to prayer. Now we seek the Lord in providing someone to teach, and in gathering a group to meet.
+ Less than an hour later a young Ukrainian student who is also in Bob's Timothy Fellowship asked him if he could begin a Bible study group for Russian speakers. We had just been waiting for that to happen in someone's heart. This has the potential of reaching into the world of Ukrainian university students, particularly in one university. So, beginning this coming Sunday, we'll have a new ministry to Arabic speakers, and this coming Tuesday, we will also be having a Russian language group meeting.
+ God is also using a number of our members to minister outside of our own church strategy. Not only do our missionary members go out on numerous assignments each week, but others do as well. Our Persian ministry has taken on a new shape as they now meet at a more convenient time and place; they are still also working on a website designed to share the Gospel with Persian speakers. Brent, our worship leader, recently traveled to L'viv in western Ukraine and spoke on a number of subjects relating to purity. This conference was basically begun by the Blessing family, missionaries in L'viv, but attracted well over 100 young people. It was an amazing success, and they are already planning for another one next year, larger and better. Several of our kids minister at a local Christian K-12 school as they play on the sports teams, serve as part of the worship team, and build relationships. One of our couples serve as sponsors of the Friday night worship time.
+ The Spanish group traveled last week back to an orphanage to minister to the little ones there. Even though it is more than a four-hour trip one way, this is a monthly ministry for them. They were heartbroken this time, though, to discover that one of the orphan children had just died, and the workers were not only sad, but also feeling very threatened as they anticipated possible investigations over the child's death. The group meets every Sunday for worship and every Friday for Bible study and prayer, our own Deb Ash is mentoring and discipling some potential leaders, those leaders are beginning to teach and lead more and more in the Friday group and Sunday services, and Margarita, the pastor's wife is now leading a women's Bible study on Thursday nights. This group just keeps automatically doing what a church should be doing, and they do it without being told.
+ Our Timothy and Esther Fellowships have been great even though a few of our members have had to drop out because of new class or work schedules. Jo Ann has been leading her gals through a study of the book of Esther. After Stan finished a study on the Epistles of John, Bob took the last two sessions to teach a quick overview on spiritual warfare. The guys all want to do a much more in depth study. However, Richard Blake, who is visiting and ministering with us for the next three weeks, will be doing a study on leadership first. His wife, Stephanie, will be leading Jo Ann's gals.
+ The Blake's arrive this next Tuesday to spend three weeks with us ministering in various ways at KIBC. Richard will be preaching each Sunday, and they both will be meeting with our various language groups, young adults, and other groups each week. We have some exciting things planned for them. Richard is a former commercial airline pilot with Delta, and he and Stephanie have been in ministry over 25 years. They served an international church in Heidelberg, Germany, for a number of years before embarking on their current itinerant ministry throughout Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. When they are back in the States, they are constantly looking for ways to build support and create partnerships for the more than 60 international churches scattered throughout the area.
+ Sometime soon we will finally begin our weekly evangelistic Bible study such as we did in the other church. Ukrainians have been pleading with us since the beginning of the church to do this, but we've just not felt the freedom or energy to do it until now. We anticipate this beginning in the next three or four weeks; right now we're trying to decide whether to do it while the Blake's are here or wait until they leave.
+ The Germany trip had additional benefits as several individuals from the States expressed definite interest in perhaps partnering with KIBC in some way in the future. This would be wonderful, because our ministry is expanding so rapidly that we desperately need help in several areas . . . yesterday! Both individual churches and even state organizations are taking a look at what we're doing, and are considering some possible ways to work with us. Kiev is a hub city for all of Central and Eastern Europe, and such partnering could be not only a blessing to KIBC, but also could serve as a launching pad into other parts of Ukraine and into other parts of Eastern Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. There is unbelievable potential.
+ We have several people from several countries needing to be baptized. At least one Persian young lady and several Chinese need to be baptized, along with a number of Ukrainians. We look forward to the time in a few weeks when we can celebrate with several other churches this amazing experience of baptism.
+ Not everything has been pleasant. Many people, both missionary and laity alike, have experienced some great difficulties. Veteran George Markey with Calvary Chapel contracted Pancreatitis after moving to another nearby country, and then died three weeks ago. Pastor Phillip Barnett, pastor of the church where we meet, suffered a mild stroke at age 49 last week. Our own Vitaliy Babych underwent surgery two weeks ago for a benign tumor. Our little Bob Jorash underwent an emergency appendectomy just before it was about to burst. We learned just a couple days ago that our own Kelly Molloy apparently experienced a mild stroke. Our youngest daughter's father-in-law apparently suffered a mild heart attack a week or two ago. And many, many of our people have experienced the flu and bad colds this season. We are convinced that Satan is actually behind much of this. We refuse to be melo-dramatic or try to spiritualize such things, but there is just too much coincidence to the physical problems that people have here, especially missionaries, church leaders, and other believers. We find it interesting that many of these things began happening just after the Robert Morris' "Blessed Life" videos were shown.
+ The PrayKIEV movement and its sister prayer strategy, Inter-Mission have both struggled lately. We know this is a spiritual battle and that the enemy has tried hard to hinder this vital ministry of intercession both for the city (PrayKIEV) and for the missionaries here (Inter-Mission). We are now in the process of trying to revive both and distribute the responsibilities among several people so that the city and its missionaries can be constantly undergirded in prayer.
+ We will be traveling to Jurbise, Belgium the first week of May to share KIBC's story with an international church there pastored by Al Weeks. It's a military church made up mostly of Americans stationed there. Al wants them to become more mission minded, and he hopes to bring a volunteer team to Kiev in the future. We also hope to take a couple of days for some sightseeing in Brussels and another historic town.
Prayer Requests:
+ Pray that the financial needs for M's passport and the monthly support for Pastor F> will come in. These are both serious and immediate needs. Pray that God will raise up people who want to help in one or both of these areas.
+ Pray that the spiritual forces promoting the various illnesses among God's people will be bound and rendered powerless. Pray that healing will come to all who need it. Pray that courageous authority and dynamic power will rise up in the hearts and voices of God's people, and that intercessors will become warriors.
+ Pray for our new ministries that have just begun or will soon begin. Pray that each one will be led by Spirit-anointed and empowered leaders, and that hungry people will come to these various study and discussion groups.
+ Pray for Richard and Stephanie Blake as they come to Kiev. Pray for their safe arrival on Tuesday. Pray that they will be anointed to serve effectively and with unexplainable authority, wisdom, and power. Pray that many lives will be forever changed through their ministries. Pray for us as we work with them while trying to maintain our regular schedule as well. It will be a challenge. Pray that doors of ministry will open to them, and that God will touch lives through their ministry with us.
+ Pray for the PrayKIEV movement and the Inter-Mission ministries of prayer. Pray that key leaders will surface to take various responsibilities. Pray that God will re-energize prayer warriors around the world to pray for the city. Pray that missionaries will be prayed for with passion, and that they will also become strong in intercession for each other. Pray that a genuine oneness of spirit will sweep through the army of several hundred such people living in and around Kiev.
+ Pray that we get high speed internet service soon.
+ Pray for Bob as he begins extensive study on the biblical commands to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and serve the Jewish people, and how that relates to the days in which we live, and how it also relates to God's promise to abundantly bless and use any people who will do so. Pray that He will make His will known to us as to how we can initiate a ministry to the more than 150,000 Jewish people living in Kiev.
+ Pray for desperately needed supervisory leadership in the following areas ---- 1) Strategic Prayer Ministry, 2) Sports Evangelism, 3) University Student Ministry, 4) Youth Ministry, 5) Ministry to Arabic speakers, 6) Ministry to the Jewish community, 7) Small group ministry. These are areas where we need leadership immediately. This is not something for the future, but something for now. God has already called us into some of these areas, and we have nobody to give sufficient coordination. Pray that God will call some people out of their comfort zones and into the kingdom harvest fields here in Kiev.
+ Pray for our family members . . . . Cindy's in Medellin, Colombia; Debbie's in Ft. Worth, Cheri's in St. Paul, and Deanna's in LaGrange, MO. All of them are facing various challenges and opportunities. Pray that God will pour His grace on them, meet their needs, fill their hearts, and use them in fruitful service.
+ Pray for our own personal finances. While we are not in a critical state, some of our support has either diminished or ended, but ministry needs demand more. We will use up our final free airline tickets this Summer, and subsequently our travel costs will increase drastically later this year. We must keep focused on God, who is our source.
+ Pray especially for the two financial needs we mentioned earlier for our friend, M., and for Pastor F. Pray that God will truly touch hearts and move people to help in these two areas.
Finally:
Hardly a day passes but what we remember with gratitude the hundreds who undergird us through prayer and encouragement, and the dozens who help carry the financial load. We thank God for you, . . . and that's more than just words. Our gratitude to the Lord for you is as real and tangible as the air you breathe and the food you eat. We also pray for you . . . that God will bless you more than you can contain, and that you will indeed be enriched in everything just as your soul prospers.
Please take time to drop us a note. We surely do miss hearing from folks like you. Other than some of our family members, we might get one or two notes a month from those on our mailing list. We'd like to get one or two a day! 🙂
All our love and appreciation,
Bob and Jo Ann
The Tollivers
-- To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: hope4kyiv-unsubscribe@welovegod.org