LUMglobal #083 ---- 9/9/09

#1 · September 8, 2009, 11:38 am

Quote from Forum Archives on September 8, 2009, 11:38 am
Posted by: lifeunlimited <lifeunlimited@...>
    Monthly Praise and Prayer Letter Of

            Bob and Jo Ann Tolliver

                Life Unlimited Ministries

        "Touching Nations Here and Abroad"

                        Number 083

                  September 9th, 2009

Dear Friends, Family, and In-Pact Partners:

We just received the following report from our friend, "M", for whom we asked you to pray last week. The report is so exciting that we simply could not wait until the end of the month to send it. So, this month you get a bonus letter.

Please read on.

Praise Report From "M":

We praise the Lord for the opportunity He granted us to expand His kingdom in Kharkov. I’m personally amazed and speechless when I find myself catching up with what our Lord is doing all around us. All we have to do is to allow him to use us as an instrument in His hands.

We left [city #1] on a van around 7 a.m on Friday morning. We had filled the van with around 300 Farsi , 200 Arabic and 200 Russian and Ukrainian New Testaments. We arrived in [city #2] around 2 p.m. One of the believers met us and took us to a 2-bedroom flat we had rented beforehand.

We spent Friday buying grocery, cooking food and meeting with believers, strengthening them in the Lord and enjoying a nice dinner. We had an evening Bible study together. We also made an outreach plan and targeted hostels where Iranians live.

On Saturday, we woke up early in the morning and headed toward the hostels. Besides “F“, Mother T and I, two more Iranian believers from [city #2] accompanied us to do a major outreach. Our strategy was to enter the hostel, find a way to get through the guard in the hostel entrance, find the rooms where Iranians live and finally knock at the door, give them the Bible and share the gospel with them. Besides Farsi Bibles, “mother T” had asked us to give Arabic, Russian and Ukrainian Bibles to anyone whom we saw in corridors.

We were facing some problems. First of all, one can’t just pass the guard and go up to the floors. A person who lives in the hostel should meet his guest downstairs, they both have to leave their ID cards on guard’s desk and only then the guest is allowed to go to his friend’s room. In our case, we didn’t know anybody in some of those hostels and were wondering how to get in. This was where the Lord helped us amazingly.

As we entered the hostels where we didn’t know any host, I told the guard that “we are believers and have come here to share the good News with our countrymen”. We gave the guards Bibles in Russian, and told them “Jesus loves you” and they joyfully allowed us to get in. In two hostels, guards asked for several Farsi Bibles. They told us that they would give out the Bibles when they meet an Iranian new comer. The guards risked their career to let us in. It was totally amazing to see all that.

After getting in the hostels, we completely trusted and depended on the Lord that we wouldn’t encounter any troublemakers. We had instructed “F” to stand behind us in corridors holding all the Bibles in hand. He travels to Iran every year and it was important to keep him safe. Another believer and I went forward to knock at the doors and talk to students. While doing that, another brother gave out Bibles to Arabs and Ukrainians and shared the good news with them on other floors.

It was awesome to see the openness of people as we shared with them about the Lord. Except only one Iranian Muslim that turned his back to us and listened to the Koran citation in his room, almost everyone else gladly received the Bible and heard the message. In one case, I witnessed to an Iranian Atheist for over 10 minutes and he was very open and interested. We had stamped every Bible with an email address and a phone number and we encouraged them to contact us if they had further questions.

We also shared the gospel with 2 Muslims from India. One of them was very open and interested. We exchanged email addresses and he asked me if he could write to me to ask questions on Bible. By the time we finished our work in hostels, we had given out tens of Bible to Iranians, Arabs and Ukrainians. Since we had tens of extra Arabic Bibles, one of the believers led us to a market where Arabs work. He and “F” along with another believer went to the market and gave out the Bibles to Arabs. It was around 6 p.m that we finally headed back home.

When we arrived home, one of the people with whom we had shared in our last mission trip had come to visit us. His heart seemed very open. He told us that he had been struggling with putting his faith in the Lord but he wanted to get baptized, assuming that would help him. As “F” and I explained to him the meaning of baptism and answered his questions regarding the faith in Christ, he told us that he wanted to repent and invite the Lord into his heart. Mother T, “F” and I, along with “H”,all knelt and prayed. “H” prayed and wept as he acknowledged his sinfulness before the Lord and invited Jesus into his heart as His Lord and Savior with tears. It indeed was a memorable night. “H” asked us to baptize him, and so we decided to baptize him in a near by lake and have a follow up barbecue to celebrate it on Sunday.

On Sunday morning, we visited an International church. In the very first mission trip to [city #2], “F” and I had talked to a pastor of an International church [there] about Farsi ministry there and had asked him to help Iranians grow in the Lord by providing a room once a week in his church and have a Bible study with one of the believers and train him to teach others. Since then, He generously has been hosting Iranian believers and helping them mature in the Lord. We attended the service on Sunday morning and enjoyed it very much. After the service, we got a chance to talk to the Pastor and were encouraged to hear that he was much willing to help Iranians grow in the Lord.

In the service, we met a new Iranian. He had been attending the International church off and on but had never taken the step of faith in Christ seriously. We invited “A” to join us in our baptism/barbecue ceremony. After the church, we all went back home. At home, “A” said that he would want to get baptized too. “F” and I sat down with him, and as with “H” the night before, we explained to him the meaning of baptism and the faith in Christ. Like “H”, he had never fully understood the baptism and the faith in Christ. After our explanation, we all knelt, and prayed. He repented and accepted Jesus Christ into his heart. Then we took him and “H”, along with several other believers and went to a near by lake. I baptized them in the river. It was such a great moment in my life. One of the believers had brought a Christian friend from Egypt. The Egyptian believer had brought a Muslim countryman as well. So it was good to witness to the Egyptian Muslim about Lord.

After the barbecue, we all came back home. Mother T told us about a custom they observe in her church in Germany. She told us that after baptism, all the believers get together, and take the Lord super and then wash each other’s feet. She suggested us to do this. “F” and I really liked the idea and gathered the believers, and had the Lord super. I had a short sermon about the importance of remembering the work of the Christ on the Cross and the precious blood that was shed for us and His body that was broken for us. Shortly after that, we filled a bucket with water and I read the passage from Jn 13 when Jesus washed the feet of the disciples. “F” and I then talked about the significance of caring for and loving one another with a humble heart. We encouraged them to meet regularly and pray and study the Bible and reach out to their friends.

On Monday morning, we left [city #2] and came back to [city #1] around 5 p.m. We praise the Lord for this trip and we thank you for all your prayer support. We saw the Lord’s hands working among us, guiding us according to His purposes. We are incredibly blessed to be part of His big plan for the salvation of Muslims. Please be praying for “A” and “H” as they are growing in the Lord. Pray that Lord would touch people’s hearts through all those Bibles we gave out.

In Him,

"M"
-- To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: hope4kyiv-unsubscribe@associate.com   

Posted by: lifeunlimited <lifeunlimited@...>

Monthly Praise and Prayer Letter Of

Bob and Jo Ann Tolliver

Life Unlimited Ministries

"Touching Nations Here and Abroad"

Number 083

September 9th, 2009

Dear Friends, Family, and In-Pact Partners:

We just received the following report from our friend, "M", for whom we asked you to pray last week. The report is so exciting that we simply could not wait until the end of the month to send it. So, this month you get a bonus letter.

Please read on.

Praise Report From "M":

We praise the Lord for the opportunity He granted us to expand His kingdom in Kharkov. I’m personally amazed and speechless when I find myself catching up with what our Lord is doing all around us. All we have to do is to allow him to use us as an instrument in His hands.

We left [city #1] on a van around 7 a.m on Friday morning. We had filled the van with around 300 Farsi , 200 Arabic and 200 Russian and Ukrainian New Testaments. We arrived in [city #2] around 2 p.m. One of the believers met us and took us to a 2-bedroom flat we had rented beforehand.

We spent Friday buying grocery, cooking food and meeting with believers, strengthening them in the Lord and enjoying a nice dinner. We had an evening Bible study together. We also made an outreach plan and targeted hostels where Iranians live.

On Saturday, we woke up early in the morning and headed toward the hostels. Besides “F“, Mother T and I, two more Iranian believers from [city #2] accompanied us to do a major outreach. Our strategy was to enter the hostel, find a way to get through the guard in the hostel entrance, find the rooms where Iranians live and finally knock at the door, give them the Bible and share the gospel with them. Besides Farsi Bibles, “mother T” had asked us to give Arabic, Russian and Ukrainian Bibles to anyone whom we saw in corridors.

We were facing some problems. First of all, one can’t just pass the guard and go up to the floors. A person who lives in the hostel should meet his guest downstairs, they both have to leave their ID cards on guard’s desk and only then the guest is allowed to go to his friend’s room. In our case, we didn’t know anybody in some of those hostels and were wondering how to get in. This was where the Lord helped us amazingly.

As we entered the hostels where we didn’t know any host, I told the guard that “we are believers and have come here to share the good News with our countrymen”. We gave the guards Bibles in Russian, and told them “Jesus loves you” and they joyfully allowed us to get in. In two hostels, guards asked for several Farsi Bibles. They told us that they would give out the Bibles when they meet an Iranian new comer. The guards risked their career to let us in. It was totally amazing to see all that.

After getting in the hostels, we completely trusted and depended on the Lord that we wouldn’t encounter any troublemakers. We had instructed “F” to stand behind us in corridors holding all the Bibles in hand. He travels to Iran every year and it was important to keep him safe. Another believer and I went forward to knock at the doors and talk to students. While doing that, another brother gave out Bibles to Arabs and Ukrainians and shared the good news with them on other floors.

It was awesome to see the openness of people as we shared with them about the Lord. Except only one Iranian Muslim that turned his back to us and listened to the Koran citation in his room, almost everyone else gladly received the Bible and heard the message. In one case, I witnessed to an Iranian Atheist for over 10 minutes and he was very open and interested. We had stamped every Bible with an email address and a phone number and we encouraged them to contact us if they had further questions.

We also shared the gospel with 2 Muslims from India. One of them was very open and interested. We exchanged email addresses and he asked me if he could write to me to ask questions on Bible. By the time we finished our work in hostels, we had given out tens of Bible to Iranians, Arabs and Ukrainians. Since we had tens of extra Arabic Bibles, one of the believers led us to a market where Arabs work. He and “F” along with another believer went to the market and gave out the Bibles to Arabs. It was around 6 p.m that we finally headed back home.

When we arrived home, one of the people with whom we had shared in our last mission trip had come to visit us. His heart seemed very open. He told us that he had been struggling with putting his faith in the Lord but he wanted to get baptized, assuming that would help him. As “F” and I explained to him the meaning of baptism and answered his questions regarding the faith in Christ, he told us that he wanted to repent and invite the Lord into his heart. Mother T, “F” and I, along with “H”,all knelt and prayed. “H” prayed and wept as he acknowledged his sinfulness before the Lord and invited Jesus into his heart as His Lord and Savior with tears. It indeed was a memorable night. “H” asked us to baptize him, and so we decided to baptize him in a near by lake and have a follow up barbecue to celebrate it on Sunday.

On Sunday morning, we visited an International church. In the very first mission trip to [city #2], “F” and I had talked to a pastor of an International church [there] about Farsi ministry there and had asked him to help Iranians grow in the Lord by providing a room once a week in his church and have a Bible study with one of the believers and train him to teach others. Since then, He generously has been hosting Iranian believers and helping them mature in the Lord. We attended the service on Sunday morning and enjoyed it very much. After the service, we got a chance to talk to the Pastor and were encouraged to hear that he was much willing to help Iranians grow in the Lord.

In the service, we met a new Iranian. He had been attending the International church off and on but had never taken the step of faith in Christ seriously. We invited “A” to join us in our baptism/barbecue ceremony. After the church, we all went back home. At home, “A” said that he would want to get baptized too. “F” and I sat down with him, and as with “H” the night before, we explained to him the meaning of baptism and the faith in Christ. Like “H”, he had never fully understood the baptism and the faith in Christ. After our explanation, we all knelt, and prayed. He repented and accepted Jesus Christ into his heart. Then we took him and “H”, along with several other believers and went to a near by lake. I baptized them in the river. It was such a great moment in my life. One of the believers had brought a Christian friend from Egypt. The Egyptian believer had brought a Muslim countryman as well. So it was good to witness to the Egyptian Muslim about Lord.

After the barbecue, we all came back home. Mother T told us about a custom they observe in her church in Germany. She told us that after baptism, all the believers get together, and take the Lord super and then wash each other’s feet. She suggested us to do this. “F” and I really liked the idea and gathered the believers, and had the Lord super. I had a short sermon about the importance of remembering the work of the Christ on the Cross and the precious blood that was shed for us and His body that was broken for us. Shortly after that, we filled a bucket with water and I read the passage from Jn 13 when Jesus washed the feet of the disciples. “F” and I then talked about the significance of caring for and loving one another with a humble heart. We encouraged them to meet regularly and pray and study the Bible and reach out to their friends.

On Monday morning, we left [city #2] and came back to [city #1] around 5 p.m. We praise the Lord for this trip and we thank you for all your prayer support. We saw the Lord’s hands working among us, guiding us according to His purposes. We are incredibly blessed to be part of His big plan for the salvation of Muslims. Please be praying for “A” and “H” as they are growing in the Lord. Pray that Lord would touch people’s hearts through all those Bibles we gave out.

In Him,

"M"

-- To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: hope4kyiv-unsubscribe@associate.com