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LUMglobal #103 ---- 4/16/12

#1 · April 16, 2012, 6:17 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on April 16, 2012, 6:17 pm
Posted by: lifeunlimited <lifeunlimited@...>

          (formerly "Hope4Kyiv")


             Bob and Jo Ann Tolliver

                Life Unlimited Ministries

        "Touching Nations Here and Abroad"

                          Number 103

                       April 16, 2012

Dear Friends, Family, and LUM In-Pact Partners:

We apologize for having again been so long since our last letter in February. We really thought we had sent one in March, but apparently it got filed in our "Drafts" folder and never got sent. We are now nearing completion of our next regular letter, and will get it to you soon.

In the meantime, we feel that the following report of the Farsi work by "M" is so exciting that it needs to be shared by itself. So, we're sending that report now, and will send our regular letter in the next few hours.

Before you read "M's" report, let us set the stage of how it all started:

    + In 2003, the year we went to Kyiv, we met "M" as a 16-year-old university student. He had begun his search for spiritual reality as early at age 5 as the result of his mother's death, and following a period of time investigating numerous religions during his early teens, he met a young man with a Bible who invited him to his apartment to read and discuss it. Within just a few hours he knew his search had ended, and he accepted Christ. Anger, persecution, and rejection began almost immediately, and after two years of challenges, he moved to Kyiv for university studies.

    + Soon after he arrived in Kyiv, we met him and he became involved in our ESL classes and Tuesday night Bible studies. We lost track of him for a period of time, and following doing some university studies in India, he returned to Kyiv at about the same time we were preparing to plant the new church, KIBC. Immediately he joined us with the goal of reaching many of the 10,000 or so Farsi-speaking Muslims in the city.

    + A few weeks later, after wrestling with the Lord over whether or not to witness to a particular classmate, he led "F" to Christ. Bob had begun meeting with "M" and another believer, discipling and mentoring them in disciple making, evangelization, and leadership.   "M" would share with "F" what Bob had shared earlier in the week.

    + Soon after "F" accepted Christ, he shared with "Ms", who immediately became a believer. "Ms" shared with "Hv" who accepted Christ. Even though "Ms" drifted away from the Lord, "Hv" continued serving the Lord, sharing with a number of her female Farsi speaking friends. "F" also shared with "Hm", a handsome bar room bouncer, who came to faith in Christ. "Hm" also began sharing his faith. Subsequently, "Hm" returned to his home country where he has continued sharing his faith, but is now facing the ominous duty of fulfilling his military obligations. "F" also shared the Gospel with his sister and cousin, both of whom came to Christ and are now consistently but wisely sharing their faith in a culture that imprisons and kills "infidels".

    + As the work in Kyiv expanded, "Hm",a Farsi speaker who had left his home country as a refugee, became a believer. He became deeply involved in the Kyiv work, often attending Jo Ann's weekly Sunday dinners in our apartment. After a couple of years, the UNHCR emigrated "Hm" and his family to Sweden, where he vowed to do in his new home what he had seen Jo Ann do in ours. He is now doing that in the town where he and his family live in Sweden.

    + As a result of this amazing network, "M" was able to make the trip he describes below.

So, . . .

Here is what "M" reports on his recent trip to Germany, the trip he and "F" took to Sweden, and some other exciting things God is doing. This work is truly becoming more and more an international ministry that is seeing significant results.

Read on, enjoy, and pray! (If you would like to send a support offering to this ministry, contact us directly at lifeunlimited@pobox.com. It can be counted on your tax returns as a contribution.)

<><   <><   <><   <><   <><

Trip to Germany

I arrived in Frankfurt Germany on March 10th and "F" met me at the airport. We took a train to a city called Giessen located around 75 km north of Frankfurt.
Giessen is like a hub for many refugees including Iranians and Afghans. Refugees that arrive in Frankfurt airport or Hessen province (where Giessen and Frankfurt are located in) are first sent to the refugee camps in the city of Giessen. Their cases are investigated further and sometime later, they are then transferred to other parts of Germany.

[+ Bible Study In Giessen:] That‟s how my friend "F" has come into contract with so many Iranians and Afghans. Around 3 months ago, "F" began a Bible study for Farsi speaking refugees (mainly Iranians, but Afghans attend it as well). The Bible study that started out with 2 people on Sundays now has around 40-60 people attending it each Sunday. More than 95% people who attend it are not believers. Several Iranians and Afghans have also come to faith in Christ through these Bible studies.

"F" works with one of the Evangelical churches of Giessen where he‟s given a large room to host the people after the service on Sundays. Many Iranians also attend the church service where "F" translates from German into Farsi.

On the first Sunday of my stay, we hosted around 50 Iranians and Afghans. German believers from the Evangelical church had prepared food, plus some others had brought something to eat.

"F" and I led the Bible study and after the meeting I got to meet Afghan Muslims and answer their questions about differences between the Koran and Islam and the Bible and Christianity.

[+ Encounter With Afghan Farsi Speakers:] On another Sunday, after the Farsi Bible study, I got to meet several other Afghans and Iranians who introduced themselves as devout Muslims. "F" told me that one of those Afghans had come in the past with Koran in his hand to promote Islam in the church. That Sunday I got a chance to meet that Afghan. As it turned out, he had a Master degree in Islamic theology from a good university in Iran. He had also lived most of his life in Iran.

So he and his friends began a discussion to convince ["F" and me] about why they thought Islam is the ultimate way to God. And I proposed to dig deeper into Islamic theology as well as in Christian theology and check out the differences. After discussing for about an hour and the half, I was able to show him (and his friends) through [the] Koran things he had never seen or read. I also convinced him that the Bible couldn't have been possibly altered, based on the Koran itself. At the end, he told me that what I told him made sense and he would believe in Christianity if it was not because of deity of Christ (and trinity) that bothers him so much.

So at the end, I told him that he doesn't need to understand everything about the trinity in order to put his faith in Christ, but in order to understand the trinity, he needs to put his faith in Christ.

He promised to think about all we had discussed. The interesting thing about him was that the next day, he was transferred to another town. So that was probably the last chance to share the gospel with him. His friends are still attending the Sundays and Thursdays Bible studies.

[+ Another City:] Due to the cost of transportation, Iranians who have been transferred to other towns can‟t often come back to Giessen to attend the Bible studies or the meetings. So "F" and I made a trip of around 150 km to another town where we met and held a Bible study with few believers who had been transferred. "F" travels to that city twice a month and hold a Bible study and disciple them. There are still other towns that he can go, but he can‟t manage to do that due to load of work.

The amazing thing about the Farsi ministry in Germany is that there are new people arriving in refugee camps almost every other day, if not every day. There was [one] day that 6 Iranians arrived from Iran.

The statistics show that more than 3500 Iranians have arrived in Germany as refugees over the past 10 months. That is besides the students and businessmen. Because of that, Germany contains one of the largest colonies of Iranians.

[+ Cafe Ministry:] Next to "F‟s" dorm, there‟s a basement called "Café Hope". Café Hope belongs to one of the German brothers from the Evangelical church. He has dedicated the basement to invite refugees and share the Good News with them.

So everyday there‟s a free German language class for refugees. Many Iranians and Afghans attend the German language class as well. "F", another German believer and I visited the refugees after the German language class to share the gospel with them.

Every Thursday, German church provides free transportation for all the refugees who would like to come to Café Hope. There are also preaching and music plus dinner and refreshments. So usually there‟s a very large group of refugees (sometimes up to 100 or 120 people) that visit Café Hope.

It was very interesting to see that the majority of people who came on Thursdays were Iranians and Afghans. So "F" and I used the opportunity to share the gospel with them. "F" also interpreted the sermon of a German believer into Farsi for the refugees.

On one Thursday, "F" and I led the whole meeting. I played on the guitar and sang few worship songs. I also preached from John 3.

Trip to Sweden

"F" and I also traveled to Sweden for few days to help our friend "H" in reaching out to people. "H" was one of the members of our Farsi church in Ukraine. Around 2.5 years ago, he moved to Sweden.

[+ Village Ministry:] There he began reaching out to Iranians and as the result of that, around 4 Iranians came to Christ. Refugees in Sweden live in small villages located at least 30-50 km from each other. "H" goes around all these villages with his large vehicle and gathers Iranians for the Sunday church meeting.

When "F" and I arrived in Sweden, we were able to gather around 30-40 Iranians and Afghans. So we shared the gospel with them and played worship songs. After we got to know them better, we were able to arrange a Skype Bible study once a week for all the Iranian believers who are located in different villages.

[+ Skype:] Because of the price of gas and the distance, "H" can‟t gather them all together more than once a week. So now we are using the Internet and have launched a Discipleship program through Skype. We've already done 2 sessions and hope to get more people to join us in Sweden. There are already 6 people located in 4 different villages in Sweden that join the Skype Bible study. "F" from Germany and I from Ukraine lead the group.

[+ Support for "H" and "F":]   "H" definitely needs more support with his ministry in Sweden. He has 4 kids including a 20-days old son. He also works as a social worker in a refugee camp. Nevertheless he‟s put lots of time and effort into the Farsi ministry. And since „F" doesn't need a visa to travel to Sweden, we are praying that the Lord would provide for "F" so he could travel once every 3-4 months to help "H" preach the gospel to Iranians and Afghans.

[+ Return to Germany:] My wife and I are also praying for the opportunity of going back to Germany maybe next year to help "F" to reach out to more Iranians and Afghans. Since my wife knows German and English very well, she can help Iranian and Afghan ladies. "F" is a full-time Master‟s student of computer programming and also has a part time job to meet his basic needs. He has also fully dedicated himself to the ministry, but still there‟s lot more that can be done that he simply can‟t manage to do all. So if the Lord provides for the trip, we hope to go back in a year and stay in Germany for perhaps a period of 2 months and help in reaching the lost and encouraging and building up the saved people.

Prayer Requests

Please pray for:

    - "F" in Germany and his studies that has begun. For strength and good health for him. For that his ministry bear more fruit

    - Iranian and Afghan refugees in Germany and Sweden with whom we have shared the gospel. For them to come to the point of making a decision to accept Christ.

    - "H" and his family. For wisdom in dealing with people in Sweden

At the end, I‟d like to thank you for all your support, care and love. Thank you for making this trip possible for me and all your prayers that caused doors to open up. Without your faithfulness, this trip would never happen.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

In His Love,

"M"

<><   <><   <><   <><   <><

Well, as you can see, the Farsi ministry we helped plant in Kyiv in 2005 continues to expand dramatically. Clearly it is a matter of resources . . . manpower, time, and finances. "M" feels clearly that God has called him to reach Farsi speaking Muslims . . . and hundreds have come to faith in Christ since "M" first led "F" to Christ as fellow university students in 2005.

Not only is the church in Kyiv thriving and reaching many Farsi speakers, but "M" and other leaders continue reaching out to unbelievers and new believers in Bangkok and other cities around the world through Bible distribution, Skype, mentoring, and practical aid. Work continues both in Kyiv and four other cities in Ukraine, and progress is being made in developing Bible studies and training tapes to be posted on satellite TV and social media.

And now, under "F's" courageous leadership in Germany , and "H's" ministry in Sweden, reaching Farsi speaking Muslims in those areas is limited only by the shortage of the resources mentioned earlier.

We are ecstatic to see what God is doing through "M", his sweet wife, Ira, and the rest of the Farsi ministry team. We wish we could be with them . . . all at the same time.

It is our hope and intent to raise the funds to have "M" and his wife, Ira, come to the U.S. to share their stories, describe this ever-expanding ministry, and help American Christians understand how to effectively build relationships with and minister to Farsi speakers and other Muslims. We would love to see them come within the next twelve months if at all possible.

Finally, please anticipate receiving our next newsletters that will give you reports on the work we are doing in northeastern Kansas City trying to reach internationals living there, along with other ministry challenges and opportunities before us.

Thank you so much for your encouragement, support, and prayers for us. All of this is totally beyond our capabilities, and we give God and Him alone all the praise and glory.

In His Bond, By His Grace, and For His Kingdom,

Bob and Jo Ann
The Tollivers
Life Unlimited Ministries
LUMglobal

--
To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: hope4kyiv-unsubscribe@welovegod.org

Posted by: lifeunlimited <lifeunlimited@...>

(formerly "Hope4Kyiv")

Bob and Jo Ann Tolliver

Life Unlimited Ministries

"Touching Nations Here and Abroad"

Number 103

April 16, 2012

Dear Friends, Family, and LUM In-Pact Partners:

We apologize for having again been so long since our last letter in February. We really thought we had sent one in March, but apparently it got filed in our "Drafts" folder and never got sent. We are now nearing completion of our next regular letter, and will get it to you soon.

In the meantime, we feel that the following report of the Farsi work by "M" is so exciting that it needs to be shared by itself. So, we're sending that report now, and will send our regular letter in the next few hours.

Before you read "M's" report, let us set the stage of how it all started:

+ In 2003, the year we went to Kyiv, we met "M" as a 16-year-old university student. He had begun his search for spiritual reality as early at age 5 as the result of his mother's death, and following a period of time investigating numerous religions during his early teens, he met a young man with a Bible who invited him to his apartment to read and discuss it. Within just a few hours he knew his search had ended, and he accepted Christ. Anger, persecution, and rejection began almost immediately, and after two years of challenges, he moved to Kyiv for university studies.

+ Soon after he arrived in Kyiv, we met him and he became involved in our ESL classes and Tuesday night Bible studies. We lost track of him for a period of time, and following doing some university studies in India, he returned to Kyiv at about the same time we were preparing to plant the new church, KIBC. Immediately he joined us with the goal of reaching many of the 10,000 or so Farsi-speaking Muslims in the city.

+ A few weeks later, after wrestling with the Lord over whether or not to witness to a particular classmate, he led "F" to Christ. Bob had begun meeting with "M" and another believer, discipling and mentoring them in disciple making, evangelization, and leadership. "M" would share with "F" what Bob had shared earlier in the week.

+ Soon after "F" accepted Christ, he shared with "Ms", who immediately became a believer. "Ms" shared with "Hv" who accepted Christ. Even though "Ms" drifted away from the Lord, "Hv" continued serving the Lord, sharing with a number of her female Farsi speaking friends. "F" also shared with "Hm", a handsome bar room bouncer, who came to faith in Christ. "Hm" also began sharing his faith. Subsequently, "Hm" returned to his home country where he has continued sharing his faith, but is now facing the ominous duty of fulfilling his military obligations. "F" also shared the Gospel with his sister and cousin, both of whom came to Christ and are now consistently but wisely sharing their faith in a culture that imprisons and kills "infidels".

+ As the work in Kyiv expanded, "Hm",a Farsi speaker who had left his home country as a refugee, became a believer. He became deeply involved in the Kyiv work, often attending Jo Ann's weekly Sunday dinners in our apartment. After a couple of years, the UNHCR emigrated "Hm" and his family to Sweden, where he vowed to do in his new home what he had seen Jo Ann do in ours. He is now doing that in the town where he and his family live in Sweden.

+ As a result of this amazing network, "M" was able to make the trip he describes below.

So, . . .

Here is what "M" reports on his recent trip to Germany, the trip he and "F" took to Sweden, and some other exciting things God is doing. This work is truly becoming more and more an international ministry that is seeing significant results.

Read on, enjoy, and pray! (If you would like to send a support offering to this ministry, contact us directly at lifeunlimited@pobox.com. It can be counted on your tax returns as a contribution.)

<>< <>< <>< <>< <><

Trip to Germany

I arrived in Frankfurt Germany on March 10th and "F" met me at the airport. We took a train to a city called Giessen located around 75 km north of Frankfurt.
Giessen is like a hub for many refugees including Iranians and Afghans. Refugees that arrive in Frankfurt airport or Hessen province (where Giessen and Frankfurt are located in) are first sent to the refugee camps in the city of Giessen. Their cases are investigated further and sometime later, they are then transferred to other parts of Germany.

[+ Bible Study In Giessen:] That‟s how my friend "F" has come into contract with so many Iranians and Afghans. Around 3 months ago, "F" began a Bible study for Farsi speaking refugees (mainly Iranians, but Afghans attend it as well). The Bible study that started out with 2 people on Sundays now has around 40-60 people attending it each Sunday. More than 95% people who attend it are not believers. Several Iranians and Afghans have also come to faith in Christ through these Bible studies.

"F" works with one of the Evangelical churches of Giessen where he‟s given a large room to host the people after the service on Sundays. Many Iranians also attend the church service where "F" translates from German into Farsi.

On the first Sunday of my stay, we hosted around 50 Iranians and Afghans. German believers from the Evangelical church had prepared food, plus some others had brought something to eat.

"F" and I led the Bible study and after the meeting I got to meet Afghan Muslims and answer their questions about differences between the Koran and Islam and the Bible and Christianity.

[+ Encounter With Afghan Farsi Speakers:] On another Sunday, after the Farsi Bible study, I got to meet several other Afghans and Iranians who introduced themselves as devout Muslims. "F" told me that one of those Afghans had come in the past with Koran in his hand to promote Islam in the church. That Sunday I got a chance to meet that Afghan. As it turned out, he had a Master degree in Islamic theology from a good university in Iran. He had also lived most of his life in Iran.

So he and his friends began a discussion to convince ["F" and me] about why they thought Islam is the ultimate way to God. And I proposed to dig deeper into Islamic theology as well as in Christian theology and check out the differences. After discussing for about an hour and the half, I was able to show him (and his friends) through [the] Koran things he had never seen or read. I also convinced him that the Bible couldn't have been possibly altered, based on the Koran itself. At the end, he told me that what I told him made sense and he would believe in Christianity if it was not because of deity of Christ (and trinity) that bothers him so much.

So at the end, I told him that he doesn't need to understand everything about the trinity in order to put his faith in Christ, but in order to understand the trinity, he needs to put his faith in Christ.

He promised to think about all we had discussed. The interesting thing about him was that the next day, he was transferred to another town. So that was probably the last chance to share the gospel with him. His friends are still attending the Sundays and Thursdays Bible studies.

[+ Another City:] Due to the cost of transportation, Iranians who have been transferred to other towns can‟t often come back to Giessen to attend the Bible studies or the meetings. So "F" and I made a trip of around 150 km to another town where we met and held a Bible study with few believers who had been transferred. "F" travels to that city twice a month and hold a Bible study and disciple them. There are still other towns that he can go, but he can‟t manage to do that due to load of work.

The amazing thing about the Farsi ministry in Germany is that there are new people arriving in refugee camps almost every other day, if not every day. There was [one] day that 6 Iranians arrived from Iran.

The statistics show that more than 3500 Iranians have arrived in Germany as refugees over the past 10 months. That is besides the students and businessmen. Because of that, Germany contains one of the largest colonies of Iranians.

[+ Cafe Ministry:] Next to "F‟s" dorm, there‟s a basement called "Café Hope". Café Hope belongs to one of the German brothers from the Evangelical church. He has dedicated the basement to invite refugees and share the Good News with them.

So everyday there‟s a free German language class for refugees. Many Iranians and Afghans attend the German language class as well. "F", another German believer and I visited the refugees after the German language class to share the gospel with them.

Every Thursday, German church provides free transportation for all the refugees who would like to come to Café Hope. There are also preaching and music plus dinner and refreshments. So usually there‟s a very large group of refugees (sometimes up to 100 or 120 people) that visit Café Hope.

It was very interesting to see that the majority of people who came on Thursdays were Iranians and Afghans. So "F" and I used the opportunity to share the gospel with them. "F" also interpreted the sermon of a German believer into Farsi for the refugees.

On one Thursday, "F" and I led the whole meeting. I played on the guitar and sang few worship songs. I also preached from John 3.

Trip to Sweden

"F" and I also traveled to Sweden for few days to help our friend "H" in reaching out to people. "H" was one of the members of our Farsi church in Ukraine. Around 2.5 years ago, he moved to Sweden.

[+ Village Ministry:] There he began reaching out to Iranians and as the result of that, around 4 Iranians came to Christ. Refugees in Sweden live in small villages located at least 30-50 km from each other. "H" goes around all these villages with his large vehicle and gathers Iranians for the Sunday church meeting.

When "F" and I arrived in Sweden, we were able to gather around 30-40 Iranians and Afghans. So we shared the gospel with them and played worship songs. After we got to know them better, we were able to arrange a Skype Bible study once a week for all the Iranian believers who are located in different villages.

[+ Skype:] Because of the price of gas and the distance, "H" can‟t gather them all together more than once a week. So now we are using the Internet and have launched a Discipleship program through Skype. We've already done 2 sessions and hope to get more people to join us in Sweden. There are already 6 people located in 4 different villages in Sweden that join the Skype Bible study. "F" from Germany and I from Ukraine lead the group.

[+ Support for "H" and "F":] "H" definitely needs more support with his ministry in Sweden. He has 4 kids including a 20-days old son. He also works as a social worker in a refugee camp. Nevertheless he‟s put lots of time and effort into the Farsi ministry. And since „F" doesn't need a visa to travel to Sweden, we are praying that the Lord would provide for "F" so he could travel once every 3-4 months to help "H" preach the gospel to Iranians and Afghans.

[+ Return to Germany:] My wife and I are also praying for the opportunity of going back to Germany maybe next year to help "F" to reach out to more Iranians and Afghans. Since my wife knows German and English very well, she can help Iranian and Afghan ladies. "F" is a full-time Master‟s student of computer programming and also has a part time job to meet his basic needs. He has also fully dedicated himself to the ministry, but still there‟s lot more that can be done that he simply can‟t manage to do all. So if the Lord provides for the trip, we hope to go back in a year and stay in Germany for perhaps a period of 2 months and help in reaching the lost and encouraging and building up the saved people.

Prayer Requests

Please pray for:

- "F" in Germany and his studies that has begun. For strength and good health for him. For that his ministry bear more fruit

- Iranian and Afghan refugees in Germany and Sweden with whom we have shared the gospel. For them to come to the point of making a decision to accept Christ.

- "H" and his family. For wisdom in dealing with people in Sweden

At the end, I‟d like to thank you for all your support, care and love. Thank you for making this trip possible for me and all your prayers that caused doors to open up. Without your faithfulness, this trip would never happen.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

In His Love,

"M"

<>< <>< <>< <>< <><

Well, as you can see, the Farsi ministry we helped plant in Kyiv in 2005 continues to expand dramatically. Clearly it is a matter of resources . . . manpower, time, and finances. "M" feels clearly that God has called him to reach Farsi speaking Muslims . . . and hundreds have come to faith in Christ since "M" first led "F" to Christ as fellow university students in 2005.

Not only is the church in Kyiv thriving and reaching many Farsi speakers, but "M" and other leaders continue reaching out to unbelievers and new believers in Bangkok and other cities around the world through Bible distribution, Skype, mentoring, and practical aid. Work continues both in Kyiv and four other cities in Ukraine, and progress is being made in developing Bible studies and training tapes to be posted on satellite TV and social media.

And now, under "F's" courageous leadership in Germany , and "H's" ministry in Sweden, reaching Farsi speaking Muslims in those areas is limited only by the shortage of the resources mentioned earlier.

We are ecstatic to see what God is doing through "M", his sweet wife, Ira, and the rest of the Farsi ministry team. We wish we could be with them . . . all at the same time.

It is our hope and intent to raise the funds to have "M" and his wife, Ira, come to the U.S. to share their stories, describe this ever-expanding ministry, and help American Christians understand how to effectively build relationships with and minister to Farsi speakers and other Muslims. We would love to see them come within the next twelve months if at all possible.

Finally, please anticipate receiving our next newsletters that will give you reports on the work we are doing in northeastern Kansas City trying to reach internationals living there, along with other ministry challenges and opportunities before us.

Thank you so much for your encouragement, support, and prayers for us. All of this is totally beyond our capabilities, and we give God and Him alone all the praise and glory.

In His Bond, By His Grace, and For His Kingdom,

Bob and Jo Ann
The Tollivers
Life Unlimited Ministries
LUMglobal

--
To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: hope4kyiv-unsubscribe@welovegod.org