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HOPE4KYIV #037 ---- 11/26/05

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#1 · November 26, 2005, 7:08 am

Posted by: lifeunlimited01 <lifeunlimited01@...>

Hope 4 Kyiv
The Monthly "In-Pact" Praise and Prayer Letter Of
<I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Bob and Jo Ann Tolliver
Missionaries to Kiev, Ukraine
Number 37
November 24,
2005

 
Dear Friends, Family, and "In-Pact" Partners:
 
Happy Thanksgiving from the amazing city of Kiev!  Just one year ago the people were rising up to declare their rejection of political corruption and suppression.  Earlier this week they celebrated the one year anniversary of that "Orange Revolution".  Today, Saturday, they also have "Day of Remembrance" to honor the seven-to-ten million Ukrainians who starved to death during the winter of 1932-33 under the strong and violent hand of Stalin.  So, not only do we celebrate the beginning of our own nation's story, but we find ourselves also entering into a time of rejoicing and gratefulness with the amazing and wonderful people
of Ukraine. 
 
We encourage you to read more about the history and current events of Ukraine.  We have listed several very good websites at the end of this letter which can be used for that purpose.  You will appreciate Ukraine more, and you will gain a clearer understanding of the passion and urgency we feel for this country and city.
 
To lift your spirits just a bit, take a look at this website.  I think it will at least make you "cackle", if not "gobble".  Our eldest daughter, Cindy, forwarded this from Colombia, South America. Be sure your audio volume is up.  Go to <<A
href="http://www.msn.americangreetings.com/view.pd?i=382219626&m=1652&rr=y&sou">http://www.msn.americangreetings.com/view.pd?i=382219626&m=1652&rr=y&sou>
 
Clarifying the Air Miles Issue:
 
Some readers didn't quite understand the issue of providing us air miles toward free airline tickets, so we want to clarify that
matter.  If you've ever wanted to give us something special, but didn't know what to choose, consider giving us miles on our frequent flyer programs and make it easier for us to fly more economically.  One of our major ministry expenses is air travel.  Last year we spent over $15,000 in air travel. 
 
There are two ways you can minister in that way . . . you can buy and give miles, or you can transfer miles from your account to ours.
 
+  Give Miles: You can buy and give miles for our accounts. 
    >  For United Airlines or Star Alliance, Just long onto http://www.ualmiles.com/GiveMiles.jsp (United Airlines), read the
directions, and follow the steps to help us fly.  Currently you can purchase up to 25,000 miles in 1,000 mile increments for any one account.  The more miles you give, the more economical per mile it becomes.  Right now there is a special promotion that expires December 15th where 1,000 miles is only $54.57, while 5,000 miles is only $172.82 and 10,000 miles is just $293.75.  The more miles you give, the cheaper per mile the cost. 
    >  For Northwest/KLM Airlines log onto https://nwa.mpmvp.com/gift_miles.asp for details, and then click on Purchase Gift Miles.
 
+  Transfer miles:  If you are a mileage member of an airline we use, you
can transfer miles from your account to ours.
    >  If you are a United Mileage Plus flyer and have miles you'll probably not use or would like us to be able to use, you can transfer your miles to our account for a small fee.  You can transfer up to 25,000 miles.  For details log onto http://transfermiles.ualmiles.com/ and then just follow directions and help get us in the air.
    >  If you have Northwest/KLM miles you'd like to transfer, log onto https://nwa.mpmvp.com/transfer/default.asp?  We can receive a maximum of 10,000 miles per year into each of our accounts.  Our account numbers for Northwest/KLM are . . .
 
<FONT face=Arial
size=2>If you want to do either of these things, it would be best to divide the miles equally between our two individual accounts; otherwise it would benefit only one of us.  Our account numbers for the respective programs are as follows:
 
>  United Mileage Plus and Star Alliance:
    Bob's ----  628-118-850.
    Jo Ann's ---- 628-118-868
 
>  Northwest,KLM
    Bob's ---- 645-581-182
    Jo Ann's ---- 954-362-614
 
Just an
idea.
 
What's Been Happening (and NOT):
 
We're continuing to encourage and motivate the folks in the new church plant, get settled into the apartment, and get ready to leave this coming Tuesday to return to the States for a month while we renew our visas and spend a few days with some of our family for Christmas. 
 
+  Church ---- attendance continues to be strong, with a slow steady
growth.  After nine weeks, the group consistently runs in the 50's and into the 60's.  We have new faces every week.  Excitement continues to grow, and people are just waiting for those of us in leadership to take the next steps.  This we will do upon our return the first of January. 
 
We experienced another "First" last Sunday when Bob baptized our first two believers, Elena and Leonid.  What a special time that was!  Many churches in Ukraine place so much importance on baptism and the Lord's Supper that they don't just tack them onto the beginning or end of a service, but, instead make it the focal point.  So, last Sunday we celebrated, rejoiced, and gave thanks to the Lord for these two young single adults as we celebrated American Thanksgiving
together.  Tomorrow we will observe another "First" for the church as we administer the Lord's Supper for the first time.
 
If you're wondering what a typical Sunday looks like, currently our sound guys begin setting up the media equipment around 8:00 or 8:30, others come around 9:15 to set up chairs, we have our regular worship time at 10:30 Sundays, followed by a time of fellowship and visiting, followed by a "Talk About The Sermon" Bible study where people have a chance to discuss what they've just heard. 
 
Then Bob meets every Monday afternoon with the two young pastors of the Spanish church,
the English class meets every Tuesday, and Bob meets with five young guys in his Timothy Fellowship every Wednesday.  The rest of the time is spent preparing for Sunday, continuing to work on the apartment, and making four or five trips a week to the store for groceries.  (We can't carry too much at a time because of distance, so we go often.  No, we don't have a car, and public transportation doesn't run an adequate route.  We sometimes take a taxi if things are too heavy.)
 
Upon our return in January, we will begin some prayer walking strategies, will develop small group Bible study ministry, will begin a monthly "Singin' and Praisin'" get together in our apartment where we'll worship and learn songs, will begin an evangelistic cooking and crafts class which Jo Ann will lead,
will have a youth oriented praise and worship night, will do evangelistic movie nights, will initiate a weekly evangelistic exercise and aerobics class (Keri Albrecht is returning to help us) and will begin a series of special theme-oriented leadership training classes and seminars, some of which will meet weekly while others will be a "Super Saturday" concentrated subject blitz.
 
And, perhaps most exciting of all, we will finally move into our permanent meeting hall.  The spackling work has been completed, painting has begun, and then the subflooring and carpeting will be installed.  Our storage room is also complete, so we can begin moving some of our equipment into that area upon our return.  We will have a special "New Beginnings" celebration, hopefully the first Sunday in
January.
 
In spite of struggles and setbacks, these days are clearly some of the most exciting of our 48+ years in ministry.  We wouldn't trade places for anything, regardless of how much we sometimes gripe and complain about inconveniences.  Incidentally, when you read about our challenges, we share them objectively so you can more accurately understand our adventure, and not because we're unhappy.  We're having a great ride!
 
+  Apartment ---- You've been praying and wondering about all the "stuff" we've had to endure, so thought you'd like an update.  Generally speaking, things
are moving at a dead snail's pace trudging through molasses in winter.  But, if you concentrate real hard, you will see some progress.  Here's a list:
    >  Washer and dryer ---- still not hooked up, but the transformer for the washer was promised for yesterday or today.  (Don't hold your breath.)
    >  Gas for stove, ovens, and dryer ---- promised three weeks ago (again!), still not done.
    >  Sewer problems ---- better, but still not satisfactory.  A vent fan was installed in the master bathroom.  The hallway bathroom will have a new trap installed and the stool raised about six inches onto a small platform
sometime while we're gone.
    >  Entry doors ---- still not lowered and one door still not finished.  Promised months ago, no indication that this will be done anytime soon.
    >  Telephone jacks ---- installed last week and working well, although one line has a faint hum.  We'll put up with it!
    >  Internet service ---- You've got to be kidding!  DSL lines installed two years ago, but were apparently faulty.  We have service, but the best we've had has been four hours without a breakdown.  The guys keep "tinkering" with our computers even though the problem is with the company's equipment.  We finally gave the
ultimatum ---- don't touch our computers!  Either fix the lines or cancel our service and give us a full refund.  We can still use regular dial up service until we head home, and then we'll get a new service when we return in January.
    >  Television ---- ten channels in English ---- BBC World, BBC Prime, ESPI (English and Arabic), CNNI, EuroNews, China News (English and Chinese), Business News, German News (English and German), and God Channel.  If you think the U.S. news services are liberal and biased, you should watch this stuff over here.  People in the States have no idea how anti-American the news media is in Europe and Asia.
    >  Office ---- desks and book cases built and installed (look beautiful), and matching credenza being
built and will be delivered January 3rd.
    >  Furniture ---- have purchased divan and matching chairs along with recliners for living room, divan for one guest bedroom, beautiful "harvest" table and chairs for kitchen, and are having a wardrobe and matching side board built for master bedroom.  Divans both make into queen-sized beds.  Still have to buy furniture for third bedroom and a couple more chairs, along with small tables, lamps, curtains, etc.
 
+  Personal ---- Both of us are doing well spiritually and attitudinally, but have struggled some physically.  We both tire easily and seem to run out of steam around mid to late afternoon.  We know it's
the stress of adjustments and inconveniences, and see it clearly as another opportunity for the enemy to try to plant seeds of discouragement, so even the physical becomes a spiritual fight.  (Of course, it could have something to do with aging, although we'll never admit it.) 
 
A couple of weeks ago Bob began having some problems that we feared might be a bleeding ulcer or colon problems, but that has cleared up.  Then yesterday Jo Ann had a similar bout. 'Must have been a "bug".  One of our friends here calls those things "the Metro Flu".  We both have also been battling chronic lower back pain and also allergies.  We're certain the allergy flare ups are because of all the dust still in the apartment from all the work.  Remember, we live in a
place that is 90% cement block, plaster, and concrete.
 
In spite of the inconveniences, though, we are enjoying time together just walking, shopping, relaxing, and watching movies when we can.  And, Jo Ann is in her heyday getting back into the cooking groove, even with a 2 burner hot plate & the oven in the church kitchen downstairs, entertaining a few folks, having after-service fellowship time occasionally in our apartment, and selecting music and playing piano for services.  We were able to buy a nice piano recently from some missionary colleagues, and it's nice to hear her playing again.  We'll have it tuned when we return in January.  Bob is still trying to put together his side of the office.
<FONT
size=2> 
Apartment Facts:
 
In our last letter we promised to share some interesting facts about our apartment.  As you know, this was one of those totally unexpected blessings which God provided for us as a result of our being willing to plant a new church and raise funds for the completion of its meeting area.  The church building, six stories tall, is owned by an independent Pentecostal church, and hosts ten different churches meeting in the building every week, in addition to providing office space for various ministries and businesses, and also containing a small Christian bookstore.
 
So, not only do we overhear services from
everything from a Messianic Jewish church to Pentecostal, to Presbyterian and Baptist, but we have the benefit of living less than 100 feet from where our church meets.  For Bob, this brings back memories of his childhood, because on more than one occasion he and his parents lived in the same building where their church met.  But, none of them were quite like this one!  For example . . . .
    Overall floor dimensions of almost 77' X 35', with floor space of almost 2200 square feet.  (That's 17' longer and 800 square feet larger than our home in Missouri and three times larger than our former apartment in Kiev!)
    Two double sinks, one vegetable sink, two convection ovens with rotisseries, a microwave oven, and one regular gas stove with an electric grill. We'll be so glad when the stove and ovens are actually useable.

    15 regular hallway, bedroom, and entry doors.
    Four doors and seven locks for two entrances, plus four more doors and sets of locks on the ground floor to enter the building itself.
    36 doors and eight drawers in the kitchen cabinets.
    12 bedroom closet doors on four bedroom closets.
    A total of 52 doors!
    A total of 22 windows on three sides (none on the fourth).
    A dining area large enough to seat 40 or more guests.
    A master bedroom almost 14' X 20'.

    A living room almost 16' X 20'.
    Kitchen, hallway, and both bathrooms with tiled heated floors.
We are anxious to provide some pictures of the apartment on the website, but because of our continuing internet problems, we will not upload them until we have good and guaranteed connections.
 
Prayer Requests:
 
We don't recall a time in our ministry when we have been in greater need of prayer support than just now.  So, please lift us to the Father's throne daily, and remember these things in particular:
 
+  Our Pastoral Leadership
Team (Bob, John, Stan, Vitaly), that they will preach the truth in love and confidence and with power, and that they will give wise direction and overseeing to the church.  Pray that they will be in unity, and will reach all decisions through unhurried and unhindered prayer.
 
+  The development of a praise and worship team.  Pray for Bob, Jo Ann, Lena, Helen, and others who will make up a future team of worshippers to assist the entire body into the presence of the Lord during corporate gatherings.
 
+  People to volunteer to faithfully assume numerous positions of responsibility in the life of the church ---- greeters, teachers, leaders, worship team members, servers, ushers, etc.
 
+ 
Completion of the gas connections, creating of voltage transformers, a good solution to high speed internet service, and all the other things needing to be completed.  Right now we get only regular dial up, very slow, and we receive e-mail through a local server and then have to go to webmail to send.
 
+  Successful completion of the work on the auditorium so that it will be finished, furnished, and ready to use by the first part of January.  We hope to have our first service in it on the 8th.
 
+  Our health, and wisdom to know what exams or treatments we might need to have while in the States.
 
+  Physical and emotional endurance to sustain us through all the challenges of
constantly living in an unfamiliar culture where language, practices, values, and methods always remain different, foreign, and often uncomfortable and inconvenient.  Neither this culture nor our frame of reference will ever change; there will always be enormous differences that constantly keep you tentative and uncertain.
 
+  Successful granting of visas, preferably five-year visas or at least three-year visas.
 
+ Financial support.  We still lack about $900 per month from what we really need.
 
+  Safety as we travel Tuesday (Nov 29th) to the States.  That there will be no delays or missed connections, and that we can have comfortable seating with sufficient leg room.  Praise God
for free tickets from our mileage program.
 
+  Numerous colleagues are experiencing significant health, ministry, and/or legal challenges.  Pray for our own Pete (in charge of our media equipment) as he goes through tests in the States, for Dr. Price as he recovers from surgery for Crone's Disease, for our own Jorash family as they travel out of the country to satisfy visa regulations, also for them regarding their vehicle that has been stuck in customs for three months, for two IMB families trying to get visas to return to Belarus, and others. 
 
You cannot comprehend the enormity of opposing forces, both in the heavenlies and on earth, who we confront on a daily basis.  If we tried to tell you all, you'd think we'd gone loony.  But, it's all very real.  And it's
often your personal intercession in behalf of missionaries that keep us on the field and operational.  So, please take this list seriously.  And pray for all other missionaries whom you know.  They, along with your pastor and local church leadership, should be at the very top of your prayer list.
 
Finally:
 
Our next letter will come to you later next month from our home in Collins.  In the meantime, thank you for your faithful undergirding.  Whether you feel like it or not, you are clearly a vital part of what keeps us on the field to which God has called us.  We love and appreciate you for that fact.  We pray God blesses you and prospers you in every way.  Our prayer for you is III John 1:2-4 ---- "[we] pray that in all respects you may
prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.  For [we were] very glad when brethren came and bore witness to your truth, that is, how you are walking in truth.  [We] have no greater joy than this, to hear of [our friends and family] walking in the truth."
 
In His Bond, By His Grace, and For His Kingdom,
 
Bob and Jo Ann
 
KIBC - Hope4Kyiv
Bob:  lifeunlimited@pobox.com
 
<FONT face=Arial
size=2>Note Our "In Progress" Website at  http://www.peopleteams.org/kiev/team/tollivers.htm
  And http://www.peopleteams.org/kiev for the general work in Kiev.

For weekly spiritual encouragement and current stories of our work here,
subscribe to "Shoulder To Shoulder", a letter to "lift up hands that
<FONT face=Arial
size=1> 
For Back Issues of . . .
"Shoulder To Shoulder" go to http://www.welovegod.org/groups/shoulders .
 
For Other Ministries in Ukraine:
   http://www.hope4cee.org  for IMB work in central and eastern Europe.  Links to 24 countries by clicking on the flags.
   http://www.hope4cee.org/ceeprayer/kyivvwalk for another virtual prayer walk in our beloved city of Kiev.
   http://www.peopleteams.org/ukrainians for good general and missionary information about Ukraine in general and the IMB people teams.
   http://www.reachukraine.org for information about IMB work in east Central Ukraine (Dnipropetrovsk, etc.) including another related virtual prayer walk.
  <A
href="http://www.praykiev.org">http://www.praykiev.org to see great pix and read good info on Kiev so you can pray more effectively.
 
Secular News on Kiev and Ukraine will give you interesting views at . . .
<FONT
face=Arial size=2> 
Some More Good Sites:
   http://www.cnsnews.com for daily world news without a liberal, godless bias.
   http://www.uazone.net for general info on Ukraine and Kiev.
   http://www.ukraineinfo.us for general current info.on Ukraine.
   http://travel.state.gov/ukraine.html Consular division of U.S. Embassy in Ukraine.
  
http://www.1plus1.com.ua/video/camera.php Live webcam of Independence Square, Kiev.
   http://www.kievukraine.info/ Excellent website on Ukraine with lots of links.
   http://encyclopediaofukraine.com/  Excellent website on Ukraine with lots of links.
   <FONT color=#0000ff
size=1>http://www.samford.edu/groups/global/links/religion-ee.html Source of many sites relating to religious issues in Eastern Europe.
   http://www.travel.kyiv.org/map/e_kyiv.htm good info and map on city of Kiev.
   http://www.mindspring.com/~goliath74/kiev.html good info on city of Kiev.
  <FONT
color=#0000ff> 

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