HOPE4KYIV #047 ---- 8/8/06
Posted by: lifeunlimited <lifeunlimited@...>
Hope 4 Kyiv
The Monthly Praise and Prayer Letter Of
Bob and Jo Ann Tolliver
Missionaries to Kiev, Ukraine
Number 047
August 9, 2006
Dear Friends, Family, and Ministry Partners:
Miracle of miracles, we are writing earlier than usual . . . we have reports that are just too good to hold back another couple of weeks. Besides, . . . at our age, we may forget them.
Exactly one year ago today (Tuesday as we write), a group of us walked toward the Christ's Cathedral Church building to conduct a praise and worship gathering and informational meeting for people interested in the idea of planting a new English language church. As we approached the building in a light rain, the clouds broke and a fully-formed brilliant rainbow crested itself immediately over the cross-capped steeple of the church. It was as if God was shouting a joyous, "YES!" More than 45 people gathered that evening. After one further praise and worship gathering two weeks later, the church was officially formed on the first Sunday of September.
It's hard to believe KIBC has been in existence almost a year, and that we have lived in Kiev more than three and one-half years. Yet, . . . older and slower, but no less excited, . . . here we are.
Update -- Report on Past Matters:
+ Contrary to our last letter, . . . still no internet, but we do have a glimmer of hope. To our shock we found that the young man who was to have cancelled our earlier service did not do so, so all of our deposit money has been eaten up with internet service to which we weren't even connected . . . and we owed them even more money. Finally, last Friday we paid that off plus gave them money for installation and August's service. (No matter that we still don't have service the first nine days and probably won't for another week.) According to the "man in charge", our payment should get to their bank by Wednesday of this week, and then they'll come and do the work . . . . "as soon as possible" (meaning, probably sometime in the next two or three weeks). They do tell us that it should be hooked up today or tomorrow, but we'll see.
+ Good news on the front door! The company finally came, after many serious threats by Pastor Phillip, and lowered the front door. Now we have the 2" crack at the top instead of the bottom. That will be filled in . . . someday. They said they didn't have time to do the rear door the same day but would come back on Friday. That was a week ago last Friday. Still not here.
+ Attendance has come back up dramatically with new visitors and returnees. Last Sunday we had aver 50 present, and that's with many regulars still gone. We anticipate being in the 70's and 80's within the next several weeks.
+ Since the western media is notorious for ignoring what goes on in Ukraine, you may not know that the political crisis was temporarily stayed (not solved) when President Yushchenko nominated his Orange Revolution Rival Viktor Yanukovich as Prime Minister . . . under the signed agreement that nothing would be done to deter the pro-NATO, pro-EU, pro-western movement that had taken place. Time will tell. When you have both the rooster and the fox in the hen house, you wonder if the rooster can flog the fox to death before the fox eats the rooster.
Recent Happenings:
+ We rejoice that the Landon Taylor family arrived safely last week in Kiev, and were in church Sunday. Landon is Consul General for the U.S. Embassy, Christine is a teacher, and their two children, Laura and Benjamin, are an added delight to our small but growing group of children. Vitaly Babych, one of our pastoral team members, has also returned from six weeks in England, several of our missionary families are back, and a number of our students have returned from translating or teaching in Summer camps. In addition, we've had several Chinese and Persian language students present. Sveta brought a couple skate boarders to services last Sunday, punk hair and clothes and all. They were very well received. Neat guys. The upward turn has begun.
+ Bob has resumed work on the proposed statement of beliefs, and will hopefully finish that up in the next couple of weeks as we continue the process of registering the church and also making application for affiliation with the International Baptist Convention.
+ Your prayers for our Persian friend, M., are being answered. (Long story, but you need to read this.) His journey continues to amaze us. A week ago his case looked hopeless. Last week, after sensing God telling him to go back to his homeland's embassy in Kiev, M. said, "not unless I know that you go with me." The Lord assured him that He would, so next morning he went. As he stood before the person at the window, unexplainable courage rose up within him and he began insisting that he be treated as all people from his country should be treated, and that they issue a certificate granting him permission to marry. According to his testimony, four different people who talked with him showed significant fear and alarm in their faces concerning his bold and powerful demands. When the head counselor was approached, he said, "I don't want to talk to him." When M. threatened to file a complaint against them, they granted his document for marriage. As he turned around to leave, the 20 to 25 people from his homeland who were sitting in the waiting room, clapped and cheered for him. There is no explanation for him being granted this document . . . except the fear of the Lord confounded the "wicked" and God faithfully granted M. favor before the leaders.
From there he went to another organization responsible for granting him residency confirmation; this was the place where the previous attorney (from his homeland) had really messed things up earlier and he was denied residency. That meant, among other things, that he could not enroll in school. If he could not enroll in school, he would lose his student visa and be forced to return to his homeland, meaning certain imprisonment, and probable death. The only alternative would be for him to become a an anonymous hidden "non-person" with no visa and eventually no passport. He would become an alien with no home and no security. And, without that document of residency, he could also be picked up at any time by the militia (police) and put in jail for indefinite periods of time . . . unless, of course, he bribed them.
We don't know all the details, but when he got to that second organization, another attorney came to him and said, "I will see that you get this residency document. I heard you say you were here to do God's will. I am a Christian, and we will get this document." The attorney called a cab, took M. to the police station, demanded that they give him a document, and threatened to report them if they didn't. When the police issued the document and tried to charge M. 7Hrv (equivalent to about $1.25 US), the attorney accused them of cheating and told them it only cost 47Kop (equivalent to about 10 cents US). M. paid the 47Kop.
Today we meet with M. and his fiancé to discuss their upcoming wedding plans for next month. He still has to work through the process of permanent residency, but having the residency document plus getting married to a Ukrainian girl are critical to success in that area. God is awesome.
+ The Timothy Fellowship continues growing, now with guys from Iran also attending. Once everyone gets back to Kiev, the group will probably run around 12 to 15 young men. Bob is particularly blessed to have Stan Jorash now permanently partnering with him in leading the group. They are still studying the doctrine of Salvation, and will conclude the section on "Reasons People May Doubt Their Salvation" tonight. Bob and Stan have taken six or more weeks on this subject already, and will have covered about 29 things that can cause a person to question his salvation by the time this section is done. Bob's syllabus currently stands at over 30 outline-style pages, and will probably grow to around 50 before the study is concluded.
+ One of our great thrills recently was to baptize "Monica" in our bathtub last Thursday before she flew back to China the next morning. She came to Christ two months ago through the ministry of Jeannie Tabb with Campus Crusade. Jeannie has been in Kiev quite a number of years and linked herself to our new church soon after its formation. Several of "Monica's" unbeliever friends were there, and, as we sat around the serving counter in our kitchen, Bob was able to share the meaning and importance of baptism, ask Monica to share how she came to Christ, and then answer any questions. It was an incredible moment.
Some may question using a bath tub, but if you can use a pond, a creek, a cattle watering tank, a swimming pool, or a lake, . . . why not a bath tub? When God shows up, it's holy ground.
+ Later that same evening we hosted our very first Persian Bible study. This was a miracle, especially after all the threats and indications of danger that M. and Mk (from Lebanon) had encountered earlier in the week. It even looked like they might have to "lay low" for a period of time because they had run into an Islamic "evangelist" who was leading people to Islam in Kiev, and he had strongly threatened them, telling them that he would turn them in.
Two unbelievers came, along with M. and another Christian brother. using M. as a translator, Bob took about 20 minutes to share things about the Bible that would help them accept its teachings (Islam teaches that the Bible has been radically altered and is not reliable). From what M. said, they were apparently greatly impressed. Following that presentation, they were supposed to begin a study of the Gospel of Mark, but questions were already flowing, so they took about two hours to just answer questions. Both guys were fascinated with Jesus, and one of them has already indicated he is very close to accepting Christ, even though it will totally make him an "enemy of the state" when he does. And, while M. met with Persian speakers, Lebanon Mk. met in another room with a new believer he has been discipling.
+ As follow up to "Monica's" baptism, we met this past Tuesday afternoon with Jeannie and a young Chinese believer, "Quinn" about formulating a specific strategy of reaching the Chinese community with the Gospel. This has been one of the driving goals in our hearts since before the church was begun. Now we see it beginning to happen. We immediately felt impressed that we need to ask a Chinese speaker to consider coming to help us in this new work. There are currently about 10,000 Chinese students and business people living in Kiev. What an opportunity!
+ Jo Ann continues serving as the church "treasurer", functions as everyone's "hostess" for Sunday's fellowship time, prepared supper for the guys and Tanya on Tuesdays for our Spanish leadership mentoring session, and providing refreshments for the Timothy Fellowship. She continues working with Brent and Bob in helping develop a blended worship service, fills in at the piano when needed, and schedules special social gatherings and fellowship time for the Single adults. One of her greatest joys is serving people and helping them feel loved and at home in our apartment. And, she is one of our strongest intercessors and prayer warriors in her quiet times with the Lord.
Upcoming Developments:
+ Bob will announce Sunday about the potential Chinese work, asking people to pray about possibly being involved with Jeannie in that work. He will also announce the weekly Saturday afternoon Bible study in Jeannie's apartment.
+ Application to affiliate with the IBC will be concluded and presented in time for the proper committee to evaluate it at their September 5th meeting in Frankfurt, Germany.
+ Sunday Bible study groups schedule will resume the first of September, and special preaching, teaching, and training opportunities will begin on topics such as "Strategic Prayer", "Our Statement of Beliefs", "Biblical Stewardship", and "Effective Personal Witnessing". One of the challenges of a new church, especially one that cannot have a typical traditional weekly schedule filled with opportunities, is to teach effectively on all the different subjects a new church needs. We will continue focusing on Sundays, and implement with monthly Saturday or Sunday afternoon training sessions. Also, Bob will begin a weekly "evangelistic Bible study" early next month.
+ We hope to have one or two churches send "exploration" teams to look at what we are doing with the possibility of partnering with us in the future. We are also looking for individuals who will come and spend six months or more with us to serve in leadership and training positions.
+ We will soon begin purchasing our own sound mixer board, monitor speakers, electronic keyboard, electric bass guitar, electronic drums, and other sound equipment, thus releasing some of Pete's equipment he has so generously let us use. This will happen as God provides the funding.
+ We will resume our student ministry early next month as students return for classes. Though tiny at this time, we have students already attending from eight or ten universities in the city, and plan to develop a small group strategy supplemented by periodic corporate activities such as movie night, special seminars, prayer walks, etc.
+ Our strategic prayer ministry will begin to take tangible form as we initiate it with a series on "Strategic Praying" that Bob will teach.
+ We still hope to get our children's ministry up and running, as well as find someone to take responsibility for developing our resource center of books, CD's, videos, and DVD's.
PRAISES AND PRAYER REQUESTS:
+ Praise God for the wonderful Christian television programs we receive gratis through the satellite system on the church building. We get about six Christian networks broadcasting a vast span of program types. These give us great encouragement and spiritual uplifts as we watch people like David Jeremiah, Charles Stanley, James Robison, D. James Kennedy, John Hagee, and several others (along with a number of "hyper preachers" from around the world who occasionally surprise us with great Bible teaching). We especially praise the Lord that we get programming during the day that is on at late night in the States; this means we get to watch amazing praise videos from ministries such as CreationScapes, filled with beautiful scenery, scripture verses, devotional thoughts, and a vast array of praise and worship music. All these programs become primary sources of spiritual enrichment to us.
+ Praise God for the return of many of our people who have been traveling this Summer. Pray for those still returning. Praise Him for the new families, such as the Landon Taylor family, who have joined hands with us recently. Praise Him for people like Jay who bless us by visiting our services while on short trips to Kiev. Pray especially for the numerous unbelievers who have been coming to services on Sunday. Pray especially for the Chinese students and for those from various countries of the Middle East.
+ Pray for our health. Both of us still have bouts with body aches and pains, mostly in our backs. Jo Ann still has problems with bone spurs in both feet. Bob has been having some nagging intestinal and digestive conditions that he can't seem to get cleared up. Our energy levels continue to oscillate through the day (maybe because we don't get enough sleep because of bright lights outside our bedroom windows and outside sounds throughout the night), and we often "run out of steam". Pray for financial resources to help us do the things we feel God wants us to do here.
+ Pray fervently for "Monica" as she settles in back in China, that God will give her immediate support and fellowship with other believers, that He will keep her safe, that she will have courage to share the Gospel with others, and that He will direct her in the future plans He has for her. Pray for M., T., and Mk., as they live here under highly adverse and sometimes dangerous circumstances. The danger comes both from local prejudices and also from the religious and political threatenings from their own people and their own governmental representatives here in the city. If you do not come from an anti-democratic or anti-Christian nation, you do not understand the magnified complexity of living in a strange culture. There are thousands like that in Kiev.
+ Pray for needed volunteers, both from Kiev and from other places. Pray especially for someone to lead small group ministry, student ministry, children's ministry, strategic evangelism and outreach ministry, and strategic prayer ministry. Our personal schedules are too full for us to devote leadership responsibility to these areas. Bob is teaching or preaching three times a week, and this will increase to four or five times a week by next month. We need people to answer the call to the harvest.
+ Pray for Bob, Stan, Vitaly, and now Brent as they provide pastoral leadership to the church. Pray that they will always seek the Lord first in making all decisions. Pray that they will never propose a single ministry without knowing first beyond a doubt that it is of the Lord. KIBC is committed to doing Only what God clearly directs us to do. Pray that they will be men of deep prayer, strong faith, and courageous obedience.
+ Pray that God will provide the finances to purchase much needed sound mixer board, some monitor speakers, more microphones, an electric bass guitar, electronic drums, and an additional keyboard.
+ Pray for Brent as he continues working with us in developing a comprehensive scope of worship music. We have numerous skilled musicians, but not all are familiar with the same music types or have the same type of musical training. This makes it a challenge to develop cohesiveness. Pray that Brent will have the endurance and insight to blend it all together. Pray for the rest of the worship team (M., Andrew, Inga, Jo Ann, Lena, Helen, Katy, Joanie, and Laura (and others ready to help) as they meet weekly to seek the Lord, prepare their hearts, and polish the music.
+ Pray that our high speed internet service will actually be connected this week. We've been told they will come either today or tomorrow (Wednesday or Thursday).
+ Pray for the Church in Kiev, that it will be one of unity, faith, courage, obedience, and great power. Most of them still prefer to work independently of each other. Pray that a network of mutual ministry, support, affirmation, and prayer can develop.
+ Pray for the Ukrainian government. The next six months will probably reveal what the future looks like after the recent tumultuous elections that resulted in arch enemies sitting side by side in political offices. Pray that God will keep Ukraine on course . . . . His course.
+ Pray for PrayKIEV, the city-wide prayer movement, as we try to get it back on track and more effective. Pray for key leaders to rise up and assume various specific responsibilities.
+ Pray for the "Inter-Mission" prayer strategy by and for missionaries serving in Kiev. After the Summer break, we will have our first prayer gathering on August 30th. Pray that many will come. Pray that new ones will learn of this ministry and come together to pray for each other, each other's ministry, and the city.
+ Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem! This is commanded in scripture. Pray for the horrendous situation and complex conflict going on in Lebanon and Israel. Pray for all that is happening in the Middle East.
+ Pray that the Church of the Lord Jesus will admit that the indicators of Christ's return are mounting by the minute. You cannot look at what is happening in the Middle East, the forest fires, the earthquakes, the volcanic eruptions, the political and economic alignments, the social instability, . . . without having to admit that we are drawing rapidly toward the return of Christ.
+ Pray that more and more Christians will rise to the occasion and carry the Gospel to hungry hearts just waiting to hear about Jesus. And, you don't have to leave your own hometown to do just that.
Finally:
Well, you can see why we felt it was important to send the letter a bit early, and we hope it has been an encouragement to you. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your prayer, friendship, and support. Thank you for letting us represent you in this great city. Please let us hear from you. We seldom receive notes in response to our Hope4Kyiv letters, which we can survive without, of course, . . . but it sure is nice to hear from home and from other places where our friends reside.
In His Bond, By His Grace, and For His Kingdom,
Bob and Jo Ann
Missionaries to Kiev
Kiev International Bible Church
Bob's e-mail: lifeunlimited@pobox.com
Jo Ann's e-mail: grandma12@pobox.com
http://community.webshots.com/user/kic4n for new church ministry albums.
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