LUMglobal #079 ---- 5/29/09
Posted by: lifeunlimited <lifeunlimited@...>
Bob and Jo Ann Tolliver
Life Unlimited Ministries
"Touching Nations Here and Abroad"
Number 079
May 29th, 2009
Dear Friends, Family, and In-Pact Partners:
Time has flown by so quickly, and here we are about to enter the month of June in just a few days. We greet you from a very wet but lush and green southwestern Missouri. After more than five weeks of frequent rain showers, moderate temperatures, and occasional severe storms, things are now quieting down, we've been promised mostly sun and temps in the mid 80's for the next week. Now the grass will grow far too quickly.
Updates:
+ We are still having our friend from church come and help us with outside projects, and he has been a wonderful blessing. We've had him under the house in the crawl space, replacing the hot water heater and water softener, raking all the limbs and Hickory Nut hulls in the yard, working on the car, cleaning out guttering, and even tearing down the deck on the back of the house. With Bob's arm still not fully healed, it's nice to have someone who can lift the heavy stuff, do the strenuous work, and crawl places he can't go.
+ Several have e-mailed and asked about Bob's little "gardening" project. Well, after just over four weeks, we've got tiny tomatoes, peppers, and squash popping out all over the lush plants. We're thinking of calling the project "The Hanging Gardens of Our Deck-dom". Compare the two pictures below; it's amazing, and so very easy! Two kinds of tomatoes, two kinds of squash, three kinds of bell peppers, and cucumbers all hang in those four baskets. While you can't see them well, there are dozens of blossoms and miniature veggies just waiting to grow up.
+ After having to replace our hot water heater and discard a failed water softener three weeks ago, we then completed the second of our major projects earlier this week with the construction of a yard/garden shed. Knowing it would take several weeks for Bob to do it alone, and especially with his "still healing" arm, we hired the guy who helped convert our old garage into a family room twelve years ago. He and his two sons built it from scratch in just three days, and did a masterful job, as you can tell below.
+ We've also just today finished dismantling the deck on the back of the house as we prepare for a small addition where it once stood. We're also including a storm shelter / storage room under it. Severe weather (no tornadoes, though, within seven miles of our house) the past two or three years have made us realize that we need something safe and secure in the event that we took a direct hit. In addition, we're reducing the size of the deck on the front of the house and will tie it to the main front porch with a matching extension walkway. If it's not too costly, we hope to add a small flagstone patio adjacent to the walkway and front porch. We still have lots of yard work ahead of us starting with two major applications of lime to correct the horrendous ph balance, several of the cedar fence posts at the entrance to our property have rotted off and need to be replaced, we need to install wafer board on the walls of Bob's workshop, as well as lay new flooring in the workshop. And, that doesn't include remodeling closets and adding more insulation in the house.
All of this may sound like a lot, but most of these projects have been kept on hold because of our years on the mission field. We're just trying to catch up, praying that our resources hold out enough to do it all. To top it off, we decided to have our well tested last week since it hadn't been done in twelve years. To our shock, we found that it has the presence of Coliform bacteria. This is a very common problem in rural areas, but not life threatening. However, upon our return from an upcoming trip, we'll treat it.
+ MAILING ADDRESS REMINDER: Just another reminder to those who write to us or support us financially ---- while we still live in the same house, our mailing address has changed. It is . . .
Life Unlimited Ministries
Post Office Box 228
Collins, MO 64738
Ministry News:
+ The conference we held at Open Arms Church in Warsaw, MO, was absolutely outstanding. While the attendance was small (they're a very small congregation), the spirit and the interest were outstanding. At the last minute Jo Ann ended up playing piano as Pastor Paul Midgett led the worship time. Because of the nature of the conference, the song service was relatively brief, and Bob was given ample time to speak to a number of issues under the general theme of "Today's Indicators of Tomorrow's Headlines". Using current events and trends, he dealt primarily with the steady move toward a global political system, a global economy, the alignment of nations against Israel, biblical principles of adequate material provision, and the urgency of personal witnessing. During the final service, Pastor Paul asked for comments from the people, and the remarks were unanimously positive and very encouraging to us. Almost every person present had something to say.
+ Two weeks ago we had a nine-day string of blessings as friends and co-workers from our ministry in Kyiv dropped in to see us. Joel and Iryna Colon spent three wonderful days with us. Joel spoke briefly at church describing their ministry with Saturation Church Planting International and the Antioch Project. They train local Ukrainian pastors in church planting, leadership training, and evangelism, who in turn then train their own people. Iryna was Bob's translator the last time he taught at St. James Bible College. Joel speaks fluent Spanish and translated for us when we trained the Spanish leadership. He also provides leadership in the Spanish church. They both met in our apartment the night we gathered to consider planting KIBC.
While they were here, Keri and Igor Gonzalez came over for a visit with them and with us. After taking two mission trips to Kyiv with us, Keri became a missionary for two years in Kyiv where she met Igor from Venezuela, who was one of the early converts in our Spanish work and then became one of the co-pastors. It was wonderful to see them and son, Salvador. They are waiting on the Lord for direction to return to the mission field. (See pic #1 below).
The following week-end, to our great surprise and joy, Pastor "F", his wife, and son, visited us and spoke briefly in our church following their son's graduation from Kansas State University. Pastor "F" and his wife led our Chinese ministry in Kyiv before returning to China where they now live. In just nine short months under his leadership, between 100 and 150 Chinese students and businessmen came to Christ. Bob had the privilege of baptizing quite a number of them. What a joy it was to see Pastor "F" and family. (See pic #2 above.)
Then, this past week-end we were blessed to have Rod and Janie Carsten, founding board members with Life Unlimited Ministries since 1981, spend Saturday night and part of Sunday with us enroute to see their daughter, Sarah, who lives in Hollister, MO. (See pic #3.) It was a blessing of supreme value to spend that brief time with them. They were able to attend church services with us along with Sarah who drove up to meet us there.
+ We continue hearing from our friends in the Farsi work. We're happy to report that they now have their website up and running. If you know Farsi speakers, have them visit http://www.khanepedar.com. That's the English spelling for "Father's House" in Farsi. Ministry has now grown to include four cities, and good results are evident in each one. Bible studies, casual social relationship-building contacts, and one-on-one discipling are continuing faithfully even through the Summer months. Both necessary caution and the ignorance of scripture sometimes make the going very slow, but the work continues. We've also learned that, in spite of the danger, "F" plans to return to his home country to visit friends and family. Also, "H" is seriously considering returning to fulfill his obligatory military duty. We feel both of these situations are very risky, especially in light of their earlier encounter a couple of months ago with the angry high-ranking Imam. God is wonderfully providing for "M" and his wife, Ira, as they lead that ministry. However, we need to help them further. If you'd like to give something toward their support, either regular or one-time, let us know and we'll explain how. It's quite simple, and tax deductible.
+ During their visit, Pastor "F" and his wife reported that the Chinese work in Odessa that he started before returning to China has now grown to about 280 people who meet regularly. We were amazed at the report. Then we remembered that Chinese people are generally open and hungry to hear of Jesus. He also reported that China's Christian history can be divided into three sections ---- pre-Communist era, "Three-self" Church era under Communism, and the ultimate emergence of the illegal non-registered church (sometimes called the underground church). In 1997 there were a reported 95,000 known born-again believers in all of China, but today there are an estimated 1.2 million! They both are deeply involved in this new surge. Likewise, their son, "S", is involved both in an American church and also a relatively large Chinese work in the city where he lives in America.
+ Bob has just completed a writing series on the subject of "Revival", which he shared over the past four months through his weekly "Shoulder to Shoulder" e-letters. He has written on the subject before, but this was a new experience because he wrote it against the backdrop of whether or not revival as we understand it is even a New Testament teaching. In his research, he discovered that there is not one single reference to revival in the New Testament, although it occurred on a national level to Israel throughout the Old Testament. Instead of a focus on revival in the New Testament, you find the emphasis placed on the Kingdom. It ended up being a challenging writing experience for him. He hopes to soon begin intensive study and writing on the Kingdom.
+ We still have no visible ministry in our home church, but do enjoy the fellowship, worship, and teaching we receive. John Wheeler is an enthusiastic and able teacher, currently taking us through the book of I Corinthians. We are still looking forward to ratcheting up our ministry beginning this Fall, doing conferences and planning some overseas trips.
Personal:
+ Cheri and her family have made radical nutritional changes in preparation for husband Bob's Prostate Cancer surgery which is slated for June 9th. Pray for them as they continue preparing for the surgery. Their youngest, Sergey, graduates from high school on June 2nd. We will be attending the graduation. Cindy and her guys are busy packing up all their belongings, completing Christopher's school early, and getting ready to return to the States for a year of support raising. Christopher was the school hit as he played the prince in their presentation of "Beauty and the Beast". They sent us an attachment of one of his songs, and he's sensational . . . a beautiful and clear voice, right on pitch and without a mistake all the way through. No news from Debbie and her girls. Deanna's are continuing settling in to their new home and ministry. Michael is playing ball again this year, following in Mom's footsteps.
+ We find our energy level slowly increasing as we try to be more and more active in physical activities. However, the aches and pains go along with the journey. Bob hasn't had as much shoulder pain and has pretty much stopped taking Sudafed and Ibuprophen because of damaging side effects when taken regularly. His right arm is still weak from the injury, and he has to be careful that he doesn't lift too much; the pain can still be quite severe. Jo Ann is doing some better in her sleep patterns although she still will have occasions every few days when she doesn't get to sleep until 5:00 am or so. Those make for long nights . . . and days. But, we are generally in good health and feeling better. We've both lost some weight the past three months, but there is more to shed.
+ We've had our share of vehicle challenges. A few weeks ago while Pastor "F" and his family were with us, the local police stopped Bob on the way home from church for not having a tail light and directional signal. We had discovered the problem a few days earlier and were planning to get new bulbs the next day. We got the bulbs, changed them, . . . and still no lights. Even our friend who is an auto mechanic couldn't find the problem. So, off to the dealership where the technician found that two of the wires had been chewed in half, probably by mice. Well, $100 later, we drove off with working lights. Then a week later as we started to drive into town in the Taurus, the brakes failed. Returning home, our mechanic friend who happened to be working for us that day found that the brake line had either rusted in two or had been punctured by a rock (we live on a gravel road). So, it sits in our driveway waiting for repairs after we return from the graduation trip. To cap it all off, when our friend raised the hood of the car, he found a large rat sitting on top of the engine. Subsequently Bob put two big "sticky boards" in the engine compartment, hoping to catch it. And, he did . . . well, he didn't. The rat's tail got caught on the board, so it apparently chewed it off . . . and left it there, along with a few little "gifts" from the rat. Bob checked again today, and still no rat. So, if you see a stubby-tailed rat running your way, it's probably from our place.
+ Our grandson, Sergey, graduates from high school in St. Paul, MN, this next Tuesday, so we will leave Sunday morning to attend graduating activities that begin Monday. We'll enjoy a dinner cruise on the Mississippi River that evening. On the way up, we hope to visit with friends and supporters in Kansas City and Des Moines. Following Sergey's graduation, we will journey east into Wisconsin to visit friends in Viroqua, Reedsburg, and Watertown before turning south into Illinois where we'll spend a couple of days with daughter Deanna and family and attend church services at their new pastorate. Then it's home on the 8th and back to work.
+ Jo Ann's sister, Dortha, and her husband, Bill, will spend about a week with us, arriving sometime around June 16th, as they head eastward for an annual family reunion in central Illinois. We are currently planning on attending the same reunion and then slip down to Clay County, IL to visit some of Bob's cousins for a couple of days. We should then be home the rest of the Summer trying to complete those big projects we mentioned earlier.
Prayer Requests:
+ Pray for us as we travel the next nine days ---- Sunday to Kansas City and Des Moines; Monday to St. Paul; Wednesday to Viroqua and Reedsburg, WI; Friday to Watertown, WI and on into Illinois; Saturday to Galesburg, IL; Monday back to Collins.
+ Pray for our dear friend, Don Vogel. He was one of the first people Bob baptized in Reedsburg after we moved there in 1988. Don has been diagnosed with cancer in the Esophagus and has just begun chemotherapy. Pray for his wife, Kathy, and the extended family, several of whom Bob baptized.
+ Pray for our son-in-law, Bob, as he undergoes Prostate cancer surgery on June 9th. Pray for Cheri and the kids as they wait, support, and pray.
+ Pray for Joel and Iryna, and also for "M" and Ira, that their financial support will increase. Consider being part of that support; it would be a great investment.
+ Pray that doors of ministry open for us in the right places at the right time. We have no interest in living "retirement" lives, and cannot imagine ourselves with nothing to do ministry-wise. Pray that churches will invite us and that specific direction will develop for overseas ministries we feel strongly about. We especially have a burden for the Scandinavian countries, Cuba, and Eastern Europe.
Finally:
Well, as is usually the case, our letter is long again. However, we do hope our news keeps you motivated to share the love of Christ with others and keeps us in your heart in praying for us. It's the same now as it was when we lived in Kyiv . . . we cannot do what we do without your encouragement, intercession, and support.
In His Bond, By His Grace, and For His Kingdom,
Bob and Jo Ann
Missionaries To the Nations
Bob: lifeunlimited@centurytel.net. 417-693-5149
Jo Ann: grandma12@centurytel.net. 417=693-5313
Home: 417-275-4854
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