Life has cycles and these cycles are what make life interesting and they also make it difficult. Churches go through cycles. Families go through cycles. Each of our lives also has it cycles that let us see our strengths, our weaknesses, our victories and our fears. As our Lord Jesus knows us perfectly, He is working on the problems that we don´t even know that we have. He is always preparing us for the next cycle of life.
As pastors we all know the hurt we experience when one of our members, in whom we have invested many hours, rejects the dealing of God in their life. At the same time we also know the joy of having one of these members recognize their errors and return, asking for forgiveness. The mission field has the same experiences. I want to relate to you success stories from two men that went through this process and went on to become successful pastors and Christians.
One of them I will call Luis. He came to the Lord while he was in college and grew very fast in the things of God. With in a year he had his mother and older brother in church and was part of the leadership classes. THEN WE LOST HIM. I don’t remember why or exactly when. He graduated, moved out of State and got married. Ten years passed and Luis continued lost out in the world. THEN THE HOLY SPIRIT BEGAN TO MOVE. Life lost its glitter and things started to come apart for Luis and his family. Luis moved back to his hometown and came to church. At first he came alone. His wife didn't want anything to do with Christians.
Now 4 years later Luis and his family are serving as ministers on our ministry team. Luis works fulltime in the church. His wife is with him 100% and also helps in our Christian schools. His daughter is now on one of the music ministry teams and Jesus is the center of their lives. The time invest 14 years ago is producing fruit that is blessing a new generation and the cycles continue on.
The second one I will call Beto. His family was actively in church in different areas of ministry. They were all very strong in their walk with God. Beto came to me one day to ask for my help. He had gotten his girlfriend pregnant and he wanted me to help him break the news to her parents. We got them married but shortly after that the whole family left the church. They were ashamed of what had happened and the easiest out was to leave. Over 12 years went by and through the grapevine we knew that Beto was still serving the Lord and helping in ministry.
Then I was called in to perform Beto´s mothers´ funeral and we reconnected. Beto never came back to our church as a member but what we invested into his life has brought forth much fruit. He is a fulltime minister in a church in the city. He is in charge of the music ministry and the administration of the church. More than all that he was able to pick up the pieces of his life and continue forward in the ministry that the Lord had given to him.
The middle of February Philip picked up the completed plans for our new classrooms in our Christian school. The first $3,000 dollars has come in and been well invested. Now we are ready to build. Our kickoff date is the 15th of June and we will have 2 months to get the building completed (first floor). The good news is that we have contracted a Christian contractor that will be investing with us in the project. The $78,000 dollars for the original plans has now dropped to $42,000 dollars of which we now have the first $3,000. We are inviting you to be part of this project. God has made it possible. This is what we declare with our faith. The interesting part is to see how many of you will be moved on by the Holy Spirit to become part of this adventure of faith.
Dad (David Tolman) had a stroke the first part of February. He has been recovering well but it is difficult to watch our hero become frail and physically dependent. He is at home but now he needs attendants 24 hours a day. Please keep him in your prayers as he walks through this final cycle of life waiting for his eternal reward.
Thank you for your offerings and prayers.
Philip, Lucy, & Vanessa Tolman
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