November/December 2018 Newsletter

A church is a complicated place where we try to keep a balance between the spiritual and the physical sides of life. There is no limit to how much one persons soul is worth but the books have to balance to keep the bills paid. We minister to spiritual needs but we also need to help in the physical ones. Our goal is to get people to Heaven but they also need to be blessed in their daily walk. For God the church is a spiritual hospital while for the government it is a business. Walking the line down the middle is not easy.

Hurricane Relief: In the month of October Hurricane Willa hit the central coast of our State of Nayarit. As it came inland it quickly dropped from a category 5 to a 3. At our homestead we got the wind and rain but no real damage except for the tree limbs and bamboo that were blown down. We were all just thanking God that no major damage was done when the storm hung up on the Sierras 50 miles inland and flooded the rivers. Within 24 hours 180,000 people were flooded out of their homes. In the township of Tuxpan the water rose to 8 feet and everything was lost. Vehicles, electronics, beds and many other articles were destroyed with mud and water (see pictures). The members of our main church in Xalisco donated almost 2,000 lbs. of goods as well as taking hot meals to give out to the people in need. It was just a small token in comparison to the great need that continues to this day.

Women´s Congress: The 10th of November Lucy, along with other pastors in the city organized a one-day women´s conference. They programmed for an attendance of 120 women and over 140 attended. It was an activity that in previous years they had organized but because of health issues and other details there had not been a conference held for the last two years. The testimonies of the people that attended showed that they were blessed by the teachings and the fellowship. The 24 of November we are holding another conference, but this one is a marriage conference. Once again we are programming for between 50-60 couples to attend and both Philip and Lucy will be teaching at the conference.

A story: A growing church is full of stories. Some of them with happy endings while others have sad endings. At the beginning of the year Victor ((not his real name) came to visit one of our churches. His sister was attending and had invited him to come. After coming for some months he invited us to his home and told us the following story. Victor´s mom is a Christian and Victor had attended church since he was about 9 years old. By the time he was 14 he was ministering with the worship team of his small church. Before Victor turned 20 he started living with his girlfriend without getting married. The pastor told him that he could no longer minister in the church until he got married and made things right with God. Victor got mad at his pastor and at God and left the church. We fast-forward 10 years later to this year and we find a young man tattooed and battle scarred. Drugs, easy money, broken relationships had taken their toll. Victor´s new live-in companion, a young lady 18 years old ready to give birth to her second child had a sorry story of her own. Today Victor is married, attending church and struggling to turn his life around. Nothing is easy the second time around and each step is a struggle but as long as he keeps moving forward the victory can be won. There are a lot of Victors out in the world wanting to come home to the Father.

Thank you for your prayers for the ministry and your financial support make you part of what is happening here in Mexico. We bless you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.


Philip, Lucy and Vanessa Tolman

Newsletter September/October 2018

One learns from life experiences. Each experience that we have is a class of instruction. One of the classes that I have learned from my 38 years on the mission field is that each church has what I call a wave action. The church surges forward in numbers, activities and excitement and then it recesses. When the tide is coming in, each surge brings growth to the church but when the tide is going out the church declines. We cannot control the tide as it is a natural function of life but when the surge comes we can push a little harder and take advantage of it.

Our main church in the town of Xalisco is in the surge mode. In the last two months we have had a special move of the Holy Spirit in the services and an influx of new people coming out. On Sundays we have every space in the sanctuary filled and even on Wednesday night service we have ¾ of the auditorium filled. Through the years we have had this phenomena happen and we have taken advantage of it to plant new churches in Tepic instead of expanding our present building. This time around we will not be able to do that because most of the new people coming live in the neighborhoods around the church. It is a very satisfying experience watching people give their lives over to the Lord and be transformed.

Xecora School: We have had a very opposite experience with our Christian school than what is happening on some of the churches. We had a downturn in enrolment this year that made us take drastic measures. We don't know if this has to do with the economy or if it is a spiritual attack on this area of our ministry but the result was the following: Our Secondary school closed for one school year after 18 years of giving classes. We are hoping that this is only temporal and we won't be making any final decisions until the end of this school year. We were able to maintain the primary school functioning taking advantage of the new facilities that we have. Our teachers and principal are putting in an extra effort, with less pay to make this the best school year that we have ever had.

National Pastors' meeting: In the month of August each year we have our national one-day meeting for the pastors that work with us under our church covering. This year we had a change of leadership. Pastor Raul Arrellano stepped down as President and Pastor Carlos Hernandez from Tonala, Jalisco took over the leadership for the next couple of years. We have been able to establish a good group of Mexican pastors that have their own vision and calling from God. Each of them is working in the capacity that they have to minister to the people that the Lord Jesus has brought into their flocks. Our vision is not to build churches but to raise-up leaders that can carry on the work that we have started until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Thank you for your prayers for the ministry and your financial support make you part of what is happing here in Mexico. We bless you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Philip, Lucy, & Vanessa Tolman

Newsletter July/August 2018

Summer has arrived and with it a change to parts of our ministry. Our school is now on vacation. The rainy season has arrived that limits our outdoor activities and up keep and maintenance are the words for the day. Seasons also are part of our spiritual life. We love the springtime with it´s new life sprouting and freshness in the air. Autumn is a time of decline and death. It has it´s good points such as the brilliant colours and the cool frosty nights.

Xecora School Teachers 

Xecora School: The 6^th of July was the graduation exercise for our 2017-18 school year. We had 12 graduating students this year, which is both good and bad. It is good in that theses students will be leaving us to continue with their education. They will carry the values and the Word that we have implanted in their lives and we pray that this Word will take root and grow in them until they have been born again. The bad part is that we have to look for new students to take their place. It is not all that bad since once we have them we will have new lives into which we can implant the Word. Please pray with use that the Lord Jesus will fill our enrollment once again this coming school year.

We were also able to complete the concrete floor on the second floor of our new classroom and we have raised the walls about 3 feet. With the floor poured we no long have to worry about rainwater seeping through the ceiling and raining on our students in the classrooms.

Christian marriages working well make a church strong. We have been dedicating a lot of our counseling time in helping couples that are in the church but they have never been taught on how to make their marriage work. Now they are married for life (or that is their ideal) but things are just not going well. The first things that we teach them are the rules for fighting. There will be fights but fights without rules are destructive. After that we teach them that to love someone takes work and we show them what they have to do to make it work from the Bible.

Dad is doing really well lately.  We were able to get some of us together and celebrate his 86^th birthday. The year did not start out well for him but God has given us wisdom and has also placed incredible people around us to help. The years have taken their toll but we enjoy what we have left of Dad and most of the time he is still with us mentally as well as in body. Please keep him in your prayers, as Dad’s focus is still to go home with the Lord.

Thank you for your prayers for the ministry and your financial support make you part of what is happing here in Mexico. We bless you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Philip, Lucy and Vanessa Tolman 

Newsletter- May/June 2018

   These last two months have been a time of work, ministry and just being there. We haven’t had to look for places to minister because the ministry has pushed us on beyond our comfort zone and it has made us push ourselves the extra mile in our daily train of labor. Here are some of the highlights of these activities.

Youth camp: God is faithful and He wants to manifest himself whenever we give Him the opportunity to do so. Every year at youth camp we have the privilege of letting our youth have an extraordinary experience in God´s presence. Some are filled with laughter, others with a simple falling out in the presence of God, while others cry uncontrollably in His presence. Our youth get to spend 6 days without cell phones, electricity and the comforts of home. There are no distractions. They get to submerse themselves in God´s presence and they come home transformed. What a beautiful sight it is to see almost 50 youth bathed in God’s presence. At these times there are also demonic manifestations as evil spirits are challenged and commanded to leave the people that they have held bound. The youth get to see both sides of the spiritual world.

Children’s camp: Once again the purpose of this camp is to teach the children that God is real and that they can feel His presence. This camp is not as extreme as our youth camp. The children spend 3 days at our school facilities. There are times of the Word, of praise, play and of doing manual arts. For the youngest it is their first time from being way from home “on their own” which in itself is an experience, We have a great staff of workers that keep everything in order and make sure that all are safe and well attended. Each of these camps is made a success because we have people that are willing to take from their time to serve and minister.

Men’s meeting: Our city’s Pastor’s Alliance held a one-day men’s conference in April which we were part of. We had just over 100 people in attendance. What I like about these types of activities is that we can fellowship with other Christians that are not part of ‘our group’ and be together as brothers. We can put aside our differences in doctrine; worship and names to just enjoy God’s presence together. Each of us keeps our own identity but we just leave our judgmental spirit outside the door. We just keep working to make Psalm 133 a reality in our ministry.

Xecora school activities: This last month Philip had to step in at the school as a supply teacher. Our school principal was on maternity leave and our English teacher left so he had to filling in the gap for a couple of weeks. Things are now back to normal and we have NOW started on the second phase of our school construction. Last year we completely finished the first floor of the building but the roof over the first floor is not waterproof since it is not the final roof. With the rains starting in a month we need to get the final roof on the second floor before they start. A church in Texas blessed us with seed money to start and we are sure that the Lord has already taken care of where the finances are going to come from to finish the roof. We want to thank all of you who have been part of this project and also for each of you that will become part of this second phase.

Thank you for your prayers for the ministry and your financial support make you part of what is happing here in Mexico. We bless you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Philip, Lucy, & Vanessa Tolman

Newsletter -March/April 2018

   We look back at the first two months of 2018 and we try to differentiate between the mundane and the extras that are all part of day-to-day ministry. There were three very special events that happened in these two months.

The visit: We were blessed to have Philip's brother Mark and David´s youngest sister come and spend a week with Dad in January. It was a blessing for us all but specially for Dad since he doesn´t have a lot of what we would call ‘good days’. Their visit was very encouraging to him. Dad´s short-term memory is not very good but he can still remember the visit that means that it meant a lot to him. Lucy also had a special time with her family in February. Eight of the 9 of them were able to spend a couple of days together- something they have never done before. As the years add up we learn to appreciate the families that God in his wisdom made us part of.

Marriage Conference: The middle of February, Philip and Lucy travelled to Guadalajara to hold a marriage conference for a group of churches that had been taught through David and Elizabeth Tolman’s ministry when they lived in that city. Over 150 couples attended the conference. We were blessed to be able to teach them and also to hear testimonies of the fruit of the Tolman Sr. ministry. The pastor and his wife that we stayed with were discipled by the Tolman’s for many years. We also stayed over an extra day and we had the privilege of ministering in two different churches, one of which we oversee.

The story: I try to analyze people that we minister to so that I can teach them to strengthen their weaknesses. One of these classifications if trying to change people from being black holes into becoming springs of water. A black-holed person is someone that you can pour into his or her lives money, time or teaching and it all just disappears. If it is money, they spend it and have nothing to show for it. If it is teaching or time, all that is invested makes no change in their lives. On the contrary people that are springs reproduce and bring life to all that comes into their lives. Has we grow in the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we need to become springs. The change from being a black hole to becoming a spring is not an easy change to make. As missionaries this is one of our ministries. Individually we cannot reach many people but as we help those that are with us to change, they will change others and eventually change their society. That is the work the Jesus did for over 3 years, changing a handful of lives.

Thank you for your prayers for the ministry and your financial support make you part of what is happening here in Mexico. We bless you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Philip, Lucy and Vanessa Tolman

Newsletter- January/February 2018

   We serve a God of beginnings and ends. Life doesn't just go on and on and on. As we have finished the year 2017 we look back over the things that we accomplished and finished. We also see the projects that we started and continue on with them. Then there are things that didn't work and we left them along the way. 

Our big project this last year was the construction of the first floor of our new school building for our primary school. We started construction the second week of May and by the end of August we were using the building for classes. The ground floor is now completely finished and paid for but we can't stop yet. We have already received 2 offerings to continue on to build and finish the second floor.  We will need another $35,000 dollars to complete the four classrooms on the second floor. This year with the blessing of the Lord, we are going to make this happen. Once again we invite you to be part of this project.

Our second goal this last year was to see new members baptized into the body of Christ in all the works that we oversee. That is a total of 6 churches and home groups (new churches in formation). We count baptism as a turning point in most people's lives as they come to serve the Lord. Here in Mexico most people were baptized as babies to become part of a traditional church. Once they make the decision to repent and be baptized in Jesus' name, it marks a definite step to break away from their past teachings and embrace the fullness of the gospel. Counting adults and children we minister each week to 250-350 people on a constant basis. Four of our 6 works marked a definite growth as we had new members baptized in each of them. Our goal this year is to see all 6 works have new members baptized and established.

Mindset is very important. When the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt they physically were set free but mentally they were still bound. Mexico has been a country of servitude and poverty. The mentality for hundreds of years has been, “Who is going to steal from me and how can they give me something”. This mindset of poverty is in the church still today. Our goal is to make the churches that we minister in Luke 6:38 churches with people who have a heart and the will to be channels of God's finances for these last days. It is time for Mexicans to catch a world vision. Some need to become missionaries while the rest need to support missionaries as well as tithing and giving their first fruit offerings. This year we will be sending one young lady to Asia for a second time to continue her work there. We also will be supporting other national missionaries who are already working in Muslim countries. Changing a mindset is not a day’s work but one of a lifetime. The sooner we get started the more we will get accomplished.

Thank you for your prayers for the ministry and your financial support throughout 2017. You are part of what is happing here in Mexico. May you have a blessed year as we all move forward in the calling of God in our lives.

Philip, Lucy, & Vanessa Tolman

What are we doing?

   November/December 2017

All that we do in life needs to have results. God has given to each of us different capacities, different jobs and different missions. Jonah converted 120,000 people in less than a month while Jeremiah preached for 70 years without any immediate results. None of us can compare the ministry that we have been given to do but we can measure our faithfulness to the calling that each of us has received. Here in our area of ministry we look over what has been accomplished and three key words come to mind: Faith, longevity and souls.

Faith is the case of being faithful to what God has called us to do. As we mentioned last month, our son in law was kidnapped and our car was stolen. Agustin was released and no harm was done to him but our new (for us) used van that we had just purchased and was being driven to our house was lost. Our first impulse was to send out a newsletter and invite each of you to help us replace it. It is really needed and that was the fastest fix but the Lord told us NO. The money from the church is not for the world. The Bible teaches us the contrary that the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the upright man. Further the Word came to us that the thief if he is taken in the act he will have to give back seven times as much, giving up all his property which is in his house. We have lived for over 30 years in our mission field and we have never lacked anything. There have been times that have been trying as there have been times of abundance but this was a new step of faith. We don´t understand how it is going to happen nor when, but that God will fulfill His promise to us is a certainty.

Longevity is that case of building something that will last a long, long time or as in this case, out live us. As we have invested this year in infrastructure for Christian schools. We are building a foundation for a local ministry that will be able to continue on until the Lord returns. I remember well one pastor's comment years ago when his congregation sent us an offering for school benches. He commented that they had sent missions offerings for other projects but none of the projects had lasted. He felt that the money had been wasted. No one knows the future except God but with him guiding our lives, longevity should be a word that is part of every church and ministry.

Souls are the core value of the church. Our purpose is to get people into heaven. If that is not happening we are not fulfilling our calling. Last year we were not pleased with the results that we had. We count conversions through the number of people we baptize and are established in our local churches. Mexico has NEVER had a revival in it´s history. One of the reasons is that Mexico has never been a Christian nation that has served the Lord Jesus Christ. You can´t revive something that has never had life. This year we have had the privilege of baptizing and disciplining over 12 new converts personally, aside from the converts that are being established in the churches that we oversee. We would love to see hundreds saved each year but that is still not what God is doing in Mexico. If we can reproduce ourselves in 12 people each year and those people can eventually do the same, we will make a lasting impact on our community and have great gain in heaven.

Thank you for your prayers for the ministry and your financial support that make you part of what is happing here in Mexico. May you have a blessed year, a blessed Christmas and even a Greater New Year

Philip, Lucy, & Vanessa Tolman