Busy or Busyness

January-February 2015 Newsletter

If it is 24 hours, 1440 minutes or 86,400 seconds, a day is a day and we fill it up with things. We have time for God, time for family, to work, for pleasure and to share. The question is are we just busy or are we doing God´s business.

December was a time of much activity as we celebrated Christmas, trying to keep CHRIST as the central focus on all that we did. Each of the churches had their Christmas get together or party, which gave us 10 extra activities in two weeks. The fellowship was great but the extra time needed to be present and active was an added pressure. Family time in the church is very important as it helps us to become the body of Christ that we should be. It also gives us time to fellowship and to know each other better.

Our Christian school, Xecora, had it´s Christmas program for the students and the parents also. What a great time to share with the parents the real meaning of Christmas and the reason that is behind Jesus´ birth. Over half of our students come from unsaved families and they are being touched by the gospel in our classrooms. Our goal for our next school year is to fill our classes to capacity and then construct more classrooms so that we can impact more lives. The Word and the values that we implant in each student will be a part of them all of their lives.

The last week of December we received 250 gift boxes from the Samaritan´s Purse to bless children in our area. When you talk about free gifts, 250 boxes doesn´t go very far but it sure made a lot of happy children. In the Town of  ªEl Ahualamoª we gave way over 100 boxes as we offered a box to each child that came to our Christmas program and free dinner. We were able to do the same in two other churches, blessing not only our own church members but also children that don´t attend church.

As this New Year rolls in we will be moving forward with changes in our ministry. Our son in law, Agustin will be moving on from being youth pastor and music minister in our main church. He and our daughter are taking a full time pastorate in a church plant that we started in October 2013. They feel that it is God´s time to dedicate more time in the new church. As a result we will be installing two new ministers in the church, one in the area of the music ministry and the other in the youth ministry. Also we will be starting a new course at the Bible school the 31st of January to continue to raise up new ministers of the Word.

In our personal lives we are thanking God for a stabilizing of the medical condition that Lucy has been going through. She has now been over 4 months without a blood transfusion, which is a blessing and a great start in the right direction. As we have been working through Lucy´s situation, Vanessa had an aggressive physical attack on her body that put her in hospital for almost two weeks. At the beginning of this year the doctor diagnosed an imbalance in her autoimmune system called Lupus. Her immune system instead of defending her body has attacked her body creating intense pain and basically keeping her confined to her bed. Please pray along with us as we march through this attack knowing that God will bring good from this according to His Word.

 We pray blessings over you in Jesus name,

Philip, Lucy, & Vanessa Tolman

Stepping up to the Plate

Nov/Dec 2014 Newsletter

Life is what we make it to be. It can be exciting, stressful, relaxing, boring or extreme. As we move with God´s guidance in our lives we move from the mundane to the emotional. When your turn comes, you need to step up to the plate and play ball. God made life exciting and full of variants. We can keep it that way or make it dull and mundane. We have decided to walk the path that God has set before us and keep on the cutting edge of God´s move.

  The school Xecora is moving along great. At the beginning of November we had the opportunity of taking the middle school students to the top of the Ceboruco Volcano that is in our area. It is still very active with it´s hot air vents steaming 24 hours a day. It is not only the trip that is interesting but also being able to spend time with the students outside of classes. The students call Philip ¨El Pastor¨ (the pastor) and the impression that he gives them is very often how they see God. We are the physical body of Christ.

 Last month we had a near tragedy as 3 of our teachers were involved in a car accident that sent them all to hospital. The last three weeks Philip is back teaching, substituting classes until we can find some regular subs or until the teachers are able to return to classes. He enjoys being able to teach but with the rest of the work that has to be done it makes the workload very heavy.

The churches continue to be blessed. We are continuing to grow, having new converts and also

having fellowship with churches outside of our close circle. On the 18^th of November we had a sports day with 6 other churches. People were able to play indoor soccer, volleyball and basketball or just have a good time fellowshipping. As always the day was closed off with a good potluck dinner. The variety of food was incredible. 

Our Guava factory is going up slower than we had hoped for. We wanted to have it in production by the first part of November but as usually happens a lot of unexpected things come along. The main structure is now completed and the electrical and plumbing work is being done. All of the machinery ready to install as we are continuing to learn patience and to trust on God´s timing. We are still looking of distributors for our products in Canada and the USA. (Check our blog  http://guavasauce.blogspot.com)

On the 20^th of November we (Lucy Vanessa and Philip) leave for Multan, Pakistan on a very interesting mission. Our churches in Mexico give 10% of their offerings received to missions. One of the main areas we have been supporting for the last 6 years is the Christian church in Pakistan. On this trip we will be visiting for the first time the works that we have been investing in. Also we are taking a young Mexican girl with us who will be staying there for 2 months. She has been called to work in missions in Asia and believes this might be the area that God has called her to work in. For Mexicans there is a very good acceptance in the Muslim world that we as Northerners do not have. Please pray that God will use us in a special way as we have over 15 services programed in the 10 days that we will be there. 

We thank you for your prayers for Lucy. She has only needed 2 units of blood in the last 4 months compared to 18 in the previous 7 months. We are still believing for a complete healing of her body. Your monthly support is much needed especially for our trip to Pakistan that is an extra expense for us.  We pray blessings over you in Jesus name.

 Philip, Lucy, & Vanessa Tolman

September/October 2014 Newsletter

Summer was a time for travel, ministry and family. In the month of July, Philip made trips to visit churches in different States of Mexico that are under our spiritual covering and have been born out of the ministry of Seedtime and Harvest Ministries. It is a blessing to see the seeds of the Gospel that have been sown over the years now producing a spiritual harvest.

UNITY is one of the messages that we have been called to preach and promote. We all know that Jesus is coming back for ONE CHURCH that is His body. How often we let our differences divide us and not let us be one. To make this ministry possible Philip is on the board of directors for the statewide pastors alliance. We have divided our State into 6 sectors and in 5 of these 6 sectors we have active alliances of pastors. (We are still missing the mountain area as a 6^th sector). On Saturday the 9^th of July we were able to have pastors from the 5 sectors TOGETHER in a day long meeting and time of fellowship. This was a first for our State. Never before have we been able have all of the Alliances together in one event. This just didn't happen, but as God led us, we spent hours travelling though the State visiting pastors and sharing God's vision of unity with them.

SCHOOL vacations were very short this year. On the 18^th of August classes started once again for our primary and secondary schools. This year we have come closer to obtaining some of our goals. One of our goals is to have all Christian teachers on staff and we are lacking only one teacher to be converted. Another goal is to have 50 paying students in the school. Once again we are close to achieving our goal. We started classes with 36 students and by the end of the month we are sure that we will have reached our goal. In teaching our students we are not only teaching secular knowledge but also Christian values and a Bible based Word.

BEING THERE is the most important part of ministry. We know that it's not how many start the race that matters but how many finish. We get excited over each new convert that comes to the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ but the real victory are the ones that finish the race. As we are ministering to people who have been saved for over 25 years, we rejoice knowing that we had a part in their conversion. As we preach funerals for veterans who have walked the walk, we rejoice. The words of Jesus ring clear in my mind: "IT IS FINISHED". Missions it not only about helping people to start their walk with Christ but also to help them to finish.

In the month of November we are planning to make a trip to Pakistan to visit some churches there. For the last 5 or more years our churches in Mexico have been tithing to support churches in Pakistan. We have been invited to visit and minister in the churches that we have been helping and we feel that it is God´s timing to go. Please pray with us as we apply for our visas and as God supplies the finances to make the trip.

  Thank you for your prayers.  Your monthly support is much needed.  

We pray the abundant blessings of the Lord Jesus Christ over your lives.

 Philip, Lucy, & Vanessa Tolman

Just Keeping Busy in the Harvest

July/August 2014 Newsletter

Summer has come and as it is in the tropics, summer brings us rain. Our rainy season started early this year with our first rains coming the end of May. For the next 4 months we will have rain almost every day, which brings life to a dry and thirsty land. In the same way the rain of the Holy Spirit bring life to dry and thirsty souls. That rain has to be constant or one will dry out and become unfruitful.

 SCHOOL: The 14^th of July we had our graduation for our two schools. We were blessed to have around 40 students this year in the schools, which is the largest school population we have ever had. We are believing that the next school year, which starts the 18^th of August, we will even have more students. The next hurdle that we have to jump is the building of more facilities. With 50 students we will have our present buildings full to capacity and to grow we will need to have new classrooms. When that time comes the Lord will undertake as He always has and we will not be lacking in anything as His Word promises us. 

 BUILDING: Construction on the grounds has not stopped. As we mentioned in our last newsletter, we completed the other half of our basketball court at the school. Now we can play basketball games as well as playing other sports. Shortly after finishing that we started the building of a new wing for our Guava factory so that we can increase our production. That is what the Bible is all about, INCREASE. The church has to increase. Our faith has to increase, as does our walk with God. We are trying to move from being a small home factory to become a regular industrial factory. We have been blessed with some Government scholarships and grants to produce new products in our factory as well as equipping it with new equipment. We continue to look for a distributor for our products in Canada and in the USA. We know that this venture will not only be a blessing to create jobs but also in create income for our ministry as well as the other ministries we sow into. 

VISITATION: Now that Philip and Lucy don´t have the obligation to be in classes every week at the school, time has been taken to visit some of the churches outside our State, churches that we give spiritual covering to. Philip spent a weekend with Stephen (a 12 hour bus ride going and another 12 coming home) for their anniversary service the first week in July. Another weekend was spent in the State of Michoacan visiting pastor Rito Leon and his congregation. The end of August we will be holding our annual ministerial reunion as we meet with pastors from 4 Mexican States that are part of our ministerial fellowship. Even though the main area of our labor is in our home State we are finding the need to travel more in Mexico as new churches are being birthed.

Thank you for your prayers for Lucy. On the 16^th of July she had her second operation and she is doing very well. The doctor thinks that she still will need a third operation but we will leave that in God's hands. Dad (David Tolman) is doing well also. On the 1^st of July we celebrated his 82^nd birthday. We had a party for him at his home and we all had a great time with some of the family and friends. 

  Thank you for your prayers.  Your monthly support is much needed.  We pray the abundant blessings of the Lord Jesus Christ over your lives.

 Philip, Lucy, & Vanessa Tolman

Feast of Tabernacles and More

May-June 2014

April was a month of work and fun. They say that work is not work as long as you are having fun. I don´t think that that is completely true but you can have fun as you work. As we have done for the last 26 years, the Easter holidays are spent having camps. We take advantage that Easter week is still a holiday in Mexico and also that we are in our dry season so there is no rain. Depending on how many churches we join with, we can have from 40 to 120 youth. This year´s camp we did on our own and we still had 58 young people attend. Up in the mountains we leave all comforts behind, nothing electric or electronic, no running water or gas, just the hard ground and a tent. Our focus is to saturate ourselves with the Word of God and his Presence. Every year it works and the singles keep coming back. The young married also want to come but until now we just work with the singles. Every year there is something different. Most years Monday is a lost day as everyone is clearing a space for their tent and helping set up the kitchen and the outhouses. This year from the first day the power of God poured down on the evening bonfire service and He never left us the whole week. What a joy it is to be part of this every year. Among the youth that made a decision to be baptized this year at camp was our daughter Vanessa. As parents this was a highlight of the camp

  The second week of holidays we host a children´s camp. This camp is a lot tamer in both size and place. We use our school facilities for the camp and we have smaller numbers of campers. The camp´s director this year was Damara and she was helped by a group of leaders and youth from the churches. The children had a blast and once again one of the main focuses is letting them enter into the presence of the Lord and feel a touch of His presence. Three days goes by too fast and then it is over for another year.

For the last 10 years our school has been blessed by having a lot of open space for the students to play but we have only had half a basketball court to play on. Last year we decided that it was time to finish the court and thus not only have a full concrete basketball court but also a fast soccer field and a tennis court. We had a group come down from ANM last year and give us a jumpstart on the second half (they also fixed up our kitchen in the school) along with an $800 offering. Well finally we contracted a local builder to finish the job. The concrete is now poured and next week they will be finishing up the details. Now the students can play instead of just shooting baskets. We are still lacking $2,400 dollars to pay off the rest of the court. We invite someone to take this as a project and help us pay off what still owes.

Please continue to pray for Lucy as she continues to battle with internal hemorrhaging. She has been in and out of hospital and on the 8^th of May she was operated on and she has now stabilized a little. We are praying that the 16 units of blood that she has had transfused are all that she is going to need. Dad (David Tolman) had a minor hernia operation on the 22^nd of April. He was just in hospital for 24 hours and came out with flying colors. Thank you to all that were praying for him at this time.

  Thank you for your prayers.  Your monthly support is much needed.  Blessings in Jesus name.

Philip, Lucy, & Vanessa Tolman

Transformation

March-April 2014 Newsletter 

Lucy, David, Simri, Philip and Vanessa

The Christian life is about how God transforms lives. Being taken out of the kingdom of darkness and being translated into the kingdom of light. It is not a change. It is a complete makeover and a total change of life style. As I meditate on the work that God has given us to do, some notable stories come to my mind of lives that have been transformed.

The year was 2001 when Hector was invited to meet with Jesus. We were holding a 6 weeklong revival in a big old circus tent on one of the main streets of the city of Tepic. Hector was invited by a Christian girl in his class to attend and God really touched his life but Hector wasn´t ready to give up his old life yet. Over the next couple of years Hector would visit the church once in a while but there hadn´t been a transformation. Somewhere along the way the Word took seed and Hector ´s life was transformed. Today, 12 years after the initial encounter, Hector now has a Christian wife and a young daughter. They are both very involved in the church, in the music ministry, in the children´s ministry as well as attending Bible school classes on Saturdays. Hector has become a successful businessman but Jesus is first place in his life and that of his family. They will be part of the ministry at our youth camp and his wife will be in charge of our children´s camp in April. They are both proof that lives can be transformed.

Erick was 22 years old when he had his first encounter with Jesus. Nobody really invited him, he just invited himself. He had heard about our camp and asked one of his neighbors who was planning on attending of he could go also. In his searching for a meaning for life he had committed errors and had filled his life with darkness instead of light. The first couple of days of camp were very difficult for him as he struggled to leave the world of darkness and it fought to keep from getting thrown out. The last day of camp Erick was baptized and his life was totally transformed. One of the first things that he did after returning from camp was end an incorrect relationship that he had been living. His girlfriend asked to get presented to this Jesus that was so important for him and she was transformed too. They were married in May and are both putting Jesus in first place in their lives.  Erick is enrolled in our Bible school and as a couple they minister in one of the ranch works as well as being part of the music ministry in the main center.  They are both proof that lives can be transformed.

As the years of missions work roll on we have found that our job is not only getting people saved but it is also changing their whole mindset through the Word of God. We start our Christian walk as receivers and we are transformed into givers. We lived for ourselves and we are transformed into living for others. This transformation has to take place in all of the areas of our life. Our new role as missionaries is implanting our vision from missions into the churches under our covering so that they can become missions’ senders and not only receivers. 

This month we are gearing up for our annual camps next month. Our youth camp we have Easter week and then the next week the children have their camp. This is one of the highlights of our year as we celebrate a feast of Tabernacles as we dedicate a whole week 24 hours a day to our youth and their walk with God.

Please continue to pray for Lucy as she continues to battle with internal hemorrhaging. We are still believing God for a miracle in her life. The doctors now say that the only solution is to operate but to do that they need to transfuse 6 more units of blood (She has already received 13).  

Thank you for your prayers.  Your monthly support is much needed.  Blessings in Jesus name.

 Philip, Lucy, & Vanessa Tolman

What would Christmas be like without Christ?

February 2014

Mexico is a very religious country as Catholicism has ingrained in people’s minds the reality of a Christ and his immaculate birth. It was with surprise this year that I noticed that a good number of the big retailers did not put °FELIZ NAVIDAD° on their Christmas publicity. With the new slogan *ƒelices fiestas* (Happy Holidays), it is turning into a commercial selling program of gifts and parties without Christ. In the church this cannot happen.

With six churches and missions in our State that we pastor or oversee, there were a lot of parties and there were gifts as well. The focus though was the Christmas story that never gets old and the hope that it has given to mankind. We also focus on the giving and the fellowship, both that are biblical principals, which are promoted at the Christmas season. What a blessing it is to be able to fellowship and eat together. Sometimes I wish it were Christmas all year round.

December was not only a time of parties but also a time of prayer and evangelism. On the 14th of December we had, for our second year, a night of prayer and praise. Outdoors in the fair grounds, a group of musicians and singers that had been formed from several local churches in the city played and sang as we spent time to pray to the King of kings as we worshipped Him. I would love to say that we had over 100 pastors with their congregations present BUT that has not happened yet. It will one day and that day is not far off. In the mean while we had 6 pastors present with their congregation and we had a great time worshipping together.

Then on the 27th of December we once again joined together and participated in an evangelistic outreach in one of the main plazas of Tepic in front of the State government offices. Very unseasonal for Tepic, we had had one week of drizzle and cold weather but ½ an hour before the service started the rain stopped and not a drop of rain fell until after there service had ended. The double purpose of evangelism and of unity was fulfilled

As we have stepped into a new year we are focusing the teaching in the churches on two areas: One of the areas is discipling. Discipling is not only talking to people about Christ Jesus. It is making them part of ones life, sharing and mentoring them on a constant basis. Church growths comes though relationship and even though we are not part of this world we have to reach out to people that are trapped in the mire of this world´s system. The second area we are teaching is the need to become a giving people. Since Mexico has been a poorer country for so many years, the culture has made a people that are more prone to receive that to give. The Bible teaches us to become givers so that we can receive. The sowing always comes before the harvest. That is a law that our ministry has been based on for years as you can tell by our name. To change peoples mind set and culture is not easy but the Word of God that is sharper than any two-edged sword will get the job done as long as we keep the Word present. 

On the home front your prayers have blessed us. Philip now has the cast off his arm. He´s not ready to get back on his motorbike yet but he is getting his mobility and strength back. Lucy on the other hand as been back into hospital twice more and has had a total of 10 blood transfusions. She needs a special study of her intestinal track as the doctors´ still haven´t located the reason of her hemorrhaging. The Lord supplied the finances this week so that we can get this study done and thus be able to attack the situation with knowledge. Please keep Lucy especially in your prayers at this time.

Philip, Lucy, Simri & Vanessa Tolman