March/April 2017 Newsletter

   THE GOD OF ISAAC

I had always wondered why God was known in the Old Testament as the God of Isaac or even why he was mentioned as one of the heroes’ faith in Hebrews 11. I could understand Abraham and Jacob but what did Isaac do that made him a hero? As I studied through Isaac´s life I think I have found 2 reasons why this is so. The first is that he had a steady constant walk with God ALL of his life. His faith never fluctuated even when he became blind. The second reason is that he made his son Jacob a stronger believer in his God than he was. I ask myself the question; Are my children stronger in their walk with God than I am? 

Often we look for “numbers”, great miracles or outstanding acts when I believe that the greatest act of faith is to have ones name written in the book of life.

It is the little things in life that make us great.

For the last 19 years we have been doing evangelism every week in the town of Santa aria de Oro. Even though we have started churches in other towns, here we have not made any notable progress. Through the years we have had converts and good gatherings but it hasn´t lasted. The situations have been different but the result always the same, the church is not established. We are currently holding children´s classes on the street once a week and I have children attending that their parents were in my classes. In this area of this town most girls are “married” between 13-17 years of age. I would love to have another church up and running but that is not my calling. I was called to be faithful to what God ahs called me to do and let him look after the results. It is not about being great. It is all about fulfilling your calling in life just as Isaac did.

Our Bible School “Rios de Agua Viva” was started in 1988. We would have between 10-15 students every year that were full time students and we were able to graduate well over 130 students. Today the Bible school continues but only as a Saturday afternoon, 2-year course. We currently have 5 students enrolled in classes. I would love to have the full time students once again but God has other plans. Our facilities are being used Monday through Friday as a Christian School and we are lacking classroom space. With the change of our focus we have not lost our purpose. We are still preparing people to base their lives on the Bible and have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

We are pleased to report that Dad (David Tolman) is doing very well physically as we have the privilege of looking after him every day. Even with his limitation he is very active in keeping up to date with the world news and his friends that are on Facebook. Lucy still needs your prayers. She continues to battle with internal bleeding. She had an operation to remove 2 abscesses from her neck last month and it was a lot more extended than what we had imagined. We are thankful that when her lab reports came back the abscesses were neither cancerous nor infectious. 

 Thank you all for your offerings and monthly support that blesses our ministry. 

Philip, Lucy, & Vanessa Tolman

Newsletter- January/February 2017

 Another year has come and gone. It is always good to do a reflection over the victories, losses, advances and hindrances of the last year. The year that has gone will not return but we have another 12 months to plan, work and achieve the goals that are before us. I like so much the Lord´s words to Moses in front of the burning bush. He told Moses that he would know that God had sent him because he would return to that same mountain but in completely different circumstances. Sometimes we have to complete the circle but the circumstances will have changed.

Christmas is a big event in the churches. Each church has to have its own Christmas party. A side from that, the youth have theirs, the leaders have another and each family programs something special for the 24^th in the evening. I think in one week we attended 8 different Christmas parties. We really enjoy this time, not for the parties but as an opportunity to share Christ. While the world wants to take CHRIST out of CHRISTMAS and give us only Happy Holidays, in the church we have the privilege of making CHRIST the centre of our holidays. We get to share His birth at each party. The Bible and the plan of salvation is the centre of it all. 

Part of the Youth Group

In one of the Christmas plays that they did in one of the churches, ¨Santa¨ and ¨Christ¨ came on stage. Santa Claus spoke out that he was just as important as Jesus. But wait… Santa didn't die for our sins, he doesn't heal our infirmities, he doesn't live in us nor does he give us his spirit. Christmas without Christ is just nothing.

The dream of most young ladies is their wedding day but that doesn’t always happen. One of the reasons is the custom of just living together without a marriage covenant. Once a couple gets saved there is the job of making their lives line up with the Word of God. This was the case with Raymundo and Edelmira. Their lives together had not been easy. This was one of the reasons that they started to seek God. On the 9^th of January we had the honor of marrying them in a simple church ceremony. The blessing is twofold. In first place they now have a covenant that will help make their marriage strong. Secondly they have brought God into their marriage. We all know that a threefold cord does not break easily.

Aside from our weekly routine of services, school and visitation, we are starting to gear up for our annual youth camp. We always have it on Easter week because of the school holidays at that time. This year Easter comes early so we will be starting camp on the 21^st of March. There are a lot of young people already asking us where camp will be this year (we change location almost every year) and how much it will cost. The work is not only the logistics of setting up a camp in the middle of nowhere but also being sure that the Spirit is God is present before we arrive and continues there until camp ends. Camp without a special move of the Holy Spirit would not be camp.

Local pastors we work with

This year we are getting funds together to build new classrooms at our Christian school. With our 45 students we are almost at our limit. We need new classrooms to be able to make our primary school grow. We are planning to build in two stages, the first being 3 classrooms and two bathrooms on the first floor. Our next stage will be another 4 classroom on the second floor. Our goal is to raise $78,000 dollars for this first stage by July of this year. We invite you to invest in this project and as you do, you will be investing in children´s lives.

My dad (David Tolman) continues with us. We learn that often life is a struggle until the end. Dad continues firm in his faith and in his sound mind.

 Thank you for your offerings and prayers. 

Philip, Lucy, and Vanessa Tolman

November-December 2016 Newsletter

As we wind down another year we have celebrated Thanksgiving. Christmas is just around the corner and we come to the end of another year. Here we count days, months and years while in Heaven, time will be no more. Everything that we do should have a heavenly focus. The earth was given to us to work while Heaven is made to enjoy. As Christians our job is to do our work on earth so that more people can enjoy life on earth along with the joy they will have in Heaven.

Missions is a job for ALL Christians just as tithing is for all Christians. Whether we are rich or poor we ALL have that command to reach the lost. In Mexico we teach our churches to get involved in missions in two ways: The first is we tithe from all of our church offerings and this tithe is sent to missions. The second is to get people involved in the mission´s field. We believe in sending people out. Last year one of our men went to a “Youth with a Mission` school of missions and then took a trip with them into the Amazon region for a one month missions trip. This past summer two young girls from one of the churches in Guadalajara took separate missions trips. One went to Spain and Egypt while the other one went to Panama and Venezuela.

In September we had a special service we called a “Macedonia call” service. Our whole service was focused on missions. We shared about our missions effort in Pakistan. We talked about the culture, the food and the challenges of being a Christian there. We had some local pastors also attend, as the concept of being a giving church instead of a receiving church is new for a lot of churches in Mexico. What we sow becomes our harvest and there is no better place to sow than into the great commission of reaching the world with our gospel. We are working at getting more of the local Mexican churches involved in missions outside of Mexico. It is not only a concept of money but also a whole change of culture. Instead of being a receiving church you become a giving church and God becomes your supplier.

Our Christian school is now well into a new school year. We were not able to build our new school building this summer as we had planned to do. The finance that did come in we invested in steel and cement that we need for the new building. Once again our school is full to capacity for the buildings that we have. Our building plan has a double purpose. The first is to reach more students that come from non-Christian homes and teach them Christian values and a godly lifestyle. The second purpose is to make the school self sufficient so that it gets in enough money to cover it´s own expenses. We charge a monthly tuition of between $35 to $45 dollars per month for each student. With an enrollment of another 20 students our teacher´s salaries would be covered each month. We continue to raise support for our building project and we invite you to be part of it.

Our family has been through trying times these last years and we are glad to report that God has not only been with us but also he has brought us through them. Dad (David) Tolman is completely recovered from the ailments that he experienced this last year. Parkinsons disease still keeps him very limited in what he can do but it has not progressed and he is off of all other medications. Lucy has now been over a year and a half without a blood transfusion and is slowly getting her strength back as her liver is being restored. Vanessa is learning to live with the limitations of Lupus but she is also believing a prophetic word she received that she will be healed. We still believe in a God that heals and performs miracles.

We thank you for your prayers and offerings that make this work possible. May the Lord richly bless each of you as we once again come to the time of year where we celebrate His birth, which is the hope of ALL mankind.

Philip, Lucy, & Vanessa Tolman

Learning from God's Silence

September/October 2016 Newsletter

We look for the emotional side of life. We like excitement, fun emotions and movement. If we analyze life we will find that a very small percentage of our life contains these elements. Life, both in the physical and the spiritual aspect, is a chain of mundane, constant plodding that brings us fulfillment in all we do. It is the three meals a day, the washing and cleaning, the reading of the Word and a lot of other things that make life tick. It in these times of calm and silence that we learn to hear the voice of God.

Missionary work is not an exciting life in the sense of being highly emotional. Missionary work is exciting because you have a chance to mix 3 or more cultures and choose the best of them. There is my culture from my home country, the culture of the country where I am working and then there is a church culture that I live in and try to teach. All three of these cultures are imperfect and adaptable. Each culture adapts to the area where it is used. As we teach the Word of God we have to understand that the Bible also contains culture. Abraham sent his servant to look for a wife for his son Isaac. That just won´t work in the western culture we live in. 

Here in Mexico we are challenged with letting the Spirit of God change people without trying to make them part of my culture. In teaching I have to ask myself once and again: “Is this biblical or is it only culture”. A missionary has to learn to teach the Bible without teaching his or her home culture. After being on the mission field for over 35 years I find that I have lost my culture. I don´t fit in neither in Canada nor in Mexico. My prayer is that I will fit in in Heaven.

The 16^th of September is Mexico´s independence day, a national holiday. It is the season that there is fresh corn, vegetables and fruit. This year we decided to have a corn get together at the school. We take fresh tender corn that is still covered with its leaves and cook it over hot coals. It sizzles in it´s own juices and has a flavor all of it’s own. Then we cut 50 or more avocados and make a big guacamole salad. The drinks made from fresh limes; guavas and nanchi´s are a delight. All this together with good Christian fellowship, a little soccer and other sports makes it a delightful day. You may ask: “Is it spiritual” and I would answer YES. It is neither a church service nor a teaching session. It is a time of joining together as a family, creating unity and fulfilling the Bible where it says: “ …But on God who has given us all things to enjoy them”.

We thank you for your prayers and offerings that make this work possible. Dad (David Tolman) is doing great and is adapting to life as a widower. Changes are not always easy, but they are necessary. Please continue to believe with us for the fund that we need for the construction of our new school building. We are still lacking about 65% of the $42,000 dollars that we need for the first floor construction.

Philip, Lucy, & Vanessa Tolman

July-August 2016 Newsletter

Church Anniversary

   Last month in the churches we shared about the seasons of God. In the natural we have four different seasons each year. In the spiritual there are also seasons and times. There is a time to plant and a time to harvest. We all want to be part of the harvest but few want to be the planters. One of the jobs that we were commissioned with here in Mexico is to be planters. We are not planting for ourselves but for the Lord. We don't know who has been commissioned to harvest but we continue with our job of planting.

On the 9^th of July we had our graduation exercises for our primary and secondary schools. We opened our doors in 2001 and now 14 years later we continue to grow. Our plan this year is to construct a new building for our primary school. With the offerings that we have received we have purchased the steel and concrete we need but we are still lacking funds to start with the actual construction. We know that God will supply in His time and we are waiting on His timing.

 The months of June and July are being spent on a special time for door-to-door evangelism. We have marked 4 subdivisions in which we are going to leave a tract in each home as well as personally meeting all the people that we can. One of the subdivisions is an area of Tepic where we want to plant our 4^th church in the city. We personally do not pastor a church in the city of Tepic. We raise-up pastors and plant them in a new work under the support of one of the churches that we pastor. Once ago we have been called to plant so that others can bring in the harvest.

After Church Fellowship

 As we look to the coming months we are working on a State- wide meeting of pastors from the 5 pastor alliances that exist in our State. On the 13^th of August we will be joining together for a day of fellowship and teaching. On the 27^th of August we have our national reunion of pastors and churches that work under our covering. This year we will be meeting in the city of Guadalajara. Unity brings strength to all we do and also produces longevity. We are not only planting for ourselves but also for the future generations as we waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We thank you for your prayers and offerings that make this work possible. As we work together we all become part of the harvest. My dad (David Tolman) physically has been doing much better. On July 1^st we celebrated his 84^th birthday when only months before all indicated that he wasn't going to live to that date. Once again thank you for your prayers for him.

Vanessa's 15th Birthday

Philip, Lucy, & Vanessa Tolman

May/June 2016 Newsletter

   Life can be mundane or exciting. We decide how our life is with the way we live. If we live in our comfort zone life can become very boring. It is when we push out into the unknown that life becomes exciting. One of the best ways to do that is to take a step of faith to fulfill God´s purpose in your life even though it seems impossible. Walking into the impossible with God at your side is an experience that will never be forgotten.

Living here in our field of ministry we have decided to live this way every day of our lives. As we try to obey the direction that God has given us we are always extending ourselves beyond what our daily income and strength can cover. One of our goals this year is the construction of a new building for our Christian School. We thank each of you that have already sent us special offerings for this construction project. We are now at 14% of our goal. We need to have 100% by the 15^th of June to start building.

Our school was pleasantly surprised to receive a prize from the State School Board this year. All schools in Mexico have to be under the supervision of the State School Board as they check our hours of classes, the qualifications of our teachers and student achievement. This year we won 1^st place in student academic achievement. That included all the public and private primary schools in our zone. This shows us that we are not only installing Christian values into our students but we are also preparing them academically for the years to come. While other private schools in our zone charge over $170 dollars a month per student, we as a ministry only charge $47 dollars a month. Aside from that we have students with scholarships that pay much less.

Our camps this year were a success as they have been over the years. What makes them a success is the Holy Spirit that touches the lives of the campers that attend.

At our youth camp we had over 50 campers aside from staff. Most of them walked the last mile into camp as the place we chose this year wasn’t accessible by bus or car. Once arriving at camp nobody was leaving. From the first night the Holy Spirit moved bringing, conviction, laughter and spiritual drunkenness. Many of the youth had never been at a Christian camp nor experienced a physical move of God in their lives. As always, by the time Saturday rolled around many of the campers wanted to stay an extra week but that was not possible.

The next week was our children´s camp. This year was our smallest (large families are no longer part of our culture) but once again the children received a special touch from God. Oh that we all could have more of that childlike faith. They believe what they are told and the Lord responds fulfilling His promises. We were blessed to have good staff and teachers at both camps.

Our family has been blessed in this walk of faith. The trials and the testing only give us experiences that we can look back on to confirm our faith. Lucy is still struggling with an autoimmune sickness that has caused cirrhosis in her liver. Vanessa lives with Lupus knowing that she serves a God that is able to heal her. Philip has been blessed with health so that he can take up the extra load when the circumstances call for it. 

This June Vanessa turns 15, which in Mexico is a big event.  We are programming a church/family event to celebrate with her. Also she will be traveling with us to Canada this summer as we go to visit churches and family. The last time Vanessa was in Canada was 13 years ago.

Dad (David) has been through a difficult time these last through months. He was in hospital for 10 days and then at home with fulltime care. We are glad to say that right now he is doing better that he has all year, both mentally and physically. Thank you for your prayers for him.

We pray special blessings on you and may the Lord Jesus Christ let his face shine on you and fill you with peace.

Philip, Lucy, & Vanessa Tolman

March/April 2016 Newsletter

   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 15^th 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