The Tolar Family Fall 08 Newsletter

Part of Our Family’s Journey
God has for many years been in the process of preparing us for cross cultural service. We have obeyed some but more often times we have abandoned the process He wanted us to walk through. This resulted in many years of wandering in a way and when the road was tough we would run in the other direction. About 3 years ago through a series of events God really got our attention or maybe we just decided to start listening with no reservations for the first time. Either way, we made a conscious choice to stop our busyness and seek after what it was specifically, God wanted from our family. We then took drastic yet quiet steps to change our life in order to prepare us and our children for the journey God was to take us on. Some of those decisions were: 1) Lacy not working outside the home 2) Selling and getting rid of unnecessary materialistic things 3) Home schooling our children 4) Getting debt free and much more. In other words simplifying our lifestyle to have more time to listen and prepare both physically and spiritually. God has shown us a lot by being proactive. However, the best times are just sitting back and watching Him have His way instead of us and our agenda.
The next major step of faith we took was attending a Next Step weekend at Cross-world in January 2007. While in Philly God made it very clear to us what He was asking us to do. That was to serve Him in a full time capacity, in what ever way we could, with the mission work in Thailand and _____. We were both extremely humbled by this task that was placed before us, especially after being unfaithful to Him for so long. During this time God showed us many areas of weakness and struggles we both had. Yet, God gave us a lot of grace and mercy to walk through those few days and know that He was looking at our availability and not at our abilities (or lack thereof).
We know now this was just the beginning of a great journey with the Lord and our family….

Our Mission to “the Persecuted”
Here is one story, of many, unfortunately of recent happenings to share with you.
The believers belonging to the Evangelical Church of ___ Village in ___ province, in a closed country, were all summoned by the village authorities, ordering them to desert their Christian faith. The authorities further directed followers of Jesus Christ in that village to cease holding services and religious gathering of any kind or face immediate imprisonment. The church leader, So..., had been encouraged by our ministry leadership to stay steadfast in the faith. So, the people defied the authorities’ orders to abdicate the Christian faith by holding Sunday worship service. The authorities’ impending threat of imprisonment was soon carried out.
Pastor So..., Bo.. and Kh… have remained in police custody since their arrest in Aug.08. On Aug.24th family members of these brothers went to visit them at the police station. When the families arrived at the detainment cell, the officials began tightening handcuffs around the wrists as well as wooden stocks around the legs of all three prisoners. The family members expressed to us that the tightening of handcuffs and leg stocks was to inflict pain in front of family members for the purpose of punishment for not renouncing their Christian faith. As the district police officials were tightening the handcuffs and leg stocks, they remarked these words to the three prisoners: “This is the consequence of not signing documents to renounce your faith. We have already given you three opportunities to sign these documents but you have refused.”
Please pray for the believers in ___ Village that God will make His face shine upon them and make known to the nation of ____ of His hand at work in their lives.

The Status of the “Great Commission”

1. The Biblical mandate is to “make disciples of All the nations” (every tribe & tongue)
2. 28-30% of people groups have yet to be reached with the good news of the Gospel
   
3. 80+% of missionaries are going to the already Christian or evangelized peoples
   
4. ONLY 1/2 of a penny of every dollar given to missions goes to the unreached areas
   
5. If we do not redirect our going and our giving the statistics prove to still be the same (of 28-30% unreached) in the year 2030

Ministries of Mekong Evangelical Mission in THAILAND & "a closed country"
The majority of the work carried out by Mekong Evangelical Mission is among the Issan people group of Thailand. This is around a twenty-two million people group with a dialect that is very close to that spoken in ______. Only the alphabets are different. Though very hard working, the Issan people are generally poor, mainly involved in agriculture, and mostly living in villages. Church Planting is the heart of the ministry in which the majority of workers are involved in the planting of churches in the main towns or villages of districts. Besides the main church at the mission station, daughter churches have been planted in 10 other locations. Training of national pastors and Christian leaders in regular biblical training settings is done at the well-equipped training center at the "Mission Station". Where there are also two newly furnished dormitories that will accommodate both singles and families. Our Christian School provides a Christian education for the children. This is critical to the future of the church in the Issan area. The school has nearly 1000 students in K-5 through the 8th grade. There are around 60 teachers plus staff members on site. They have already outgrown their first facility and two additional facilities are now complete. A new playground is also in place. One grade will be added each year until they have grades K-12. The school serves as a model now for future village schools. Mercy Home for children is where 293 orphans and abandoned children from the area are cared for in foster homes and 13 in a new facility with a homelike setting in the community. A Radio Station where two half-hours of Bible teaching programs on Saturday and Sunday for several years, have drawn large listening audiences in both Thailand and _____. Because of continued persecution, we can give only general references to how the church in _____ is being supported. Biblical materials are provided to our key _____ pastors to help train the people. Through a variety of means, nearly 70% of the unregistered and persecuted churches are provided oversight and help. This has encouraged Christians leaders to stand boldly even when their homes and property are confiscated, torched, or they are thrown in prison. New churches are being planted constantly even as church buildings are taken away by the government and sometimes given back. Villages of refuge are being set up for those forced to flee their homes under threat of death. In addition, support is provided to the families of pastors who are imprisoned or even murdered by authorities. A recent concern is that the government is trying to get all churches to register so the government can appoint their leaders from among those who are not of the family of faith. Please continue to pray for these believers for courage and faith.

Ways to get Involved with us...We are not merely looking for financial contributors but rather ministry partners who understand our vision and passion for the world. We need your friendship, prayers and sincere deep interest in God’s mission more than we need monthly support.
Ways to help:

• Help us Network & make connections with other individuals, churches and organizations

• Join our Immediate Support team

* Help us plan support trips
* Help us build contacts
* Advisory/Prayer team

• Pray for us $15,000 for school/language training for both our children as well as us
• Give financially (initial &/or monthly)

Prayer Needs:

• Personal & Spiritual development
  
• Financial & Prayer support
  
• Children's transition and schooling
  
• Ministry partners & team

Financial Needs:

• $15,000 for school/language training for both our children as well as us
• $30,000 in one time cost for travel, visas, passports, housing, set-up cost, etc…
• $2,000 per month in pre-field salary for 4-6 months
• $2,750 in monthly support while on the field
  

Any and all financial contributions and gifts needs to be made out to Mekong Evangelical Mission with a separate note stating for the “Tolar Family”.
Send gifts and support to:
Compassionate Hope Foundation

Tolar Family Support
111 Gloryland Lane

Antioch, TN 37013
615-941-1392

Do You Shop At Kroger??? Then we need your help!!

Please Read and see if you can help us by doing what you may already do so often... shop at Kroger!!!!!

One of the ways we are raising support for our mission is with the help of Kroger charitable giving program. It is simple and very beneficial it will not cost you anything just a minute of your time to recharge a gift card when you shop. So if you already shop at Kroger for your Groceries, Fuel, or Prescriptions then ask us for a card and use it at the time of purchase and we receive 4% of all recharged on your gift card. This can quickly add up for our family and the Mekong Evangelical Mission team.

The Easiest Way to Earn Money

In 2007, Kroger paid out over $4.1 million in charitable contributions. Out of this total over $2.3 million was for school organizations.

Kroger Gift Cards - The EASY Way To Earn Money For Our Non-Profit Organization & Team

Below are the simple instructions & Frequently asked questions:

Instructions:

1. Ask us for a gift card you can't get them at the store that are linked to us.
2. Simple Recharge your card . . .
• You can recharge your card for ANY amount up to $500.
• Pay for the recharged card with cash, check or major credit card. It's That Easy!
3. We earn 4% on everything you recharge.

Questions

1. How much of a profit is made with the Kroger Gift Cards?

When cards are recharged at the store, organizations earn a 4% rebate from Kroger. This needs to be emphasized with the participants since most people throw away cards after the value is depleted. Non-profit organizations need to encourage their supporters to continually recharge (or add value to) their cards each time they go to Kroger. Gift Cards may be recharged in any amount up to $500.
IMPORTANT NOTE: It is important to keep activity on gift cards for organizations to earn their rebate. A gift card with a zero balance for 90 days will be voided out of the system.


2. How convenient is it to recharge the card? Do the supporters need to go to Customer Service to recharge before they start their grocery shopping?

We have made it very convenient for the organizations to recharge their card. Gift cards may be recharged up to $100 at ANY REGISTER. To recharge for more than $100, gift cards will have to be recharged at the Customer Service desk prior to doing their grocery shopping. IMPORTANT NOTE: If the supporter wishes to use the gift card to pay for his or her groceries, the gift card must be recharged AND PAID FOR prior to being used as payment for the groceries. In other words, the supporter must tell the cashier that he wishes to recharge his/her gift card before the groceries are rung. IF the gift card is recharged within the grocery order, it cannot be used to pay for them. The gift card recharge must be done as a SEPARATE TRANSACTION first.


3. What if a supporter loses or throws away their card?

Just like with the gift cards for sale at your store, we cannot be responsible for the card value if someone loses or throws away their card. If someone throws away their card they will need to purchase another card from their organization in order to have it linked to that organization. Gift cards for fund-raising CANNOT be purchased at stores.


4. What can be purchased with gift cards?

You can purchase anything, including fuel and prescriptions, in a Kroger store with the exception of services. Services include: money orders, Western Union, lottery tickets, hunting/fishing license, Ticket Master.

Money does come from heaven!!!!

So we were eating breakfast out this morning and the kids were being friendly with everyone around as usual. Anyway, a long story short we began talking to this sweet old couple about the mission and journey we are on to the mission field. They were asking a lot of questions and we were able to share honestly all that is going on with the Issan people and we were able to share our hearts and the small part we get to play in Gods grand plan there. We sent our son to the car to get them a pray card because they wanted to take a picture of us and we told them we had a better on they could have. So after we were all done eating and talking he came up to our table and asked if Lacy was the secretary of the family and she said "yes I guess I am". he then preceded to put $100 bill in her hand and said put this in your treasury. See God is not only good but He keeps His promises to never leave us or forsake us. He knows our every need and when we make His priorities ours, He takes care of everything...What an amazing God we have....

The Unfinished Task of the "Great Commission"

I am astounded that most Christians in this part of the world take for granted where we live and the freedoms afforded us. I also think that those who do care dont really concern themselves with the real honest facts of the awesome responsibility of the "Great Commission".

Here are some astonishing facts:
1. Spiritual Challenge (Satan does not give up ground without a battle)
-There may be up to 160,000 martyrdoms per year in 50 countries.
-More Christians have been martyred in the 20th century than in the previous 19 centuries combined.
2.Political & National Challenge
-Countries with the highest % of unreached tend to be the most closed to Christianity & persecuted peoples.
-Government severely represses all religious activity and there is systematic oppression, imprisonment and execution of Christians.
-Physical and spiritual starvation of millions of people.
3.People Group Challenge (Remaining people groups are the most difficult to penetrate)
- GEOGRAPHIC BARRIERS: remote, harsh climate, difficult access, or nomadic.
- LINGUISTIC BARRIERS: illiteracy, no scripture in their language, unwritten language, terminology confusion.
- CULTURAL BARRIERS: persecution, closed to change, Christianity viewed as a “foreign” religion.
4.THE CHURCHES CHALLENGE (Here in lies the real problem)
-Imbalance in Missionary Distribution
1. 95% of Christian ministers spend most of their time focused on their own people
2. Of the 5% of Christians who become missionaries 80-90% focus on ethne which are majority already Christian or Evangelized
3. Only 2.5 – 4% of missionaries are focused on the 25 - 28% of the world who are unreached

-Imbalance in Missions Finances
1. Average Christian gives 1.8% of their income to the church
2. 5% of Christian giving goes to missions (15 billion)
3. More is lost to embezzlement (16 billion) than is given to missions each year
4. Of mission funds -- ONLY-- 0.1% - 1.66% is focused on unreached Peoples

All of this to say that if we stay on the same course as "the Church" in general, then the statistics will not change because populations will grow and out grow the number of missionaries and monies going to the unreached.

Example: This is where we should Focus to complete the Task at Hand!!!!













Christian Islam Hindu Buddist Non-Religious

The Love Of God.....

It is the Love of God that leads people to open their arms and compels them to give generously to others.
We spent this last week watching one of the most amazing things unfold in front of us. The church we were at decided that one of the greatest things they can do as a local body of Christ is to love people who have given their lives to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth. They thought it was their privilege not a duty to care and love on us and the other families that were there. There is so much that did for us that I am absolutely speechless still..... all I seem to be able to say is WOW!!
More later when can get the words to come....

The First Next Big Step!!

We would covet your prayers this week as we go to our first official church for a mission conference as missionaries. There we will try to pass along this deep and heavy burden we have for the Issan people and Gods persecuted church. Pray that we will only say what we need to and only what He wants us to say. We want to be clear and concise and be able to come across with the heart of God for the nations.
This is one of the greatest faith journeys I have ever been on and I am so excited to keep seeing Gods hand move and work not only in our life but the lives of those we touch while on this portion of the journey. It is true for us that this part of our journey may be the most important part of this choice to follow our Savior to the end of the earth.
Also, pray that God will continue to open other doors and we will be wise in the path we choose.

Praise the Lord

We talked to Dad on Skype last nite about 9:30pm right before he went back into the airport. We didn't hear anything after this until 1am. He was again detained officials and completely searched and all of his belongings taken and gone through but they never looked in his computer bag which held the most important documentation and photos of our "Family" connections. They finally released him shortly before his scheduled flight was to leave. We have been on the phone all morning with Delta airlines trying to confirm that he actually got on the plane. I was able to get a confirmation that he is on the plane headed to Atlanta about 30 min ago. Praise the Lord!!! We may not know anything else until this evening when the plane lands on US soil. We are trying to get Delta to tell us how the storm may effect his arrival but our family is prepared to drive to wherever and get him if necessary. Thank you all for your intercessory prayer on our behalf, we will post any new news as we get it!!!

Urgent Prayer Request!!

Please pray for my dad...he was detained in the airport by officials in an undisclosed country for about 6 hours. They took his passport and wouldn't give it back during this time. This caused him to miss his flight and they lied to him and told him it was canceled, all this to say that the same people who have been lying to him all night are the same people he has to try to get to let him out on Monday. He has no confirmation number for a flight so pray that he can determine between the lies and the truth. They finally gave him a 2 day visa and allowed him to go rest at the airport hotel but cannot leave until they can sort things out. He says the officials are being very secretive. He is ok but very weary and weak emotionally and physically.

New Home Support Team Formed

Tonight with some of the most influential people in our life we formed a support team to help aid in our mobilization and time on the field. We asked a few families/individuals that have made an impact on our life to prayerfully consider being a part of this team. Again God showed Himself faithful and we had a packed house (with the Macks, Sweatts, Ellis's, Schaales, Jemson Girls, and about 13 kids) all here to support and love on us. They were Gods hands and feet tonight in our life. These people and a few others (Cosands, Cudds & Morleys) will be our foundation here both before we leave and then especially when we are gone. They are keeping us accountable, helping us set goals, brainstorming on ideas but most of all just loving us. We believe that it is essential to have these and other speak into our lives as we continue to surrender to the will of our Lord in this journey.

We stand in Awe...

Our God so wants to extend His loving-kindness to us and we often miss the blessing of His moving because we are busy trying to make things happen.

As we began this part of our journey into mobilization to Thailand our faith was weak BUT He has continued to show himself more faithful. There has been so many ways daily that as we take small steps He meets and exceeds our faithfulness. He has shown us the answer to so many of the "whys" in our past and clearly said "this is why I took you there, put you here, had this happen, ect..." We are constantly sitting here in AWE of how he works and how He so wants the best for us and its better than we expected. We have found that what we expect God to do, that He NEVER fails to exceed any and all expectations that we may have.

Two verses come to mind as we thank Him for His endless loving-kindness and His provision.
1 John 3:1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God.
Eph3:20 Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us...
The next verse says "to Him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations for ever and ever!!!! Amen. I may have embellished the exclamations, but I can't help it because God is doing everything for His glory and He takes us along for "the ride of our lives".

Saddened by death of a persecuted believer...

This is part of the work we will be involved with while in Asia. These are our people... parts of our family have ate, slept, feed, and prayed directly with these families. Another one killed for the cause of our Father. May The Father bless these families and comfort them in their time of need and continued persecution. We cant wait to be there and hold their hands and walk through this with them.

Please look at these news reports and you will understand..this will let you know the important work that we are going to be apart of..a good number of the our students in the school come out of Laos with their parents or as orphans..they will one day go back and build The Kingdom..so to support us is to strengthen the future church in this area.

From Worldwide Religious News Agency
http://www.wwrn.org/article.php?idd=29168&con=16&sec=23

From Christian News Agency BosNewsLife
http://www.bosnewslife.com/asia-pacific/laos/3740-laos-detains-dozens-of-christians

Kids are in School!!

Well this week has been a whirlwind of new things but all a part of our necessary journey. The kids have both been put back into a Christian school instead of being home schooled this year for several reasons. One being we have a lot of things to get done in order to leave as soon as possible, so we need them to focus on their education rather than being distracted here while homeschooling. Also, this might be the last opportunity for them to be in an American school and get some foundational things as well as build some relationships that they can come home to as we return for visits.
Daniel and I are trying to get into some classes and figure out how to pay for all of it. We are also trying to make sure we have taken care of things like bills and debts early here before we leave. Another item we are really focusing on is trying to make connections for support. Please pray for us as we continue on in faith knowing this is the right way.

Meet our Family

Lacy and I have been married now almost 12 yrs. God has been gracious and good and has proven Himself faithful to us even when we were not. I am working full time until we can raise our support to leave and Lacy is doing most of the leg work at home with emails, newsletters and phone calls.

We have four children Daniel Wesley, Leigha, Lydia & Dawson. Wesley is 11 yrs old and loves Jesus and playing sports. His heart is very sensitive to the things of the Lord and he is looking forward to sharing that love with others. Leigha is 9 years old and loves “girly stuff” and is very creative. She has multiple learning differences and we have watched her fighting spirit this year as she overcame many obstacles and made great achievements. Our youngest daughter Lydia is 3 yrs old and our spunky little angel. She is so funny trying to learn to speak Thai with her deep southern accent. The baby of the family is Dawson he is 8 months old. After an extremely hard pregnancy. Dawson was born a preemie at 34 weeks on Nov.10, weighing 5lbs 2oz and 19in long. He defied the odds and did extremely well when he was first born. Then at 2wks old he just stopped breathing and we spent the next several months on our knees praying for his healing. We just went to the doctors this last month at Vanderbilt. We spent most of the day there doing all sorts of test etc. The conclusion of the day was that the biopsy of the tumor/knot was benign and we have no reason to be concerned any further over it. He also went on to say that Dawson looks like a healthy thriving normal little boy. He doesn’t even look close to the same sickly child he was a few months ago. So, we have no reason to be concerned any further for him than we would any one of our other children…

YES, GOD DOES MIRACLES!!