Tolar Family Mission

Man's Price-tag...

2013-08-29T11:17:00.001-05:00

WHAT AM I WORTH?

Everyone on planet Earth is asking this question. Some people we know or meet have a natural over-confidence in themselves and spend most of their life proving they are valuable. And others try to hid the fact that they are just not sure of Who they are and How valuable they are. We often hear that our family and friends suffer from low self-esteem or a low self-worth that it immobilizes them from functional living. Our "wonderful" medical field categorizes it as Depression. What is depression, actually? The Webster dictionary defines it as (1) : a state of feeling sad : dejection (2) : a psychoneurotic or psychotic disorder marked especially by sadness, inactivity, difficulty in thinking and concentration, a significant increase or decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping, feelings of dejection and hopelessness, and sometimes suicidal tendencies c (1) : a reduction in activity, amount, quality, or force (2) :a lowering of vitality or functional activity.

Depression is the exact opposite of value or self-worth. It is the effect of sin (the natural impact of the fall, our own sin, and sin done to us by others) in our lives (Genesis 3:8). The state of depression is not what God designed or intended His "precious" creation to be in. In fact, sin, shame, and our success driven culture has raped humanity of his value. In short depression is the misappropriation of the view of man or self over the actual view of God. We simply place ourselves over God as a "god".

Last Sunday, in our worship gathering, brother Uni shared about how much God values mankind. He reminded me how precious we are / I am to God. Together we read Genesis 1:20 - 2:7 and heard God say, with His own words, that He made everything that there is with His voice BUT with man He personally put us together with His own hands. Then kissed us with the breath of life and we became a living being. Brother Uni repeated several times, "God cared about us; He valued us so much that He honored us by making us with His own hands and breathing life into us from His own lips."

For me that was enough. I was convicted. I heard God say to me that He's "I AM" for me. Then the Spirit reminded me of His words form:

Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations."
Psalms 139: 13-16 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

As I look around this land we are serving in (Thailand) and think about the land we live in (America) I see how precious the "fatherless" are to God. That God is calling them to Himself to become the "sons of God". But how? How is he calling them to Himself? Through our lives of service? Through our daily dying to our will? Through our trusting in the name of the Lord our God? Through our unwavering allegiance to our King? YES, all of the above and more!

As the Spirit speaks to my heart I can hear Uni's voice fade in and out. "You see, Uni continues, "we are the eyes of God on Earth. We are the hands of Jesus in our community. We are the mouth of God in our culture. We are the feet of God where we work!" If we do not see through His eyes, touch with His hands, speak with His love and power, and work with His strength and intention then WE keep God, our creator and savior, hidden!

If we could just believe in what Jesus said in John 14-15 and live it moment by moment then the culture in our communities will be redeemed. We will see God reclaim and sanctify it into what He intended it to be - place for HIM to dwell. God wants to dwell within our hearts and be praised within our communities. The only way for this to occur is that God's people abide in Him, Go out in Jesus's authority and RISK IT ALL FOR THE GOSPEL!

Remember the girl in the yellow shirt at the top of the blog...what is she worth? To the man beside her, she is worth his life. While he was on the last Go Team trip, that became undeniably real to him and he realized he was on this trip for her! At that moment, hearing her family-less story and her need for basic everyday necessities that we take for granted, her life became more valuable than his and he and his wife immediately became a Sponsor1 Parent.

To become a Sponsor1 Parent visit Sponsor1Today.com

Jesus died for her and you and me. He lived to die for the world and He is asking us to die to live for the "1"! Death is not easy! Perhaps this is why, at times or often, we all try to avoid it?

Learn more at Rescue1Mission.com

Obedience in the Small Things

2013-07-12T18:13:00.000-05:00

As the smell of Thai food fills the air I am being reminded of the simple things in life. Sharing a meal together, laughing, reading together, and talking about the great things God has done this summer. I began reading through the blogs from other teams around the world and have been encouraged by how God moving in each place. Even in the states, God does amazing things through simply spending time with Him and time encouraging each other.

Throughout the summer I have put a lot of pressure on myself to do things for God when all he calls us to do is to be obedient to Him. Whether that means building relationships with internationals, picking them up from the airport, going out on the streets, or just helping a family with things around the house so they can be more effective in ministry. All God wants is our hearts and our obedience. Missions are not about what we can do for God. Missions is about letting God open our eyes to a need and letting Him change us and use us for his purposes so that He may be glorified, no matter what the task.

Eating Thai Food for lunch

As we’ve worked with the Tolars this summer, I have had the pleasure of watching a family do ministry; as well as just be a family. Daniel and Lacy have 7 children, 2 of which are from Thailand, living here temporarily. Rescue1 is being run out of their home since its U.S. establishment in 2011. They earn their support by faith that God will provide financially for their family each month. Since they are faith-based, none of the money that is given for ministry is used for personal needs. It all goes back into the ministry of Rescue1.

It is amazing to see how God provides for the Tolars and watch how they live out their faith every day. Whether it is loving their children, going out on the streets to do outreach, or giving a trafficking 101 presentation, it has been a blessing to witness and work with such an amazing family this summer.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” – John 13:34-35

- Chelsea, from the Rescue1 Summer Interns

Not Beyond Hope

2013-07-02T10:14:00.000-05:00

Traveling with the Rescue1 team to Alabama this weekend was nothing short of enjoyable. Of course I could never complain about getting to stay in a gorgeous house with memory foam mattresses and a heated pool, but the true joy of the experience came from getting to see people from all walks of life showing enthusiasm to enter the anti-human trafficking movement. Watching and simply getting to be a part of the growing movement to end slavery and to fulfill the biblical command to care for the oppressed was both heartening and humbling. I do not think that it will ever be easy for me to hear the stories regarding the realities of the trafficking world or to see the statistics indicating how many are currently being exploited, but one thing that has been reiterated to me this summer, and again was reemphasized this weekend, is that the issue is not beyond hope. And this hope comes only from Jesus.

Some might think that this sounds trite, but there is simply no other credible source for the expectation of liberation and reconciliation than the One who gave His life to restore all of creation to its intended relationship and potential! He is the Liberator and Reconciler—our loving Intercessor and the One who allows us to be empowered with the Spirit in order that we may accomplish the work of the Father. If it were not for Him, all of us would be trapped in slavery to our own sin with no hope of freedom, and if it were not for Him, we would not be able to fully and confidently address the issue of abolition in our time. He has called for us to pour ourselves into the downtrodden and to give ourselves to His will and has promised to be with us always—who are we to question this great calling or to think there could be anything better in this life? In short, this weekend was yet another reminder of what I believe to be my calling as a Christian and of the great, hopeful passion that I am honored to be a part of.

- Ana, from the Rescue1 Summer Interns

Rescue1 & The Heart of the Gospel

2013-06-27T20:30:00.000-05:00

As we have continued to work with Rescue1 this week, God keeps opening our eyes and transforming our hearts to look more like His. Since we are going to the same motels every week, our team has been able to develop some deeper relationships with people who live there. Four girls on our team have gotten to know “A” and now spend time talking with her and praying with her every time we go out. Kathy and I have also developed a friendship with a woman at one of the motels and we continue to have good conversations and spend time prayer each week.

As the weeks have progressed, we have been able to develop these relationships by meeting physical needs like providing meals and clothing for those in need. However, these things alone are a means to an end without the gospel. The gospel is the end goal. Serving is just the bridge to getting to the gospel. That’s how Jesus did ministry. He healed people and he feed them, and then he spent time teaching them about the truth, His truth. Since Jesus did that, we should do too. We meet physical needs to get to the spiritual needs of people. After we offer physical loaves of bread, we need to offer the bread of life, Jesus.

Our lives should not inform us of how much Jesus is a part of us. He is not “a part” of us; Jesus is our life. Our relationship with Christ should inform us of how we are to live our lives. We all need rescue from eternal suffering as well as restoration for spiritual freedom. Here’s how we are to relate the ministry of Rescue1 back to Jesus:

Christ informed:

- those endangered

- those who thought they were saved

Christ served:

- physical needs, touched and loved, went to sinners, spent time with people

Christ solved:

- Calvary, offered a solution, was the solution, was selfless

Christ informed to make people aware of their need for a Savior. He served their physical needs. And He solved the problem of sin by going to the cross. Since He did those things, we are to do these things:

Rescue1 informs:

the community (prevention)
the Church (action/rescue)
the vulnerable (restoration)

Rescue1 serves: His people à everyone: least of these through love: food, prayer, physical needs, building relationships

Rescue1 solves:

- the Gospel which leads to: cleansing, purifying, healing, restoration

- Jobs, protection

- Reintegration into society: housing, specialized counseling, legal issues, long-term and emergency services: facilities, homes – find people who have an open home, no kids, no restrictions, where they can take victims in.

At the end of the day it all goes back to the gospel and what Christ did. As we continue to serve and build relationships with people through Last Call 4 Grace in Rescue 1 hopes to begin the same type of ministry up here in Nashville.

It has been a life changing experience to see the physical and spiritual needs of people here. We can no longer say we didn’t know. And because of that we cannot return back to our normal lives after this summer. God may not lead us all to work with trafficking victims, but we must always live our lives with Christ at the center, wherever he may call us. God does not want sacrifice, he wants obedience. He already sacrificed Himself for us. As we are obedient to God, our love becomes sacrificial like His.

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” – 1 John 3:16-18

- The Rescue1 Summer Interns

Meet Our Rescue1 Summer Interns

2013-06-20T13:34:00.000-05:00

This summer, God has blessed us with 6 interns to help us continue our work. They will be helping us conduct research, hold trafficking 101's and helping us lay the foundation for special ops in Nashville. They will be posting blogs periodically throughout the summer about their experiences working with us.
Here is the first one:

This week we learned all about human trafficking and started working as interns with Rescue 1, an organization that raises awareness and works to prevent trafficking. Last week we spent a few days doing research about trafficking in different states so we could better understand how it happens, who the traffickers are, and who the victims are. After we did research, we went out on the streets to do outreach and pray for victims of trafficking at a few motels in Murfreesboro. Since outreach like this does not happen in Nashville yet, Rescue 1 is working with a ministry called Last Call For Grace to see it first hand in hopes of doing something similar in Nashville.

Yesterday we spent our first day working with Rescue 1, this is a ministry working with human trafficking. We did everything from researching for five hours to going to the motels where human trafficking actually takes place. There were so many sad things I got to see first-hand. One of the most impacting moments of the night was when I had the opportunity to go door to door with Candy, telling people we had free food. We knocked at one room and a man answered the door. We asked if they wanted some food and two girls spoke up and said “Yes!! We would love some food!” So, one of the girls, named "T" came to get food. She acted so cheerful and happy when we came to the door but as soon as she got away from her “man” her demeanor changed all together. She went and talked to Candy and when Candy prayed for her she broke down. It literally broke my heart, because T didn’t get out. It’s her choice and she went back up to her room. I kept thinking, how can you want to go back to that, but then I’m reminded how I do the same thing sometimes. God gives me a way out of my sin and I just chose to live in it sometimes. I know that T is a daughter of the King and He can do mighty things in her life, if only she will let him. Pray for T!

- Lexi

Outreach in Murfreesboro has been eye opening. It’s amazing to see how God moves and uses something as simple as a meal and prayer to impact people’s lives. However, it goes beyond food. Our true hope is that these victims would be able to get out being trafficking and that they would be able to start over their lives. Also, our hope is that they would find new life in Jesus Christ.

After doing the research and going out on the streets, we can no longer say we didn’t know. There are 27 million people in slavery around the world, whether it is labor trafficking or sex trafficking, everyone deserves to get out and everyone needs the hope of Christ. Please join us in prayer for everyone who is affected by human trafficking, the victims, and the traffickers themselves.

Ways you can pray:

Pray for the victims to get out and that they would know Jesus

Pray for us as we do outreach on Wednesday and Friday nights all summer

Pray for awareness to be raised about the issue of human trafficking

Pray for the church to get more involved in this issue and for more labors

Pray for Last Call For Grace and the ministry that they are doing

- The Rescue1 Summer Interns

Important Updates

2013-03-28T08:43:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I catch myself staring off into heaven like our brothers in Acts did while and after Jesus ascended into heaven. Sometimes I live as if I am left powerless, daydreaming of the day Jesus returns. I dream of the day when Justice will flow down like a river, “All” creation is made new, and “Every” wrong is made right.

I dream of – then the Spirit reminds me that He is "God Spirit" and that He is come to comfort, heal, restore, equip, and renew. He reminds me that His Mission is to bring holy, Biblical justice to Earth. That He is come to make “All” wrongs, right! He is come to fill me with Him, Him with me, and Us, the Body, with His infinite might, glory, love, holiness, grace, humility, sacrifice, and much more because we are apart of His Mission. Jesus came to redeem man and to enlist every new creation into His radical, never done before, servant based, violent prayer warfare, and complete world insurgence. This excites me! We are indwelt with the Creator of the universe to be His Kingdom on Earth and to reclaim that, which is rightfully His! Psalms 24:1-2 says, The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. For, He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the waters.

Rescue1 Update

With that said we are humbled that God would allow us to be a part of His reclaiming strategy. The last month and a half God has given Rescue1 ground that we have been praying years for. This ground has been stripped from Satan’s grip and we can feel his jealous anger. Our family is being attacked because Satan has been ruling this ground, air, and hearts of unregenerate mankind since the fall and he is unwilling to relinquish this territory.

God has allowed several unique opportunities for Lacy and I to evangelize in arenas that many may not have the opportunity to do so. For instance:

We have been invited to participate with the state of TN’s anti-trafficking strategy sessions to help write victim identification procedures, after care protocol, and coordinate collective public awareness initiatives
Department of Children’s Services is begging us to recruit faith-based foster parents to specialize in trafficking care for minor
Assistant District Attorney has asked us to help with the Hannah Project
TN National Guard has asked us to return to train more soldiers, of which several have invited us to train their places of employment.
Public schools are asking us to come and educate councilors and teachers.
Other secular partners to mention FBI, TBI, local Police Departments.

Trafficking 101
Over the last four weeks we have been invited to several mission’s conferences to share about our vision, mission, and educate on trafficking. While conducting our Trafficking 101, we call the Church to be on the forefront of the anti-trafficking movement, to seek Biblical Justice, to provide victim services in their community, and to evangelize the trafficked population through Special Ops. Hundreds are responding to this call by starting / joining a Task Force.

One specific new Task Force is the Idlewild Rescue1 Task Force in Tampa, FL. We just returned from there, where over 600 people came to raise their Trafficking IQ and over 180 Idlewild members signed up to be a significant part this Task Force. Among the group five other Tampa churches were represented, of which four have begun the process of inviting Rescue1 to their church. Join them and raise your Trafficking IQ Today!

It is humbling what the Lord is doing in and through Rescue1. God is moving in mighty ways and granting us to be missionaries in some very significant places. Truly, God is going before us, preparing the way, and bringing many to Himself.

Remember to pray for E's recovery and salvation. She is the lady God brought to us to Rescue at one of our local Starbucks. Look for parts of her story in the next update. If you would like to donate gift cards, housing goods, food, furniture, etc. please email us at Rescue1Ministry@gmail.com.

Family Update
The Lord is blessing our marriage in so many ways. We live, work, play, rest, dream, grow, and pray together. We are devoted to each others personal growth and development in Christ. As well as diligently learning God's word and how He wants us to bring #BiblicalJustice, through the gospel, into human trafficking.

The kids are doing really well. As the time passed they get bigger, smarter, more mature, and more independent, which brings new uncharted waters. There are four teens in the house, Sun-18, Hannah-16, Wesley-15, and Leigha-13 who make parenting an interesting endeavor. Then there are three little ones, Lydia-7, Dawson-5, and David-3. There never a dull second in our home.

Sun is doing well in school but having a tough time with American History. He enjoys playing guitar at Lighthouse Christian School's chapel band and he plays forward and midfield on the soccer team.
Hannah has finally overcome the food and culture hurdle. She is our brightest student in the house and is just a few points away from a 4.0. She too is playing soccer as a midfielder and defender.
Wesley is doing well in school. He played football this year and received severe internal injuries that forced doctors to order him temporary abstention from sports during the basketball season. Praise the Lord, the abstention was lifted and he is now playing soccer.
Leigha is doing really well in school. Lacy is doing a great job Homeschooling her. Leigha has battled through her dyslexia well and learned to manage it. She was just recently accepted into acting school. The school was so impressed with her and touched deeply with what Lacy and I do through Rescue1 that they gave Leigha a partial scholarship.
Lydia is really enjoying her home school program (K12). She is learning really fast, her reading has improved and part of practicing what she is learning is to explain and teach some of her lessons to Dawson and David.
Dawson is chomping at the bit to start school. He is definitely our most academically motivated child. He also has uncanny gymnast ability and will start gymnastics class next month.
David is right in there with Dawson. He is the most loving one in the house. No matter what the emotional tone is in the house David runs around all the time telling everyone “I love you!”.

Pray Requests

Family - Praise God for His never-ending faithfulness. We have never gone wanting for anything and God is raising up new personal supporters.

Continue to pray for:

That God guards our children’s hearts form the lies of Satan and that they do not get angry with God for our living simply and by faith.
Increased personal support (we get by on 20% of our projected budget, which i not healthy long term)
One of our supporters gave us a used car that needed fixing. Another supporter did all the work free of charge but we have to pay for all the parts. Cost $1500.
A few home improvements for our home of 9. Cost $1000.

Rescue1 – Right now Rescue1 is Lacy and I, Lauren (leaving in August for Grad School), and Rich (part time volunteer staff).

R1 needs church, business, and private partners who commit themselves to seeing Biblical Justice holistically enforced in the trafficking world. Partnership at $100+/month.
Task Forces planted in local communities all over the country through our churches.
Staff to passionately educate, lead, and mobilize churches to provide “Redemptive” After Care Services and “Loving" Long Term Rehabilitative Care through discipleship/mentors.
Anti-trafficking partners/donors to help R1 open Homes of Restoration for minors and adults in Tennessee first and then other states. We will need funds, property, workers to remodel or construct the structures, volunteer staff, food goods, house goods, furniture, etc…
Full time, faith-based staff to serve as case management workers, foster care coordinator, house mom / parents, licensed Christian clinical psychologist and trauma therapy councillors.
And the list go on and on.

Rescue1 Update

2012-04-29T08:14:00.000-05:00

Rescue1 has had an amazing last two weeks. The Lord is moving rapidly and growing Lacy and I so much.

I hope all of you have received the docs that R1 has sent out to our team leaders (You all). If not Please let me know.

THANK YOU'S

Sharon Pratt - For researching, compiling, and developing the Business Proposal. Also for your help at the PIHConference.

Amazing Grace Worship Center - Partnering with R1 "for a Movement of Change", Task Force Launch and Monthly Sponsorship for the Homes of Refuge.

Christ Church Birmingham - Task Force Launch

Pam Bates, Amber Tolbert, Benga Harrison and Paul Lawler - For the business meeting, mentoring and organizational foundation/structure session we had. It was a world of help.

Kurt and Connie Edwards - For loving us well, your sacrifices of praise and helping us with our kiddos as we had meetings. You are such a blessing.

At the Pure In Heart Conference (pureinheartconference.com), Lacy was able to share the heart, purpose, and desire of God for R1. He stirred many

hearts to action and the wear1rescue1 marketplace collected over $2000 in sales/donations. Many contacts were collected and we will see several TF groups rise from there.

Lacy and I have had many profitable meetings this last week. We have been learning more about:

leading and serving within a non-prof,

non-prof business strategy and operating structures,

Grant writing,

how to locate foundations that give grants for admin, projects, technology,

volunteer management and retention,

learning and gathering information on the details, policies, procedures, and processes of opening a rescue and recovery home in TN, from The Wellhouse the-wellhouse.org

how to successfully conduct "Witness-n-Care Campaigns on the streets, truck stops and other high risk zones for prostitutes and trafficked victims

ETC... Much, much, more

There is much to be done. much to learn and many people waiting for us to

MEET. EDUCATE. PRAY. RECRUIT. GIVE. GO. TOUCH. DISCIPLE.

PRAYER NEEDS:

As you consider how to pray and serve, I would like to remind us all that we are faith-based. So, we move at the speed of God's Life, Light and Provision.

R1 Staff Salary/Support - This is our greatest priority. We would like to be full time within work, development and promotion of R1; however, until we are able to raise those funds we will continue to be full-time R1/full-time support development and not 100% in either.

Home of Refuge Sustainability - This includes monthly sponsors, short/full term missionary servants, project and improvement development

Task Force Development- Task Force Start-ups, Recruiting Abolitionists, Anti-trafficking Local-n-Global Solutions

Task Force in America 2012 Conference - May 24-26 Learn more at traffickinginamericaconference.info/ Also R1's Daniel Tolar will be speaking in the "For Pastors Only" forum, May 25 at 4:30.

Partner Ministry Development and Relations

Learn More... wear1rescue1.org

Join a Task Force...

May God bless you, keep you and cause His face to shine upon you.

Rescue1/Tolar Family Update

2012-02-25T09:41:00.000-06:00

I want to thank you all for your patience. I am sorry that I have not updated the blog for a while. The Lord has been keeping us so busy, teaching us so much, making materials, building websites and trying to make them better, meeting new people, accepting our first short term, 1 year, volunteer missionary, visiting churches, sharing at PIH Conferences, launching R1, starting Task Force groups, raising support, and so much more. We are excitedly overwhelmed with all the progress the Lord has provided.

Our family is well. The children are growing faster and faster everyday.

David has adapted well to America and American food but he still prefers to eat white rice, sticky rice, and any green vegetable over any other food on the planet. He is 2 and ever since he could speak English repeats to say all time, and always the right time, “Fill in the name”, I Love you! Followed by the biggest huge ever.
Dawson still cries to go home to Thailand but less now. He is 4 now and can out pray any man I know. He has such a sensitive, sweet s
Lydia has overcome her confusion and misunderstanding of English letters over that of the Thai script. Her reading has improved so dramatically. She is 6 now and has the sweetest spirit about her.

Continue to pray for their salvation!

Leigha misses her friends in Thailand and talks about them often. She talks about how they live in poverty yet are so happy. “But what about the others. The others not living in the Christian village? If the others never hear about Christ. They will never know happiness.” She’s right! Her understanding of how the darkness of the culture can dictate how children and women are abused. She is 12 now and blossoming into such a beautiful, smart young lady. Oh, yeah, she just ask Jesus to live in her. To take the darkness and the pain away. PTL!
Wesley –Wow I am so proud of him! He is becoming a strong, young man. He shares about how he understands why the Lord chose our family to experience the world, missions and a different culture. “God truly made Himself for everyone!” He is 14 now and is so physically talented that he can pick up any ball and do things I only wish I could do. He played basketball this year for the first time and people would tell us how much he has improved and that he is so aggressive. I don’t know where he gets that from. ; )

Lacy and I are doing well. We are growing stronger and closer in our marriage. Isn’t marriage such a beautiful gift from God? Living as one is not always easy but God’s grace and Lacy makes it a lot easier. We are __ now! Well, we are getting older. That will have to be good enough. Haha!

Thanks for praying!

Rescue1 is in its infancy but is growing and having an impact in our community and offering global solutions to trafficking.
CHF/R1 has been able to add a kitchen on to one of our, bursting at the seams, Homes of Refuge. Over 70 young people live there.
Our homes, by God’s grace, have a 95% salvation rate.
The Hmong children’s home is reaching out into many of the Hmong village through the country side. Through their relational evangelism many are learning of Christ and coming to know Him.
The Education Center proposal has been accepted and we will begin building the village school soon.
We have our first 1 yr, short term missionary. Amy will serve at the English school and in one of the homes.
We have a new staff member Rich Powell. He and his family have begun to raise their support.

Please pray for us!

We must sustain the children’s homes. The annual budget, at this point is $104,000.
The Tolar family needs to raise their family, monthly budget to $3500. We are living on about 18% of that. PRAISE the LORD that HE provides for us every month.
We are planning 3 short term trips to Thailand, Philippines, and India. If you would like to, please let us know.
We would like start Task Force groups in South, Southeast and North Nashville, 2 or 3 in KY, 2 in Birmingham, AL and 2 in Huntsville, AL.
The Powell’s monthly support.
Amy’s support, field prep, and cultural acquisitions.

Rescue1 Native Style

2011-11-09T06:49:00.000-06:00

A greatly admired mentor of mine always says, "We move at the speed of life, light, and loot"! (he says provision, I added loot) It is so true, huh? We cannot move faster than the circumstances of life allows. We cannot work where God's revelation and guidance is not. And, we definitely cannot move forward void of His provision. Over the past 18 months God has been leading us and Compassionate Hope Foundation@ compassionatehope.org in an all out sprint. -Wait, I need a moment to catch my breath.........................Okay! It is very clear to that the Spirit is leading and showing miraculous signs to declare His Kingship. One of the ways we know God wants to reveal Himself and Rescue1 at a time is though our assistance in EMPOWERING the nationals. So, here is a taste of God giving life, light, and loot in the words of one of our national partner, servant leaders.

Dear Friends and prayer partners,

School was closed for the month of October and most of the students returned home to help in their churches: teaching the Bible, visiting the sick, witnessing to others and leading some to Christ. They had good opportunities to serve Christ. While home some assisted their parents with the rice harvest or gathering coffee beans. Others planted fields of corn for their families. Tawatchai took a team and visited former students at a church in a nearby country for 7 days. Some of the leaders and young people want to serve the Lord and would like to attend our Leadership Training Center next year. A few of our students remained here and helped with the dorm students at Home of Blessing.

School re-opened Nov. last for the 2^nd term. There are l2 students, 3 new students coming from another nearby country. There is some problem as the 3 new students don’t know Thai so only Chalong can teach them in Hmong. We are also teaching Thai to those who don’t know Thai in order that they will be able to read and write in Thai and share with others. Then they will be able to help the churches here.

Last night at the prayer and praise meeting one of the
students shared about coming to the Leadership Training. “We traveled for 2 days and 2 nights. During that time we only ate once as we didn’t have much money. We then spent 2 nights with Christians before traveling by bus to Thailand to study at the Center. We love the Lord and want to study God’s Word in order that we can serve the Lord.” Praise God for those who hunger and thirst to know the Word of God.

May God bless each of you who have a share in the work here through prayer, encouragement and giving. Please pray for us---teachers and students alike, that we may be all God wants us to be and become mature in Christ Jesus.

With love in Christ,

Tawatchai and Predawan Intasin

Rescue1

2011-09-26T08:50:00.002-05:00

Hi, I am Lacy Henson Tolar, I had the privilege and honor of growing up with a father and mother who have a heart for the world and those who can't defend or care for themselves. At the age of 12, I took my first mission trip and saw, first hand, the needs of those whom they/we serve. Since then a passion to be involved and live missional has grown deeper and stronger in my heart.
Now, with my life partner and husband, Daniel, we have joined hands with our family to be apart of a mission uniquely qualified and strategically positioned to meet the spiritual and physical needs of the hurting and oppressed around the world. Reaching into the lives of those others may not be able to touch. In our travels around the world we have seen much that breaks our hearts and even blows our reality to pieces. One of the injustices we have seen most of is how the world uses and discards it’s most vulnerable,i.e., women and children. We know that God loves them, He sees each of them and desires for them to grasp their potential to change the family, community and nation they live in.

By purchasing a product from our “RESCUE 1” marketplace you offer hope and an opportunity for one of these and you give yourself the chance to be apart of something bigger than you and give God room to open your eyes to things unseen.

The marketplace is coming soon, but you can still purchase our shirts and wristbands. Just message me at tolarfamily@gmail.com.

Here is how:

*Donate $100, they get an education, a safe place to live, or the chance to start a business.

*Purchase an item from our product line.

*Wear our shirts, bracelets, necklaces, or bags and help us spread the word and share the story of those who are living in silence…

What if this year you changed the life of an abused, impoverished, exploited, or persecuted child. Prevent them from starvation or rescued them from poverty, or restored them to a life of dignity. What if this year you changed a life forever? Join us and become apart of a movement where we are breaking the silence… We are speaking for those without a voice, We are protecting the powerless and offering hope to the hopeless….

Please stay tuned for more to come!
Please share this info with others!
Your involvement through buying, wearing, sharing the cause, sending us, and telling others is so valuable.
Share this blog with family, friends, church leaders, and co-workers, etc...

We are giving a voice to those silenced by anonymity; shamed and rejected.

2011-09-01T10:19:00.002-05:00

Hmong village girls rescued from the "Industry"

Hello everyone and thank you!!! Thank you so much for loving and caring for us and we are so encouraged by your prayers. So much has happened in our lives, and to update you on all the Lord is doing through CHF is- well almost, unbelievable! The Northern Thai region ministries the Lord has allowed CHF to come alongside of grow stronger daily. The new locations introduce us to new people, needs, opportunities, work, workers, etc… The “Impact Zone” is: children rescued from neglect, abuse, slavery, and sex-trafficking; villages without education; pastors that have no way to financially provide for their families; men that sacrifice the right of survival to preach and share the gospel, and many that come to the Bible Institute at great personal expense. This is just a snapshot of the daily happenings there. What a blessing it is to be apart of their lives, yet compared to the opportunity to share the love and gospel of Christ to those without an eternal hope, it seems so small. Upon returning from our survey trip of the Thai region Lacy and I were so excited and tried ever so earnestly to communicate with our supporters, build-up our contact list, build relationships with potential new supporters, and create a sense of urgency to return to the field within our hearts, our children, and with you. It seemed the harder we peddled the further behind and more discouraged we got. The last few months have been difficult for us. Our hearts feel lost in a vortex of two worlds; the one in which we live and the one we so rapidly adapted to. Now, I know that, letters like this are supposed to be positive, encouraging, full of all the stuff we have done and the affects of our labor; however, for us that has been quite tough. Since August of last year we have experienced one extreme change after another and due to the newness of CHF, the lack of clarity of our function there, no clear return date, assisting in the immediate needs of The Pure in Heart Conference Ministries with Susan Henson (Mom), serving in several conferences, and the summertime has seriously affected our Support Development. Resulting in a lose of monthly support and we are down to a monthly income of about $1,100. This month was our first month to dip into the red for our monthly stipend, because of this Lacy and I have begun seeking alternatives to provide for our family. This has been a difficult decision to make because we have worked so hard to recover from the loss of support. Within the last 3 months, I have spoken to or contacted many different individuals, businessmen, and churches. Trusting in our Lord, yet with dismay I report 36 no's, unable to's, or no replies. As bad as this sounds, it is such a liberating journey because, I, we are learning to trust in the provision and protection of our Lord God. Our journey over the last two years has been life changing. We are in a good place in the Lord and learning to possess what he has already.

We have been used of the Lord to bring the gospel to Chiangmai and Ubonratchathani, Thailand, relief and encouragement to the suffering church. Since our return to the states; we have helped with many of the legalities of the foundation of CHF, assisted in launching into Northern Thai region, the meeting of the Avrit’s, who became CHF partners there, the meeting and serving with many key Christian leaders and businessmen in - initiating our business as missions, the recommendation from Lacy and I of the Somboon’s, a beautiful and trusted Thai family, to help found and serve as President and Director for CHF of Thailand, the reopening of several children’s homes the youth development and community center, the Bible Institute, the opening of an English Language School, and the commitment, formation, and beginning process of opening a Christian Academy, the connecting and encouraging of twelve apostolic, native leaders that we believe God desires to use to bring His Kingdom and reconciliation through, and much, much more has kept us really busy here at CHF.

Harvest Center(s)

Somboon Family

House of Refuge

As a result of your eternal investment we have had the opportunity not only to participate in what Christ is doing there but assist in how He plans to bring the Kingdom there. What an amazing and unbelievable moving of the Spirit there, it is almost like we are living in the movie ACTS of GOD. CHF was able to lead a missions team trip of several ladies and their daughters last month. The women lived with the girls in the girls home for many days. The young Thai girls were so impacted that they shared with the team that, “no one has ever cared enough to come, visit, live with, give us gifts, and take us on an outing to the mall”. The team got to pray with and personally lead several of the girls to Christ. It was such a precious site. There are so many other stories and life changing experiences that occur daily our whole CHF team couldn’t blog, FB message, email, newsletter, and tweet about to keep up with. We would love the opportunity to share with you all that has happened and all that the Lord seems to be planning. The ministry opportunities there are incredible the Kingdom is expanding and the potential to change the eternal destination of thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of people in seven+ countries is real. A spiritual mentor said, “The Great Commission is DOABLE; thus we are RESPONSIBLE!” We know that we have been called into the ministry of Jesus’ mission, His ministry of reconciliation, His eternal plan of taking back the world for His/our Father. I know that all cannot go. So, some go, but I know that all are called to function as one Body, one Army for the purpose of bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth. Yes, all cannot go, but those that stay are to send those that are called, willing, able, and live “Go”. There are many needs and many ways for others to touch the lives of our impoverished and/or suffering brothers and sisters. Here’s how to help!

One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) Monthly

· Will provide room, board, and an education for one month for a teen boy or girl

Fifty Dollars ($50.00) Monthly

· Will feed an exiled family in

· Will care for the child of a martyr

· Will put a student through Bible College in Thailand, , India or the

Philippines

· Will provide care for an orphan

To Donate visit the Donate page on this blog page or compassionatehope.org.
To SPONSOR our family monthly call me at 615-243-2640, send funds to
CHF∙111 Gloryland Ln.∙Antioch, TN 37013, or visit compassionatehope.org to use the PayPal account button (memo Tolars).

TRENDS to Community Success

2011-07-22T08:20:00.001-05:00

Team! We are one servant, 1000’s strong! We value our team members. The resources given to us are not our own. Collectively, we see a need and move to meet that need.

Relational motivated! People are our axis. Friends come before money, projects, systems, structure and results.

Excellence driven! Everything we do, we strive to do with excellence. Integrity is our foundation, from there we live and work with hands open. Not driven by ambition or results!

National ownership! We believe nationals have the ability and the resources to meet their own needs, build their communities, and lead their churches. So, we build relationships as we live with and in the community. Always training, developing, and equipping national servant-leaders as they discover economic opportunities and care for the needs of their community. We strive to restore honor, dignity, and self-efficacy.

Discrimination is the antithesis of human equality. We celebrate the richness of human diversity in culture, personality, experience, influence, and education.

Servants! We are extremely careful to never establish ourselves as the authority but rather a strong, submissive, influential servant-leader with wisdom and experience.

We love people! No matter what circumstances or background of the individual or the community as a whole. We desire to serve the community, love the individual, and live the gospel.

I believe TRENDS is a great starting point for communal evangelism, Great Commandment emphasis, and Great Commission impact.

COUNT THEM, COUNT THEM ALL!!!!!!!!!!

2011-06-02T11:02:00.000-05:00

Did you count them? 32! WOW 32!

Just in case you did not get that number. AGAIN, it is 32!
32 girls given a chance. 32 girls rescued from mans perverse desire and control.
32 girls rescued from complete poverty. 32 girls now will receive an education.
32 precious girls and young women now live in a Christian family home with 2 loving parents and support staff.
32 lives are forever changed. 32 lives will live in the Compassion of Christ being displayed 24/7.

How awesome is that? How perfect is our GOD? How blessed we are to be a part of changing these lives?

Oh, how blessed you are to know that your caring, loving, giving, and sacrificing renders 32 eternal, life altering chances. CHANCES!!!

Love you all and thank you!!!

Remember to continue to give. It is your giving that provides them a new life. It is your giving that allows me to tell you their story. It is your giving that allows me to share their life with you.

-Daniel W. Tolar

Compassionate Hope's Bro. AL

2011-05-26T07:00:00.001-05:00

Leaving Friday, May 27, 2011 for Thailand, Laos and the Philippines, Bro. AL, Founder and Executive Director of Compassionate Hope wants to invite you to travel with him, as he goes, you go also. Get to experience, first hand, the miracles God is doing in the lives of many we serve. Get to experience the joy and excitement of students that are growing in the Lord. They will be the ones to affect the course of their country for Christ and with the Gospel because CHF is able to help provide an education and active ministry training.

TO TRAVEL WITH BRO. AL

Subscribe to TFM, or
Visit compassionatehope.org for updated blogs, or
Email us at info@compassionatehope.org and ask us to add you to the Journeyman List.

Watch a video of CHF with Bro. Al as he shares a little bit of our heart.

You can watch it here:
http://vimeo.com/24235530

CH May 25 Master
http://vimeo.com/24235530
Involves Light Productions.

Password is "hope"

Leaving Bangkok headed to Nashville!

2011-05-07T17:15:00.000-05:00

2011-04-26T13:28:00.002-05:00

Meet Yang, she is 15 (in pink) and her sister Yeng, she is 14 . As you can see they are priceless and beautiful young girls. They arrived at the girls home in Chiang Kham early today from a Hmong, tribal village. Fighting back the anger and tears we learned that it is common, in their village, to be kid-napped and taken to become the wife of a much older man. Now, he may already have many wives. When Yang’s 15th birthday arrived she became very frighten that this might happen to her. She shared that two weeks ago an older man saw the sisters dancing in a traditional Thai dance. Then he asked her father if he could take Yang to marry her but she began to cry and say no, no, no!! The customs allow young girls around the age of 15 to be taken away by these men for 7 – 10 days then return with them to the family. When they are brought back they are given only 2 choices: they can agree to marry him. So, he pays the father a dowry or if, she says "no" he pays a fine. Either way, she is now "damaged", "abused" sexually and no longer a virgin…,because he had his way with her. We call this statutory rape, period. In the Hmong culture, women are considered a little more in value than a piece of property. They are given very little opportunity to make decisions on her own. Since, they are female they have no human rights. Now you understand how frighten Yang would be for herself and her sister who was seen dancing and then desired by this self-centered, arrogant, lustful man to become his child bride. She was afraid that since she refused he would come back and take her without anyone knowing and she would never see her family again. And she knew that if she left her sister she would be in danger of the same horrible atrocities.

The House parents heard of them and knew they had to visit and rescue them. Understanding their story, because of hearing the same story so many times before, they offer them help and hope from this most frightening of situations. I just cannot image turning 15 and worried that, at any moment a stranger could come and steal me away from the only home and family I have ever known and do with me as he wished. When Lacy and I spoke with Yang and Yeng, they were rejoicing not only to be safe but now have the opportunity to have a complete education and learn of Jesus. A FUTURE WITH HOPE!!

What was most unnerving to us was, that as we talked with them and the house parents, this kind of thing is common place and accepted part of culture. As Americans this is absolutely unbelievable. We would not stand for this! There would be a war and hell to pay! But for the parents, the two girls, out of 9 children, there is two less mouths to feed and the possibility of a good dowry, is high. This kind of thing is poverty driven on the one side and sex/profit driven on the other. She would go and be forced labor for her husband maybe be abandon with kids and forced into a lifestyle within the sex trade industry to try and provide and make a way for herself and the kids. Or maybe return home and live a life of deep poverty. Yang did not want this future. She found a safe place and a place of compassionate hope.

Later today, we also visited a village just like the one described above. With this inside, hidden knowledge it was extremely difficult to leave behind dozens of young ladies that face a similar future. All of us just wanted to forsake everything, stay to live among the 800 person populated, below poverty stricken, village and care for the estimated 650 children living there.

The six girls you see here are of Hmong descent. They are the younger children of ten. Their mother is the second wife of their father. His first wife died leaving him with four children with no one to care for them when he went to work. Currently, he has no work. He is busy raising chickens to feed the family and has a few bags of rice to last a few months.

The children in these villages have no toys, no bikes, no tricycles, no balls to bounce, no footballs or baseballs to throw, no soccer balls to kick. They receive little or no health care, a very limited education, and most of their parents, if have have work, are out away and will stay away for days and weeks at a time.

Shalom Children Home

2011-04-24T04:58:00.001-05:00

A home of refuge for children at high risk of being tricked, forced, sold, or choosing to enter into prostitution to help provide for their family, survive on their own, or when, if!, they finish high school, to pay for college. Many of these children have been passed from family member to family member to whomever will care for them to abandonment. They need and deserve a healthy family environment to grow in. This is what the home does. With your help you can provide that for them. Right now one couple and a part time assistant is helping to raise these kids, 25 of them. That is not enough, they need our help! They need your help!

Lek, her story is the story of thousands!!!

2011-04-23T11:00:00.001-05:00

We had been in country for only 16 hours when we drove to visit a dear couple Fai and Day. They serve as the house parents of a children’s home of about 25 boys and girls just on the outskirts of Chiang Rai. While talking to them we asked them about all the children there and they told us that most all the children there have neither a father or a mother living due to the Aids epidemic that began to spread rapidly the about 10-15 years ago. This dreadful virus was spread because men who were unfaithful to there wives and families would go away and find prostitutes contract the disease then bring it back home to his wife and children. He introduced us to one young girl named Lek.

Lek is 14 years old and has been at this home for about 9 years. We asked if she could remember anything about her family, and this was her story. "I have no father or mother. They both died when I was very young about the age of 2. They died because they both had Aids. I had an older sister that was born and only lived 8 days after birth. After my parents both died I went to live with my Aunts and Uncles but only for a short time because they could no longer care for me. They met a good Christian man and he told them of this home for children and so I came to live here. After coming to live here I accepted Christ when I was about 9 years old and now I have something to live for. I am very happy here because now I can go to school and maybe one day even go to college. For this I am thankful because now I have a future because of your help" The house parents told us that if these high risk girls were not here they would all most likely be sold or sell themselves into the rampant sex industry just to survive and then at some point contract Aids themselves and become an outcast in society.

Tolar Family Leaving on a God Plane

2011-04-21T14:44:00.000-05:00

Anticipation Climax

2011-04-13T08:11:00.009-05:00

It has been 6 months since we left Thailand for a furlough and support development. While the furlough lasted 3 of those months we have been working to raise our support level all of those months. The economy has affected us greatly.

If you interested in knowing how we are doing in this area, call me. 615-243-2640

Our support development (SD, I call it) has gone "Okay",well. What I mean by that is some have chosen to "redirect" their funds, others are giving more, and "Prayer Partners" have become "Team Members" choosing to be more intimately involved with us. Others are giving One-Time gifts to help off set costs of living and ministry expenses. 1 need we have is in the area of our Survey Trip. By faith, Lacy and I well be traveling back to a new staging area to assess the Lord's next step and will for our family. Do we move and live openly or in silence?

Not sure what that means?! Then you should call me. 615-243-2640

We are so excited to go visit with many of our friends, brothers and sisters, stay with one of our national, servant-leader partners, his family and meet many new people that we will be living and working with. They all have become our family! One of our foreign ministry family's are already on the ground and the hand of the Lord is preparing the way for us. Our Father is moving in ways that are only described by miracles.

MIRACLES I SAID! MIRACLES, REAL MIRACLES!

Call me 615-243-2640 or Email me dtmtolar@gmail.com so we can discuss in detail.

David Eating Food for the first time!!

2009-10-31T09:59:00.002-05:00

Fall Newsletter 2009

2009-09-28T02:59:00.008-05:00

“Our First 100 Days”
“We left the states a little more than 3 months ago. It has been quite the journey but God has proven Himself faithful in every way. We are adjusting well here in Chiang Mai. Our days are mostly filled with going to school, studying language, homeschooling the kids, studying language, playing with the little ones, studying language, taking care of a new baby, studying language, trying to find our way around a new place, studying language (I think you get the point) haha.
Our Language study is going better than we ever expected. We have almost completed 3 modules/books. Each book was suppose to take around 8-10 weeks but we have completed 3 modules in 12 weeks. These modules taught us Phonetic Thai, Cultural acquisition, and Conversational Thai about topics like - food, medical, directions, colors, family, weather, dates, time, money, and lots more. We will begin studying how to read and write Thai script in the next few weeks. It is essential for us to speak Thai well before being able to move home to the mission station with family there. We long to be with them and days here can get very lonely. However, we are confident that we are exactly where we should be and will push thru till the task is finished.
The kids are doing well. They miss home a lot but have found a good group of friends here which we are thankful for. Wesley & Leigha are studying Thai language 3 days a weeks as well. They have finished the first module and working in the second very diligently. The sentiment in our house is, man we really want to speak the language. So, everyone is trying very hard. It helps that we now have a Thai only speaking house helper so we are forced to use what we know and learn new words from her everyday as well.
Approximately 8 weeks ago, after a few bouts with the normal preterm labor our new little blessing chose to make his appearance. David Watson Tolar was born 5 weeks early on July 27th (Lydia's Birthday too) and did very well. He was 2.370 kilograms and 45.7cm (which is 5lbs and 18 inches). Our Family is now complete for sure!!!
Having a baby is definitely different in a third world country than in the States. I had many bouts with extreme fear but was always reminded that I had “ The Great Physician,” at my beckon call. God is good and gives us those times with Him to teach more about how He can care for us. I had one such time the Sunday before David was born. The pastor was teaching about “David and Goliath” and on fear. I don't remember a lot of what was said but I know that morning was just for me. Here I was about to give birth to a preemie baby, in a foreign land, away from any family, with bare basic medical facilities and didn’t have a clue how to communicate with my doctors and nurses. You talk about Satan planting the spirit of fear in me - I was ready to catch the next plane home, until that morning when God talked directly to me. He reminded me of why I was here, who He was to me and how He wanted to care for me. Thank You Lord for those personal moments.
Two weeks ago, David was diagnosed with pneumonia in his right lung and was hospitalized for three days. He has still been having some problems with breathing but over all he is doing much better. Thank you for prayers. Here is our family and our newest addition…..
First 100 Days Cont……...
Last month my parents were able to come for a visit and that was a great blessing. It was wonderful to see them and it was a great encouragement that was much needed. We were able to show them around town, eat at some American friendly restaurants, and we also exposed them to some of the more common outdoor Thai eateries ("aroy" or "delicious" as they say here). We went to a Buddhist temple to see the relics, many postures of Buddha, statues of Buddha’s mom and dad, and other religious items. The "wat" is perched up on a mountain top that looks over the southwest corner of Chiang Mai and where our house is located. The natural beauty and temples around us are spectacular. It only saddens us further as we can only sit and watch these people worship and give there lives to a god who is dead. However, if Christians in America only had the devotion, dedication, honor and respect for there families, beliefs, and daily lives as they do here how the world would be different.
One of the greatest joys as a parent is too see your children follow the Lord. This past month while mom and dad were here Leigha asked that she be publicly baptized to show the world that she wanted to follow Jesus. So, we headed to the public pool and had a great family worship time. We are overjoyed to see our children continuing to embrace the Lord during this time when others might fight against such changes.

News from the front lines...
Our family was just in this exact location about 10 weeks ago with these people.
Authorities in Laos last week jailed a church leader in S. Province for embracing Christianity and threatened to expel him unless he renounces his faith – and kill him if his arrest is made public, according to a human rights organization. Officials from L. village, from Sa. sub-district and from Ad-Sap. district on Sept. 3 arrested Thao Oun, an elder at Boukham Church, at his home and forced him at gunpoint to the Sa. sub‐district office, according to Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF). The organization said the officials turned him over to the chief of police of Sa. sub‐district, Thao Somphet, who detained, interrogated, and terrorized the Christian for early six hours. Oun was charged with bringing destruction to the Lao nation and government by embracing Christianity, which the officials consider a “foreign religion to be abhorred,” according to HRWLRF. The chief of police demanded that Oun immediately renounce Christianity or face expulsion from the village. He “further threatened Thao Oun that if word of his arrest and interrogation get out to the international community, he will be put to death,” according to HRWLRF. The organization decided to publicize the mistreatment, a spokesman told Compass, citing international exposure as the most effective way of preventing Lao officials from carrying out threats. The sub-district chief of police also told Oun that his harsh treatment would end “only after the death of all believers in Boukham Church,” according to HRWLRF.

To further pressure Boukham Church, L. village officials and security forces along with Sa. sub‐district police on Saturday (Sept. 5) arrested Thao Aom, who became a Christian 10 months ago. He also was interrogated and intimidated at Sa. sub‐district police headquarters, with authorities telling him, “You have believed in a foreign religion, so you must sign an affidavit to renounce Christianity – if you do not recant, you must vacate the village.” HRWLRF reported that after three hours of police interrogation, Aom still refused to sign the affidavit renouncing his faith. He was expelled from the village. He has sought refuge in a village about six kilometers (nearly four miles) away, where he had previously lived, according to HRWLRF.

On Sunday (Sept. 6) at 6 a.m., P. district police authorities joined the officers from Sa. sub‐district, in Ad‐Sap. district, to surround the Boukham Church worship site in S. village – blocking church members from entering for Sunday morning worship. Members of Boukham Church rotate worship sites among three locations, according to HRWLRF: in L. village in Sa. sub‐district of Ad‐Sap. district; in Boukham village in Ad‐Sap. district; and in S. village in Ad‐Sap. district. Elder Oun lives in L. village, where he leads the worship service when Boukham Church meets there. To punish Boukham Church members for following Christ, Lao officials have denied schooling to 10 of their children and cut off access to water at village wells, according to HRWLRF. They have also deprived all area Christians of protection and rights and threatened to deny public medical care for Christians who get sick or injured.

Laos is a Communist country that is 1.5 percent Christian and 67 percent Buddhist, with the remainder unspecified.

The actions against Boukham church violate the Lao Constitution as well as the 2004 Law on Criminal Procedure, the 2006 Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Children and the 2005 Penal Law, according to the organization. The officials who arrested Oun and Aom have violated Article 5 of the Law on Criminal Procedure, which prohibits the arrest, detention or building search without an order from a public prosecutor or from a people’s court, according to HRWLRF. “Any individual who arrests, detains or conducts any search of buildings or persons in contravention of the laws shall be subject to criminal proceedings and shall be criminally liable,” the law states, according to HRWLRF.

“In addition to violating the Lao Constitution that guarantees religious rights of an individual Lao person, the arrest of Thao Oun by gunpoint was clearly an abuse of authority, and the officials should be punished for this criminal act,” HRWLRF said in a statement. “Article 154 of Penal Law stipulates, ‘Any civil servant engaging in the intentional excessive use of the authority provided by law, thereby [adversely] affecting the interests of the state or society or the rights and interests of citizens, shall be punished by three months to three years of imprisonment and shall be fined from 500,000 kip to 5 million kip [US$60 to US$600].”

The law further states that if such abuses of authority are committed with the use of force, weapons, torture, indecent words or acts affecting the honor and reputation of the victim, the offender is to be punished by three to five years of imprisonment and fined from 2 million kip to 7 million kip (US$240 to US$840).

The denial of education for school‐age children on the basis of religious affiliation violates Article 3 (5) of the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Children, the organization asserted. Article 6 further states, “All children are equal in all aspects without discrimination of any kind in respect of gender, race, ethnicity, language, beliefs, religion, physical state and socio‐economic status of their family.”

Last year officials in Boukham village detained three Christians from the church – Pastor Sombong Supatto, Boot Chanthaleuxay and Khamvan Chanthaleuxay – for several weeks before releasing them on Oct. 16. Authorities initially arrested Pastor Supatto and four others on July 20, storming their house church and ordering the 63 Christians present to cease worshiping or face prison for “believing in and worshiping God.”

Police targeted the church because it was not officially registered. Such registration comes with strict limitations on church activities, so many Christians avoid doing so.
This Persecuted Country was listed as one of the top 10 persecuted in the world!!! Keep the persecuted in your prayers daily….
Care of the (HRWLRF)

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
Give financially (initial &/or monthly)

Prayer Needs:
Emotional strength, Loneliness in Chiang Mai where we don't have a community of people or support is difficult
Continue to find new Financial & Prayer supporters
Children's schooling & language training
Children’s health
Financial Needs::
We are still short on monthly support by about $1,000 ($2,750 in monthly support while on the field )
One time Set up needs still $ 3000
(fridge, bed, wardrobes, dresser, AC unit..we are borrowing these things from our Land Lord)
Visa/School cost this month $2800

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/support to:
Compassionate Hope Foundation
Tolar Family Support
111 Gloryland Lane
Antioch, TN 37013
615-941-1392

Baby Boy Tolar "David Watson" has Arrived!!!

2009-09-28T02:52:00.003-05:00

After long hard pregnancy (which is rather normal for us) baby David chose to make his appearance on July 27th at 10:28am (also Lydia's Birthday). He was 2.370 kilograms and 45.7cm (which is 5lbs and 18 inches). Our Family is now complete for sure!!!

Summer News Letter 2009 "Now in Country"

2009-09-28T02:39:00.003-05:00

Sawatdee “Greetings” from Thailand
"Hello" from Thailand! We made it! Thank you for your prayers and support. We could not have made it without you. We do miss each of you and love you deeply. Some days are harder than others but we are convinced that we are in the center of God’s will. Leaving Nashville was the toughest yet most rewarding experiences that we have ever had. Selling all material possessions and leaving everyone we love and placing our future completely His hands has been such an emotionally, mentally and spiritually stretching time for the entire family. Yet, His providence, grace, and your prayers alone have been our driving force and strength.
As we are settling in here and trying to prioritize our most essential household needs. We have a few more things we need but waiting on them to fit in the budget. We are find the cost of living here in Chiang Mai higher than expected and still need to raise our support level another $1000.
Imagine moving to a place where nothing is familiar, life styles are totally different, everyone acts and reacts in a posture of respect and honor (even if they are right or being wronged), you cannot communicate well, most foods are different, smells are sometimes tough to bear, and you are the minority everywhere. Yet this is forcing us to learn the language, learn a new culture and way of living, and adopting this as our new home and culture and way of living. It seems hard to imagine and difficult to bear yet God’s grace and the skill-sets and talents that he predestined us to possess is causing our adjustments to be as smooth as possible. However, none of our adventure has been without opposition from the enemy and only He knows what tomorrow will bring into our lives.
As we have many new experiences, adventures and obstacles current and ahead we are daily reminded of the dark lost world in which we are surrounded. Their animistic superstitions that we are daily confronted with are hard to avoid and remind us of the ultimate purpose and goal for our being in Chiang Mai and on to our final destination.

News from the front lines...

After our team provided bibles and ministry training for the Christian leaders from K. village they went back to their village with a zeal and led others to Christ. A total of nine families were converted and it all took place in spite of the forbiddance of area officials to convert to Christianity.

At approximately 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, July 5, 2009, the village chief, volunteer security force, village elders, and some villagers of K. village in T. district of S. province, broke into pig pens of new believers in that village and confiscated a pig from each of the nine families (53 members) after they returned home their place of worship.

Later, those who took the pigs slaughtered them and divided the pork among themselves. The officials stated that the seizure of the pigs was a form of punishment imposed on the nine families who had ignored the officials’ order forbidding them from believing in the Christian faith. By choosing to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed freedom to believe in God and practice their newly found faith, each of the nine families must suffer an economic loss of a pig, which is an equivalence of one and a half months salary for one working person in this area.

The incident of seizing and slaughtering the pigs appeared to be a follow-up response to the previous warning made by the officials. Almost 10 months ago, on September 12, 2008, the K. village chief, security force, and other local officials broke into an animal pen of a Christian believer, and took possession of his water buffalo (equiv. value of approximately US$ 350). This was done while he and his family were in their house watching helplessly as their personal belongings were taken from them. The authorities told Mr. B. that if he and his family recant of their Christian faith, their buffalo would be spared. The village authorities claimed that they acted in accordance with the order of the T. district governing authorities. After Mr. B., however, refused to renounce his faith, the village authorities took possession of his buffalo. On the following day (September 13, 2008), the authorities slaughtered his buffalo in the village square and distributed the meat to all the non Christian families in the village. The village authorities additionally warned that they would continue to take possession of animals of believers who refuse to renounce their faith until none of the animals are left standing. Keep the persecuted in your prayers daily….

After Arriving in Country…….

Since we have been here it has been mostly work and adjustments. All the kids have met friends here in the neighborhood and really doing quite amazing. Dawson seems to be picking up the language faster than the rest of us. We will ask him if he wants something and he replies in Thai, even though we cant understand him. It is so cute. His blonde hair and ability to understand some Thai gives us an immediate inroad with a lot of local Thai's. We can not wait until we can communicate more so we can explain why we are here in Chiang Mai and share the love of Jesus with them.
Our language classes are going well. We just finished Thai Phonetics and will start conversational Thai this week. This means a lot more memorizing and more field practicum's. Every morning we review the prior days lesson with the kids so they will learn what we are learning. It is an enjoyable and often funny time as a family. A bunch of southern, North American, English speaking people trying to speak Thai. We should record it for you to hear, but we're "not gonna do it"!
Added to all the normal adjustments and stress to life in a new place, Lacy went to meet her new doctor, visit the hospital, see the labor and delivery room and the recovery room. Needless to say she was not overly excited. It is definitely not Centennial Medical Center. However, what they lack here in "state of the art equipment” they more than make up for in the way they care and serve. So, Lacy is resting in Christ and has become confident that THE GREAT PHYSICIAN is fully able to care for her and the children.
After being here only a few weeks we faced one of our biggest challenges. Dawson had to be hospitalized. He was running an uncontrollable high fever for several days, dehydrated, would not eat and extremely lethargic. The Doctors believed that his body was fighting microorganisms that Asian immune systems are already used to. These are the same microorganisms that cause E.coli, Dysentery and Salmonella that were attacking and controlling his little body. We just took this as the Lord allowing this to strengthen and acclimate him for our future here. This has been our posture because any other would be disbelief in that His will be done.
On Dawson's last day in the hospital I (Daniel) had to leave for a very important meeting in Bangkok to continue and hopefully expedite our permanent visa process. Unfortunately, the EFT agency said the process would take 3-4 months. We only had 9 days remaining on our temporary visas and could only get two 15 day extensions if we traveled to a neighboring border every two weeks . Knowing that this was not a viable option because Lacy would not be able to travel much longer and language school just started. I called Lacy and told them once they leave the hospital go to the airport and meet me in Bangkok so we could fly to the mission station and cross the border to apply for our 1 year student visa. As we went into the neighboring country the spiritual warfare and bondage was evident and overwhelming. You could tell that there was an internal struggle within the officials at the Consulate toward us our and our visas. Nevertheless, God worked in them to say yes after much persuasion and uncertainty. We returned to the mission station (where we will be moving to next year) and so enjoyed being with our extended family there for a few days. It was hard to leave to go back to Chiang Mai but we are now even more determined to be diligent students in our language training so we can be useful servants at the mission station when we move there next summer.
Have you ever felt that you where in a movie? Say like Star Wars and the power of the force was so strong with you that you felt invincible. Well that is what we have felt like many times these last few weeks. Our Father is so guiding our paths that it is like He is doing all the work. No really! We are so blessed and touched that He loves us so much to always provide the way. We are back in Chiang Mai and back to work it is. Lacy has had a few bouts of preterm labor but God is even working in us through this time to strengthen out faith and trust in HIM alone.

You want to help? This is how you can get involved with us...
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
*Give financially (initial &/or monthly)

Prayer Needs:
*Emotional strength, Loneliness in Chiang Mai where we don't have a community of people or support is difficult
*Continue to find new Financial & Prayer supporters
*Children's transition and schooling
*Lacy & new baby’s health

Financial Needs::
We are still short on monthly support by about $1,000 ($2,750 in monthly support while on the field )
One time Set up needs still $ 2000
Visa and travel cost this month $1800
Unexpected/ Expected Upcoming Medical Expenses $2500

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/support to:
Compassionate Hop Foundation
Tolar Family Support
111 Gloryland Lane
Antioch, TN 37013
615-941-1392

Leaving Home :(

2009-09-28T02:30:00.003-05:00

Watch this video about where we are living and why we are going there!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXh_tgjnYJw&feature=related

We left our home, family, friends and everything we knew and loved June 4th 2009.