March 2010 Prayer Letter & Deputation Update
Dear Pastors, Partners, & Praying Friends,
What an honor it was to be ordained on Thursday, February 18, 2010 by Vision Baptist Church and the ordination council. What an honor to know that my local church, as well as several other ordained men of God who have been serving in the ministry, recognize me as chosen and empowered by the Holy Spirit to exercise gifts for ministry within the church. I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry. It is all about Him!
Many of you have already heard, but two days before I was ordained we received some bad news about the child we are expecting in June. Because this pregnancy hasn’t gone as smoothly as our first one, we were a little worried going into the appointment, especially since we had been given no new information at our last appointment. Well, we finally received some answers that day.
We were able to hear the baby’s heart beat and see it’s profile. We were excited! Then the ultrasound technician had to get the doctor and the doctor came in to look at the rest of the baby’s body. After she was done, she took us into a different room and explained the condition of our little baby.
Our baby has what is known as “Body Stalk Anomaly.” Basically, all the organs from the mid-chest down have developed outside the body and have attached themselves to the wall of the placenta. This condition makes the baby “incompatible with life.” If the baby does make it full term then it will most likely pass away during the birthing process or live very shortly thereafter.
With that being said, please be in prayer for the baby, my wife, and our family. The baby is currently living, and Natasha will continue to carry the baby as long as it lives. We know the Lord is in control, and we will continue as normal to see what the Lord does. If the baby passes away before it is full term then Natasha will be induced and give labor to the baby. This could happen at anytime, so we will be going to the doctor regularly for check ups.
We will love this baby as long as it lives. We will tell it of it’s Creator and the love He has for us. We will tell it how it could soon be meeting Him.
We are thankful that the Lord has given us this child. The LORD gives, and the LORD takes away; blessed be the name of the LORD. As the baby lives we will praise the Lord for everyday He has allowed us to have it, and once it passes on, we will continue to praise the Lord!
Thank you for being a part of our team, Project China, with your prayer and financial support!
In Christ,
Mark, Natasha, & Ava Tolson
February in Review
- February was our 14th month on full-time deputation.
- We were able to be in 13 churches and attend 3 events.
- We added 4 new supporters and only need about 23 more!
- We are currently at 67% of our support!
- We drove 3,627 miles and were in 3 states: FL, GA, & TN.
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Pray for Joshua
A family that is working in the same city that we will be working in just found out that their son has Leukemia. Here is what was posted on the facebook group, Joshua’s Prayer Warriors:
“Joshua has recently been diagnosed with Leukemia. He is 3 years old and the son of Daniel and Susan whom are missionaries in Asia.
Please be in prayer for him and his family at this time. The family needs all the prayer and support that they can get at this time.
We are BLESSED to know that God is in CONTROL!”
I would appreciate you praying for them. I know they and their family would too!
Find out more information, keep updated, and leave a word of encouragement on their facebook group: Joshua’s Prayer Warriors
03.7.10Setup Fund Update
Items Still Needed:
- Three Airplane Tickets: $4,200 – Around $1,400 total per person.
- Rent for a Year: $6,000 – Our rent for the entire year has to be paid up front.
- Customs: $2,000 – Miscellaneous custom expense.
- Shipping Expense: $1,000 Still Needed
- Stove: $1,100
- Vehicle: $3,000 Still Needed
Feel free to give for these specifically or just a general gift of any amount. Send all gifts to Vision Baptist Missions, P.O. Box 442, Alpharetta, GA 30009 with “Tolson Setup Fund” as the subject. Also, please note if you are giving for a specific expense.
Items Provided Already:
- Vehicle: Received $2,000 so far.
- Hotel Cost: Provided Already!
- Basic Furniture: Provided Already!
- Visas: Provided Already
- Dryer: Provided Already!
- Shipping Expense: Received $500 so far.
- Refrigerator: Provided Already!
- Washer: Provided Already!
Click Here for more information | Give Online | Print Setup Fund F.A.Q.
03.6.10Update on Baby Tolson 3-5-10
Well we had another appointment today. We were able to hear the Baby’s heart beat and even see it’s little foot move. They printed us off another profile picture. It’s heart beat was stronger than last week. The specialist said that the baby is getting good blood flow and has a good chance that it will make it to full term. He didn’t see the need for us to come back to them on a biweekly basis since things were a little more stable. We will be going to our midwife biweekly but only returning to the specialist as needed.
If the baby does make it to full term then the baby will most likely pass away during the birthing process or live very shorty because of it’s condition.
Thank you for your continued prayers during this time!
03.5.10“A Missionary was never designed…”
03.4.10“A Missionary was never designed by Jesus Christ to gather a congregation of a hundred or two natives and sit down at his ease, as contented as if every sinner was converted, while thousands around him are eating each other’s flesh and drinking each other’s blood, living and dying without the gospel. For my own part, I cannot content myself within the narrow limits of a single reef.”
- John Williams missionary to the South Sea Islands
Heritage Baptist Church – Loudon, TN
We had a great meeting this past Sunday night at Heritage Baptist Church in Loudon, TN with pastor Arlin Gurley.
- It was the last Sunday of their missions month and I was able to preach and present.
- (We left our other missions conference, came here for Sunday evening, and then went back to the other conference.)
- It was great to have some of Natasha’s side of the family come out for the meeting and support us.
- At the end of the service, the church voted to pay for our Washer off of our setup fund!
- Also, the pastor mentioned their desire to support us and I received word today that they voted to take us on last night.
Thank you Heritage B.C. for the opportunity to present, preach and the very generous love offering for our Setup Fund. We are excited about partnering with you!
Bible Baptist Church – Kingsport, TN
We just finished up a great missions conference this past Sunday through Wednesday at Bible Baptist Church in Kingsport, TN with pastor Don McCann.
- I was able to teach the College and Career class and Senior High students during Sunday school and then present in the Monday evening service.
- We had good meals provided each day of the conference.
- The pastor let us leave for another meeting on Sunday night and then return on Monday.
- On Monday they took all of us out to a place where the kids could run around and play.
- Snow!
- We had a great host family that took care of us and that we had fun with all week! Thanks!
- They ended the conference with the church family laying hands on and praying over the missionaries.
Thank you Bible B.C. for the opportunity to present, preach, the meals, a place to stay, the gift bag, and a generous love offering. We look forward, Lord willing, to partnering with you!
Abortion in China
A friend in China posted the following on facebook.
02.25.10
This is what that add says in English…
“Students are our future, but when something happens to them, who will help and protect them? Chongqing Huaxi Women’s Hospital has started Students Care Month, where those students who come to get an abortion can get 50% off if they show their student ids. Abortion surgeries are the most advanced in the world, won’t stretch (your womb), won’t hurt, it’s quick, and you can do what you want afterwards, it won’t affect your studies or your work.”
Email Rings: Things to Remember
I am privileged to work with several teams of people all around the world. To stay in contact, share ideas, and make it easy to communicate we use email rings (or mailing list). An email ring is a email address that has multiple members on it. When you send to that specific email address, everyone gets the email. Then when someone replies it goes out to everyone on the list too. Email rings can be great for collaboration. But they can also be bad, because it makes it easier to fight and have a bad attitude. Since I know that I am NOT always “swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” sometimes over email, I came up with the following list of things to remember when repling too or writing an email to a list like this (or any email for that matter).
16 Things to remember on an email ring:
- Do I really need to reply to this email? Is it necessary?
- Am I just arguing? or disagreeing without a cause?
- Are they really asking for my advice? or someone more experienced?
- Am I an authority on the subject?
- Should I just be a learner in this topic instead of giving my opinion?
- Am I replying back with a good attitude or out of spite and anger?
- Is my reply in any way rude, crude, or unkind?
- Will this reply publicly embarrass the other person?
- Should I just write this person an individual email?
- Is my reply positive, thoughtful, and kind?
- Will others think more or less of me based on my response to this email?
- Am I being helpful, hurtful, or just plain useless?
- If disagreeing, am I doing it with tact?
- Am I saying something that I wouldn’t say in person?
- Since there is no emotion and body language in email, can someone take the way I am saying this wrong? Should I just call or talk to them in person?
- Am I bucking against another leader, not allowing them to lead, or trying to tell them what to do?
Maybe you have more “things to remember” to add to this list?
02.25.10Horizon Christian Academy – Cumming, GA
I got a called at the last minute on Tuesday for an opportunity to preach at Horizon Christian Academy in Cumming, GA. I was hesitant at first because I didn’t have a car, Bible, and thought I wasn’t dressed for the occasion. But needless to say, it all worked out and I was able to go and preach for about 40 minutes to a room full of students and had a great time.
I arrived about a minute before I was to speak, so when I walked in everyone looked relieved that I finally made it and they handed me the wireless handheld mic right away and I preached (talk about no prep time). Amen!
The Lord knows what He is doing and I pray that unexpected opportunities like this will be used to raise up laborers for the harvest fields of China and the world!
