Looking forward to our return

The day of our departure draws nearer. On August 14, we will board a plane in Seattle taking us to Seoul, South Korea. From Seoul, we will board another flight taking us on to Ulan Bator, Mongolia. This is a shorter route than the one we have taken in the past. We are not eager to spend a lot time on a plane with four children, but we are eager to be back in Mongolia.

It may be that we do not return for a long furlough until a church is established in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, and led by nationals. If that is the case, it may be some years before we are with you again in person. We earnestly wish we could work in Mongolia and see all of you every couple years. But the amount of focus needed to be effective in Mongolia, and the cost of tickets to return to the United States mean frequent travel is difficult.

In 1894 Jonathan Goforth and his family took their first furlough and returned to Canada. When they returned to China it was to a new location, Changte in central China. Soon after their arrival God blessed them with a Chinese national who worked alongside Jonathan as an evangelist. It was not long before thousands of people were listening to their message. The change in the effectiveness of their ministry from their first term to their second is nothing but the power of God unleashed through the prayers of people praying in Canada.

We too hope to see even more clearly in our second term the amazing and powerful hand of God at work in Ulan Bator. During this past year, many of you took prayer cards and some even told us they would pray for us. We know that your prayers enable our ministry. As all of us stay faithful to the ministry to which God has called us, we are excited to think that God will do great things in the future!