The witness of a foreigner

Imagine with me that you are sitting at home one evening. You are in your comfort zone: you are in your own home, listening to your own music, surrounded by familiar surrounding and loving family. Then there is a knock at the door. It is a Japanese man and he wants to come in and talk with you. Except that he is not yet fluent in English. Would you let him in? Would you listen earnestly to what he had to say? I would not. I am too busy with my family, my ministry, and my friends to spend much time listening to someone from another culture who is still learning my heart language try to tell me something I have never heard about before.

It is the same way here in Mongolia, except we are the foreigners intruding into Mongolians’ comfortable lives. If it were not for the eternal consequences and the calling of the Holy Spirit, I would not be here trying to interrupt their lives.

I once heard a person equate witnessing with warning people that their house is on fire. That analogy breaks down rather quickly when we consider that if a person’s house is on fire, you can easily point out the fire to convince them of their need to escape. But how does one point out the fires of an eternal hell. It takes the work of the Holy Spirit to convince men that they are sinners in danger of eternal judgment. Then too, it usually takes the respect of the person whom you are trying to persuade.

I have found in Mongolia that few Mongolians are willing to listen to some foreigner about non-material things unless they have grown close enough to me to understand my love and concern for them. As one man put it, “No one cares how much you know [about the Bible] unless they know how much you care.” So we spend a large amount of time getting to know people here in Mongolia.

God has blessed us recently with the opportunity to get to know several neighbors much better. As you pray for us this week, please pray for the salvation of Vantchaa and Mongoo his wife and for the salvation of Javkhaa and Batmaa his wife. And if the Mongolian names are difficult for you, just pray for the Dean’s neighbors.

In other news, both Buren and Bob for whom you have all prayed for a long time along with me have been coming to our Sunday Bible studies. The last two weeks both of them have been there. Last weeks sermon about freedom from sin was a particularly pointed message about man’s need for Jesus Christ. Please continue to pray for their salvation.