Ministering at home

One cultural difference between Mongolia and the United States is that Mongolians don't call before they come to visit - they just come. Many times this is very inconvenient: the neighbor next door comes over while Kristie is trying to fix dinner, I'm having a quiet evening with my kids when there is a sudden and loud invasion of neighbor children, I'm trying to digest a good book when a friend comes over to talk. I've had visitors come as late as midnight.

But, praise the Lord, He gives grace to deal with the seeming distractions. Plus our "open door" policy has led to multiple opportunities to witness to Mongolians. We had another example of this the previous week.

It started two weeks ago when two young ladies, Chimgee and Lkhagvaa (Chimgee attends our services on Sunday), came over to have help translating a brochure about India from English into Mongolian. I really didn't want to help them, after all, it was one of my few nights at home with my family. Still, I decided to help out. It took over an hour to help.

Friday night the two girls returned. I was out with a neighbor, and Kristie was trying to do some Christmas time baking. It seemingly was a most inconvenient time for visitors. In fact, when they started knocking on the door, Kristie took her time answering the door because she thought it was just the neighbor kids. But when she answered it there stood Chimgee and Lkhagvaa. Thinking that they might have come over to have something translated again, Kristie invited them in, seated them in the living room, and gave them a hot drink (all standard Mongolian hospitality). After taking a few sips of their drinks, the two ladies said that they had come over to help around the house.

Charissa and Emily were engaged in cleaning and washing so Kristie declined their health. Instead she took the opportunity to ask Lkhagvaa what she knew about Jesus Christ. This led to a discussion of Jesus Christ. At the end, Kristie invited Lkhagvaa to come with Chimgee to the meeting on Sunday. Lkhagvaa who became more and more interested as the conversation deepened said that she would come.

But what would have happened had our doors been closed to Mongolians coming to our house? What if our friends did not feel comfortable visiting anytime? The small inconveniences are worth it for the opportunities to give the Gospel to Mongolians. It's most important to realize that ministry isn't just what happens on Sunday or Wednesday or whenever the church is meeting. Ministry is what happens everyday as we interact with friends and neighbors and co-workers and others that God brings into our lives.