Sunday update

Attendance was down Sunday, way down, since about half of regular attenders did not come. I am not discouraged because I know there will be Sundays like this, and there were six Mongolian adults who were there.

Because tonight is New Year's Eve, we will be hosting a party at our house. Unlike most other New Year's Eve parties that will be held in Ulan Bator tonight, our party will have no alcohol. The Gospel will be presented tonight for those who come. I am hoping that Bob, Buren, Tungaa, and Mandaa will come so please pray for their salvation.

Choosing a word for 'God'

The story highlighted at the end of this article gives some hint of the trouble of working in a foreign language. Imagine that you are in Malaysia and the majority of Malaysians tell you that the Arabic word "allah" is a generic term for "god." What would you do?

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Malaysian row over word for 'God'

a James Fraser quote on prayer

"I believe it will only be known on the last day how much has been accomplished in missionary work by the prayers of earnest believers at home" - James Fraser

Weekend before Christmas update

It's beginning to seem more like Christmas around here. That is, if you see Christmas as a big commercial push. Yes, there are holiday decorations here in Mongolia. This year for the first time the government put a large Christmas tree in the main square downtown. I understand it cost the government tens of thousands of dollars to bring in the tree and trim it. Unfortunately, the stores, shops, government, and most Mongolians just see this time of year as a gift-giving time.

I had the opportunity to preach that Jesus' birth is the reason that we celebrate at this time of year and that He is the one who makes it possible to find forgiveness. Ankhaa and his wife visited on Sunday for the first time.

In the evening, we joined with another church across town for a time of singing, preaching, and fellowship. It was exciting to be with the Mongolians singing in praise to our Savior! I taught a short lesson on Old Testament prophecy fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and then after some more singing Jason Muller preached on our response to God's gift.

After the preaching we had a time of fellowship. I believe it was encouraging to the Mongolians and know that I was encouraged to meet other believers.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from Outer Mongolia!

It's Christmas Day here already more than 12 hours before the rest of you in North America arrive on December 25.

We will be enjoying time together today as a family and getting some rest after the busyness of being witnesses for Jesus Christ during the holidays so I will keep this short. Look later this week for an update from the weekend.

Remember God's blessings during this time of year when we celebrate the birth of our Savior.

General update

A sincere prayer warrior recently asked me for an update about some people, and I decided to expand it into a general update. The original plan was to post some pictures with this update. But my current internet connection has not allowed me to do that. Rather than delay posting this while I wait for some pictures to upload, I am going to post this and add pictures and perhaps some more content later. If I update the post, I will move it to the top of the list so that you won't have to go back through previous posts to see if there are finally some pictures.

Also, let me say that I don't expect that a good prayer warrior ought to pray for all these individuals by name although you are perfectly welcome to do that. Instead, I am trying to put a "human face" on what otherwise can become a rather impersonal duty. Perhaps God would lay one or two of these persons on your heart and you would be burdened to pray for them regularly. Then as you read my updates you will notice the prayer requests of those for whom you are burdened to pray and come to identify more closely with your brothers and sisters in Christ or your prospective spiritual siblings.

Buren and Sonin: Buren has been coming faithfully on Sundays although it may be for ulterior reasons. Sonin has responsibilities on Sunday that keep her from coming. Two of Buren's three daughters also come regularly. Buren is in the hospital now. The doctors say that problems with his liver is causing his nose to bleed. Both Buren and Sonin need salvation. His two daughter's were baptized recently based on their public profession of salvation through Jesus Christ alone.

Ganpurev and Ulzee (Bilgoon): Ganpurev and Ulzee continue to grow. Sadly, one 0f Ganpurev's brothers has reduced his contact with Ganpurev (because, I believe, Ganpurev's testimony puts his brother to shame). But another relative recently moved closer to Ganpurev because his father recommended it. Bilgoon's eye situation is the same as far as I know. Unfortunately, the Mongolians doctors all claim that it's not his eye that's the problem. Ganpurev seems satisfied with the Mongolian way of handling things.

Ganaa: Her husband Bob still needs salvation. Ganaa herself seems to continuing the struggle. But she has been very busy and therefore tired. Also, her husband sometimes discourages her from coming to church. It seems to me that the ideal resolution is for her husband to be saved and be eager to grow spiritually. But we know that God also brings Himself glory through our tribulations. It is just difficult to watch someone else - especially a young Christian - struggle on with such opposition.

Bilgee: I'm just not sure where our relationship is right now. Several months ago I had to confront him on a matter, and ever since then it seems to me that he has gone out of his way to keep his distance. Since I've not had as much contact with him recently, I cannot say exactly how he is doing. However, the fact that he seems to keep his distance is troubling.

Enkhee: I've seen Enkhee once seen my return. He works a lot and does not go out of his way to meet with me. His family is struggling, and he is not cognizant of their needs and situation. For example, in my meeting with him I asked about when his daughter would graduate from school. He was unable to give me a definite answer. Instead he had to ask his son when she would graduate.

Mandaa and Bayambaa: I've been focusing some attention on Mandaa since he is another spouse of a church member that needs salvation. He has agreed to come to our special Christmas service on December 23. Please pray earnestly for his salvation. His personality is so quiet that it has been hard for me to get to know him. For example, I asked him once, "What is your hobby?" And he responded, "Don't have one." Where do you go from there? Actually, I asked that question and got that response last week when I visited their home. Before then he would just give the "uh-huh" type answer. Bayambaa on the other hand has been experiencing some ridicule for being a Christian. The ridicule is coming from her in-laws and another family that has been living with them. Again, we know that "all who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution." Still, it is difficult to watch it happen to someone else. We do know and trust that God knows best.

Dashgaa and Tunga: Dashgaa seems to be doing well. He is currently looking for work, not an enviable thing in this country. His wife is expecting their fourth child. She needs to recognize the Jesus Christ is her Savior and in repentance and humility turn to Him. Recently, Dashgaa has begun to bring his children some Sundays. In the past, his wife has been opposed to this. So we are seeing some evidence that she may be softening. Her extended family is Buddhist and pressures them to resist the "foreign religion."

Ganbold: I have not seen him since I returned. In the past his busy schedule made it difficult for us to get together.

Enkhamgalan: I have not seen him in some months. I have tried calling, but he does not answer. As far as I know, he still is not a Christian.

Ayaa: her health seems to have stabilized since her stay in the hospital. But she still is not improving. She is frail and does not have a good appetite. I am concerned too about her spiritual condition.

Tamiraa and Khongoroo: They were married in September and Khongoroo is expecting her first child. In an effort to be a help, I gave her some translation work to do and paid her up-front for the work. I have not heard from her since. I am not sure what to think. They both claim to be Christians but show no evidence of saving faith.

Prayer update

I've noticed that my language ability seems to come and go. That is, some weeks I feel as if my Mongolian just comes out and some weeks it feels as if I am pushing my language through cheesecloth. I don't know how else to describe it. But starting yesterday my Mongolian language attempts began to feel forced and unnatural. It's a difficult time for my language progress to take a step back because we have been invited folks to come this weekend for special Christmas services. So for those of you who are reading this before December 23 please pray for my language ability to come back.

"The sound"

I told you recently about the interesting sound that Mongolians make when they are agreeing with someone, and how making that sound caused me to choke. Unfortunately, I don't have a video of the actual 'incident' while I was eating rice; but I do have some video of me making the sound while interacting with Mongolians one Sunday. I've looped it three times so that you can get a better idea of what it sounds like without playing it over and over. Right about the middle of each section, I quickly suck in air. Notice the sound that I am making. It approximates the sound that Mongolians make when they want to say their version of 'uh-huh.'

Sunday debriefing

This post is a debriefing instead of an update because I want to cover many things besides the events of Sunday.

Our attendance was down yesterday. Still the singing was good, and I felt that the preaching was strong. Roland preached from I Timothy 6, and my sermon focused on Peter's question, "We have left all to follow you, what will our reward be?" Many Mongolians purposely say that they will follow Christ in an effort to gain some material benefit: a job, food assistance, the prestige of being with foreigners. I want to teach the Mongolians that God has entrusted to me that we follow Christ not because we believe that we will receive some material benefit but rather because we love the Savior and realize our debt to our Creator and Redeemer.

Buren was in the hospital, and one of his daughters did not come; I am not entirely certain why she did not come. I had known that Buren was in the hospital but had been unable to visit. So on Sunday afternoon, I went to visit Buren.

He told me that Thursday night blood was gushing from both nostrils so profusely that a handkerchief that he held up to his face quickly became soaked with blood that it began to drip. Two of his daughters that were with him were very afraid. They called an ambulance at 7 PM. When it did not come immediately Buren's brother drove him to the hospital. (The ambulance ended up showing up at 10 PM, but hey, it's free because they have nationalized health care here).

Doctors finally cauterized a blood vessel in Buren's nose on Friday. But Sunday when I visited, he still had some minor bleeding. He has taken many tests, but the doctors cannot seem to determine the cause of the bleeding. Please pray that this strange medical problem would help Buren realize his own mortality and bring him humbly to our Savior.

In other news, on Thursday night I was visiting Bayambaa and her husband Mandaa. We had a chance to talk briefly about Jesus Christ, and I invited both Mandaa and his brother Manlai to our special Christmas-oriented service on December 23. By the way, I met Manlai for the first time on Thursday night while I was at Mandaa and Bayambaa's house. I had been at their
house for about thirty minutes when Manlai came in. He came in not sober at all but a very talkative drunk. He claimed that he had seen my car outside of Mandaa and Bayambaa's hashaa and came to meet me. He knew enough English to say, "Hello, my name is Manlai. How are you?"

We made some conversation and talked about Christians. He asked me to teach them all (Manlai, Mandaa, and Bayambaa) English and said that he would come to a church service. But I never place much confidence in anything any Mongolian says while he is not sober.

Later, I found out that Manlai had come by their house not because he saw my car and wanted to meet me but because his wife had kicked him out of the house because he was drunk. He spent the night at his brother's house. In the morning after the others had left, he stole some things from his own brother's house probably to buy more alcohol. Needless to say, we did not see Manlai on Sunday.

Several of our church members and regular attenders are facing serious pressure from their families not to identify themselves with other Christians. We know that this opposition is from the Enemy and that if our Christian brothers and sisters respond to it appropriately they will be stronger for it. Please pray that God would pour His grace upon these young Christians, enabling them to be a bright light for Jesus Christ in a very dark society.

Children's Christmas Party

Having a party around Christmas at our home for Mongolian children to attend has become an annual event for us. This year's party was held on December 15. Although we invited about a dozen children including children from families at our church and neighbor children, only five of those showed up along with two toddlers that were too young to really enjoy the party - or so we thought.

This year we added teaching the Biblical story of Christmas which gave us an opportunity to be a witness for our Savior. (Last year we gave out tracts for the children to take home.) I taught the story extemporaneously - that is, without notes. The children seemed to understand. I used some flash cards but maybe will not do that in the future. At the end of the story one Mongolian child asked if Jesus was hot when he was born. I was stumped by the question because I could not comprehend why he would think Jesus was hot as a baby. As I tried to inquire further about his question one of the other Mongolian children told me that Jesus must have been hot because his face was "red" in the picture. I wonder if the pictures distracted more than added to the account of Jesus' birth.

Along with the Biblical story of Christmas, we decorated sugar cookies again at this year's party. That always seems to be a big draw. Our neighbor's children will often ask as Christmas approaches, "When are you going to have the party where we decorate cookies?" Mongolians do not have any baked item that they spend time decorating. Some families make a type of hard cake with a decorative shape that Mongolians jokingly call sole cake because they say the decoration looks as if someone stepped on it with his shoe and left the imprint of a sole on it. But as far as putting on sprinkles or cutting cookies out in shapes - these things are unknown to the Mongolian children. Strangely enough, the Mongolian children seemed to tire of the cookie decoration time more quickly this year than in past years. Perhaps they are getting too used to making sugar cookies.

The children also exchanged gifts. Like all children that I know, Mongolian children enjoy opening gifts. We concluded the party with a game of musical chairs which the children also seemed to enjoy. The two little toddlers who came did not play musical chairs but would get excited when the music stopped and cheer. I guess they liked the excitement. As the other children were packing up their cookies and preparing to leave, the two toddlers started pretending to shoot each other and everyone else and laughing. I think perhaps they had as much fun as anyone else even though they really could not participate in most of what the other children did.

Who said that speaking Mongolian couldn't kill you?

The Mongolians have a way of agreeing with something that is said similar to the way that we say, "Uh huh." The best way I can describe it is this: put your tongue way up near the roof of your mouth and make sure that your mouth has lots of spittle in it. Then quickly inhale. Mongolians make this sound many times in conversation usually subconsciously I am sure. I asked someone one time what it meant, and he did not even notice that he had been making that sound. But it is just one way that Mongolians quickly and unobtrusively express their agreement.

Several years ago, I decided that if I wanted to speak Mongolian like a Mongolian person, I would have to learn how to make that sound. The first few weeks that I made that sound, my tongue close to the roof of my mouth and with a quick intake of breath I always expected the Mongolians to laugh at me. After all, to American ears such a sound seems odd in speech. (One American described it as a cough.) But the Mongolians did not react at all. They just kept right on talking.

With time, it has become second nature when my mind is in Mongolian mode to simply make this sound whenever I want to unobtrusively express agreement. Well, let me tell you that speaking Mongolian in this way can be hazardous to your health.

Last week, I was eating rice at lunch with some Mongolians. I do not even recall what the conversation was about but remember that subconsciously I wanted to agree so I did the little quick inhalation thing. But one should never try to inhale quickly while eating, especially while eating rice. The result was several pieces of rice heading down my windpipe. I briefly choked, coughed, and tried to be dignified in it all.

Fortunately, the rice did not get lodged in my windpipe; and after some coughing and hacking I was able to breathe again. But I'm telling you, speaking Mongolian can kill you.

Clear reversal

One of the interesting things about speaking Mongolian is that so much of what is said in Mongolian is said in a different order than it is said in English. (I'm not sure if it's English that is backwards or if it is Mongolian).

Here's an illustrative example from Psalm 119:11. In English it reads, "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."

A wooden English translation would read, "You against sin to not do your word I heart in saved." And grammatically it's good Mongolian.

Speaking this language effectively in the power of the Holy Spirit is one more reason that we need your prayers.

Sunday update

It's cold here. The type of cold where any exposed skin starts to hurt after a while. Of course, that's no surprise when the temperature is below zero. Sunday the high was 3 above. (The low was -18). But our apartment is cozy and warm.

We seem to be stuck on about 10 Mongolian adults in attendance. The number of children seems to fluctuate. Sometimes we have as few as two, yesterday we had six. But there has been 9 or 10 or 11 Mongolian adults in attendance, I think, for the last month or so. I'm not complaining. During that time we've had some Sundays where many of our regular attenders were out with sickness or something and visitors have come to make up the difference. At other times, we've had no visitors and all our regular attenders have come. It just is interesting to me that we have had 9 or 10 or 11 every week for a while.

I would like to see us break through this plateau and begin to see an increase in the number of people who come. Not being from a nation with a history of Christianity, Mongolians do not have a tendency to come out for a church service in Christmas and Easter. Despite that fact, we are planning to have a special service on the Sunday before Christmas to explain the Good News that Jesus came to be our Savior from sin. Please pray that many would come out to our service on Sunday, December 23.

Where have I been? Why I'm glad you asked ...

I know that some of you are wondering why I haven't written more updates recently. You may even be asking, "Where has Scott been?"

I've been out tasting goat's head; and believe me, it's one of those things that you just have to experience. Most Americans don't like to be able to identify the animal's body part that they are eating. (I consider myself to be one of those Americans.) If you want to eat liver - I like liver, by the way - you want it chopped up with onions. No one that I know wants a whole liver to be brought out to them on a platter. One should view animal's body parts at a dissection not at a dinner.

So I was a little bit taken aback Saturday night when I went to visit Bilgee. When I arrived something was boiling covered on the little stove that serves both to warm their shack and cook their food. (As an aside: I really wish that I could post pictures of the interior of their tiny shacks, the Mongolians huddled around a metal box, a few chunks of coal their only source of heat when the weather outside is below zero. But I feel awkward taking pictures of such primitive conditions because Mongolians know that these conditions are primitive and feel ashamed. If you want to see such poverty, you'll just have to come to Mongolia yourself.)

Bilgee happily announced that they had a delicacy on tap for that night: goat's head. Sure enough, when his mom whipped the lid of the pot, there sat two goats' heads. Bilgee pulled one out and placed it on a platter. There was the head of a goat; his eyelids had swollen in cooking and covered his eyes, so you couldn't really say it was looking at me. The tongue was slightly hanging out of his mouth as if the poor creature was slyly sticking his tongue out at me. I fought back the urge to stick out my tongue at the now lifeless beast. Bilgee made some cuts along the side of the head from the edge of the mouth back and, with a mighty crack, pulled the head into two pieces. He cut of the ears and offered me some with the advice that they were a little chewy. I passed on eating the ears. He then cut the tongue up. I've had tongue before and was happy to eat that. Goat's tongue is a little strong for my taste but at least it can be chewed. Bilgee looked as if he was chewing shoe leather as he worked on one ear.

I tried a few other pieces but missed out on the eyes. I guess you have to dig those out of the eye sockets with a knife. All in all, my first experience with goat head went rather well as I was able to chew and swallow everything I took without mishap. And my stomach felts fine the next day. Happy times indeed.

An evening with Ankhaa

On a hillside overlooking a thin trickle that passes for a river in Mongolia sit a variety of small brick homes, wooden shacks, Mongolian felt tents, and a diverse assortment of other structures that constitute Mongolian ger districts. Dividing the hillsides and river valley into a patch work of properties are fences mostly of rough wood. Each fence encloses an area called a hashaa. These hashaa's rarely include just one family. Most hold several tents or shacks and each tent or shack may house a family or more. Within Ganpurev's hashaa (the fence around his property) is Ganpurev's small house and Ankhaa's ger.

Ankhaa is Ganpurev's nephew. About a year and a half ago he was married. The first year of marriage Ankhaa and his wife lived in the countryside and only moved to the city this last summer. When he moved to the city his dad told him to pitch his ger in Ganpurev's hashaa. Ganpurev immediately saw it as an opportunity to be a witness to Ankhaa and told Ankhaa's father as much in his summer visit to the countryside.

Soon after Ankhaa arrived in town, I met him at Ganpurev's place. Ankhaa has spent several weeks off and on in the countryside with his father and mother. It is shaping up to be a hard winter in the Mongolian countryside. A very dry summer left behind drought conditions on the steppe. Then an infestation of rats (in some parts) killed off much of the grass that the animals need to survive the winter. (The rats eat the roots which kills the grasses). One consequence of these conditions is that Ankhaa has been in the countryside helping his father and mother move to another part of the country for the winter.

Ganpurev has taken many opportunities to preach Jesus Christ to Ankhaa, his wife Otgoo, and his wife's younger sister who lives at their ger some of the time. Ankhaa has been eager to hear and seems to be understanding. His wife Otgoo comes from a very Buddhist family and is hesitant to listen and is sometimes antagonistic.

A prior engagement kept me from reaching the hashaa that they share until after 9 on Friday night. Last night when I went for a visit, Ganpurev and I spent over an hour talking with Ankhaa about the Creator God, sin, righteousness in Jesus Christ, our Savior's death on the cross in our place, and other Biblical topics. Actually, Ganpurev did most of the talking. It is so thrilling to see Mongolians speaking about the Truth to other Mongolians because, in the end, it will be Mongolians and not foreigners that will effectively evangelize their country.

Please continue to pray for Ankhaa and his wife. I would love for them to make professions of faith together and grow together as Christians. I have already told Ganpurev that should they be saved, I want him to work to disciple them. Ankhaa and Otgoo are expecting their first child in February. Would it not be fantastic to see this young couple saved, growing, and raising their children to serve the God of the ends of the earth?! Please pray with me to this end.

Mongolian Independence Day

Monday, November 26, was Mongolian Independence Day. This holiday does not seem to be particularly special to Mongolians. I asked several Mongolians what Mongolians traditionally do on their Independence Day. Only one had an answer: he said that Mongolians read their constitution (he was joking). Knowing that there is a tendency in Mongolian society to take any day off from work as a day to drink alcohol, I thought I would organize a small get-together for our church on that Monday when many members would have the day off.

We ate a potluck meal, talked some, and played some group games. Roland introduced our group to a very interesting game called "Four on the Couch." The men then lost four games to the women. We also played spoons. The picture I posted includes Roland and Kristie preparing to play a game with some of those who attended.

Almost every time that we do something like this, the Mongolians remark on how much fun they have. It gives them an opportunity to interact with other Christians, see that having fun does not need to include evil, and relax in a welcoming environment.

Sunday update

We enjoyed eleven adults and a couple of children Sunday at our church service. Five minutes after the meeting was scheduled to begin we still only had three adults and no children. But in the end eleven adults had trickled in.

Elsie was sick, and Emily stayed home with her. Also, both of Roland's children were sick which meant that Joann was unable to attend. Roland and I preached to the adults. Kristie and Ganaa worked with the children. Kristie led singing and the craft; Ganaa taught the lesson while Kristie worked with the flannelgraph to give the children something to look at.

Please pay for Bob and Ganaa. As you know, Ganaa is saved, but Bob is not. Ganaa has been praying for her husband's salvation for years. Recently, Bob has become rather antagonistic to Ganaa attending church services. In the past, Bob has come or been willing to bring Ganaa and the children. More recently, Bob has insisted that the children stay home, and Ganaa has been coming by herself. Today, Bob tried to discourage even Ganaa from coming. Please pray earnestly for Bob's salvation.

Missing my 15 minutes of fame

I had just finished my lunch at home and was preparing to go out again when a phone call came for me. On the other end of the line was a Mongolian speaking frantically. She said that she was from the local committee (a layer of bureaucracy here in Mongolia) and had some questions for me. When did I arrive in Mongolia? How long was I planning to be here? (How do I answer that one?) Did I have a valid visa? Did I have residency permission? How many foreigners were living with me? What kind of work was I doing?

After I answered all her questions, she demanded that I come down to her office immediately with all my official documents and with copies of them. I hung the phone up and explained what had happened to a Mongolian friend who was at our home.

"Oh yes," she said, "Koreans, Chinese, and Americans have become the most prominent foreigners in Mongolian. Many of them are here past their visa's expiration date or have not obtained residency permission. So the government recently passed a law requiring all foreigners without the proper papers to leave the country immediately."

I pulled my passports out, hoped everything was in order, and went to make copies of everything: passport front page, visas, residency permission, etc.

When I arrived at the official's office, she was on the phone talking obviously to another foreigner. She was putting many questions to the other foreigner too although it seemed that the foreigner she was currently speaking with did not have all his things in order. Finally, she hung up the phone and turned her attention to me.

I handed her my passport which she looked at briefly.

"Where is your visa?" she demanded. I showed her my visa which is valid through 2010.

She fired off another question, "Where is your residency permission?" I showed her my residency permission.

Next, "where is your work permission?" I explained to her that my visa type did not require residency permission. We sparred briefly before she agreed that I did not need work permission. (I do not hold a wage paying, Mongolian job.)

Then she picked up my wife's passport. "Who is this?"

"My wife."

"Where does she work?"

I explained that she did not have a job either.

"What about the other four passports?" She spoke as if she were frustrated that all my documents were in order. I wondered briefly if she was going to pull out a bureaucratic hurdle for me to jump through.

"Those are our four children." Should I add, "They don't work either"?

"Fine," she said taking my copies and handing back my passports and refraining from assigning me any bureaucratic obstacles to overcome. And that is when I missed my fifteen minutes of fame. [CAUTION: THE REST OF THIS POST IS SATIRICAL]

You see, the quickest way for a missionary to become famous is to die on the mission field. But for those who are not ready to die, the next best way to become a famous missionary is to be kicked off the mission field. So that means that by allowing me to stay, the Mongolian bureaucrat caused me to miss my fifteen minutes of fame.

a James Fraser quote on prayer

Just as a plant may die for lack of watering, so may a genuine work of God die and rot for lack of prayer. – James O. Fraser

Sunday update

We had eight Mongolian adults attend Sunday's church services. Although eight to ten adults seems a good number compared to last year, it seems that we have been stuck on that number for a few months without much change.

Dashgaa was scheduled to lead singing but must have forgot. He arrived about 15 minutes after we began. Kristie and I had actually discussed the possibility of Dashgaa being unprepared. So when he was not there at the starting time, I picked up the ball and ran with it. I preached from the end of Mark 9 which has a warning from Jesus about the eternal nature and reality of hell. Buren was there, and I plan to follow up this week. Continue to pray for his salvation.

For this Sunday's update I am also including a short video of my preaching. Obviously, I am speaking Mongolian so let me give you a little synopsis. I was preaching that you are either for Christ or against Him, that when it comes to Jesus there is no neutral ground.

Bayambaa's baptism

Here's a video of Bayambaa's baptism for those of you who'd like to see it. Since you probably won't understand the Mongolian, I've included a voiceover with some information about Bayambaa.

In other news ...

I visited Aya in the hospital on Saturday. As mentioned in previous posts, hospital visits in Mongolia often involve extended treatments. Some common treatments while Mongolians are in the hospital include injections of vitamins, massage therapy, and plenty of rest. Strangely, the public hospitals that make up the Mongolian national system do not feed their patients. The families of patients bring in food.

Aya went in with high blood pressure; a very sore, arthritic knee; and ear trouble that was preventing her from hearing well. When I visited on Saturday she was already feeling better, and her blood pressure was lower. She expects to leave the hospital on Thursday.

We probably had our last day until next spring with temperatures above freezing on Sunday. Sunday's high was 37° F. A cold front moved in during the evening bringing a little snow and a low of -9° F. Somehow are bedroom window was left partially open, and I awoke in the night very cold and shut the window.

The forecast says that temperatures will go even lower the next few days. Of course, the Lord has blessed us with a warm apartment - warm enough that someone opened a window when it was hovering near zero outside. Several of our families though live in shacks or gers (Mongolian tents). The price of coal has doubled since last year making heating expenses go through the roof for these families.

Baptismal service

We had our baptismal service on Sunday. There were seven baptized including my ministry partner's daughter Julia. In the picture above you see from left to right: Roland Gay, my partner in ministry; Bilgoon, Ganpurev & Ulzee's son; Chimgay, Buren's middle daughter; Julia, Roland's daughter; Nyamkaa, Ganpurev & Ulzee's daughter; Bayambaa; Tsenday, Bayambaa's father; myself (you do recognize me, don't you?); and Uchkaa, Buren's youngest daughter.

It was exciting to Tsenday baptized. He is older than the others and often the elderly here in Mongolia have a hard time accepting the truth. His daughter Bayambaa became a Christian through the witness of a Mongolian and then began attending our church services last year. A rough pregnancy prevented her from coming for several months, but recently she has begun to attend again faithfully. She began to bring her father early this year. He showed much interest in the Bible and Jesus Christ but years of Buddhist beliefs hindered his understanding. Gradually, as he continued to attend and heard the Gospel multiple times, he realized his sinful heart and his desperate need for Jesus Christ. It was actually during the summer while I was in the States that he told Roland and Bilgee that he had become a Christian. Please pray for Bayambaa's husband Mandaa to be saved. He has heard the Gospel a few times but claims to be irreligious.

Another blessing of the Lord was that we had a good turnout. There were seventeen adults who attended the baptismal service. Roland did a good job of preaching and the Gospel was clearly given. I would say that about half of those that attended were not Christians, many of them Ganpurev's family members who came to see his children baptized. Also Buren was there to see his daughters baptized. There were several who were under obvious conviction during the preaching. I would like to get out and visit them this week with Ganpurev. Please pray for opportunities to do that and for more chances to preach Jesus Christ to these people.

James Fraser and prayer

James Fraser came to realize in a greater way the importance of prayer by watching D. E. Hoste who was general director of China Inland Mission at the time. Although CIM had hundreds and hundreds of missionaries spread throughout China, Hoste spend huge amounts of time in prayer, both individually and praying with other missionaries. Fraser was amazed at the length of time that Hoste would spend in prayer. Hoste quickly pointed out to Fraser that his time and energy were always saved by prayer and wasted without it.

It reminds me of another quote I once wrote down: "Everything vital to the missionary enterprise hinges upon prayer." Think on these words.

a James Fraser quote on prayer

James Fraser is a missionary whom I encourage everyone to read about. A good student with prospects as an engineer, Fraser left England to work in China and eventually ended up with tribal people in the mountains of south China. People whom I know personally have had the opportunity to visit these tribal people and witness their continued Christian testimony. Like Adoniram Judson in Burma, Fraser left behind a lasting ministry with results that continue to this present day. Even though he ministered before international telephone service and instant e-mail, James Fraser believed that keeping people in England informed was a worthwhile use of his time. He would write detailed letters to his supporters that might take months to arrive but that assured him that they would be praying intelligently for him and specifically for the requests that he would mention.

He once said referring to I Corinthians 3:6-7, "Paul may plant and Apollos water, but it is God who gives the increase, and this increase can be brought down from heaven by believing prayer, whether offered in China or in England" (emphasis mine). I too believe that people who live in North America and pray for us have a direct impact on our ministry here in Mongolia. That is why I take time to update the blog and why I include the names and pictures of individuals. We need your prayers!

In the coming weeks I hope to post a few more of James Fraser's quotes and thoughts on prayer. I know that many of you pray diligently for us and for those to whom we minister. May God bless you for your faithfulness in prayer.

Sunday update

Last year in November, we finally started to grow. This year in November, it seems as if the group we have is static. After our return, each week our attendance seemed to grow with a total of 20 Mongolians several Sundays ago. Since then we have had a basic core group of Mongolians come but few visitors. I've included in this post a picture of the people who regularly attend our church here in Mongolia. There are others who come some of the time. But the picture includes almost all of the people who come regularly.

Ganaa is the Mongolian lady whom we are trying to train to teach the children. She is an excellent teacher. However, her husband Bob is unsaved and not very supportive of her teaching. However, because she really wants to help with the children we have been working with her. On Saturday, Ganaa told Kristie she would be unable to come on Sunday.

Then on Sunday morning, Joann - Kristie's missionary partner here in Mongolia - called to say that she was sick and unable to come. So Kristie went from having someone lined up to teach the story and provide the children with a craft while she led singing to being responsible for everything herself.

Next week we will be baptizing people. It will be the first time in a while that we have baptized, and there are six that are prepared for baptism with another two who are possibilities. Please pray that there will be no hindrances to these being baptized next week. I hope to post pictures here next week of the baptisms so come back next week to see them.

Ministering to neighbors

Wednesday night about 9 PM our neighbors showed up to trade recipies with Kristie. You can see the plates and cookbook on the table. In the middle is Badma with her son Tsogdoo who lives next door to us. On the right is Zaya with her daughter Khuslen. They live two floors below us. Zaya spent some years in Germany. The recipie that she brought was for a German cake. It was good.

We have had the opportunity to talk of our Savior with Badma and Zaya. Badma come to our church service on Easter once. Please pray for the salvation of our neighbors. Also, it is easier for Kristie to get together with the ladies than it is for me to get together with the men. Please pray that I would have opportunities to be a witness for Jesus Christ to our neighbors too.

Prayer update

I have two requests that I would like to mention this week. One is wisdom, grace, and strength for us as we have opportunities to interact with Mongolians every day. Some days, Kristie and I do not really feel like interacting with Mongolians. (We would much rather type e-mails in English to loved ones back in the U.S.) But we want to have a vision to minister to Mongolians, the motivation to do it with joy, and the wisdom to minister effectively. Monday night a neighbor came over and heard the Gospel; Tuesday night a neighbor came over, heard more about our services on Sunday, and received a Gospel tract; Wednesday night a neighbor is scheduled to come over; and Thursday night Mongolians friends are to visit.

The second request is this: pray that Bilgee would be eager to follow God's path instead of his own and be willing to repent. I cannot say more than that presently except that Bilgee has made some decisions to continue in sin and seems unrepentant. Of course, if he continues he faces church discipline which would not be pleasant for anyone. But we believe that God changes hearts through prayer, and I would urge you to pray for Bilgee this coming week.

Prayer update

This week I would ask for your prayers for some of our Mongolian friends. Ganpurev and Ulzee are doing well enough, but their son Bilgoon (the one with the eye trouble) and Ulzee's mother Aya are both suffering this week. Last week something like a boil developed on the back of Bilgoon's head. When the boil-like bubble was lanced, pus and blood came out. His parents expected him to make a swift recovery; unfortunately, pus and blood continue to drain from the lanced boil nearly a week later. The school nurse looked at it and sent him home. Currently, Bilgoon is taking antibiotics and resting at home.

Aya is probably in her 70's although I have never asked. (I am one of those who firmly believes one should never ask a woman's age or weight). One of her knees has developed a problem that is painful and makes it impossible for her to walk without assistance. She has been to see the doctor, and they have ordered some tests. However, I do not hold out much hope that Aya will have the treatment she needs in Mongolia's national health care system.

Most of all, Aya needs to recognize that Jesus Christ is her Savior. Virginia Powell has been praying for her salvation for some time. Would you please take any opportunity you have this week to pray for her salvation? I dearly enjoy seeing Aya make a public profession of faith in Christ before it is too late.

Sunday's attendance

I must admit that yesterday's attendance was a little bit of a disappointment to me. We had been steadily growing by one or two each week. Yesterday, we had eight Mongolian adults come but only two children. Last year at this time, eight adults would have been a great turn-out.

I am planning to use my free time this week to do some more visiting. Please pray that it would be profitable.

Benjamin Franklin's Investment

When Benjamin Franklin died in 1790, his estate was valued at about $250,000; in today's dollars, he was a multimillionaire. In a codicil to his will Franklin wrote that he wanted "to be useful even after my death if possible." He then bequeathed 1,000 pounds to both Boston, Massachusetts and to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with the instructions that from that money loans were to be given to entrepreneurs of good standing and moral character. The low interest loans were intended to give these young people a start in business. The interest would collect over the years and expand the program.

Benjamin Franklin calculated that by 1890, 100,000 pounds could be subtracted from the funds and spent on various transportation projects, and there would still be enough funds to continue the loans to entrepreneurs. So he directed that one hundred years after his death 100,000 pounds was to be taken from each fund and used on such things as roads and bridges.

He must have had great faith in American character and the American system of government that he helped found because he further directed that after 200 years the remaining monies in the trust funds were to be divided between Boston, Philadelphia, and the states of Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. So in 1990, a total of 6.5 million dollars was divided between these four governments. All from an investment of 2,000 pounds.

We too are investing our lives. Only eternity will show the results of the investment that we have made for Jesus Christ. Only then will we watch with agony the wood, hay, and stubble burn and watch with amazement the building that God has made of our gold, silver, and precious stones.

So many have invested in me over the years that, excepting my parents, it would be foolish for me to mention them all. But I have been conscious of their efforts and wish to take their investments in me and re-invest it in others.

When it comes to missions, I am reminded of something Nate Saint, the famous missionary killed along with Jim Elliot by Auca Indians in the jungles of Ecuador. He once said, "People who don’t know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives … and when the bubble has burst they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted." To some, it may seem as if the missionary is wasting his life. But to those whose eternity has been changed by the arrival of a preacher of righteousness, that life certainly does not seem wasted.

Just as Benjamin Franklin, we can invest for the future or allow our lives to be frittered away on so many unimportant things. Except that unlike Benjamin Franklin our investment will not only continue to for several hundred years, our investments by God's grace will continue forever. So how about you? What on earth are you doing for heaven's sake?

Sunday's attendance

We were blessed with 12 Mongolian adults and 10 Mongolian children for a total of 22 Mongolians on Sunday morning. While preparing to take a picture, I took this one to warm up and then my camera batteries were dead. Of course, I had not contemplated bringing more batteries. Still, in this picture you can see nine of the twelve Mongolian adults and Roland Gay, our current partner here in Mongolia.

On the far left is Enkhamgalan (if you are interested in a brief history: initial meeting and latest information) and next to him with his head behind the girl in a camo jacket is Mandaa. Please be praying for the salvation of both of these men.

Mandaa and Bayambaa update

I had a chance to spend some time with Mandaa and Bayambaa today. This young couple is just a few years younger than us and has two children. Bayambaa was led to our Savior by another missionary who is no longer in the city and began to attend our church last year. This last June she gave birth to their second child.

Mandaa is not a very talkative fellow and his job as an artist requires him to work long hours. Interestingly, as an artist he has been involved in making statues of false gods, of literally making idols. He claims no religious affiliation. Between his long hours and his reluctance to speak, I do not feel as if I have had much of a chance to get to know him.

Today Bayambaa told me that Mandaa has been reading a Bible that she has. Please pray for his salvation.

Mongolian language help

For those of you that are interested, I stumbled across an interesting site that offers free tutorials in classic Mongolian. Check out Lingua Mongolia. Have fun!

Enkhamgalan update

I met with Enkhamgalan last night. He had some things that he wanted to translate and two questions about the Bible that he wanted to ask me. He wanted to ask about the meaning of Ephesians 5:16 and Luke 18:27. We finished his question from Ephesians quickly and moved into the translation which took some time.

Then it was time to deal with Luke 18:27, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God." I pointed out that the context was salvation because the rich man has asked what he had to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus was teaching his disciples that doing good and keeping certain rituals was not the way to eternal life. Still not clearly understanding Jesus the disciples responded, "Who then can be saved?" At which Jesus responded that it was only possible with God.

This was just the spiritual lesson that Enkhamgalan needed regarding salvation. Like the disciples, he did not understand why Jesus thought that salvation was impossible for men to do without God. I took the opportunity to again stress that the way to [peace with] God is faith in Jesus Christ.

Enkhamgalan however by his own admission is looking for proof that God exists and that Jesus is the only way to God. But incontrovertible truth and faith are mutually exclusive. As one man wisely said, "Were there no room for doubt there would be no room for faith either." So I challenged Enkhamgalan to have faith in God.

His response was very indicative of his spiritual condition: "I have faith," he said.

"Good," I said with joy expecting something like the Philippian jailor - now what must I believe to be saved - or at least the cry of the father of the demon-possessed son - I believe, please help my unbelief. Instead his followed up with the rhetorical question, "Now where's my proof?" So I can see that he still does not have the faith that is the evidence of things not seen.

Continue to pray for Enkhamgalan. Pray that God would give him faith, saving faith.

Sunday update

We had a decent Sunday for us. There were fifteen Mongolians in attendance about half of whom were children. I still wish that the Mongolians would sing with more enthusiasm, but they are making progress. I am feeling more and more confident in my Mongolian.

Enkhamgalan called me unexpectedly today. Although he had been in attendance the previous two Sundays, yesterday he was absent. He says that he has something to talk to me about and something to ask of me. He even said that he would come across town to meet with me which surprised me. I guess I'll see what he has to say. Please pray for Enkhamgalan.

Also, pray for Bilgee. He is facing some important decisions and needs God's direction and grace to make the right decisions.

Saturday, October 6 - First Snow

We woke up this morning to find snow on the rooftops and grassy areas and tops of cars. Its snowing now as I post this. The snow isn't sticking to the blacktop but you can see it on the roofs and tops of cars in the picture. Either way, it means that it was cold last night but not cold enough for the snow to build up.

The weather had been warm up until two days ago. Yesterday was rather cold. It should warm up briefly and then the temperatures will go below freezing and stay there for four or five months.

Printing press update

Just an update on the printing press that was sent to Mongolia last year. It is up and running full time, currently printing tracts in Mongolian. Here is a picture of the press and some other equipment in the shop.
There are three Mongolians who are currently being trained to run the press. My job has been to provide moral support. I did help a little when they were setting up the press by helping them find needed items and translating for the Americans and Mongolians who were trying to work together initially setting up the press.

Update on search for a Mongolian pastor

"The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth labourers into His harvest." This words from Matthew's gospel are a reminder to us of the importance of prayer in the raising up of workers for the salvation of human lives and the establishment of churches around the world. This also frames the prayer request that I have for you.

In January I realized that I would be traveling to Oregon for our church's 25th anniversary. I determined that I would prepare our little group of believers as best as I could for our absence and trust that God would use our time away from Mongolia to strengthen our young believers and perhaps raise up a Mongolian man who would recognize God's call upon his life to lead the church. Towards that end, I spent many weeks during the spring preparing Ganpurev to teach a series of lessons while I was gone. I wondered if God might use this experience to reveal to Ganpurev His call to pastor this Mongolian church.

While I was gone Ganpurev did an admirable job preaching. The Mongolians seemed to respond to having a Mongolian preaching. Of course, he speaks Mongolian better than either Roland or I do. I was encouraged by these reports.

I had a chance to sit down and talk with Ganpurev recently and discovered that he felt relieved that it was over. Rather than the opportunity giving him a greater desire to preach and teach, the opportunity seemed to show him the difficulties of it. My hope was that upon my return Ganpurev would say to me, "I believe that God has called me to pastor this group." Instead, he seems to be saying, "I'm glad that's over. I'd rather not preach again." Certainly, I expect that he will preach again; it is my job as his spiritual father to help him grow and mature. However, it seems that God has another way of supplying the need for a Mongolian man to pastor this church. Please pray that the Lord of the harvest would send us some men to be the leaders of this church.

Inflation notes

Just some notes on prices in Mongolia for those of you who are interested. During the previous year previous the exchange rate for dollars to togrogs had been relatively stable, about 1160 togrogs to the dollar. We returned from our two month trip to the States to find that the dollar was stronger than when we had left; it is trading at 1185 togrogs to the dollar (this favors us).

But although prices in Mongolia had been relatively stable last year, in the two months that we were gone prices rose significantly. Here are some examples. Eggs had been 120 each (10 cents each); now eggs are 160 and more each (13 cents each taking the new exchange rate into account). Cheese was 6500 togrogs a kilogram or about $2.55/lb ($5 for a two pound block of cheese isn't bad). Cheese is now 8000 togrogs a kilogram or about $3.06/lb ($6 for a two pound block of cheese at the new exchange rate). Gas prices are about the same as they were before we left (around $3/gal.).

Because prices had increased during the time we were gone without a corresponding increase in salaries, I asked Buren what the poor people were going to do. He said, "Grow thin and starve." Our budget is such that price increases just take a little discretionary income. We won't have to skip meals or anything. But I know that my missionary friends in Europe are truly struggling as the dollar grows weaker and weaker against the euro.

Mongolian First Haircutting Ceremony

Mongolians hold off cutting their children's hair until the child reaches a certain age usually about 2 or 4 years old for boys (3 or 5 years old the way Mongolians count age) and about 1 or 3 years old for girls (2 or 4 years old according to Mongolian custom). The first haircutting is a significant ceremony (purely secular I'm assured) that involves lots of food and an invitation to friends and family. They even have a name for the celebration: daikh avakh (if you don't want to sweat the details, just say "dike avak"). We were honored with an invitation to our neighbors to participate in this ceremony, the first that we have participated in.

Our neighbors invited us to come at 11 AM, so we were fashionably late and arrived at about 11:30. Still we were the first ones to arrive. There was lots of food there and we started to eat almost immediately. The party really got underway about noon when the grandfather of the child cut his hair for the first time. The grandfather then tied up the hair in a khadag and said a word of blessing.

After that the rest of us took turns cutting the child's hair, then gave him some money and a small gift. There was plenty of food and the eating never really stopped. We left about the time that they broke out the vodka and starting toasting the child. Of course, the child was not allowed to drink any alcohol.

We anticipate being invited to several more of these as our friends' children grow older. Please pray for wisdom as we try to direct these traditional ceremonies to God. Our neighbors are not Christians yet, and therefore we did not have an opportunity to suggest any changes to the ceremony. Perhaps if a Christian performed the ceremony they would want to take the opportunity to dedicate their child to God and ask His blessing on their child. Your prayers to the God of all wisdom for insight as our Mongolian Christians approach these ceremonies would be appreciated.

Prayer update

Thank you for your prayers. I think we have adjusted to our new time zone. We had a decent crowd out again on Sunday - nine Mongolian adults. As they came walking in I was reminded of the many spouses that need repentance leading to salvation. We want to see whole families saved, baptized, and serving.

Also, I met with Bilgee last night. We made some small talk, but he admitted that he had something on his mind that he could not talk to me about yet. It may be little; it may be big - but some of you might remember to pray for Bilgee this coming week. If it turns out to be something important I will let you all know as soon as I can.

Missions quote

"There is a mighty power in contact. ... They are not clean, and sometimes we are tempted to draw our skirts together; but I believe there is a no blessing when that is the case. ... There is much power in drawing near to this people, and there is a wonderful power in touching people." J. Hudson Taylor

This has been our experience in Mongolia. The closer we draw to people, the more that we involve ourselves in their lives and include them in ours that we gain their trust. Gaining their trust means that they listen more intently to the Gospel.

As I've read through the Gospels again this year examining our ultimate example once again, I constantly see Jesus touching people and allowing people to touch Him. I do not see it as therapeutic touch but rather a touch that says, "I have compassion on you."

Having daily contact with people can be difficult: they speak a different language, they smell, they eat funny foods, they blow their noses on the sidewalk. But these are the people to whom God called us and isolating ourselves from them cannot be a good thing. Let it never be said that we seemed cold or distant when our Savior was so close to people.

Sending a crate to Mongolia

People were so generous during our one year furlough in the States that we could not bring all the items that had been given to us back to Mongolia at the end of our furlough. We left boxes and boxes of stuff with friends and family because we knew that we would be returning to the States for our church's 25th anniversary and were hoping that we could get most of it back then.

But it quickly became apparent that there was no way that we would get everything back in our luggage. Friends of our tried to ship us some of it but ran into some difficulties. So we decided that while we were in the States we would arrange to ship a small crate back to Mongolia. It was mainly books and clothes that had been given to us along with some household items that we had collected while we lived for a year in Oregon. Inside the crate were almost 300 books nearly all of which had been given to us. I want to thank all of you who gave to us so generously.

I must admit that I was concerned about several issues in shipping this crate.

1. How much would it cost? We had saved some money toward the cost and had a friend who had said that they would help, but shipping companies notoriously hesitate to give a quote of the cost until after you have shipped it. By then, it is a little late to say, "Oops, that's too much."
   
2. What condition would the crate arrive in? Would the crate be handled with the same loving care that airlines handle our luggage with. (We had two bags irreparably damaged on our last flight to Mongolia.)
   
3. What hassles and fees would be involved in getting the crate through customs? Sometimes the cost of the customs fees can exceed the cost of the items shipped.

But I determined to give the crate and all its worries to God. In exchange He gave me a peace surpassing all understanding. I basically said to God, "The possessions in this crate were graciously provided by You. If you want them to get to Mongolia, I would be grateful. If the crate does not arrive or arrives damaged, I will understand that You did not want us to have these things." In return, I can honestly say that I did not worry about it.

So what happened? We arrived at our apartment just after midnight Sunday morning Mongolian time. I figured that no one would be working Sunday (but maybe they do) so I waited until Monday.

Sunday evening I went down to my car to discover that the battery was dead and a tire was flat. Monday morning, I swapped the flat tire for a spare and had a friend give me a jump. Then I drove the car to a "repair shop" and had the tire repaired and the battery charged.

After returning home, I headed to the DHL office which is about a ten minute walk away from my house. I stopped in four different DHL offices (outbound, inbound, air freight, and Danzas) before I finally found someone who recognized the slip that the driver who picked up the shipment in Oregon had given me. The man in that office called someone and confirmed that the shipment had arrived (this is an important detail to keep in mind). I knew from my American shipping broker that the shipment had arrived, but it was comforting to hear it from a Mongolian too.

I asked the DHL guy three questions:

1. Where exactly should I pick up the shipment?
2. Who should I talk to?
   
3. What paperwork would be required to pick up the shipment?

He responded that I should go to the air cargo terminal and that I should show someone (he was not very specific) the slip that I had received from the driver in Oregon. I asked again if I needed anything else in order to pick up the shipment. He said that, yes, I would need a letter from the company for whom I work asking the customs people to release the shipment to me.

So I next went to a Mongolian lawyer friend of mine who helped me draft a letter that I put on company letterhead and signed. The lawyer suggested that I might want to take copies of my passport and my family's passports. He also suggested taking an official document stating that I had registered my residence in Mongolia.

It took me a few hours to get all those things together. I now had the following items.

1. a customer receipt from DHL that the driver who picked up the shipment in Oregon had given me
2. copies of all our passports
3. a letter from my company requesting the shipment to be released to me
4. an official document showing that I had registered my place of residence with the government
5. a copy of all the items in the box (I believe that this is called a manifest)

Those of you who work with shipments probably realize that I am missing a very important and essential document, but I did not. So I merrily set off for the airport having everything that the DHL office told me to have and more. The airport is about a 40 minute drive one-way so I was hoping (but not expecting) to complete everything in one trip.

When I arrived at the airport, I was easily directed to the people who could help me obtain my shipment. Where is your airbill (or waybill)? he asked. I showed him my customer receipt. That was not it. I showed him my "manifest." Still no go. He suggested that my airbill might be somewhere on site and sent me upstairs. Upstairs, I talked to four different people. At one point, one of them said, "Yes, we already delivered that shipment." Another person also said, "That shipment is no longer here." Of course, I knew differently.

Anyway, I finally found someone who knew where the airbill was. It was back at the DHL office in town at the same DHL office that I had visited in the morning asking if there was anything else I needed. So I left the airport and headed back to town. Back at the DHL office there was another guy who had my airbill in hand and was waiting for me. So I asked Tollgaa for my airbill.

"Wait a minute," he said, "we'll deliver this shipment right to your door for $50." I was surprised. They were offering to deliver 585 pounds of goods right to my door.

"Of course, I'll take your service," I responded eagerly.

But wait, there's more. He then added that there would be some customs fees. I was expecting that. He said that the customs fees would be 0.5% of the shipment value and cost of shipping. Then there would be a VAT (value added tax) of 15%. Then there would be a fee of $2 per item listed on the "manifest." Well, there was 533 items listed on the manifest including 14 pieces of fabric scraps and 10 disposable razors. (Imagine paying $20 to get 10 disposable razors through customs!) The total was scheduled to come to $1762!!! I pointed out since this was a shipment of household items that there were many small items some of which were not even worth $2. He smiled and said that he would ask about that the next day. So I left the airbill with him and went home.

My wife and I did not feel completely comfortable leaving the whole deal with DHL-Mongolia. We were concerned that they would deliver the shipment to my door with a $1700 bill. The declared value of all the goods was only $3131. I tried calling Tollgaa back; he claimed that he couldn't hear me over the phone. So I took the ten minute walk to his office. He tried to assure me that the $2 per item fee would be reduced without telling me how much it would be. I left still unsure of what the final charge would be.

That evening while walking with my wife to a local store, I providentially ran into my lawyer friend again. He said that paying the VAT didn't seem right and he could not imagine why I should pay $2 per item. According to him, I should only have to pay $2 per shipment. It was too late to do anything with DHL-Mongolia that evening, but I lined up a small truck for the next day. I had been praying that God would protect the shipment but added a request for favor with the customs officials the next day.

Tuesday morning, I met my truck and headed over to the DHL office and Tollgaa. I told him that I wanted my airbill and would handle all the details myself including customs and picking up the shipment. He was slow in handing over the airbill claiming that he didn't understand completely what I was saying (we were speaking English). When I left with my airbill, I was convinced that Tollgaa thought I was crazy. He probably thought to himself Let him try to get that shipment through customs by himself; he'll be back.

I arrived at the airport and showed my airbill to the first person. He said, "We don't have that shipment anymore." I said, "Yes, you do. The DHL office told me that you have it." He looked around a little more and found my record. Then the customs inspector looked at my airbill. I was fully expecting to pay at least the 0.5% customs fee. She stamped my airbill without any fees. I did have to pay a $6 fee because I was two days late in picking up my shipment. And in the end, I payed a $1 customs fee for the shipment.

So in the end I picked up that shipment of $7 plus the $35 I payed the truck driver. Once I had the airbill, picking up the shipment was straightforward. So what did I learn. I learned to ask for the airbill and to pray about all things.
To the left is a picture of the shipment in the back of the truck. The crate was in great shape. As far as we can tell from unpacking it there was absolutely no damage.

God is so good. Not only did He graciously and generously give us almost all the goods in the crate, He also provided someone who paid for the shipment. And on top of all that, He protected the shipment all the way to Mongolia and gave me favor with the customs officials so that I processed my crate with customs for a nominal fee. Don't we serve a great God!

Prayer update

I want to explain to you how best to pray for us while keeping in mind that Philippians tells us to do all things without murmuring. Therefore, I do not intend for this update to be a whining session, but to inform you of some of the minor annoyances that are bothering us because we need you to pray for us.

We arrived in Mongolian with only a minor hitch that was soon rectified. It was only after we arrived in Mongolia that all the minor annoyances began to crop up. First, we realized that the faucet in the kitchen was leaking, and although I tried I could not seem to fix the leak. I cannot quite reach the part that needs to be tightened up. Then we went to use the car: the battery was dead and one tire was completely flat. Since I repaired the tire and recharged the battery, the car has run fine. Then we could not find some rather crucial items at the market like cheese, mayonnaise, etc. The hose to washing machine was clogged and had to be cleaned before Kristie could start laundry. Monday morning the rod that holds the drapes in the living room fell off the wall. On Tuesday morning, Elsie threw up on the couch. Sickness already?!? The heating in our building has already been turned on although it is 70° outside. Inside it is much warmer even though all the windows are open.

A building is being constructed to the north of us about 100 yards away. The work going on near us along with the open windows means that from early morning to late night we hear pounding, banging, yelling, sawing, crashing metal, trucks, etc. It keeps us from sleeping. Jet lag has caused me to wake up at 2 or 3 or 4 AM no matter what time I have gone to bed. Kristie has endured the same. The weariness does not help ones nerves and exacerbates the grumpiness.

The worse part is that it all looks so minor but seems so major. It is not like we can report cholera has struck or our apartment burned down. Those tragedies might elicit sympathy. Instead, we face the temptation to be discouraged, grumpy, and focused on our (minor) problems instead of being focused on important things. We could sit, have a pity party, and lose the Holy Spirit's power to impact lives for the glory of Jesus Christ ... and think that we are perfectly justified in being ineffective. After all, look at all the "obstacles" we face.

So please pray this week that we would not allow all the minor annoyances to distract us from our true purpose - loving God and loving our neighbors as Jesus loved people. Pray that we would drink in the grace that God offers us to cheerfully meet each annoyance and grow because of them. Pray for wisdom to fix the sink and for God's assistance to restore our sleep patterns.

Let me also mention the blessings. We want to publicly thank the Lord that all our luggage arrived despite the fact that our bags were initially mis-tagged. God brought our crate safely to Mongolia, gave me favor with customs, and once I figured out what I was doing I received the crate in about an hour of work after paying a $1 customs fee. On Sunday Ganpurev and Roland preached and there were nine adults and three children in attendance. We are comfortably back at home and basically moved back in. Everyone has been healthy except for Elsie's brief sickness on Tuesday morning. Thank you all for praying for us.

World’s Languages Dying Off Rapidly - New York Times

World’s Languages Dying Off Rapidly - New York Times

This was an interesting article. Monolingual speakers of English are usually not away that languages could die out. Should our Lord delay His return for another several hundred years, Mongolian will probably die out too.

Arrival in Mongolia

We arrived in Mongolia last night where we were met at the airport by Roland and Ganpurev. Although the line through immigration was long it went quickly and we found ourselves at home shortly before midnight. We actually slept well last night. Let me take this opportunity to thank those of you who prayed for our trip.

August prayer letter

Our time in Oregon is quickly drawing to a close. Our home church's 25th anniversary is the second Sunday in September. Following that is a three-day teen retreat at which I will be a counselor, and then we return to Mongolia in time for the next Sunday. Our whole family has so enjoyed our time with parents, grandparents, siblings, and cousins that leaving for Mongolia will be difficult. Still, we are so grateful for the opportunity to be together, if only temporarily, with our families.

While we have been away, our church in Mongolia has been doing well. In August Tsendee, to whom I have witnessed and for whom I have prayed for many months, made a profession of faith in Christ. Specifically, he told some men in the church that he believed there was only one true God, that all other gods were false, and that Jesus alone was the way, the truth, and the life. How excited I was to hear the news! Some of you may be wondering why I was not disappointed to be there when he made his profession of salvation. Yes, it would have been exciting to be there in person, but it was even more exciting that the work goes on in my absence. My goal is to eventually leave behind an independent Baptist church where the work continues without my help. The Mongolians are not quite ready to take that step but, even in my absence, Mongolians are preaching Jesus to their friends, neighbors, and coworkers. And they are seeing people become Christians! We praise the Lord that He is at work.

Also, there have been several visitors recently, even though August is usually the time of year when people do not visit church services. Two young ladies came recently who worked with one of our young men. During August many of the people in Ulan Bator take a trip to the countryside. They leave the city to enjoy the fresh air and airag, a fermented drink made from mare's milk. We should be returning to Mongolia just about the time that most of the Mongolians are.

When we get back, there are several people interested in being baptized and becoming members of the church. Tsendee is one of the candidates, along with Ganaa, Kristie's language tutor with whom Kristie has been working for some time. Tsendee's baptism will mean that we have four Mongolian men who are saved and baptized. Continue to pray for more Mongolian men to be saved, baptized, and excited about growing in Christ.

News about alcoholism in Mongolia

I've posting a link to a Christian group that works with alcoholics. I am posting this link not because I think that I should work with this group but because there is information in the article about alcoholism in Mongolia that might interest some of you.

Prayer update

We are still in Oregon but eager to be back in Mongolia. Sunday I preached here at Westgate Baptist Church. It encouraged me that several people found me later and told me how the sermon was a blessing to them. Next Sunday we will be at Berean Baptist Church in Dallas, Oregon.

Some of you may know that my dad and I are planning to try to open a carpentry shop in Mongolia in several years. My dad is planning to come to Mongolia and teach the Mongolians carpentry skills. The plan helps me because I can get a visa through the carpentry shop and use some parts of a building for the church to meet in. One of the obstacles to be overcome is a source of inexpensive wood. Tuesday morning my dad and I visited Lumber Products, a company that is a big supplier of lumber to many carpenter shops in the Portland area. They agreed to let us look through a stack of discarded products occasionally and take what was of interest to us. Of course, we'll still have to pay to ship it to Mongolia, however the wood itself would be free or very low cost.

Things are going well in Mongolia. We had two young ladies attend our church service for the first time last Sunday. One of the young ladies is familiar to me: she has visited my house before. Buren has been attending services on Sundays, Bob has not. Also, Ganpurev's preaching on Sundays is going well. Keep praying for them and for us.

Ministering at Westgate Baptist Church

Yesterday I preached at Westgate Baptist Church, our sending church. As a preacher it is always gratifying when someone makes a special point to find me and tell me how my sermon blessed their life. Two folks yesterday came to me to tell me how the Holy Spirit had used my preaching to bless their lives. It is thrilling to be an instrument that God can use.

Westgate Baptist Church's 25th Anniversary is in two weeks (September 9). The anniversary is the main reason that we returned to the States, and so we plan to stay in Oregon until the anniversary and then return to Mongolia.

Speaking of Mongolia, I have not received an update from there in some time. Consequently, I do not know much of what is occurring there. I will try to get an update and post it to my blog this week.

Update

We are still in Oregon for a few more weeks. We have meetings and speaking engagements every week from now until we leave.

The news that we have been hearing from Mongolia is sparse. It seems as if attendance has been flat which is better than hearing that attendance is plummeting.

I have made a couple of calls to Mongolia. Between my Mongolian and the telephone connection, it has seemed difficult to understand and make myself understood. I am eager to get back to Mongolia and continue my ministry there face to face.

Investing in the future

"Invest your life in something that will outlive you – PEOPLE!" – Ron Brooks

"The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it." – William James

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." – Jim Elliot

These three quotes all share a similar idea: there is a way to invest in the future that always yields good returns. Many Americans seem to be very eager to find the highest return for their money. Stocks, mutual funds, bonds - all these tempt Americans with talk of high returns. Then there are the get-rich-quick schemes that threaten to inundate people's e-mail boxes. Yes, too many Americans are obsessed with finding an investment that will allow them to get rich while doing very little.

But there is a better way to invest. It is a venture that promises good returns. It is people. The people whom we lead to our Savior will be eternally grateful for our witness. The people whom we disciple will ultimately disciple others who will ultimately disciple others until the returns in eternity are beyond our comprehension.

Besides, what could be more important than people. We know that our gold will perish, our buildings will eventually collapse, our clothing will wear out, and one day all those things will seem so unimportant. But people - this is one of the few things that will continue on into eternity. What better way to invest our lives!

Prayer update

I have not been updating my blog as much because we have been traveling.

I sent out the good word about Tsendee's salvation last week. Because I have not heard more, I have nothing new to report. Please continue to pray that he would grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior. I have heard that attendance has been down at the church services in Mongolia - mainly people traveling, I would guess.

My family will be traveling to Eastern Oregon and Idaho this week to see some family. Next Sunday we will be in a supporting church in Northern Idaho. There is quite a bit of traveling in front of us this week. I counted them up and believe that I will have the opportunity to preach another eight or ten times in the next month before we return to Mongolia. Pray for us.

Praise the Lord!

It has been some time since I posted an update. We have been camping. Two weeks ago we were at Westgate Baptist Church's Family Camp where I was the featured speaker. Last week we were at the Dean Family Annual Fishing Camp on the Kenai River in Alaska. Next week, we will be at the Jaquith Family Annual Camp in eastern Oregon. Wow! That is a lot of camping. But it is not the camping as much as the time with family that we are cherishing. Last week was the first time that our children were united with all their cousins on the Dean side of the family.

I have heard good news from Mongolia: Tsendee who is Bayambaa's father has become a Christian! He has rejected all other gods, recognized that the God of the Bible is the one true God, accepted that Jesus Christ is His Son, and believed that Jesus Christ's death, burial, and resurrection paid the penalty for his personal sin. That is the report that I received this past week from my colleague in Mongolia, Roland Gay. I have been personally witnessing to Tsendee and praying for his salvation specifically for some months now. So his repentance is significant to me personally. Continue to pray for his son-in-law Mandaa to repent and believe in Jesus Christ as his Savior.

Ministering in Oregon

Maybe my blog should "Ministering in Oregon." I just finished being the camp speaker at Westgate Baptist Church's Family Camp. The whole family enjoyed being there especially since both sets of grandparents were also in attendance.

We'll be in the U.S. until mid-September with several other speaking engagements and spending some time with family.

Driving Me Crazy: Mongolian Motorists

Mongolians say that they drive cars like they ride horses. If you have ever seen a Mongolian ride a horse, then you understand that it is an apt and scary parallel.

More and more cars are coming to Mongolia every day. When Kristie and I first visited in 1997, there were few cars and no cars marked as taxis. You would flag down any passing motorist and negotiate a price that you would pay him to take you where you wanted to go. Back then, a foreigner who did not speak the language would have had a hard time getting around town without an interpreter.

Today things are different. Taxis are ubiquitous and sometimes passing motorists will pick up a foreigner holding out his hand simply to practice their English with him.

But the drivers are also different. As more and more cars crowd the roads, most drivers are being pushed towards one of two extremes. There are drivers who look at the cars, buses, pedestrians, road construction and – seemingly paralyzed by fear – decide to drive about ten miles an hour everywhere they go. The other set of drivers look at the same set of cars, buses, pedestrians, and road construction and decide that the best option is the drive like maniacs, honking their horns and swerving in and out of their lane.

Actually, in Mongolia the term “lane” is not used. I remember discussing with my Mongolian friends what to call the space between white dotted lines marked on the road. None of them could agree on what that term might be. I have since found out why: Mongolians are nearly oblivious to the lane markings. Anytime you see a car ahead signaling to change lanes, you can almost guarantee that the car is driven by a foreigner; Mongolians simply drift from lane to lane without warning. In places where two lanes are marked, three lines of traffic (and occasionally four lanes, making use of the shoulder) often form; or conversely, in places where there are two lanes and no shoulder there may be one car whose driver is doing his best to occupy both lanes. Of course, such a situation never stops the maniacal drivers from taking any opportunity to drive on the wrong side of the road or driving on a soft, gravel shoulder to pass.

Turning left into traffic can be a real unnerving experience in Mongolia. Not only do you need to watch out for the cars coming straight towards you or coming at you from your left or right, you also need to be aware of cars that may be trying to get around you because you are not getting out into traffic quickly enough for them. Sometimes they try to get around you on your right hand side, but usually another car will squirt out into traffic from your left. As if that is not enough, pedestrians also cross the street with abandon; that is, pedestrians will often cross the street where there is no crosswalk heedless of the impending danger. More than once, I have waited for several long minutes carefully observing the traffic and finally anticipated my opportunity to turn left into traffic if I can merge quickly. I take one last look to my left – good, there are no cars coming, hit the accelerator, turn the wheel sharply to my left, and – whoa! – a pedestrian who was waiting for the same break that I was: hit the brakes hard, jerk the wheel to the left or right to swerve to avoid both cars and humans.

Then there are intersections with traffic lights. A red traffic light in Mongolia does not mean stop, a yellow does not mean that a red light is about to follow, and a green light does not mean go. Take yellow as an example. In Mongolia, a yellow light occurs in a variety of situations. Sometimes, the light turns yellow after green and before red. In this case, a yellow light means prepare to be blindsided by a car anticipating a green light … um, I mean, prepare to stop. But at other intersections, a yellow light follows a red light and precedes green: this means prepare to cut off cross traffic or they will not stop traveling through the intersection until five seconds before their own light turns green again. (Their own yellow light makes them stop because remember at some intersections a yellow light means … “prepare to be blindsided” … remember that?). But there are a few intersections where a yellow light occurs with a green light. That yellow light means “those turning left prepare to fight through oncoming traffic to turn left.” Wow! So as you approach an intersection for the first time and see a yellow light, what should you do? What every Mongolian does – keep driving but cover the brake.

In reality red and green lights only tell you who has the right-of-way. Mongolians will pass through an intersection whether the light is red or green. A red light means that you had better be really sure that no one else is preparing to enter the intersection: a green light means that you are allowed to honk at someone preparing to enter the intersection that threatens to block your way. See, once you figure out what the yellow lights mean, the green and red lights are a piece of cake.

After a while, one gets used to the traffic and actually begins to understand the thinking. A driver just has to imagine that he is riding a horse not driving a car.

I have been driving for several years now in Mongolia and find that it takes a different set of reactions and reflexes than driving in America. Once, I picked up an American who was visiting at the airport and drove him to a place to stay. As cars and pedestrians came at us seemingly oblivious of the danger, I wove in and out of traffic only standing on the brakes once or twice. Cars passed mine with only inches to spare, pedestrians started into the street before I passed them, cars casually ran through red lights, I did not even touch the brake for yellow lights – all this while I continued to carry on a conversation with my friend. When we finally stopped outside his building, he said with some admiration, “I see that you’re used to traffic around here.” It was quite a compliment.