God's providence in the little things

Remember that one of my goals is to keep you informed about the little things of life that make living in Mongolia so interesting. Today's post is one of those.

Every year I must renew my residency permission to live in Mongolia. Part of that renewal is a requirement to get a document from my local khoroo stating where I live and that I have registered with them. When we moved from our first apartment in Mongolia to the apartment that we now occupy, we switched khoroos. As a consequence, I immediately went down to my local khoroo's secretary and registered with them. Registering means that they filled out a form with my name, age, and some other details from my passport. They also took a copy of my passport and a little passport photo from me. Then they put all this information, pictures, and copies into a big book along with information about all the other foreigners who live in this khoroo.

For those of you curious about the Mongolian governmental system, Ulan Bator is a municipality separate from the aimags (provinces) in Mongolia. Ulan Bator is further sub-divided into districts and each district is divided up into khoroos. These little sub-divisions contain several thousand people. Each khoroo has its own police office, medical clinic, and government office where the khoroo's secretary works.

Since then at least once a year and often more frequently, I have been in the khoroo's office to register or conduct other official business. One result is that the ladies who work in the office there have come to recognize me.

When I arrived in August, I visited the khoroo's office to receive my documents to request residency permission and also documents to register a vehicle in my name. Without even opening their book to look at my registration information, they simply asked where I lived, wrote out a document, and stamped it. The stamp is very important in Mongolia.

Because my residency permission is tied to the company for which I work, my residency permission had to be renewed in December along with my company's legal registration and tax registration. Therefore, I headed back to the khoroo's office in December to get another paper documenting my address. This time there was a new secretary, one that I had never met before. Another lady who knew me was there but was working with another person. Dutifully, the new secretary opened the book of registered foreigners and began to look through it for my paperwork. I waited patiently as she flipped page after page. At least they could organize it by buildings, I thought to myself.

After going through the book once and not finding my registration, she began to chide me, "Why haven't you registered yet? You are supposed to register as soon as you arrive? How long have you lived here?"

"Three years," I responded referring to the length of time I lived in 6th khoroo, "and I have registered."

"Yes," agreed the other lady, "He has registered. You just need to look again." I was very grateful that the other lady was there to vouch for my previous registration.

The new secretary looked a second time and still could not find my paperwork. She began to scold me when the lady whom I knew reminded her that I had registered and perhaps my paperwork had been lost. The new secretary then filled out a new sheet for me. In filling out the new sheet, she asked me how long I would be in Mongolia.

I was not certain how to respond. Should I answer and say, "Until my God calls me to a another place"? I queried, "Can I say, 'For the rest of my life?'" She gave me a very quizzical look and then decided just to leave that part of the form blank. Then she reminded me that I needed to bring copies of our passports and new passport photos for every family member.

I just very grateful to God and said a little prayer of thanks that the lady who knew me was in the office that day. By the time that I returned with the copies of our passports and photos, the lady who knew me had left. It certainly made it easier that she stood up for me when the other lady wanted to accuse me of neglecting my duty to register. Praise God for His providence in the little things!

Sunday's meeting

I have already written some about my conversation with Bob on Wednesday. But he said some things that I found to be extremely gratifying. First, he mentioned that change that he is seeing in Ganpurev. Now, he thinks it is better to change first and then baptized as a signal of his salvation. But I explained to him that the change comes after salvation. But in truth, we cannot change ourselves. Only the power of Jesus Christ can do that. I still think that it is a matter of personal pride with Bob. He thinks he can work his way to salvation when the Bible clearly says that salvation is only found in Jesus Christ.

Secondly, Bob mentioned that he sees that peace that is in Christians and wants that peace. Again, I told him frankly that peace could only be found in Jesus Christ. When I challenged him to give up his pride and submit to Jesus Christ, he began to make excuses. For example, he said, "What will my friends think?" I pointed out that it is a choice between Jesus Christ and his friends.

On Sunday, we had eight Mongolian adults, five Mongolian children, five American adults, and seven American children at our services. During the first lesson, we split up into a class for children and preaching for the adults. When the twenty-five of us tried to gather in the living room for the second lesson, it was crowded.

We are scheduled to move into some rooms for our services on Sunday starting in two weeks. There is quite a bit of work to do before that happens.

Also, in three weeks on February 18, Sunday falls on the first day of Mongolia's Lunar New Year celebrations. Because so much happens that first morning, we have been wondering if anyone will come. Ganpurev's family, for instance, will be traveling to the countryside to be with Ganpurev's mother for that morning. Bob, who came to Sunday's services, told me that no one would come on February 18. Well, at least my family will be there. But your prayers for that Sunday would be appreciated.

Missions quote

I think today's quote is more for me than for anyone else. It is a good reminder that prayer is the only way to have the power of the Holy Spirit which we desperately need when we talk with people about their eternal destinies.

We would do well to remember that this gracious God, who has condescended to place His almighty power at the command of believing prayer looks not lightly on the bloodguiltiness of those who neglect to avail themselves of it for the benefit of the perishing. - J. Hudson Taylor

Talking with Bob

I caught you praying again.

I had a very productive talk with Bob today. It's no small source of curiousity that I recently asked you to pray for him. He understands what I've been teaching him. In fact, in Mongolian he explains the gospel better than I do.

But he says that he needs to change first before he believes in Jesus. Once he has changed, then his belief will be more "firm" he says. I insisted that change comes from within once we've let Jesus into our lives.

I've never seen Bob so open to the Gospel. Further, at the end of today's conversation he told me that we should talk about the claims of Jesus Christ again soon.

Prayer update

I need your prayers. What happens in America, does not stay in America but has the potential to impact Mongolians for Jesus Christ. As I survey my ministry here in Mongolia, several things are needed. I must have direction to use each day wisely for God's glory. The goal is easy: leave behind a church in Mongolia that will stand the test of time; the path is difficult.

Also, the power of the Holy Spirit to convict men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment is desperately needed. Starting with the first Sunday in January, I began preaching through the book of Mark. This past Sunday, Bob was in attendance; and the subject was the gospel of the kingdom of God that Jesus Christ preached. Once again, he clearly heard about salvation through Jesus Christ. Once again, at the end, he had a question to deflect attention away from truth.

Last, please pray for some details of the ministry. We are praying about a place to meet. We had seven adults come last week. When you add in a couple of Americans, that makes ten people. That is getting crowded for our living room. So we would like to find a place to meet that seats more like 30-40 adults plus a couple of rooms for the children to meet in.

Concluding with a couple of updates, I understand that Buren is out of the hospital though I have not seen him since he was discharged. The whole family has been healthy for several weeks - thank you for praying. The weather is still cold here. Tuesday's high was zero and the low was twenty-six below.

Have you wondered where I've been?

It has been a while since I posted much to my blog. Have you wondered where I've been? I could blame it on writer's block or carpal tunnel syndrome or plain laziness. But I am writing again and hope to update my blog four times this week and again next week to make up for some of the missing posts.

I'll have an update with details about Sunday tomorrow. Today, I'd like to leave you with a quote from Adoniram Judson. If you have never read a biography of Judson's life, let me suggest To the Golden Shore by Courtney Anderson. After reading such a biography, I could never say that my ministry in Mongolia has been difficult. But back to his quote. Judson once said, “If they ask you what promise of ultimate success is here, tell them, ‘as much as that there is an Almighty and Faithful God Who will perform His promises.’… And if that does not satisfy them, beg them to let me stay here and try it.” It is an amazing quote, especially in light of his life's story.

More later ...

Buren is in the hospital

On Sunday, Chimgee, Buren’s daughter, came to the Sunday morning church service by herself. When I asked her if her father was coming, she said, “No, he’s in the hospital.”

Of course, I was shocked, I didn’t even know that he was sick. “When did he go to the hospital?” I asked concerned.

“Friday,” she replied.

“What happened,” I inquired next.

Her response was somewhat interesting to me as an American. She responded, “He had a nose bleed on Thursday night and couldn’t get it to stop. So Friday he went to the doctor and the doctor checked him into the hospital.”

“Will he be there ten days?” I asked, referring to the standard length of time that Mongolians are in the hospital once they are admitted.

“Yes”

“Why didn’t you tell me Friday that you’re dad was in the hospital?”

“I planned to tell you today,” she replied cryptically.

Monday I planned to visit Buren but an American friend of mine had an accident that he needed help with to resolve the legal implications. So I spent most of Monday helping him and was not completely finished until about ten o’clock.

So Tuesday I went to see him in the hospital. He walked right out to see us and then I followed him back into his room. Things were pretty quiet. A small group of men, the worst of whom seemed to be suffering from obesity, were sharing the room in which Buren was staying. Outwardly, I could see no signs of sickness. When I asked Buren about his course of treatment, he said that he was receiving regular injections. I was grateful that the hospital was spotlessly clean.

Some of you may know that I call Buren "my Mongolian father." Still, I was surprised when I entered the room on Tuesday, and Buren referred to me as his son. Of course, the Mongolians knew something was up since Buren and I do not look anything alike. I do not mean any disrespect to my father when I call Buren my Mongolian father. It is just that he acts sometimes as if he is my father. He gives advice and checks on me frequently. He asks me about future plans and offers to help. That is why I tell people that he is like my Mongolian father. Check out Matthew 19:29 sometime. I may not be geographically or culturally close to my American father so God provided for me a "Mongolian father" to help me.

To continue on with my story, as best as I can tell, Buren is recovering nicely. He will be in the hospital until Sunday. I am praying that his time in the hospital will lead him to Jesus Christ. Thank you for your prayers for Buren.

Article on Mongolia

Here's an article on Mongolia from the BBC News Service. There's nothing earth-shattering in it, but it says some things pretty well and gives one a good idea of the gulf that is growing between countryside Mongolians who've never owned a phone and city folks who have the latest cell phones.

Prayer update

Another week has gone by; and, boy, has it flown! I am now eagerly awaiting my first opportunity to see a person trust Christ as his personal Savior in 2007. What an opportunity to look forward to! But it will not happen if I just sit around and wait. No, sir! So you may be wondering what am I doing to sow the seed of the Word and what results have I seen so far.

God blessed with a wonderful opportunity to witness to some of Ganpurev’s brothers (he has five brothers). I can now say that I have had an opportunity to witness to all of them. In particular, please pray for Ganpurev’s brother Mendee (pronounced Men·day΄) lives in the city sometimes. He also is the oldest brother in Ganpurev’s family. Because of Mongolians’ cultural respect for older brothers, I believe that if Mendee were to trust Christ as his Savior that it would be a powerful testimony to his brothers and sisters.

Recently, Mendee told his sister, “I worship heaven (the sky).” I think that is a start because many times in the Old Testament, the true God is referred to as the God of heaven. Why worship heaven when you can worship heaven’s God? That is the question I intend to ask him the next time I see him. Please pray that he will see in my question my love and concern for him.

Then on Sunday, two of Ganpurev’s brothers came to our Bible study. We had a total of ten adults, seven of whom were men! I was very glad to see so many coming out. In fact, another young man wrote me an SMS and said that he was planning to come but his sister had been attacked the night before and robbed. This meant that he had to go to the police station on Sunday morning. Continue to pray that Mongolians would come.

We now need a place to meet. Our home is growing too small a place to meet. This is a good problem to have, and I am grateful for it; but please pray for the right place to meet.

Good News Sunday

On New Year's Eve Sunday, with special invitations and some extra events, we had thirty-one Mongolians. This Sunday, we only had thirteen, but ten of those were adults which is great! Even better, seven of those adults were men!

On Saturday I spoke to five men about the claims of Christ. The good news was that Byasaa and Dalai, two of the men to whom I had spoken to the night before) came to the Bible study on Sunday even though they had lots of work to do before they returned to the countryside. They even brought their sister. (The picture is of Ganpurev, his two children, and his two brothers.)

In other good news, Bob and Ganaa came without their two daughters. Are you wondering how coming without their children could be good news. They explained that their daughters had a lesson at school (lessons on Sunday?!). Still, they dropped their daughters off and came. The good news is that they could have used their daughters' lessons as an excuse to not come.

Buren came from work and then returned to work. When he came by himself, I asked him if his daughter Chimgee was coming because they usually come together. He said that he had left early to go out and had not been home. I know he had been working. The good news is that instead of working through, he chose to take time to come to a Bible lesson. None of these men are saved, so for them to make an extra effort when they had excuses not to come really says something.

The extra good news is that part of the lesson on Sunday was the need for all people to repent. We are starting lessons that will take us through the book of Mark looking at Jesus as Son of Man and Son of God. My intend is to put out the humanity and deity of Jesus to the unsaved and the servant spirit of Jesus to the saved. Please pray for these series of lessons that should take us right through the summer.

I see the Spirit of God at work, drawing men to the Savior. I know that God is sovereign and does all things according to His good pleasure, but He also calls on us to pray for all men. I see the interest that people are showing and their willingness to overcome obstacles in order to be at a Bible lesson as evidence that people are praying. Please continue to pray for the salvation of these men.

"I being in the way ..."

Personal evangelism is not sales work. I'm glad that it's not. Personal evangelism isn't a science or even an art. Personal evangelism is having a task and never quite knowing how the opportunities will present itself. It's much like the story of Abraham's servant in Genesis 24. He was sent to a strange country with a nebulous assignment: find one of Abraham's female relatives and convince her and her family that she should leave home forever to marry a man whom she had never met. No wonder the servant basically said, "What if she won't follow me back to a strange country [to marry a stranger]?"

Missions work can be like that. Here I am in a strange country, speaking a strange language, to virtual strangers, about a strange religion (as they see it) with strange requirements. How do I meet the people to whom I will witness? How do I convince them to listen? My most fruitful method has been to spend time in Mongolians' homes. Sometimes, I am scheduled to teach a Bible lesson. Increasingly, I'm not really visiting specifically to teach a Bible lesson; I'm just there available for however God wants to use me. At the very least, I am getting practice speaking Mongolian and building trust with Mongolians. Often there's an opportunity to teach the Bible informally.

Saturday's experience illustrates what I am talking about well. I had a meeting in the morning with fellow missionaries about the formation of a translation committee. I spend some time at home with my family, played with my kids, and helped clean up the house. In the afternoon, I spend time with my lesson for Sunday which had been prepared earlier in the week. I thought that I would be going to Enkhee's ger for a Bible lesson on Saturday evening. Ganpurev's daughter Nyamkaa had spent the night at our house. So the plan was to take Nyamkaa to her house, pick up Ganpurev, and go to Enkhee's to teach a Bible lesson. I also wanted to visit Enkhamgalan and Mendee. Just before leaving, I tried making some calls. Enkhee was busy at work and not certain when he would be home, he asked me to postpone my visit. I couldn't get through to Enkhamgalan. Earlier, I had learned that Mendee was traveling in the countryside.

So I told Kristie, it didn't look like I had any visits after all. But I still had to take Nyamkaa home.

When I reached Nyamkaa's home, Ganpurev was absent but his brother-in-law, Byasaa, and his brother, Dalai, were there. Byasaa and Dalai had come with another brother from the countryside to sell meat in the city and to pick up some things. I learned that Ganpurev had went to a wrestling match with the older brother. I made small talk with them for a few minutes (standard Mongolian courtesy) and prepared to leave. But Ulzee urged me to stay saying that Ganpurev would be home soon. Ganpurev arrived about an hour later with another brother, Tomoo, and a relative named Sambil. Tomoo's son, Bayaraa arrived a little later. So here were five unsaved men in one room: Tomoo, Sambil, Byasaa, Dalai, and Bayaraa. Some had heard the Gospel before while in the countryside, but could I not find a way to preach Christ to them again?

Like Abraham's servant, I began to pray for help with the language so that I could see if the conversation could be turned to Jesus Christ. Sambil asked me about work. I told him I managed a gallery and taught the Bible. This led to a discussion about Jesus Christ in which Ganpurev and I had an opportunity to witness to all of them. Then on Sunday ... ah, but I'm getting ahead of myself. The update about Sunday I will save for later.

The key points are that if I would have found Enkhee at home when I called, I would have gone there - and missed the chance to preach Christ to five men. If I would have left Ganpurev's without waiting for him I would have missed the opportunity to preach to five men. If I would have not seen my time at Ganpurev's as an opportunity to witness ... you get the idea. But I praise the Lord that He had Sambil bring up the subject. It is what I had been praying for.

Please pray for these men. Because they live in the countryside, I do not get an opportunity to speak to them much. But God can take our witness and draw men to Himself.

Enkhee and Bayambaa's salvation testimony

This actually occured about two years ago now, but I was recently asked for the story. It was such a blessing to remember the details of their salvation testimony that I thought I would share them with you all, the readers of my blog. I trust that you will enjoy reading this true story.

It was Ganpurev and Ulzee who introduced me to Enkhee and Bayambaa. Enkhee is Ulzee’s older brother and Bayambaa is Enkhee’s wife. They have three children: Soyoloo, Mongonoo, and Bombog. One reason that Ganpurev and Ulzee introduced me to Enkhee and Bayambaa is that they had a burden for them to be saved. But I had difficulty visiting Enkhee and Bayambaa because they both worked seven days a week. Finding a good time to visit often proved troublesome. On top of that the whole family seemed dysfunctional to me. Often when I arrived, Bayambaa, the wife, would be scolding her husband about something. Or Enkhee, the husband, would be tacitly approving of the children’s disobedience to their mother. On several occasions when I visited Enkhee was drunk. Still, I tried to visit as often as I could.

At one point I heard that Bayambaa was in the hospital, something about her liver or kidneys bothering her. Now, Mongolians go to the hospital for much more minor things than Americans do. In fact, occasionally a Mongolian will say something like, “I’ve not been feeling well. I think I’ll lie in the hospital for 10 days and have some injections.” So the fact that someone is in the hospital does not mean that they are seriously ill or in any danger of dying.

I took the opportunity to go with Ganpurev and Ulzee to visit her while she was in the hospital. I was not really certain what to say but know that my visit meant a lot to the family. Not long after, Mongonoo and Bombog began to come to Kristie’s Sunday school class. Since our goal is to reach the whole family, not just the children, I redoubled my efforts to visit them.

Often when I would visit, Enkhee would pick up a newspaper or stare at the television as if he were ignoring me. But his sister, Ulzee, assured me that he was not ignoring me, he just is not very sociable. Still, it was difficult to visit their house only to seemingly be ignored. I took the opportunities when I visited their home to speak to them about Biblical truth. We talked about the true Creator God and that all the other gods were false gods.

We talked about what sin is. When I pointed out that everyone had sinned, Bayambaa quickly agreed, “Oh yes, everyone is a sinner.” But instead of meaning that as a problem, she meant it as an excuse. Of course everyone has sinned. So what? This was the real message of her agreement. So we discussed that sin is an offense against a holy God and that we must have forgiveness in order to enjoy fellowship with the God Who created us.

I taught that Jesus was the perfect God-Man, fully God and fully man. I also taught that his death on the cross paid the penalty for our sins and enabled us to obtain God’s forgiveness for the sins that we had committed against Him. It often seemed as if I were talking to people who were simply not interested. Finally a day came when Enkhee had to leave Mongolia and travel to China for business and was gone over a month. My visits and our Bible lessons suddenly stopped.

I remember that it was on Easter evening that Enkhee called me about eight o’clock. “I’m back from China,” he said, “Can you come to my house tonight?” At the time I had guests at my house but told him that I would come over as soon as possible. My guests left about nine; and not long after, I left for Enkhee’s house. I was there until nearly midnight. It was the start to new Bible lessons reviewing the same things I had taught before.

One night about a month later when I visited, Bayambaa said to me suddenly, “I believe in Jesus.”

Next to me was the family “god shelf” with pictures and idols of various deities, pictures of the Dalai Lama, and some incense. I gestured to the god shelf as I asked, “If you really believe in Jesus, what about these gods? I have taught you that there is only one true God and that all these gods are false. If you truly ‘believe Jesus’ then you would get rid of these false gods.”

“What should I do with them?” she asked, absent-mindedly poking at the fire in her cast-iron stove with a stick.

“Throw them in the fire and burn them.” I said. She quickly closed the door to the stove and proceeded to tell me all the reasons that she could not burn her idols. It was revealing to me that although people say that they believe Jesus, the truth can be seen in their actions.

I realized that the greatest hindrance to saving faith in Jesus Christ was the gods that they were already worshiping. Concerned that I was not communicating well enough with them, I took Ganpurev over to their house. On the way over, I explained to Ganpurev that I thought that their most serious problem was that they still clung to their old gods. I kept thinking of the verse in I Thessalonians, “how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” I did not want them to merely say, “I believe in Jesus,” pray a prayer with me, and add a picture of Jesus to their god shelf (I have been asked before for a picture of Jesus so that they can add it to their god shelf). I wanted their lives to reflect the change that the Holy Spirit brings when He truly quickens a life.

During our visit, Ganpurev, who is only a young Christian, was very insightful in his comments to them. He taught them from Deuteronomy 10:17: “For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God.” He pointed out that the God of the Bible was not even of the same rank as these gods that were on their god shelf. He was God over those gods. It was an interesting observation coming from one who had grown up in a polytheistic culture.

Then Bayambaa suggested that they could give the pictures and idols away to others instead of burning them. Though I did not immediately see the significance of this idea, Ganpurev quickly grasped its significance and responded, “Why would you want to avoid burning your false gods? They’re not real. They can’t hurt you. If you really understood what we are teaching about the true God, you would realize that He is more powerful than these gods [pointing to the god shelf] and that He can protect you. You don’t want to burn these gods because you’re scared of them.”

Enkhee and Bayambaa did not have much to say to that and our lessons ended again.

Several weeks later on a Sunday, Enkhee and Bayambaa unexpectedly showed up at Ganpurev’s ger, a circular tent made of felt and canvas pulled over a wooden framework. Gers are a very common living situation for Mongolian families. Ganpurev was not home and looking for Ganpurev, they called me. I did not know where Ganpurev was but told them to wait at Ganpurev’s house because I was coming to meet them.

Ganpurev arrived home not long after I arrived. Ganpurev and I, Enkhee and Bayambaa joined now by Ulzee continued our conversation about God, Jesus Christ, sin, and repentance for several hours. At the end of our conversation, Enkhee and Bayambaa announced, “We’re going to go home and burn our gods!”

Now, you must understand that Mongolians often promise to do things that they do not really intend to do. So when they said this, I did not immediately jump up and down with joy because I wanted to see if they truly went home and threw their gods in the fire. But something about their attitude seemed different.

I went home and told my wife, “I think Enkhee and Bayambaa are genuinely saved.”

Her question was, “Did you pray with them?”

“No,” I replied, “But they said that they were going to go home and burn their gods. If they do go home and burn their gods, we’ll know that they are truly saved!”

On Wednesday, Bayambaa called Ulzee and said, “We went home Sunday night and threw all our gods in the fire! Now three days later, we are still so happy and have no regrets [about throwing our gods in the fire].”

When I heard the news from Ulzee, I was so happy! Here was the Holy Spirit changing lives.

That next week, Enkhee and Bayambaa asked me to bring my whole family and to come over to visit to their house. I had been explaining to Kristie how anti-social Enkhee often was and how dysfunctional the entire family seemed to be. But our visit was so pleasant and Enkhee was so friendly and attentive that as we were driving away, my wife asked me, “Are you sure you were telling me about the same family?”

“Yes, but isn’t it amazing the way that the Holy Spirit is already changing them?!”

As an epilogue, several months later, I was at their house teaching a Bible lesson from Psalm 139 about how well God knows us and protects us. I had asked a question that neither Enkhee nor Bayambaa seemed to be able to answer when Soyoloo, their teenage daughter, spoke up and gave an impressive answer.

“So you’re interested in the Bible too. Are you a Christian then?” I asked Soyoloo.

“Of course, I’m a Christian. When we threw those false gods into the fire, it was a family decision,” was her basic response. It reminded me of the Philippian jailer in Acts 16 of whom it was said, “believing in God with all his house.”

This story really gets interesting when you hear the rest of the story.

You recall that I had been teaching about the Bible, God, Jesus, sin, and repentance for several months and how uninterested the family seemed to be. However, they continued to send their two children to Kristie’s Sunday school class. Several months before Enkhee and Bayambaa burned their gods, Kristie had asked some of our prayer partners at Westgate Baptist Church to join with us in prayer for the children in her Sunday school class. It was decided that families would adopt children and pray for them by name. To encourage them in prayer, Kristie sent pictures of the children to the families that had agreed to pray for them.

In Oregon, the Ojala family agreed to pray each day by name for Mongonoo and Bombog and received a picture of the two children. After several months of prayer, their oldest daughter Mia, a young lady of about twenty, felt personally impressed not only to pray for Mongonoo and Bombog but also for their parents to be saved. We only found out later that the week that Mia began to pray for their parents to be saved was the very same week that Enkhee and his family burned their gods. What wonderful news to give the Ojala family as they asked about the spiritual condition of the parents of the children for whom they had been praying.

It was also a vivid reminder that your prayers really do have an impact on our ministry. Even though the Ojalas are thousands of miles away, the God of heaven Whom we serve took those prayers and drew a Mongolian family to Himself. Never forget that your prayers enable our ministry.

Renewing My Excitement

Today, I spent about an hour talking with Ulzee. We reviewed what happened this last Sunday and talked about how to follow up with all the people who came. It was exciting to see over twenty Mongolian adults come. Now if we could just get that many to come every week!

In the course of our conversation, I asked her how she became interested in Jesus Christ. Hearing her share her testimony of how she came to Christ greatly strengthened my commitment to be a witness for Jesus Christ. My eagerness to see others come to saving faith in Christ gradually built as she shared the various ways that God had drawn her to Himself. But the high point came when eyes glowing she remarked, "The best day of my life was when I became a child of God!" I was reminded of the utter joy that comes watching people give their eternal destinies to Jesus Christ and trust Him to be their Savior from sin.

What a motivating way to start the new year! As she talked I remembered clearly the difference between their pre-child of God days and the joy and peace and submission in their lives after they received Christ as Savior. It renewed my desire to be a witness for Jesus Christ and lead others to the Savior who is the Prince of Peace, Wonderful, the Shepherd of our souls.

Please pray that God would grant me boldness to speak and that the Holy Spirit would work through me to bring Mongolian men to Himself. There is such joy and fulfillment in leading others to our Lord. May God grant all of us many opportunities to be His witnesses in our Jerusalems, in our Judeas and Samarias, and to the uttermost parts of the earth!

Blog purpose

I've been amazed as the blog has spread from mainly family and friends at Westgate Baptist Church to include people all over North America. It is a blessing to know that so many of you care and so many pray for us!

If you've begun to read the blog recently, you may not know the purpose behind this blog. I'd like to share it with you so that you can read the blog in context, so to speak. The new year seems like a good time to remind you and myself exactly why I am keeping this blog. (As an aside, the word "blog" comes from weblog. Blogs started as diaries on the Internet that were shared with other people.)

The first purpose of my blog is to keep people updated so that they can pray intelligently and in a timely manner. That is one reason that I include names. You may not be able to match faces with names, you may not even be able to pronounce the names but at least you'll be able to keep track of people's progress. One thing you'll notice is that progress seems to be very slow. I may meet a fellow and have an opportunity to preach Jesus Christ to him one day. Then months later, I might meet him again and have another opportunity to be a witness to him. That's why your prayers are so very important. I realize that it's not because I witness that people will be saved. It is because the Holy Spirit draws them. Of course, He uses my witness and my efforts, but ultimately everything that happens is because of our gracious God.

One intention I have is to include more pictures so that you can put names with faces. But I feel extremely awkward asking to take pictures of people. The best picture so far is a part of my Sunday before Christmas post. There along with a picture I have listed the names of the faces in the picture.

The second purpose of my blog is to post sketches of Mongolian life, society, and culture. Living in Mongolia, I forget that many Americans simply cannot identify with some of the things we experience. Often during furlough, I would begin to tell a story about something that happened to us during our first term. The person listening would stop me with questions about why things happened the way they did. Other times they would give me a quizzical look, and I would realize that they didn't understand the significance of the story because they lacked the cultural background necessary to understand.

To correct that, I determined that I would include some stories that would be a window into the culture in which we live. Some notable examples include blog entries such as Mongolian decorating tip, Ministering at Home, We Wish You a Smoky Christmas, Wacky Mongolian Moment, Buying a Car - the Mongolian Experience, Religion in Mongolia, and The Missing Bag. If you've not had a chance to read those posts, I would encourage you to take some time and read them. It will increase your appreciation and understanding of Mongolian culture. (Notice that they are hyperlinks, so clicking on them should take you directly to the post.)

Third, I use my blog to post updates (usually posted weekly) and prayer letters (about ten times a year).

Fourth, sometimes I write a post just to get things off my chest. There are things that I want to say that reveal something of who I am: the struggles that I face, the victories achieved by God's grace, the things that interest me. I'm providing a window into my soul. Some notable examples include Two Cultures, One Mind and Language Progress (do you see a trend here?) Occasionally, there will also be a light-hearted attempt at humor (see Global Warming in Mongolia). I find that humor helps make living in Mongolia more bearable.

You may wonder why I chose to have a blog. Why not a complete website? Why not send out these as e-mails? Even that decision provides insight into who I am. I didn't want a website because of the work to keep a website up. Blogger (the website I use for my blog) provides templates that make the background and colors as simple as clicking a choice. Since all I really want to do is write stories and post pictures, a blog can do that very effectively without the necessary maintenance that a website would require.

I also don't like to receive e-mail updates so often from people. I try to write 3-4 posts every week. I feel awkward sending out that many updates of so many different types every week. Perhaps you're one who likes to read about Mongolian culture but not so much about the things I want to get off my chest. A blog means that your e-mail inbox won't fill up with things that you don't want to receive. Or maybe there's one day a week that's better for you to read my blog. Rather than have an inbox with three or four e-mails that you won't read until Saturday, you can just go to my blog on Saturday and check it out. I would much rather provide a place where people can go to read about what is going on then push out e-mails to people who may or may not be interested or have time to read.

So there you have it: purpose and provision. Why I have a blog and why I chose a blog over other methods of providing information. May God bless you for taking the time to read this post, and I trust that it will increase your ability to use my posts to pray for us and those to whom we minister in Mongolia.

New Year's Eve meeting

Since New Year's Eve was on a Sunday this year, we held a combined potluck meal, preaching service, and game night at our house. I invited neighbors, friends, and the people who come regularly to our Sunday meetings. My wife warned me that I was inviting a lot of people for one house.

We ended up with forty-seven people coming over! We were swamped. We even borrowed chairs from our neighbor's house even though we had nowhere to put them. Of those forty-seven, twenty-one were Mongolian adults, the rest being Mongolian children or Americans.

We started by sharing the food that was brought. The Americans brought American food: chicken, barbecued sandwiches, delicious desserts. The Mongolians brought Mongolian dishes such as bansh, buuz, and various salads. We ate until everyone said that they were full and it seemed as if they had barely touched the food.

Then Roland Gay, another missionary here in UB, had a chance to preach to them. He did a good job presenting Christ as the Savior of the world and the answer to a glorious new year. Although all of the adults had heard the Gospel before from me personally or Kristie, it was good to get another chance to present them with the Truth. We covet your prayers for the work of the Holy Spirit that will draw these Mongolians to Jesus Christ. After Roland's preaching, I reminded those assembled that my desire was that they all would trust Jesus and that if they had any questions I would be happy to answer them.

After that, we started the game time with charades. Mongolians have never played charades. I had my Mongolians neighbors help me come up with Mongolian phrases that could be acted out. Since the Mongolians had never played charades before they continually wanted to explain what they were doing. I had to keep saying, "Yu ch yirch bolokhgui," which means, "You can't say anything!" Some of the phrases were easy and were guessed quickly. Sometimes it took a while.

Then we split up and played various games. Pit was a popular game and one that went almost the entire night. There is a picture of eight people around the table trying to play Pit. The Mongolians also played Settlers of Catan, Scotland Yard, and Ticket to Ride. Mongolians do not have games like this in their country, so they really enjoyed the game time.

Overall, I'd say the evening was a good success. Given a chance, I think most of the Mongolians would gladly come back for another evening. Most importantly, they had the opportunity to hear again about our wonderful Savior.

Thank you for your prayers. Buren, Mendee, Vantchaa, Bob, Mandaa, and Bayaraa were the men that were there who are unsaved. Please pray especially for their salvation!