Prayer update

The temperature finally rose above freezing this last Monday. The ice has been melting, and small puddles are everywhere. It was the first time it had been above freezing since early November, I think. Usually, it is not this warm until mid-March; the current weather is about twenty degrees above average. Maybe it is global warming.

Our last Lunar New Year visit took place Monday night when we went to our neighbor's apartment. When my neighbor asked me which school I graduated from, I took the opportunity to tell him that the most important thing is not our Christian denomination but that we know who Jesus is.

Late Monday night, my stomach rebelled against eating buuz. I had eaten buuz or bansh (both are meat dumplings, the only difference is one is steamed and one is boiled) every day and sometimes three times in a day for nine days straight. I hope that I have eaten my last buuz and bansh for a while. Kristie made a wonderful pot of lentil soup for us Tuesday night, and it was a great meal and wonderful break from eating buuz.

Quote of the day

Indira Gandhi once said: "My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition."

Sunday's numbers

Hey, I'm not a numbers type of guy. With as few people as we have, you can't be crowing about your numbers. But I know that some of you who read this blog will be interested to know that we had Dashgaa, Bilgee, Bob & Ganaa, Ganpurev & Ulzee plus children at the service this morning. That's better than the three adults and no children we had last week which was the first day of the Asian Lunar New Year.

Lunar New Year - Day Seven

The invitations for Lunar New Year visits just kept coming. I think we are finally done having completed two more visits today to make thirteen visits in all. I think I am tired of eating buuz, drinking milk tea, and trying to make small talk in Mongolian for two hours.

However, all the hours spent at Mongolians homes in the past week have not been wasted. During the Lunar New Year's celebrations we have had the opportunity to be in several homes where we would not be expected to be the rest of the year. I also had several opportunities to be a witness for Jesus Christ.

There is also exciting news about Ganpurev. He and his family went to the countryside to be with Ganpurev's relatives this past week. Two interesting things came out of this. First, Ganpurev has come to be known among his relatives as the person whose God does not allow him to drink alcohol. It is an interesting appellation. It also means that he is no longer under so much pressure to drink.

Secondly, he had the opportunity to witness to several brothers. At first, one was quite antagonistic to hearing about Ganpurev's God because he realizes that the true God is a threat to his gods. But by the end of the hours long conversation, he seemed to be questioning his long-held beliefs. For those of who praying for Mongolian men by name the two brothers are Byasaa (whom I mentioned hearing about God's salvation when he was in UB in January) and Ulzeet.

It is exciting for me to see my sons in the faith go out and be a witness to others without my help. I have been thinking about the possibility that Ganpurev and I might travel to the countryside several times a year to continue witnessing to his family.

Prayer update

My recent visits have reminded me that I have several families who live on the other side of Ulan Bator who are interested in studying the Bible. Several months ago, I contemplated driving across town to start a Bible study with several families, but the idea withered when several of the families seemed to be too busy to meet. During the last few days, I made some arrangements to hold a Bible study with several Mongolians on either Saturday or Sunday night. The obstacle is that one fellow's day off alternates between Saturday and Sunday. Please pray for wisdom and direction and favor for me as I consider the possibilities. I know that God wants me to minister to these people's spiritual needs; the direction that I need is regarding the best time and way to do it. Also pray for Ganbold, Mendee, Enkhee, and Gerelsaikhan particularly to have a desire to study the Bible and know the true God and His Son, Jesus Christ. Each of these fathers represents a family to whom I have suggested meeting regularly. Several have expressed an interest; however, some of them work seven days a week.

As an answer to prayer, I would share with you that in the last week I have received five e-mails from people outside of my home church who said that they were praying specifically for us and our ministry. One of our goals during furlough was to stir up people to pray for us. God has definitely answered that prayer. Praise God for His faithfulness even when we fail Him!

Lunar New Year - Day Three

Again, I'm writing my blog entry the morning after.

Yesterday was Third New Day (according to the Mongolian's lunar calendar) and saw us at three more homes. Actually, I visited a fourth home by myself but that had nothing to do with the Lunar New Year's celebrations. We have been asking our Mongolian friends how many homes they have visited. Most of them have visited at least ten homes and some more than a dozen in three days. Many have more visitors coming to their home on Third New Day or Fourth New Day.

However, most folks in the city will be back at work today which is the fourth day of the new lunar year. We had to stock up last week on staples because most stores have been closed the last few days. Even the ones that are open often lack such these as bread and eggs because the supply chain is disrupted. One year there was no bread for a week after the start of the new year. I have not checked yet this year.

What happens at a Lunar New Year visit? Well, when you first arrive you spend several minutes taking of coats, hats, gloves, scarves, and various other warm clothing. Then there is a special greeting that you must give to everyone. The younger person holds out his arms to support the older person's arms while the older one moves in to kiss (or more often to sniff) the younger one's cheeks. As you are doing this you ask, "Is your rest well?" There are various other saying and polite questions that can be asked at this time. You only use this greeting once a year the first time that you meet someone after the Lunar New Year. Mongolians even have a unique verb for this greeting: zolgokh. In most homes, the next thing to do is to sample the various items that have been placed on the table. There is usually meat, candy, Mongolian potato salad, and various milk products. The hostess begins to make the meat dumplings called buuz which are the traditional food for this celebration. Most homes also offer the guests some vodka and a traditional blessing is said. The host and guest may also exchange snuff bottles and some more polite questions and words during this time. The rest of the time is spent eating and talking.

The difficulty comes when you visit two homes in a row; and at both places, your hostess wants to feed you a meal. We had that experience last night. I thought I only had one visit scheduled when someone called and scheduled a second one. I think that my family is almost done with our visits. We may have another one tomorrow or Friday. I have one more and maybe two that I will do by myself.

Keep praying for men to be saved.

Lunar New Year - Day Two

I wanted to post this last night but did not get in until late. So I am posting it today. Check back tomorrow for another update.

Our first visit on the second day of the Lunar New Year was to Bilgee’s family. Even though we did not arrive until 11:20, we were still the first ones there. Most visits during the Lunar New Year are composed of talking. So we talked with Bilgee and his mother for some time. After we had been there about an hour more family members arrived. We also talked with them; some of them are Catholic. After about two hours at that place we excused ourselves to make another visit.

During the Lunar New Year, families buy many different gifts. Instead of the visitors giving gifts to the host, the host gives gifts to the visitors. There actually is a polite question that asks, “Have you received many gifts?” As far as I can understand, the question really is intended to ask if one has visited many homes or not. One consequence is that during this celebration our children receive much candy and sweets, and Kristie and I receive soap, ties, belts, and other things.

Our second visit was to Tovshin’s house. Tovshin is actually much closer to our American friends, but he is kind enough to invite us over every Lunar New Year celebration. We went with another American family. The unusual part of our visit to Tovshin’s was that he spoke English to us despite the fact that one of his Mongolian friends was visiting who spoke little English (I asked.) Whenever we would make a statement or ask Tovshin a question in Mongolian, he would respond in English. We spent nearly two hours there.

We then went home and had a relaxing afternoon. After several hours, I left to make a final visit for the day. I was going to visit Ganbold’s home. You might remember Ganbold from previous blog entries (first here then here and here). He is interested in studying the Bible, but because of his work schedule, we have been unable to establish a time to meet. I understood from other family members that he must return to work on Tuesday, and that if I was to visit him, I should do it on Monday. Now Ganbold had not invited me to his house; however, the nice thing about the Lunar New Year is that you can visit just about anyone you know without causing offense.

My visit to Ganbold’s was very pleasant. He seemed glad to see me. When I arrived there were about a dozen other family members that were getting ready to leave. After they left, Ganbold and I were by ourselves. Though Ganbold knows that I do not drink, he offered me some wine. In Mongolia when you tell people that you do not drink arkhi (the word commonly used for alcohol) then they assume that you do not drink hard liquor. They still expect you to drink wine or beer. I told Ganbold and his wife that I do not drink any intoxicating drinks. Surprisingly, Ganbold’s wife said, “That’s wise.”

He told me that he has been reading the Bible that I gave him starting in Genesis. He repeated that he would like to study the Bible. When I asked him when he would like to study the Bible, he said that he would call me when he had free time. That was the same response he had given me on my previous visit. The only trouble was that he never called. So this time, I told him that I would call him on Friday so that he could tell me whether Saturday or Sunday was the better day to visit.

Ganbold and I then went to a adjacent ger where his son lives. His son’s in-laws were visiting and were very drunk. They offered me vodka and insisted that I drink some; I refused as politely as I could. They insisted that I at least taste it. I explained that I did not drink any intoxicating liquor. Later, they decided to do a very common Mongolian practice: everyone would drink a shot of vodka and then sing a solo. Well, I explained that I did not drink and did not know any Mongolian songs. They said that I could skip the drink and just sing a song in English; then they just stared at me waiting for me to sing. So I sang “How Great Thou Art.” They said that they liked it. I must learn a Mongolian hymn by heart so that I can be prepared for the next time. Between the talking and songs I spent more than three hours at Ganbold’s place.

Please pray that Ganbold would make time to study the Bible with me and that I would have wisdom as I teach. As always, I am well aware that your prayers enable our ministry.

Lunar New Year - Day One

For the rest of this week, my posts will focus on the celebration by Mongolians of the Lunar New Year or "White Month" as a strict translation would have it. In the countryside, the Lunar New Year is celebrated for more than a week. Here in the city the celebration lasts most of three days but people will continue to visit for the rest of the week.

Usually, Mongolians refer to the days of the week as "First Day," then "Second Day," etc. Saturday is "Half Good Day," and Sunday is "Whole Good Day." But starting with the first day of the Lunar New Year, they refer to the days as First New Day, Second New Day, Third New Day, etc. So the invitations will not be "Can you come to my house on Tuesday?" but rather "Can you come to my house on Second New Day?" Since the Lunar New Year starts on a Sunday this year, Second New Day is First Day; this has already caused some confusion among folks that I know.

Today is Sunday - First New Day. We had a special early service. The Mongolians thought it would be a good way to start the new year. Then I went to visit Enkhee and his family. I was the first one to their house, and they said that they were honored that I was the first one to greet them in the new year. I stayed for several hours. We have several more visits tomorrow and then several more on Tuesday and Wednesday. I'll keep you updated.

One exciting bus ride!

Let me say from the beginning that the following story is not recent. Instead, it took place about four years ago. It was one of the best examples of unusual events that happened in Mongolia and was told several times during my furlough in North America.

I was out driving my van and running errands. One of my stops had been at the bank where I picked up my month's salary as I often do. My last stop was at the post office to pick up letters from the States and send mail to churches. When I came out of the post office I could not start my van. Every time I would turn the key, I would only hear a "click" but the engine would not even turn over. Two factors led me to be concerned: my van had a diesel engine and it was the middle of Mongolian winter. It was late afternoon and the temperature would soon plummet into the negatives. I wanted to get my van out of the cold as soon as possible; but, unfortunately, there are no towing companies in Ulan Bator. I called a friend who had a vehicle could tow me, but he was unavailable at the moment and could not help for several hours.

I decided to head home and change into even warmer clothes before heading back to meet my friend and have my vehicle towed. I knew it might be late - and dark! - before we got done with my vehicle. I considered my options. I was at the central post office which is considered the city center. I could hail a taxi, but it often seems hard to get a taxi downtown because there are few good places for the taxis to pull over. I could walk but had not dressed to be out in the cold for the twenty minutes or so it would take me to walk home. Temporarily forgetting that I had a whole month's salary in a leather vest underneath my coat, I decided to cross the street and catch a bus. Four bus stops later, I would be in my area, and a short few minutes of walking would bring me home.

Buses in Mongolia are notorious for pickpockets. I thought I would be all right because I had put the money from the bank in a zippered pocket of a leather vest that I was wearing underneath my coat. The first bus that heads by my district arrived within a few minutes but this particular bus is considered a hot spot for pickpockets. No matter, I thought, I will only be on the bus for a few minutes.

I boarded an already full bus, and my "uh-oh" radar immediately went off. Once one is in Mongolia for a while, you begin to notice events and people that are suspicious. In this case, as soon as I stepped onto the bus, two men detached themselves from the group of people already on the bus and began to crowd about me. Now the bus was already so crowded that people were already pushing against me on all sides. There was hardly room to move. Sometimes when riding such a bus, the driver will suddenly slam on his brakes, and no one will fall down. It is impossible to go anywhere, the bus is so crowded.

However, these two fellows did two things that were suspicious: they pushed their way through the crowd to stand next to me then yelled to some one up in the front of the bus, "Here's a foreigner. Come help us." To my dismay, a big Mongolian man started pushing his way toward me. He was only able to make it about halfway before he stopped, right in front of the doors I was planning to use to leave the bus. I reminded myself that it was only a few stops and turned my back to the two men who were trying to crowd me. But in a bus with so many it's impossible to tell who is touching you. (This probably seems strange to you Americans who are used to your personal space, but in Mongolia such crowded conditions are common. Think of Jesus being touched by the women with the issue of blood for ten years. He must have been in such a crowd because Peter is surprised at Jesus' question.)

The bus had just pulled away from stop no. 3 when I began to push my way through the passengers to reach the door to disembark from the bus. Not only was the big guy waiting there for me, but the two fellows to whom I had put my back also followed me. The big guy purposely adjusted his position before the door so that he stood right in my line to exit the bus. When I asked him in Mongolian if he was getting off at the next stop, he said he was. I could no longer keep my back to the two fellows and so they were now on either side of me. I kept knocking down the hand of the one fellow on my left who was trying to reach underneath my coat.

Finally after what seemed liked many long minutes, the bus pulled up to my stop. People began to flow around the giant who was in front of me, but he stood motionless blocking my way. I realized rather belatedly that he was not planning to move and - to my shame - pushed against an old lady to fight my way around him and get off the bus.

As I stood on the sidewalk, I took a couple of deep breaths and gathered my wits. I wished with all that money I had never got on the bus in the first place. I moved away from the people at the bus stop, unzipped my coat just enough, reached in with my hand, and found a four inch cut in the pocket where my money had been. My heart seemed to stop for a second. And then I unzipped the pocket, felt inside, and realized that the money still seemed to be there.

When I got home, I counted all the money and realized that nothing was missing but that my tormentors had come within a few seconds and certainly within a bus stop of stealing a whole month's salary. Praise the Lord for His protection and mercy.

Later, I was able to return and have the van towed and fixed. Since then, I have rarely taken the bus except when I have almost no money.

Prayer update

Although the number of children coming on Sundays has been down, the number of adults coming has been steady. We have seen seven or eight adults come every Sunday but one since the start of the new year. I mentioned Bayambaa and her pregnancy in last week's update. Well, Bayambaa was feeling well enough to come on Sunday, and she brought her father. She has been saying for some time that she was going to bring her father, but this past Sunday is the first time that he came.

Next week is the Mongolia's Lunar New Year celebration which will last most of the week. This week is a huge week of preparation for four or five days of eating, visiting, and gift-giving. Ganpurev's family has made 700-800 buuz (meat dumplings) in preparation and some families make over a thousand.

The biggest day of visiting, however, occurs on the first day of the lunar new year which falls this year on Sunday. On Sunday, the group that came talked about when and where to meet on Sunday. They all agreed that our standard meeting time of eleven in the morning was a difficult time to meet. Instead, they suggested that we meet at seven in the morning on Sunday.

You see, on the first day of the lunar new year many Mongolians do various rituals to invoke the blessing of the gods for the new year. Some climb to the top of local hills where there are ovoos or rock piles to wait for the sunrise. Some women throw milk south, north, east, and west to please the gods. So the Mongolians suggested instead that we meet early, sing some songs to praise our God, and have a Bible lesson to start the new year. I was very pleased that they wanted to start the new year in this way. Parts of four Mongolian families have already committed to join us early on Sunday morning for worship; praise the Lord!

Next week, I plan to have more frequent updates about all the excitement and activities of the Mongolian Lunar New Year. Perhaps, I'll try to keep a running total of how many buuz I have eaten. Also, pray especially for the believers here. There will be a great amount of pressure to drink alcohol during this time.

I have not forgotten that you are praying for me. We need your prayers. Next week will be the best week of the year to visit acquaintances and make new ones. Please pray for God's blessing as I seek to reach new families during the Mongolian Lunar New Year.

Prayer update

Some more notes on Bayambaa and her family. Bayambaa came to us several months ago. Another missionary who does not live in Ulan Bator anymore had led her to Christ. Later, she saw our sign advertising our Sunday meeting while it was in storage and asked if she could attend. So back in October she began to come on Sundays rather faithfully.

Not long after, Kristie and I went to visit her, her husband, and her one-year-old son. Her husband is not saved and works - you guessed it - seven days a week. Though her husband is quite introverted we had a good conversation and shared the Gospel with him.

The last few Sundays Bayambaa has been unable to come because she is pregnant and having some problems. This past Sunday morning early, she called us requesting that we pray for her during the service because she was experiencing some serious problems with her pregnancy. The long story is posted in my previous blog; the short story is that although we took her to the maternity hospital she was unable to be examined on Sunday. However, Monday upon her return to the hospital, the doctor told her that the baby was doing well but that she needed bed rest.

Kristie and Ulzee went on Tuesday to visit her, take her a meal, and provide some food. You see, while Bayambaa was gone to the hospital on Sunday, Ulzee had watched her young boy. Ulzee was looking around the house for something to give Bayambaa's son and discovered that they did not have much in their house. So Ulzee brought them some food and, I believe, also gave her some money of her own initiative.

To complicate matters, while Bayambaa was gone to the hospital on Sunday someone cut and stole the electrical power line that ran from their local power pole to their shack. So Mandaa had to replace that too.

We want to be a help to this young mother and would be grateful for your earnest prayers. Please pray that through difficulty, Mandaa her husband would be saved. Also pray for rest and peace for Bayambaa. We will do our part to provide for spiritual and physical needs. Please add your prayers to our work.

Nationalized health care? No problem!

I must stress again at the beginning of this post that I have no desire to put Mongolia, its people, or its government in a bad light. But today's story is to help you all understand the culture in which we function.

First, a little update about our Sunday meetings. We had eight Mongolian adults this Sunday. We will be moving to a new location next week and see if that helps us grow at all. I have also mentioned many times my desire that the church be founded on men and that we have a group of people that has more men than women. Well, today we had six adult men and two adult women. So it seems to me that my strategy of working primarily with men is bearing fruit.

Now back to our story. This morning, a few hours before things got underway, Bayambaa (this is a different Bayambaa than the one who was saved after throwing her idols in the fire a few years back), this Bayambaa called to say she was having some problems with her pregnancy. She is four months pregnant and has a one year old son. Starting last night, she observed some signs that all was not well with her pregnancy. She called this morning to ask us to pray for her during the meeting Sunday morning which we did.

We also had Ulzee call Bayambaa back to get some details and see if we could help. Ulzee arranged for us to visit Bayambaa. Ulzee would stay with Bayambaa's son, and Kristie and I would take Bayambaa to see a doctor.

After getting lost several times trying to find Bayambaa's home in the ger district called "Fifth Stop" (part of the problem was we thought it was called "Seventh Stop"), we dropped Ulzee off with little Earmoonbileg, and picked up Bayambaa. We took her to the big maternity hospital in town. I waited out in the car while Kristie went in with Bayambaa. I heard there was quite a stir when they saw Kristie; some of the staff wondered if she had come in to receive medical care.

They waited for some time to see a doctor. The doctor came out, explained to Bayambaa that they do not perform examinations on Sunday, told her to rest in bed at home until tomorrow, and told her to come back on Monday. On Monday, they would examine her, do an ultrasound, and admit her to the hospital if necessary. But at least the exam was free because Mongolians have nationalized health care.

Smoke in Mongolia

As some of you know (I posted about it earlier), the smoke and air pollution here in Ulan Bator can be bad at times. The Mongolians have even got to the point where they make jokes about it.

One joke that I heard yesterday goes like this. A person dies of breathing trouble and is taken to the hospital for an autopsy. The doctors open up the deceased and found that his lungs had hardened into lumps of coal.