The very next day, my wife met with Ulzee and greeted her. The typical Mongolian greeting goes like this:
“Are you well?”
“(I’m) well? Are you well?”
“(I’m) well. What good news do you have?”
“Nothing. (Everything is) peaceful.”
No matter what has happened recently you must answer this way. I have seen a situation where one’s father had just died and the opening greeting went just like this. “Everything is peaceful,” he said despite the recent death. Another time a wife had a major fight with her husband, came to our house and told Kristie, “Everything is peaceful,” before launching into the story about the fight with her husband. Kristie and I have both discussed how strange it seems to us as foreigners to hear people invariably respond by saying, “Nothing” or “Everything is peaceful” when one knows from the look on their face that not everything is well.
So it was this morning. Before Ulzee came to our house, Kristie, who knew all about the events of the previous night, asked me, “What should I say to Ulzee?” I said, “Don’t say anything. If she doesn’t say anything, ask her what happened last night.”
When Ulzee came, the conversation went like this:
Kristie: “Are you well?”
Ulzee: “(I’m) well. Are you well?”
Kristie: “(I’m) well. What good news do you have?”
Ulzee: “Oh, (everything is) peaceful. I became God’s child last night!”
I was thrilled that as soon as she could (within the limits of her culture) she told my wife that she had become God’s child. Not only with us but with many other family members they were very open about their new life in Christ.
This would soon cause me some hesitation, me of little faith. Before I explain why, you must understand some about Mongolian Buddhism. Mongolian Buddhism was imported from
When Tibetan Buddhism came to their country, Mongolians mixed it with their pre-existing shamanism to make a mix of superstition and religious ceremony that survives to this day. However, shamanism and Buddhism, superstition and religious ceremony all have a common object: the manipulation of supernatural spirits or forces to cause them to do the will of the supplicant. Whenever a Mongolian visits a Buddhist temple or a shaman they have a clear goal of what they want from the gods or spirits. Sometimes the goal is to build up spiritual good works that they can call on later when they have a specific request; it is like depositing money in a spiritual bank account so that the worshipper can draw on it later in a crisis.
As Mongolians see it, people who observe the superstitions and customs will be blessed; people who ignore the superstitions and ceremonies will be cursed. Just as I warned them it would, trouble came to Ganpurev and Ulzee despite their new-found faith in Jesus Christ. In retrospect, I am so glad that I emphasized to them that Christians still experience trials but that they can still find grace, strength, and peace in Jesus Christ.
About two weeks after they made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ and began telling everyone about their Savior, Ulzee contracted appendicitis. This was just before the Mongolians celebrated their Lunar New Year. That meant that all of their family members were soon aware of her sudden illness.
The pain started on Sunday. Ulzee went with her husband to the hospital where they told her that she definitely had appendicitis and needed surgery. However, the doctor informed that the hospital did not do appendectomies on the weekends and that she would have to come back on Monday. She returned home and the pain increased through the evening. Late that evening a fellow Christian came to their ger and prayed for her to feel better. She immediately felt relief from her pain which continued until the next morning.
Monday morning she returned to the hospital to have her appendix removed. We did not hear from them until Ganpurev called late Monday morning to tell us that Ulzee had an appendectomy. My first thought was that this was a severe test for such new Christians. I also wondered what the rest of the family would think. I could imagine them thinking, “Here Ganpurev and Ulzee forsake their gods for a new God; see what happens: Ulzee gets appendicitis.”
I asked Ganpurev if Kristie and I could go with him to the hospital to visit Ulzee. Because Mongolian hospitals only provide one meal a day of varying quality, the family always provides food for those that are in the hospital. I asked if we could go with Ganpurev when he went to deliver her meal. I expected since she had just had an appendectomy that we would be admitted to her room, stand around her bedside, pray with her, and try to encourage her. We went around the back of the hospital building to an obscure entrance that seemed more like a fire escape. We went up several flights of steps. Each flight of steps had a closed door. We stopped at the top of a flight of steps where the door had a window in it. Ganpurev stuck his head into the window and called for a nurse. He told the nurse that he wanted to see his wife and gave the nurse her name. The nurse disappeared and a few minutes later I was surprised to see Ulzee, holding her stomach with one hand and nearly bent over double, approaching the door. Evidently, visitors were not allowed into the ward. The patients had to meet us at the window. We spend a few minutes at the window with her and told her mainly that we were praying for her and wished her well. She talked a few more minutes with her husband and then made her way slowly back to wherever she came from.
Humanly speaking, they had every reason to be gloomy; but amazingly on the way home Ganpurev shared blessing after blessing that they had received from the Lord. I could see how God was using Ulzee’s sickness to strengthen their faith and bring honor and glory to Himself. The rest of the family may have wondered if their new-found faith was the source of their “bad luck.” However, they also saw how the peace of God that passes all understanding also guarded Ganpurev’s and Ulzee’s hearts.
Since then, I have been much less concerned about how difficult circumstances will impact a person’s faith. It was a vivid reminder that God brings difficulties, illnesses, obstacles, and diverse temptations into our lives to strengthen us and teach us patience. Pray the Lord for His faithfulness!
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