Fire!

Kristie woke me up Monday morning about 4:30 with the news that there was a fire burning outside of our children's bedroom window. Now understand: our apartment is on the eighth floor, and the fire was at ground level so although the fire was directly below their window it was actually about 80 feet away.

The smoke from the fire was what initially woke Kristie up. She went to investigate and discovered the fire outside the window. She woke me up thinking that the fence was on fire since she could not see the building through the flames.

It took me a minute or so to be roused from my bed. By the time I reached the children's window and saw the fire for myself, we also saw that lights and heard the sirens of the fire engines. Someone had already called the fire station.

The trucks stopped in the driveway on the east side of our building, and the fire fighters ran their hoses from there to the fire which was on the north side of the building. It only took a few minutes before the fire was under control.

Unfortunately, two cars that were parked along that side of the fence were damaged. The noise and excitement of the fire woke up Kristie, Caleb, Elsie, and me. The other two children slept blissfilly through it. The rest of us had a short night's sleep.

Some disappointments

Recently, it seems that whenever we have people over to our home to get to know them better, they quit coming. About a month ago, a lady came to our services for three weeks and said that she really enjoyed coming. We invited her over to our house, had a good talk, and have not seen her since.

Then, several weeks ago I had a third Bible study with Basca, Bilgee, and Jagaa. I was so excited about it that I wrote about it in my monthly prayer update. The previous two Bible studies had been at the church rooms. The third Bible study was at my house, and I have not seen Basca or Jagaa since then. I tried calling both of them but one no longer is using the number that I had and the other had given his phone temporarily to a friend. Basca told Bilgee that he would be there Sunday ... but did not come.

Finally, we had a lady named Gantsetseg come on two different Sundays. She came for our time of prayer on Wednesday; and afterwards, Kristie and I talked with her at our home for over an hour. She said she planned to come again this Sunday with her sister. Neither she or her sister came on Sunday. I told Kristie, "Maybe we need to quit having people over to our house."

Weekly update

I have not been able to post as much as I would like to this week. I had intended to write this update yesterday but instead put it off until today. Yesterday was typical day where I seemed to spend much time doing little things. I started my work yesterday by going to the property where I am planning to build a building. Currently, there are some Mongolians working on building a block fence around the two public sides of the property. I checked on that project and met briefly with Ganpurev who feels as if he is running an ambulance service. He has taken a family member to the hospital for doctor appointments five times in four days. In between those hospital runs, he has been helping me with the fencing project.

After that I met with Bold to work together on translating a brief history of revival in a nearby Asian country entitled "When God's Fire Swept Korea." Following that, I visited the Bridge College where two young men from my church will be studying next year to drop off some paperwork that is needed to obtain permission from the Ministry of Education that allows those two young men to study here. I finally was able to sit down briefly for lunch. Then I met with Daniel, another missionary, about a project that we will be working on together - more about that in a moment.

After my meeting with Daniel, I took my car to Gustavo for some work. I hope to have the car back soon. Then after a thirty minute break for dinner, it was time for prayer meeting. Prayer meeting went well. After that, Kristie and I met for over an hour to counsel Gantsetseg and finished after nine o' clock. Gantsetseg is new to our church. Currently, her husband and her are separated. The Holy Spirit guided our conversation, and I believe some progress has been made. Sunday, Gantsetseg said that she would be bringing her sister to church with her.

Daniel Elliot, Bill Patterson, and I will be starting an English service on Sunday nights beginning this Sunday. I am leading songs and providing the rooms where our Mongolian church meets. Daniel is providing a children's program. Bill will be preaching. I suspect that the English service will be better attended than the Mongolian service. Please pray for God's help and blessing with that.

Also, the Mongolian parliamentary elections will be this Sunday. Although I do not know exactly how the new parliament will affect us, I would ask that you would pray that honest people would be elected. The church will be holding a special prayer meeting this Saturday evening to pray.

Aya update

Aya is Ulzee's mother. Several weeks ago she had surgery to remove some abdominal tumors. The results of the biopsy of those tumors came back today, and they are malignant. The doctors are saying that she needs chemotherapy.

I have three prayer requests in all this.

First, I would like Aya to present a clearer testimony of her salvation to her family and me. She says that she has given up her other gods and believes in Jesus. I am grateful for this confession and for her obvious decision to quit performing Buddhist rituals.

Second, pray for comfort and strength for Aya. If she does endure chemotherapy here in Mongolia, I can assure you that it will be more physically demanding than chemotherapy is even in the States.

Third, pray that through this situation Aya's extended family members would come to saving faith in Jesus Christ. Aya is currently the eldest member of her extended family and that carries some amount of respect with it. As difficult as the circumstances are, it is a unique opportunity for Ganpurev, Ulzee, me, and Aya to be a witness for Jesus Christ. But we need the Holy Spirit's power, strength, and help to be a witness and the convict the hearts of Mongolians.

Your prayers at this time for us are greatly appreciated.

Quote of the day

"If I had a hundred lives, they should be at Christ's disposal." - F. B. Meyer

Mongolian administrative divisions

For those of you interested in maps and curious about some of the places that I have visited, I am posting a map of the Mongolian aimags. You can think of them as provinces.

Many people who live in the city identify with the aimag where they were born or where their parents came from. It is difficult to find third-generation inhabitants of Ulan Bator.

There is more information about the individual aimags on this Wikipedia page. Just for reference, the latest Mongolian census put the population of Ulan Bator at over 700,000 though most people here think there are considerably more people than that currently live in the City.

Dean's June prayer update

"And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also" (II Timothy 2:2).

One of my primary goals for the work in Mongolia is to leave behind faithful men who will teach others also. In this passage there is a progression from Paul to Timothy to faithful men.I think about how many people have impacted my life, those who have invested in my life, exhibited Christ-like attitudes, and taught me God's Word. My goal is to invest my life in young Mongolian men "who shall be able to teach others also."

That is why the recent opportunity to study the Bible with Bilgee, Baska, and Jagaa is so exciting. I have known Bilgee almost since I arrived in Mongolia, and I met the other two young men years ago. However, it has only been recently that God has brought the other two young men back across my path. When I suggested that we study the Bible together, they were excited and agreed.

By their own testimony, they are Christians; but also by their own admission, they have lost some of the zeal they once had for our Savior. And I have noticed that in the past they have often had a zeal "but not according to knowledge" as Paul says about the Jews of his day.

My goal is to pour my life and biblical knowledge into them and show them by Spirit-filled living what a Christian leader ought to be. Then, it is my prayer that they will grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to be the leaders of churches in Mongolia.

Please join me in prayer for these three young men. They need to be serious about serving the Savior, to the extent that they put aside secondary concerns and do not allow the cares of this life to distract them from eternal things. They must realize that to put Christ first means to sacrifice other opportunities in life. However, if they will do these things I know that God will use them to bring honor and glory to Himself!

News

Aya's surgery went well yesterday. I did not understand this at the time but it was exploratory surgery. The surgeon removed one of her lymph nodes to analyze the tumor in it. If necessary, the surgeon will do more surgery to remove other lymph nodes. Aya is already home and recovering. She still is experiencing some pain.

Basca, Bilgee, Jagaa, and I met for a Bible study last night. I was glad to see all of them there.

Ganpurev's trip

Ganpurev returned yesterday from a trip to the countryside to attend his grandmother's funeral. His grandmother lived to see her great-great grandchildren. Ganpurev said that he had the chance to witness to several family members and that some are showing an interest. I would very much like to travel out to the countryside with Ganpurev this summer to continue to be a witness to these people.

Aya has abdominal surgery today to remove some tumors. Please pray for her. I went to visit her last night and prayed with her and told her that we are praying for her. She seems peaceful about it although she admitted sometimes worrying about it. Still, surgery for the elderly is a dangerous prospect anywhere - here ... well, I think we should all be praying.

You want to speak about Jesus Christ? ... oops, I'm busy

I have discovered that there are some folks in Mongolia who see me as an English translator who is available to help them whenever they need some help. They only come over when they need something translated and never want to talk about the Bible, sin, or our Savior.

Here's a transcript of the SMS messages (without editing) that I recently exchanged with one of these folks.

Mongolian: "Can I visit to house today around 7:00 pm. I have a special quest for you."

Me: "Yep, please come. We'll talk about Jesus. Will you come?"

Mongolian: "I am so sorry! May be I can't talk with you about Jesus. I have another job that must be solved immediately. Are you sure?"

Me: "I must talk about Jesus tonight. Will you come?"

The Mongolian then called me to talk in Mongolian. "Why do you have to talk about Jesus?" he asked.

I explained to him that my desire is to talk about Jesus and that I am very busy. If he just wants help with translation then I am too busy for that. If he wants to talk about Jesus, I will make time to meet him.

In the end, he declined to come.

It is a reminder that we all have priorities. For some, maybe a job or some English translation or a friend is the most important thing. For me, meeting spiritual needs is most important. I really must work to be certain that I do not make other people's priorities my priorities. Instead I must stay focused on what is eternally important. It is always a struggle as a missionary. We need your prayers as we prioritize our time and choose the best things over the good things.

Quote of the day

The way to do a great deal is to keep on doing a little. The way to do nothing at all is to be continually resolving that you will do everything. - C. H. Spurgeon

Update

It has been a busy week, though I don't have as much to show for it as I would like. The number of people attending Faith Baptist Church's meeting yesterday was down. There were only nine adults. Still a year ago, I would have been happy to see nine adults. It seems like the big days get a little bigger and the down days are not quite so low. The entire service seemed to be lacking in vitality to me . The singing seemed anemic, the preaching seemed strained (and I was preaching), and the people seemed tired. Some weeks just do not seem as exciting as others.

After the service, I had a chance to share a meal with Bilgee and Basca, two young men who I believe could be the core of the church. Both are young men who claim to be serious about serving the Lord. However, the Christian life is a daily struggle. Some of conversation yesterday revealed that they think that following Christ is a decision made one day that lasts for the rest of one's life. But Jesus Himself said, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." It is not simply a matter of saying once, "I consecrate all to Jesus Christ." Rather, it is a matter of daily offering myself afresh.

In other news, Gustavo's wife Bayarmaa had her baby - a little boy. My wife and I already went to visit. They are both doing fine although there are some little complications that are worrying Gustavo. I think that mother and baby are both normal; Gustavo's worry though makes it harder for his own family. I told him so. Please pray for Gustavo to give his worries to God and accept the peace that passes all understanding that God offers us.

Aya will be having surgery on Wednesday to remove some abdominal tumors. She is scared Ulzee says. Please pray that she too would find peace.

Breaking news

I received a message from Gustavo at 1:30 last night that read, "I father gracias a DIOS." I'll try to post pictures next week (after all, who doesn't like to look at baby pictures?)

Breaking news

Gustavo's wife is at the maternity hospital and should have her baby soon.

some updates

Ganpurev arrived safely which is no little feat considering that he disembarked from the bus he was riding along an empty stretch of road and was picked up from that same lonely stretch of road by a brother who has no phone and lives in an area with no cell phone service. (That seems well-nigh amazing to those of us who grew up with scheduled stops and cell phones. It probably seems commonplace to those of my grandparents' generation.) He will be in with his family for about ten days. In the countryside especially everything about a funeral is determined by the Buddhist lama: where the body will be buried, which direction the body will face, which rituals need to be performed, etc. Please pray that Ganpurev will have the fortitude and wisdom to not participate in the Buddhist rituals while still showing the appropriate respect to a family matriarch. It can be a difficult thing.

Gustavo, the Cuban man, called me today to tell me that his wife may be having her baby soon. Bayarmaa is due in a week or two; but, you know, one can rarely plan these things.

I saw Bob on Sunday at a family gathering (Bilgee & Ganaa's family's gathering; I guess I am part of the clan). He was friendly enough, but we did not discuss anything "religious." I told him that I would try to visit this week. However, on Monday night Batzorig came over with Bilgee; and I was able to witness to him. Tuesday night, a recent attender of our church's services Narantuya came over for dinner. After dinner we had a good conversation. Wednesday night after a time of prayer, Bilgee and Jagaa and I studied the Bible together. So I have not yet had a free night to visit Bob. I plan to call tonight and see if he is available.

Someone predicted that there will be an earthquake in Mongolia this month that rivals the earthquake that shattered Chinese cities last month. Some said that the earthquake was going to occur last night (Wednesday night). I even had an acquaintance send me an SMS saying to be careful because there might be an earthquake. Mongolians seem to be taking this rather seriously. There is a genuine spirit of fear and superstition here that motivates people's actions.

Sunday update

We had a decent group of Mongolians out this past Sunday. There were also several Americans in town who know me and wanted to come to the service. So we had quite a few people come.

Bill Patterson preached in English, and Bilgee translated for him. I was impressed with how well Bilgee did. At one point during the translated sermon I was amazed when I realized that I could understand both the preacher and the translator clearly.

This coming Sunday with Ganpurev away for a funeral I will probably preach all the sermons on Sunday. Please pray for my preparation time. I seem to be spending much of my time helping other missionaries ... not that helping is a bad thing.

News about Ganpurev's family

Ganpurev's grandmother passed away yesterday. She had been in poor health for some time. Ganpurev plans to leave Wednesday to attend her funeral. Pray for him. Of all the people who will be at the funeral it is very likely that he will be the sole Christian. The opportunities for witnessing will be great so please pray.