Weekly update

We had a good attendance on Sunday. Ganpurev's sermon was better than mine: his illustrations were more appropriate to Mongolian life and his application was more pointed. It is an encouragement and blessing to see Ganpurev grow.

We have a Leadership Seminar scheduled for this Saturday. The intent of the seminar is to give added instruction to those Mongolians who want to be leaders in the church. I think this will become a regular event to edify our prospective Mongolian leaders and strengthen them for ministry. The upcoming seminar's topic will be "The leader as a servant." Please pray that God would bless the seminar and all who attend.

The source of evil

Recently, I came across an article most likely written by a non-Christian that had a very interesting statement about the source of evil. In the article two people who were held in captivity on two different continents discuss their painful memories from captivity.

Towards the end of the article the two former captives discuss the impact of their faith (or lack thereof). One did not feel he could pray during his ordeal for two reasons: first of all, he had not been praying before he was kidnapped and felt it would not be right to start then. Secondly, he heard over the radio of people whose condition because of war was even worse than his own and believed that if God was not helping them, God would not intervene on his behalf. Curiously, when he was released from captivity, he failed to see God's intervention in his release. That simple omission may reveal a foundational problem in his attitude: he is not seeking God and therefore is not "finding" Him.

The second captive challenged his thinking by commenting that the first captive had been asking God the wrong questions. She went on to say that the source of the world's ills was not God or His lack of intervention. According to her, the source of the world's ills was mankind.

I do not know her spiritual state; she may be a Christian or she may not. However, her insight is impressive. It is not that God wants sin and evil to be present in the world or even that He allows it. What God grants mankind for good or ill is the ability to choose. Robbed of our right to choose but allowed to express our opinion, we would probably complain that God was keeping us confined. Conversely, having the right to choose, we complain that it is God's fault that men are so evil. There is certainly something sinfully perverse in mankind's thinking.

I do not claim to be able to understand or explain how God's complete sovereignty interacts with man's free will. However, I do know this: as I look at the social ills in Mongolia and the United States, I see people consumed with selfishness and willing to injure others in their efforts to advance their own interests. The problem of evil is not God's but ours.

Weekly update

Attendance on Sunday continues to be strong. This past Sunday there were not as many visitors as there have been in the past. Many of the people who attend are facing unusual pressures. Some of them have job pressures, some have family pressures, some are facing an uncertain future. I would ask you to pray that God would mold all of us more into the image of His Son Jesus as we grow in grace through these difficulties.

New things at the church

We've had some people working diligently recently to make the church's meeting place look more comfortable and less sterile. Before the church rooms all had white walls and black chairs. The room where the nursery is located had some colorful toys but other than that the place looked very uninviting.

Two of the ladies offered to make chair covers for the chairs that they thought would give the chairs some color and extend the wear of the chairs. It would also allow the ladies to remove the covers and wash them if necessary. The church purchased the material but the ladies did all the work as a labor of love which was a considerable amount of work considering that they used hand-cranked sewing machines.

Ganpurev also put together a cross for the front of the main meeting room and a tract rack that is in the entry way where people can help themselves to Gospel literature.

Another lady in the church who is an artist by training made a beautiful hanging even purchasing the materials with her own resources. The hanging is written in Mongolian Old Script which has sentimental value to the Mongolians. The center says, "Love" while the smaller text on the sides is I Corinthians 13. That art was hung in the back of the main meeting room.
It is gratifying to me to see the Mongolians take the initiative to give the meeting rooms a warmer, more inviting atmosphere. Such labor gives the Mongolians a sense of ownership; after all, it is their church.

Uganaa's salvation testimony

It is always exciting to shift someone’s name from the “praying for their salvation” side of one’s prayer list to the “praying for their growth in grace” side. This recently happened to me.

I wish I could tell all that I know about the situation and perhaps some day I will be able to. At the present time, certain agreements that exist between Kristie and Uganaa and me that prohibit me from giving some of the details that would bring glory to God. What follows is the part of the story I can tell.

Months ago, Trina Cofer in Hatgal had the opportunity to meet a tour guide, a young Mongolian lady who had come to Hatgal with some tourists on a trip. This young lady noticed the way that Trina was dressed and came to her to ask if she was a Christian. When Trina told her that she was a Christian, the young lady whose name is Uganaa told her that she was interested in Jesus Christ.

However, Uganaa’s tourist work was soon taking her away from Trina. So Trina suggested that when she returned to the city, she should call me and attend the church where I am serving.

Then Trina called me to explain Uganaa’s situation and to ask me to contact her should she not contact me. However, I was surprised that almost as soon as Uganaa returned to town in late summer she contacted me. We met a few times to talk about Jesus Christ and the Bible.

We had only met together twice when I was suddenly taken very ill. Uganaa was scheduled to come over for another Bible study with Kristie and me; however because I was so ill, I called her and canceled. The next day or possibly the day after Uganaa called me to tell me that she was on her way to Hatgal to spend some months living with Mickey and Trina.

After she returned from Hatgal we had several more meetings to study the Bible. She also had learned many things from Mickey, Trina, and some of their Mongolian friends while in Hatgal. She kept insisting that she could not believe that Jesus was God. Although I showed her many Scriptures she clung to her belief that Jesus could not have been God. She also said that we must suffer for our own sins.

I began to discern that they must be some other barrier to belief besides a lack of Biblical understanding. When I pointed this out she seemed conflicted but did not tell me what the obstacle was. Although she quit attending church only a few weeks after her second return to the city, I continued to pray for her salvation.

Several weeks ago while walking home from church, I heard someone behind me saying, “Jeff, Jeff.” I ignored it thinking that perhaps I was mishearing someone because most Mongolians cannot pronounce the letter ‘f.’ Thinking that I must be hearing something other than my name, I just kept walking. However, I heard it again more clearly this time, “Jeff, Jeff.” Looking around me, I say that Uganaa was walking behind me by about 30 feet or so. She had been calling me.

I waited for her to catch up with me, greeted her warmly, and asked her where she had been. She said that she had been very busy working two jobs but that now one of the jobs was finished and she would have more time. I invited her to come to church on Sunday.

She came that Sunday and the very next Sunday which was Resurrection Sunday. Whenever she comes she listens so intently to the sermon and almost always asks questions afterwards.

This past Friday on met her again on the street as I was walking to a friend’s house. She had a mark on her face where she had been struck. She told me that she was in some trouble and needed advice. I invited her to come to my house on Saturday when Kristie and I could talk to her.

So it was that Uganaa came over to my house on Saturday. She recognized that she was a sinner and that she needed Jesus to save her. She said that she was ready to repent of her sin and ask God to forgive her. So we prayed.

She came to church today and made a public profession of faith in Jesus Christ. Please pray with us that God would protect this baby Christian and keep away evil influences.

Resurrection Sunday

Reading through the book of Acts recently, I was reminded again how often the preaching of the apostles focused on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I determined to make the resurrection of Jesus the point of this year’s Resurrection Sunday service.

Remember that since Mongolia has little history of Christianity, Easter (Resurrection Sunday) has no significance to the average Mongolian. He is no more likely to come to church service on a Sunday in March or April designated Easter than he is to come to a meeting at any other time of the year. So the church made inviting people out for Resurrection Sunday a priority.

God blessed us with many visitors. Let me tell you the most interesting story about our visitors. Two elderly men had been invited to a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses which is near the place where our church meets. About the same time that they were headed that direction Tsendee, the most elderly man in our church, received a call on his cell phone and left the building to take the call. Incidentally, I strongly encourage those who attend the services to turn off their cell phones during the service. It has been a long time since the ring of a telephone has interrupted the message. However, some people leave their phones on vibrate and will occasionally take a call during the message. This was one of those times.

Tsendee went out on the stairs to take the call. After his call was finished these two men were walking by and asked Tsendee if this was the location where Jehovah’s Witnesses met. He explained that it was not and invited them to join us for a Bible lesson.

The two elderly men came in with Tsendee and sat down. One of the ladies graciously helped them with a Bible. They listened intently to the entire sermon that I was preaching about the resurrection of Jesus.

Afterwards, as I greeted them, they expressed that they enjoyed the good lesson. Many people besides me invited them to join us again.

I was glad to see that our regulars were very friendly and warm to all the visitors. Especially since Resurrection Sunday set a new mark for attendance for us.

In the evenings is our English service. Again, I was able to preach that Jesus is alive, that His resurrection proves His victory over death, and that He now offers us eternal life. Again, we had several visitors present including a Japanese man that I had visited five years ago. He remembered me, and I remembered him. It is amazing to me how God sometimes brings people out who crossed my path years before and seemed closed to attending a church service.

Also attending Sunday night was Enkhamgalan, another man for whose salvation I have been praying for some time. He had not come to a church service for many months when suddenly he showed up again.

I so strongly desire to see the seeds of the gospel that were planted on Resurrection Sunday to grow to be fruit that will remain! Please pray that the Holy Spirit would work powerfully in Mongolia.

Picture of the week

This week's picture is of the prayer meeting that we held on Wednesday night. As you can see from the picture there are five foreigners and five Mongolians. One of the Mongolians was a first-time visitor that had never been to a church meeting of ours before. She came with a friend.

We spent some time looking at gratitude and its relation to prayer and then mentioned requests. Afterwards, we broke up into two groups and spent time praying. Our focus on Wednesday nights is to pray for each other. After all, as was once said, "The greatest thing that anyone can do for God and man is pray. It is not the only thing; but it is the chief thing. The great people of the earth today are the people who pray. I do not mean those who talk about prayer; nor those who say they believe in prayer; nor yet those who can explain about prayer; but I mean those people who take time to pray."

May God bless you as you pray for us this week!

Weather report from Outer Mongolia

The weather here has been wonderful recently! The high on Wednesday was 77° F. It has cooled down a little since then.

In previous years, they did not turn down the heat even as the weather grew warmer. This year they have been turning down the heat. The heat in the rooms where the church meets was off on Wednesday.

The children have been outside playing. I have been throwing a baseball with the children in the warm sunshine and walking in the morning to have a cup of coffee with a friend. He usually pays for the coffee.

A talk with Bob

I had a talk with Bob today. Bob is one of those men with many human advantages: he has many friends, is very personable, knowledgeable, a good teacher. But as far as I can see, he is lacking the two qualities that he needs most: humility and teachability. We had a long talk today and he helped me translate a sermon illustration for Sunday.

I challenged him to be baptized. The one obstacle is that he wants to continue to live in the world and keep the other foot on God's side of the fence. He does not want to be totally committed to Jesus and he does not want to be completely in the world. I told him that it is not possible to straddle the fence for very long. He said he would like to see if it is possible to straddle the fence. Let's pray that he would develop a spirit of humility and teachability that will allow him to be used of God.

God answers prayer

Almost a year ago, Gantsetseg came for the first time to one of our services. She came once in a while until about August when she began to come regularly. She was saved and then baptized. But there was one problem. Although married and with a two-year-old daughter, she had been estranged from her husband since before she came to our church for the first time.

We have been praying that God would reconcile Gantsetseg with her husband. Two weeks ago when I was talking to her about it, she said she thought it was impossible that they were ever be reconciled. Tonight she told us at our prayer meeting that her husband had suggested that she move back in with him.

Now those two still have a long ways to go. The husband still needs to confess that he is a sinner and ask for the forgiveness that is found in Jesus Christ. However, this is a good first step.

Reaching another milestone

There are certain milestones that a missionary reaches in his ministry: the first time preaching in the language, the first national who makes a profession of faith, the first time a national preaches, and other milestones such as this.

Today's milestone may not be as significant as the ones mentioned above; however, it is significant to me. Today was the first Sunday when all the teaching and preaching was done by Mongolians. Ganaa taught the children as she normally does, Ganpurev preached as he usually does, and instead of me preaching, Bilgee did the preaching. I praise the Lord for providing Mongolian men and women who are competent to preach and teach.

We also had a good turnout. I bowed my head to pray near the beginning of the service and when I lifted my head, it seemed as if another 5 or 6 Mongolians had appeared during the prayer. We had three first-time visitors and another two ladies who had not come in months. So I was very happy for the turnout. God is good all the time.

Another picture of me teaching

This week's picture is from the third Bible institute class. I'm teaching in Mongolian. I still wish that I spoke Mongolian better.

It's a fight to pray!

A missionary does many difficult things: learn a new language, travel around North America speaking in churches, trying to reconcile nationals when one is unaware of all the cultural implications. But perhaps the hardest single thing a missionary does is to pray. Hudson Taylor must have experienced the same thing in his ministry because he wrote, "Satan will always find you something to do when you ought to be occupied about that [prayer and Bible study], if it is only arranging a window blind."

I have noticed myself that I should keep a pen and paper next to me whenever I pray because I seem to remember a myriad of different things that need to be done, people who need to be called, or great sermon ideas. I write them down and then immediately get back to prayer.

I schedule my prayer time for early in the morning that allows me to avoid the calls and text messages that seem to come my way. It is amazing when I try to pray at other times of the day the interruptions that can occur.

Practice time and game time

Growing up I played basketball. Even through college I played basketball. My least favorite part of being on the basketball team was conditioning. Especially in college, we spent a large part of our time running. My next least favorite part was the drills: passing, dribbling, shooting, more running. If I were to compare the amount of time spent playing basketball to the amount of time spent in practice, I am certain that the amount of time in practice would be more than the amount spend playing in games by a factor of 10 or more.

Why spend so much time practicing? The games are what count. But it is in much practice that we prepared for the games. A team that practices together can overcome teams that have more raw talent but that have not spend as much time developing it.

The same is true in our spiritual lives. Times of prayer, Bible study, meditation on God's word - these all prepare us for the times of discouragement, trouble, and obstacles that crop up occasionally. If we wait for the obstacles and discouraging circumstances to come before we begin to pray, study God's word, and meditate then we will be ill prepared to face our seemingly impossible situations.

In fact, my observation tells me that failure to "practice" is the mark of an immature Christian. He only sees the need for Scripture and prayer and fellowship when life is difficult. When life is going well, he seems content to read his Bible occasionally if at all, to pray only when publically called on to pray, and to miss fellowship with other Christians when something else comes up.

We can never be prepared to be used of God until we have practiced so that when game time comes, we are ready.

Weekly update

I am so grateful to know that you all pray for us. When obstacles arise or illness strikes or people disappoint, we rest on God's unfailing grace. But it's encouraging to know that you pray for us too.

I cannot share the details of one recent disappointment with you at this time. However, I would ask you to pray for wisdom and patience for us as we seek to do God's will and work to accomplish His will.

The Bible institute program has turned out better than I expected. We had seven Mongolians show up again last night. It looks like the Bible institute will consist of a core group of three Mongolian men and two Mongolian women. Let's pray that these three Mongolian men would grow to be men of character, mighty in spirit, and bold to preach God's word. I find great joy in seeing the Mongolians serving and studying to serve.

And to update those of you praying for Mandaa and Byambaa: there is still no word on him leaving the country. It seems to us as if the offer to work in Russia did not work out. I will keep you updated as I know more - Mandaa is not talking to his wife about it. However, let's also take time to thank the Lord for answering our prayers!