Tegshee was at church Sunday; Tonga was in the hospital

Tegshee was at church this Sunday with his mom, dad, and sister. The doctors say that he has made an excellent recovery, and his fellow hospital patients were amazed at his progress. We believe that God is answering our prayers. Keep praying for his father Togsoo's salvation.

Dashka's wife Tonga was in the hospital for a few days but recently went home. She was re-admitted Sunday night according to Dashka. One issue is that because there are many people waiting for this particular surgery it may be several weeks before she has surgery. She will have to wait until after surgery to begin any other cancer treatment. You can imagine the stress that the both of them are experiencing at this point. Dashka was at church on Sunday and even brought his two boys which is something I cannot remember him doing before. It seems to me that Dashka is trying to respond to God's work in his life correctly and is spending more time in prayer. He certainly is looking to God for comfort, strength, and healing. Let's keep praying.

Quote of the week

"We can never know an Eastern people -- it is fallacious to imagine we do -- while we find our chief recreation to be an escape from their companionship into the society of our fellow-Europeans." - Amy Carmichael

Although this was said by an Englishman. I think it still applies to Americans today. Insert "Asian" instead of "Eastern" and "fellow-Americans" for "fellow_Europeans" and her statement would read: "We can never know an Asian people -- it is fallacious to imagine we do -- while we find our chief recreation to be an escape from their companionship into the society of our fellow-Americans."

I see it here in Mongolia. There are two types of missionaries: those who know all the other missionaries and those who know Mongolians. While it is not always easy to spend our lives among people who are so different culturally, we remain convinced that God called us primarily to minister to Mongolians and not expatriates.

Updates

Some medical updates on those for whom you have been praying.

Tegshee may be released from the hospital as soon as Monday. His arm seems to be healing very nicely.

Tonga has been admitted to the National Cancer Hospital. The doctors are scheduled to have a consultation today. We are praying that she would be able to have surgery next week and then begin whatever other treatment is necessary.

Keep praying. Whenever I ask Dashka how we can be a help, he says, "Pray!"

Picture of the week

This week's picture shows Byambaa writing Old Script Mongolian using traditional Mongolian writing tools. See this webpage if you are interested in the Old Script.

Weekly update

It is during these times of special distress that we are especially glad to know that you are praying for us; and by saying "us" I do not mean merely my family but also the Mongolians that I mention by name.

This previous weekend brought much bad news from our Mongolian church members as seen through human eyes. First, I received a call on Saturday evening informing me that Togsoo and Gantuya's eight month old son Tegshee (pronounced Texshay) had stuck his arm in a pot of just boiled water. (I am not sure how the accident happened). His left hand and three quarters of his arm were severely burned. As they tried to remove his shirt, portions of his skin came off with the fabric. The doctors say that he has second degree burns. Please pray for complete healing for Tegshee and for the salvation of his father Togsoo. Gantuya was recently saved and baptized. This incident, though our adversary might intend it for evil, could be greatly used to bring glory to our Father, the Great Physician.

On Sunday, Dashka informed us that his wife Tonga has stomach cancer. On Monday, she had a CT scan to see how far the cancer has spread. The doctors said that looking at the scan results it appears that her cancer has not spread which is something for which we can praise the Lord! She has experienced stomach trouble for some months now but was reticent to see a doctor despite her husband's encouragement. Dashka is a Christian; Tonga is not. Please pray for her salvation and check back this week for more news.

I have already found one interesting source of encouragement in the first situation. I have been praying recently for servants, Christians who will be willing to just serve the church. I talked to Gantuya on Saturday. First, Ganpurev and his wife Ulzee went to visit Gantuya as soon as they could without being asked. Second, Gantuya was worried because it was her turn to be in the nursery watching the little children the next day and she was not going to make it. I had to smile when I heard about her concern about missing her responsibility. Of course, we were easily able to cover her post, but I was encouraged to see Ganpurev and Ulzee so willing to give up an evening to visit and to hear about Gantuya's interest in fulfilling her tasks.

Details of our fishing trip

My dad, Charissa, Caleb, and I headed out to the countryside to do some fishing. Above is a picture of the Yoroo River from Google Earth. It was at the Yoroo River where we decided to try our hand at fishing. The last time my dad and I went out to fish, we had transmission problems and had to drive all the way back to Ulan Bator in first gear. This time, I made certain that the vehicle was ready to go.

We drove north towards the border with Russia, finally arriving at a little town called Yoroo. The road so far had been either blacktop or an improved gravel road. In that little town, we providentially met another American who gave us some further directions to ideal fishing spots. We headed upriver on dirt roads. To use the word "roads" might be misleading for at times we only had two ruts in the grass to guide us as we tried to follow the river. My dad would see a spot that looked promising according to his experience and the fellow Americans advice and we would get out and throw our lines in. The wind gusted all day which was annoying, and we didn't have much success fishing. Our lack of success fishing was particularly strange as my dad is a very good fisherman as the picture below of a fish he caught in the States shows.

Finally, about six in the evening, my dad suggested we get some dinner and prepare for bed. Because the wind had been blowing all day, we wondered if the tent - an old one with a strange design - would stay up. We put the tent up before dinner, placing the vehicle strategically and setting the tent up beside it to protect the tent from the prevailing winds. My dad expressed several times his concern that the tent might collapse if the wind continued to blow. However, as we fixed and ate dinner the tent remained standing, thereby convincing my dad that it wasn't about to collapse.

After a game of UNO, we finally laid down in the tent to sleep for the night. As we laid down, I began planning for the next day: we would get up early in the morning and move north to another river to try fishing there. I fell asleep contemplating the drive to the next location, the wind gently blowing against the tent.

I woke up suddenly and noticed that it was not quite dark. The wind had changed directions and was not blowing gently but whipping against the tent from a different direction. I looked at my watch and noticed that only about 30 minutes had passed since I had laid down. I heard thunder in the distance and could see flashes of lightning through the tent walls. Before I had been confident that the tent would stay up in the wind; now I wondered. I wasn't planning on a gale. As I sat up to contemplate the situation, my dad woke up. We discussed the sudden change in weather and whether the tent would stand up in the growing gale.

About that time, I grabbed the metal tent pole because the tent began to collapse. My dad pointed out that it was not probably the safest thing to be holding a metal tent pole in the middle of a field during an electrical storm. Letting go of the tent pole would mean that the rear wall of the tent would collapse completely. As we pondered whether to sleep in a collapsed tent and to risk being struck by lightning, we decided that it was time to "abandon tent." As we made our decision, it began to rain ... very hard.

We quickly woke up Caleb and evacuated the tent with all speed. Caleb and Charissa (who had been sleeping in the car) waited in the car as my dad and I threw everything in the back of the jeep. My dad and I discussed that the dirt roads that brought us to our fishing spot were quickly turning to mud and decided that it would be wise to retreat to the gravel road with all speed.

As we began to drive away from the river, it began to hail. Hailstones the size of large peas began to strike the car. My dad asked if rocks were hitting the car, but they weren't rocks; they were hailstones.

We safely made it back to the gravel road. However, the gravel road led to a large coal mine where trucks were hauling coal out of the mine and returning to it. These monstrous dump trucks would splash through the deep puddles on the road and throw muddy water completely over the jeep. Combined with the wind, hail, and lightning it seemed as if all things were working against us to prevent us from leaving.

At first we discussed traveling only as far as Yoroo or perhaps another town further down the road. But we realized that with all the wind, rain, and hail that the rivers in the vicinity would be muddy for days which would decrease our chance of fishing success. In the end, we drove all the way back to Ulan Bator arriving at four the next morning.

Pray for Dashka's wife

Along with news about Tegshee's injury, we heard today from Dashka that his wife has stomach cancer. We have known for some months that Tonga (Dashka's wife) was having stomach trouble. However, she did not want to see a doctor. Several weeks ago she saw a doctor and began tests. Doctors diagnosed cancer this past week though they have not yet told Tonga; they did tell Dashka. The plan is to have a scan done tomorrow (computer aided tomography) to see how much the cancer has spread before suggesting a course of treatment. Dashka says that Tonga is already only drinking liquids. She can no longer ingest solid food.

The saddest part of this dire situation is that Tonga is not saved although she has heard the Gospel several times. Please pray with us for her salvation!

Urgent prayer request

Togsoo called me tonight to tell me that his son Tegshee (pronounced Texˑshay)had been seriously burned. His wife Gantuya talked to me too and was very upset. Please pray for this tiny child. He is less 9 months old. Tegshee is the baby with Kristie in the picture above.

News about registering with the government

I have heard news from another missionary that the government of Mongolia is attempting to register all the churches in Ulan Bator. From another missionary I received a sheet of items that the government is requiring of all churches. Faith Baptist Church has remained unregistered. But it could be in the coming months that we face a government requiring us to register. Please pray for wisdom as we face this decision whether to register or not.

The largest equestrian statue in the world

My parents and my family visited the largest equestrian statue in the world today. I had heard about it but had never visited. The statue along with the base stands 40 meters tall, and 250 tons of stainless steel went into the creation of the statue. A stairwell or elevator will take visitors up to the horses mane where another set of steps takes one up to the top of the horse's head.

Weekly update

Thank you for praying. We are truly grateful to know that people pray for us; it is a continual source of encouragement to us!

My parents arrived from the United States and were with us for both the morning service in Mongolian and the evening service in English. Here are several of their observations.
1. Mongolians are wonderfully friendly people. We have far more invitations to visit people's homes than we can visit.
2. Mongolians usually come late to church. We had six adults when we started and sixteen by the time we finished.
3. Mongolian drivers are crazy.
4. Mongolian pedestrians are even crazier. We've seen three people almost hit by cars in the last few days. I guess because I'm here all the time, I don't notice it anymore.

As as example of the things that surprise my parents, just Sunday night walking to church, we saw a bicyclist prepare to shoot out into the road. At the last second, the bicyclist and the car on the collision course with him hit their brakes ... hard. They came to a stop about a foot or two from each other.

Then coming home from our church building my father said to me, "Is that car really going to try to fit between those two [parked] cars?" Sure enough, the Mongolian driver had a couple of inches on each side and pulled out nonchalantly. I did not have the heart to tell my father that I drive that way too.

It has been great having my parents with us. This week my father and I and two of the children are headed to the Mongolian countryside to do some fishing. It should be a great time unless the car breaks down which is what happened the last time that we went fishing.

It is good to know that God is in control.

Weekly update

We observed the Lord's Supper for the first time in the church's history. It is such a serious and sincere event, a time of cleansing and reflection, a too brief moment of celebration and remembrance.

My parents arrived safely last night. We are so glad for two sets of parents who support our efforts to serve Christ in a far off country and are willing to sacrifice financially in order to visit us. I am only aware of two other missionary families in Mongolia who have had both sets of parents come to visit them in Mongolia. After all, Mongolia is never one of those places "on the way to somewhere else." Americans do not pass through Ulan Bator; they come here because they want to visit Mongolia. We thank God for blessing us with two sets of parents who love us, support us, pray for us, and are willing to sacrifice to visit us.

Our youngest daughter Elsie's prayer the night before my parents arrived was, "Help us not be too excited in the morning about Grandma and Grandpa coming." All the children are pleased to have their grandparents around for a brief visit.