Tonga's passing

Today I am sitting here with a cup of tea. The temperature outside is -26 (-32 for those of you who use Celcius). Too cold for much outside travel. Yesterday was slightly warmer which was a good thing because I stood outside some.

Yesterday was the day that we participated in the ceremonies surrounding the passing of Dashka's wife Tonga. I mentioned in last week's update her desperate condition. My visit to her ger last week is a scene that has been burned into my memory. The next e-mail that I wrote following my weekly update was to announce her passing.

Yesterday was the funeral. There were several occasions where we stood outside for a ceremony or waiting for a ceremony. It was cold yesterday. The silence and tears are the same for every funeral service. But the single largest contrast with a Christian ceremony was the lack of hope. Not one of the many non-Christians in attendance is certain of Tonga's fate or future. They draw no lessons from her passing unless it is the hope that after their demise someone will have the rituals performed for them. There is no talk of a loving, holy, creator God. There is no mention of His provision of salvation. There is no reference to the eternal Life, Jesus Christ.

Yesterday was an apt illustration of Paul's words, "Sorrow not, even as others which have no hope." The home-going of a loved one is difficult, but the death of one in a society that refuses to recognize the true God is tragic.

Today, please pray for Dashka and his children Ankhmaa (14), Amraa (8), Hobo (6), and Ămey (2). Ămey (short 'a' as in "cat") is the youngest and was born prior to Tonga's diagnosis with cancer. Her name means "Life" and reminds us of our Ray of Hope, Jesus Who is our Life in this dark hour. Even in darkness God has given us hope for the children.