800th post

It's hard for me to imagine but this is post 800. I began the blog on June 28, 2006. Now almost five years later, I have posted 800 times. Many events have happened since the blog started. I believe that God's hand has been upon the ministry here. People have been saved. Mongolians have been baptized. The church's meeting location has changed twice. We've completed a building project. I've been in involved in a Bible translation project. My family has enjoyed a furlough.

So much has happened. And I’m rejoicing to serve our Savior!

Quote of the week

"Alcoholics should stay out of the bars. If you know you have a problem with spending, stay out of the mall." — Dave Ramsey

update on the Deans in Mongolia

I've been asking you to pray for our residency permission. So I wanted to let you know that we received word today that our residency permission will be extended for another six months. Thanks for praying.

I'll be posting more about our residency permission this weekend. Until then, keep praying for the salvation of Mongolians and the spiritual growth of Mongolian men.

Weekly update

Resurrection Day is always a highlight of any year, and the events of this past weekend were an encouragement to us because it was a good weekend for Faith Baptist Church.

On Saturday, some of the church members came out to clean and to visit our neighbors to invite them to our church services. Saturday was followed by a great day of services on Resurrection Sunday. In the morning we had fourteen first-time visitors from our neighborhood. In addition, neighbors from the building where we live also came to the service. Please pray that they would return. Both Ganpurev and I preached salvation messages though with different emphases. Afterwards, the church observed the Lord's Supper which is always a special time for the church.

In the evening for the English service we had sixty-six in attendance. While our all-time high is over seventy, it was a great turnout! Mongolians and Chinese, Americans and Cubans were among the nationalities represented in the service. Again in the evening after examining our hearts, we observed the Lord's Supper. There were almost ten first-time visitors again in the evening.

I want to express my gratitude to all of you who prayed for our services on Sunday.

the empty tomb

Last year, Kristie and I had a chance to visit Israel. It was a memorable trip. For me, one of the greatest joys was visiting the Garden Tomb. We had an excellent volunteer guide, and the atmosphere is indescribable.

But the highlight of the visit and the trip is seeing the empty tomb. Whether Jesus' body lay for three days and three nights in the tomb that we visited I cannot say. But I can proclaim that regardless of where His body was laid, it is not

there now! No, He is risen and seated at the right hand of the Father. Our visit to an empty tomb outside of Jerusalem was simply a reminder of that fact.

So if you are a Christian, rejoice with me today that He is risen as He said.

If you have not trusted Christ as your personal Savior from sin, I encourage you to seek out the historical documents starting with the record of the Bible. Come, see for yourself if Jesus Christ has not been declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead. Here's the testimony of one who did just that and what he found.

Deans' weekly update

It's that time again, time to pray for our residency permission to be renewed. Our last residency permission was for three months; this time the renewal should be for a year.

At the risk of being overly transparent, I will tell you about my own personal struggles. I have been much tempted to worry about the extension of our residency permission. I have heard many rumors about various problems foreigners have been having in dealing with the bureaucracy. Usually out of context and without a resolution these reports have been fuel for worry. I wonder if my residency permission will be extended. I worry about what will happen if they refuse to allow me to continue to live in Mongolia. I think about what I could say to convince them to let me stay.

The past few days my scheduled Bible reading has been in the Psalms. The Lord has used those passages to renew my confidence in Him and increase my faith. One Psalm reminds us: "Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD."

Then today as I was driving and praying, the Holy Spirit reminded me that worry is also a sign of a lack of faith. When I remember that God is in control, that His way is perfect, that He already knows all about my residency permission then I am comforted. Resting in His arms, I know that He will never let me fall. That is not to say that our residency permission will definitely be renewed. It may not be. But I know that it is in the Lord's hands. With those thoughts, I re-committed myself to serve the Lord wherever He leads me.

So pray with us. My parents come tomorrow for a visit. We will be glad to have them with us for a while. As you pray for us, thank the Lord for giving us good parents who love us and support what we are doing.

Spirit-filled ministry

When you pray for missionaries, remember to pray that they would minister in the power of the Holy Spirit and not in the flesh. A person can accomplish many things in the flesh; but none of those achievements will be worth our time when viewed from eternity. Jesus told his disciples, “Without me, ye can do nothing.”

Anyone who reads the book of Acts quickly recognizes the role that the Holy Spirit had in the early church: empowering, protecting, leading, and conforming. They had the miracles of healing to show the people. Holy Spirit filled Christians today have the miracle of changed lives to show to those who observe us.

The Holy Spirit empowered the apostles to speak with boldness even when their lives were threatened. “And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word ... And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.” Notice that they prayed for boldness and the Holy Spirit gave them boldness. What missionary does not need more boldness to preach Christ?

He protected the apostles by raising up Gamaliel, a member of the council, to protect them when their very lives were threatened. It was a Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin who said, “But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God. And to him they agreed.” Do any of the missionaries for whom you pray need God’s protection? No doubt!

The Spirit of God led them in their decisions. It was the Spirit who prevented Paul from traveling into Bithynia to enable them to bring the Gospel to Europe. Missionaries need to be led by the Holy Spirit. There are a multitude of seemingly worthy distractions on the mission field. A pioneer missionary once said, “        It is one of the most subtle wiles of the foe to get us occupied with superficial and surface concerns (e.g., book-selling, language study, running mission-stations, report-writing, correspondence, account-keeping, building, repairs, buying things, reading, etc.). The enemy is delighted to have us so occupied incessantly with secondary and trivial concerns, as to keep us from attacking and resisting in the true spirit of the conflict. Weigh these words.” The missionary daily led by the Holy Spirit has protection from these distractions and a guarantee that what he is doing will matter in eternity. Pray for your missionaries to be guided by the Holy Spirit.

It is God’s plan from eternity past that we would be conformed to the image of His Son. At the same time that God uses circumstances to mold us (Rom. 8:28-29), He is also at work as the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God in a man yielded to God’s work in his life necessarily changes his manner of living from the inside out. When we look at the list recorded in Galatians we realize that the works of the flesh are actions, things that we do. But the next list is not a list of actions but attitudes. As the Holy Spirit fundamentally changes the way that we approach life, our entire demeanor changes.

Even missionaries, especially missionaries require the ministry of the Holy Spirit changing them from the inside out. Jim Elliot once remarked, “So many missionaries, intent on doing something, forget that His main work is to make something of them.” It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit that we can make a lasting impact in the culture in which we serve. Pray for your missionaries to be filled with the Spirit, empowered to preach with boldness, protected by His hand, led by His wisdom, and changed by His work!

Quotes of the week

"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked; there is no reason not to follow your heart." — Steve Jobs 2005 commencement at Stanford

"Take death for example. A great deal of our effort goes into avoiding it. We make extraordinary efforts to delay it, and often consider its intrusion a tragic event. Yet we'd find it hard to live without it. Death gives meaning to our lives. It gives importance and value to time. Time would become meaningless if there were too much of it." — by Ray Kurzweil

"The average man, who does not know what to do with his life, wants another one which will last forever." – Anatole France

"Millions of people long for immortality who do not know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon." – Susan Ertz

I'm not saying that I agree with these quotes. Rather, I found them thought-provoking. We all face the reality of our own death. Are we using that to motivate us to live for Christ today? Or do we allow entertainment and distractions to keep us from the important work.

Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote, "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences."

What on earth are you doing for heaven's sake?

Deans' weekly update

In a country where every victory seems dear, the most recent story of Aya (pronounced Eye’ya) seems like a playoff win.

I wish I could bring you to Mongolia to meet these folks about whom you read. These are not fictional characters in a book; these are real life, flesh-and-blood, people with an eternal soul that will spend eternity either in the presence of God or the torments of hell. It can be easy even for me—and I live in Mongolia—to become apathetic and view these stories as just that: stories.

Aya is Ulzee’s mother. Aya’s mother Buurai (Bore’eye) had seven children. Some live in my city, some live north in another town, but because of the vicissitudes of life the family is very close. Buurai passed away some years ago. Because I had a burden to witness to her, I asked to be introduced to her once when she came to town. I told her that Jesus was the Savior of all men. She readily agreed that Jesus had been good for Ganpurev and Ulzee but tragically failed to see the need for personal faith in Jesus Christ.

Her oldest child is Aya. After Buurai passing, Aya became the matriarch of the family. At Tsagaan Sar nearly every member of the extended family comes to Ganpurev and Ulzee’s house to visit Aya. This has enabled Ganpurev and Ulzee to be a powerful testimony of God’s righteousness to the relatives.

I have had a couple of opportunities to witness to Aya in the past. She recognized the impressive change that God had worked in Ganpurev’s and Ulzee’s lives. Finally, several years I asked Aya if she had faith in Jesus. She told me that she was trusting Jesus in her heart.

Her son-in-law and daughter told us that she had given up the Buddhist rituals that she had done all her life.

About three years ago, Aya was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer. Aggressive chemotherapy and radiation treatments over the course of a year seemed to work wonders. However, the Christians of Faith Baptist Church knew that it was the power of God that spared Aya’s life. We prayed regularly for her health and entrusted her to God’s care. Though initially the doctors said that Aya’s cancer was too advanced to have any hope for long-term survival a year later the doctors were amazed that the initial tumor had shrunk to insignificance and other signs of cancer were non-existent. The entire church praised the Lord for sparing her life at that time. Aya herself expressed gratitude for our prayers.

Recently, Aya’s cancer which was in remission returned. The doctors have ordered tests some of which will take two weeks before the results are known. She is in some pain and cannot walk well.

A few weeks ago, someone asked Ganpurev in front of me about Aya’s spiritual condition. He admitted that she has professed personal faith in Jesus Christ and given up performing her Buddhist rituals in public. But he said that perhaps she continues to keep up her Buddhist traditions in secret. Because of Aya’s matriarchal position within the extended family she would be unlikely to abandon her Buddhist religion unless she were truly a Christian. However, I did not respond to Ganpurev’s comments.

Since hearing of Aya’s illness, I have been praying that she would have a way to express her sincere faith in Jesus Christ to her family and relatives.

Because most Mongolians are nominally Buddhist, on the occasion of one’s death in Mongolia Buddhist monks are called to begin making decisions about when and where to bury the body and which rituals need to be performed in order to lead the soul forward in its migration to the next life. Of course, all of this Buddhist tradition is nothing but lies from the father of lies.

It is tragic how relatives will almost ignore the physical needs of a family member who is terminally ill. However, once the person dies they will go to great lengths to provide for them in their after-life. When I mentioned this to a Mongolian Christian who is a member of another church in the city, he agreed that it was regrettable to see the way a family would neglect a sick person and honor their corpse.

Returning to Aya’s condition: Ganpurev and Ulzee have been a shining light to their family in their sacrificial care and seeking of treatment for Aya. Their selfless acts stand out to Mongolians because it is so unusual in this society.

They have taken Aya to see several doctors within the national health care system. Last Friday Aya’s son came to visit. He was concerned about his mother though it was his first visit since he heard of the return of his mother’s cancer. He and his wife offered to take her to a private hospital to see if the doctors there could perform any cancer treatment. Ganpurev and Ulzee did not accompany Aya when she went with her son to the private hospital.

The private hospital told Aya and her son that while there was not any Western treatment that could be performed that would heal her cancer, there was a private hospital nearby connected to a Buddhist temple. They might have a traditional treatment that would help Aya.

So they went next door to the hospital with its Buddhist treatments. They suggested an herb that would alleviate some of her pain. Then they proposed that they perform a Buddhist ritual for healing. Aya refused. So then they recommended that Aya walk a prescribed path by a series of idols because it would help her. Again Aya declined and insisted that she did not need to do that.

When the report came back to Ganpurev and Ulzee it seemed that the son was surprised to hear of Aya’s refusal. Reality in Mongolia is that many people make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior. But when illness comes or tragedy strikes they often revert back to their old Buddhist ways. To Ganpurev, Aya’s refusal to do so was a clear indication of her sincere faith in Jesus Christ. I cannot think of a better way that Aya could have made clear her turning from idols to the living God.

We need to pray that the family would respect Aya’s wishes both now and in the future. It would not be unexpected for the relatives to begin to pressure Aya to forsake the “foreign” religion and return to her Buddhist “roots” as they see it. My prayer is that Aya’s stand for the true God would be a lasting testimony that Jesus is the Savior of the world to her extended family.

Also, Aya’s position as the oldest member of the family makes her testimony of faith in Jesus Christ more culturally significant than other family member’s witness. This is one reason that I have been praying for her to make a clear profession of faith in Jesus to her relatives. Pray with me for this!

Quote of the week

"Upon each recurrence of my birthday I am solemnly impressed with the vanity and emptiness of worldly honor and worldly enjoyments, and of the wisdom of preparing for a future estate." — James Polk

Deans' April prayer letter

“Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word” (Acts 8:4).

The book of Acts is held up as an example of the methods and means that churches should use for the propagation and expansion of the Gospel. Currently, Faith Baptist Church where we minister is looking at Acts during our midweek service. The verse quoted above tells us that the ones who were scattered were not fleeing scared from persecution. They were escaping persecution, yes; but as they went, they continued to preach Christ crucified and resurrected!

A quick look at the first verse of the chapter shows us that those who were scattered were not the apostles who everyone would expect to be preaching. The ones scattered abroad were the new converts; the apostles stayed in Jerusalem.

In the same way that Jerusalem was the center of Jewish culture and society in the time of the apostles, Ulan Bator (also spelled Ulaanbaatar) is the center of Mongolian culture and society; so much so that all Mongolians refer to Ulan Bator as “the city.” Everything outside of Ulan Bator is “the countryside.” Rare is the occasion when a Mongolian leaves the city to minister in the countryside.

Every missionary’s goal is to see the ones whom he has led to the Savior preach the Good News to others. I was blessed and encouraged this past month when Baysaa (pronounced Buy•suh’) came to me to mention that he was planning to travel “to the countryside” in May. He wants to help his family, who are famers, plant the spring crop. He told me that he also has plans to preach Jesus Christ to them. My heart was full as I heard Baysaa’s plan to preach Christ to his own family. That he is one of the quietest Mongolians in the church only makes his

pronouncement even more significant. If Baysaa can be a bold witness to his family, anyone can be a bold witness.

For the past three weeks we have also had new visitors every week: Mongolians have been bringing their neighbors. These new visitors keep coming too. To me, this is another indication of Mongolians trying to reach Mongolians.

April is the month when we remember the resurrection of our Savior. We plan to look for extra opportunities to preach Christ and be witnesses to His resurrection this month. Please pray for us to have boldness and wisdom as we speak.

More about Bob

Bob came to church this last Sunday. He also came to church the previous Sunday. This is the first time that he has come to church two Sundays in a row since I returned to Mongolia.

I had heard that he was having some trouble with nose bleeds. Many people in Mongolia have trouble with that. Some people say it’s the altitude. Some people say it’s the dry air. Because there are many reasons for such trouble, I did not think much about it.

Bob had made it clear to me some time ago that he was not interested in following Jesus Christ. Although he has made a profession of faith in Christ, there has not been any fruit of repentance that I have seen.

That is not to say that God is not at work in Bob’s life. Many times when God is at work in another person’s life, we cannot see it, especially if they choose to hide from us. That is the way that Bob has been. I see him very rarely and when I do he does not seem eager to talk.

I was grateful to see him at meetings the past two Sundays. He was making jokes to his wife during one song service; at least, he was learning over to whisper in her ear while we were singing. She responded with a giggle.

Later however he was wearing a more serious expression as he softly joined us in singing another song. I was surprised by that because I don’t remember him singing at all for many years now.

After one service he told me that God was telling him to quit drinking. It was the first time that unsolicited he mentioned God’s work in his life.

A week ago Monday, he was a tremendous help to Ganpurev and Ulzee as they sought a diagnosis for Ulzee’s mother Aya. These are some interesting actions for Bob. I do not know what they mean. However, I will continue to pray for God’s hand to be upon him. If he needs repentance and salvation, God can bring him to that place. If he is a wayward son experiencing God’s discipline, then my prayer is that Bob will respond to God’s loving rebukes and be serious about following Jesus.

Deans' weekly update

When we moved into the new building I wondered if some people would stop coming because of the building's new location. Our previous locations were much more centrally located.

There was nothing to worry about. The last three weeks, we have had first-time visitors every week in both the Mongolian and English services. The best part is that the visitors just do not come once but keep returning.

Let me mention one urgent prayer request this week. Many of you know that the way that I stay in Mongolia is to be involved in projects other than my work for the Savior. For some years now I have been engaged in a building project that has been my visa and residency permission. With the building completed the next step is the establishment of a carpenter shop. My father is scheduled to come this month to train the Mongolians.

The building is ready, the Mongolian workers have been hired, I already have orders for cabinets, but the tools and wood that is needed is delayed in China. Pray that the shipment would be loaded this week. My father and I have invested much time and, in my father's case, a significant amount of money to make this carpenter shop a reality.

The building and carpenter shop project have also allowed me the freedom to maintain a visa and residency permission while permitting maximum flexibility in deciding my own schedule. Pray that the details would come together.

"Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It is never to be fretted or irritated or disappointed. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me and when I am blamed or despised. It is to go in and shut the door and kneel to my Father in secret, and be at peace." – Andrew Murray

I am learning this "perfect quietness of heart." It is not reacting in our own emotions when people disappoint us. It is not giving in to frustration and anger when circumstances overwhelm us. It is living with limitations that God has allowed even when we do not clearly understand the reason that God limits us. It is seeing the success of others, especially the ungodly, and trusting that the Judge of all the earth will do right (Ps. 37:1, 7; Gen. 18:25). It means that we do not allow our situation to dictate our response.

I was reminded of this quote on November 22 and included it here. I had just been ordered the previous week to leave the office that I was using. It would mean finding the sixth office to use since I found my first office eight years ago. In other words, not counting time away in the United States I had moved my office to a new location about once a year. On one occasion, it had been a personal choice. The other four occasions I had been forced out by capricious or unreasonable landlords. For this reason, I was tempted to become frustrated at the "unfair" way in which I was being treated.

Let me state again that meekness is not allowing our circumstances to determine our response. Meekness is reacting in the spirit of Jesus Christ. Remember that when He was reviled He did not curse those who were abusively insulting Him. Rather He committed Himself unto God the Father (I Pet. 2:23). This spirit of meekness is a fruit of the Spirit and an evidence of our faith in God.

Many times we are like children. Those of you with children know that it is a child's natural character to argue with a parent. The parent has given the child some command or circumstance that the child does not understand. Rather than submit to the will of the parent as commanded in the Scriptures, the child tries to argue with the parent as if the parent is wrong and needs correction.

Many times, by fretting in difficult situations and questioning God's wisdom in sending them to us, we as spiritual children are exhibiting the same attitude. Although we may not say it to others and though we would never "argue" with God, in attitude we are unwilling to accept that the circumstances of health, accident, pressure, or neighbors are the circumstances that are best for us.

After we graciously had moved out of my office, we found out from neighbors that the landlady had wanted the office back because her husband had died. In the darkness of her religion she believed that taking the office space back was necessary. My heart was filled with compassion when I realized that she was compelled by fear and superstition to give up the rent money that the office was providing. I was so glad that I did not respond to her with bitterness, anger, or resentment. It would be appropriate to end with the quote that began this post:

"Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It is never to be fretted or irritated or disappointed. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me and when I am blamed or despised. It is to go in and shut the door and kneel to my Father in secret, and be at peace."

Are you fretting, irritated, bitter, disappointed, cynical? Or are you at peace?