Quote of the week

"But I have wondered long and hard why it is that while we relentlessly seek God’s answers when in the throes of suffering we never seem to pause with equal sincerity to ask Him for guidance of wisdom in pleasure and seem very uncertain about God’s presence in fun and pleasure." —Ravi Zacharias

"Warm" weather

Kristie and I both noticed that our apartment was becoming hot and stuffy. I thought perhaps it was warming up outside, so I checked the weather. It was -1 F (about -18 C)

Learning a language

I'm taking the week off so please don't expect many posts. So I'm posting this ahead of time.

Another man's language learning experience

Joint Christmas service

This year Christmas fell on a Sunday. So we combined the Mongolian-speaking folks and the English-speaking folks for one big service. It was a good opportunity for the two groups to meet each other. They do not have ethnicity in common, they do not have culture in common, they do not have language in common; but they have in common the most important thing: the true God. As Peter said, "Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God." We had nearly sixty in attendance. 

We did almost everything in English and Mongolian. For example, we sang some Christmas carols. Those who knew English sang them in English; those who knew Mongolian sang in Mongolian. It was a little discordant hearing two languages sung to the same tune at the same time. Also, there was a Bible reading of the Christmas story in English and Mongolian.

I preaching in both languages also: first speaking in one language and then the other.

Below are some pictures of the folks who came and me preaching.

Christmas Eve

Perhaps it is that people who cannot be "home" for Christmas have a greater capacity to understand what it meant for God the Father to send His Son to be the Savior of the world. After all, though we are created in His image our emotions are a poor reflection of the emotions which God the Father has. The soldier far from home desires the warmth and comfort of a safe Christmas. The merchant delayed in his travels wishes for the relaxation and peace that a return home provides. The missionary separated by an ocean from his loved ones longs for the familiar fellowship of his own people.

How God the Father must have felt looking down on His Son, so vulnerable and small laying in a trough where the animals fed. Just a few miles away the cruel King Herod lived in Jerusalem willing to protect his throne at any cost. I am not suggesting that God was worried; the Creator of the world knows all. But the separation from His Son must have held some emotion for Him.

And yet, God was willing to send His Son. Not merely consenting to another's plan, God Himself had chosen to include His Son in His plan for the redemption of the world. Knowing that He was sending His Son to those who would reject Him, knowing that He was sending His Son to a sin-sick world, knowing that He was sending His Son to bear the weight of the world's sins, God willingly chose to give His Son to be our righteousness.

But Christmas is a reminder of God intense love for us, a love so deep that He chose to be with us. That is what Immanuel means: “God with us.” As we celebrate Christmas remembering the birth of Jesus we commemorate that great event of “God with us.” But “God with us” meant that God left His throne to come and live among men. Leaving His throne could not have been without emotional consequences for Him. Leaving "home" to live among men, experiencing the vicissitudes of life: hunger and thirst, weariness and human ignorance.

So as you celebrate on Christmas Day, as you rejoice with family (as we'll be rejoicing with ours), as you open a gift—remember Jesus forsaking the ease of heaven to live through the pain of earth. Consider God's greatest gift: His Son.

Christmas Quote of the Week

Christians do "not superstitiously observe days, merely as days, but as memorials of important facts. Christmas might be kept as well upon one day of the year as another; but there should be a stated day for commemorating the birth of our Saviour, because there is danger that what may be done on any day, will be neglected."  —Samuel Johnson

December prayer letter

“The lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in.” Several years ago, with the help of fellow missionaries in Mongolia, we began an English-preaching service to minister to expatriates and English-speaking Mongolians.

We are always looking for appropriate ways to encourage people to come to our church’s services, whether they are in Mongolian or English. Also, it is important that as many Christians as possible serve in their church. To facilitate both of these goals, we recently held a special Christmas service.

The special Christmas service held several “firsts” for us. It was the first time to meet at a public spot besides the church’s facilities. It was the first time for a choir to sing. It was the first time for many Christians to serve in a visible way in Mongolia. Further, I learned some important lessons about serving.

Jason Ritchie’s family arrived in Ulan Bator in May. Jason and his wife, Mary, have been studying the language since their move to Mongolia. But Jason also offered to pick music and organize a choir for a special Christmas presentation.

We had a good response, with 10 people offering to come early on Sundays to learn the music and present it. Then, several suggested that if we held the Christmas service at a more central location, more people would attend. So we decided to host it at Millies’ Espresso, which is mere minutes walking distance from the very heart of Ulan Bator.

Millies Espresso’s proprietor is Daniel Correa, a friend of mine. His restaurant is closed on Sundays, and he graciously agreed to allow us to host the Christmas special at his restaurant. This meant that we first had to re-arrange the restaurant to accommodate the choir and everyone. Then we had to put it all back, so that Daniel could open for business on Monday morning early. (He opens as early as any restaurant in Mongolia with which I am familiar.)

But nearly everyone pitched in to set up the restaurant, move over some needed items, participate in the singing and children’s program, then tear everything down, and reset the place for Monday.

We also had a good attendance, almost 60. A dozen of those were first-time visitors. The choir sang well, with Jason competently directing, and I preached the Gospel: God’s Greatest Gift. There was a fellowship afterwards, where many of us had an opportunity to talk further with our guests. Several visitors should be back with us this Sunday.


This experience was encouraging for three reasons. I was happy to see so many serve in various ways. Anytime we have a dozen visitors, it is a good turnout. And everyone that I talked to wants to do it again…at Easter.

Pray about…

Some quick things that I would ask you to pray about.

A lady who attends our English service has a regular Bible study at the ladies' prison near town. She has arranged for the choir to head out there and sing this Thursday. She also asked me to preach to the ladies following the choir. Pray for wisdom and boldness for me.

Dashka went into the hospital today. He's not been well since he was beat up some weeks ago. Please pray for his recovery.

Aya is also becoming weaker and experiencing more pain. I thank the Lord that He has graciously left her with us for this long. I'll be heading there today to see her. Pray for her to have peace and relief from her pain.

Weekly update

It’s time again to write a weekly update to all those of you who pray for us. We had twenty-five Mongolians out this past Sunday; a far cry from the nine we had the week before. Strangely, of the nine people who were there the previous week only one family attended this last week. I am serious when I ask you to pray for me not to become cynical.

Most families at Christmas time have some decorations in their home. This Christmas, you most likely will receive a gift. Almost all of us will give a gift to someone else. But this Christmas, I want to challenge you to do something in addition to all those other things you will do: take some time on Christmas Day to give the greatest and most difficult gift of all.

Paul begs the Christians of Rome to give to God their own bodies as a living sacrifice to God, to determine God’s will, and to do it. Most of us have already done that at some point in our lives. But I echo the words of a famous missionary when I say that any gift which is given for a lifetime cannot be given in a moment. There must be a daily re-dedication to God’s will and God’s way in our lives. As we contemplate the infinitely valuable gift that God has given us on this day, may we determine to give (again) the best thing we can give to God.

“They which live should not … live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again.”

Children's Christmas party

It was below zero outside but our house was warm as we had 15 children at our place for a Christmas party. We invited our neighbors’ children and the children from the church’s Sunday school class to be with us. There was a craft, cookie making, the true Christmas story, and a search for the presents.

Kristie and our children had prepared the cookie dough ahead of time. Everyone pitched in the clean the house. In past years Kristie or I had taught the story but Tsegii, a young lady from the church, come to teach the story this year. It is definitely true to say that some of the children at the party heard the story about Jesus’ birth for the first time.

Opportunities such as this are important to our desire to teach the Mongolian people about Jesus Christ. Pray that the seeds planted today will grow into plants that will scatter the seed of the Gospel far and wide in this country.

Quote of the week

"All the problems of heaven and earth, though they were to confront us together and at once, would be nothing compared with the overwhelming problem of God: That He is; what He is like; and what we as moral beings must do about Him.

"The man who comes to a right belief about God is relieved of ten thousand temporal problems, for he sees at once that these have to do with matters which at the most cannot concern him for very long, but even if the multiple burdens of time may be lifted from him, the one mighty single burden of eternity begins to press down upon him with a weight more crushing than all the woes of the world piled one upon another. That mighty burden is his obligation to God. It includes an instant and lifelong duty to love God with every power of mind and soul, to obey Him perfectly, and to worship Him acceptably. And when the man’s laboring conscience tells him that he has done none of these things, but has from childhood been guilty of foul revolt against the Majesty in the heavens, the inner pressure of self-accusation may become too heavy to bear.

"The gospel can lift this destroying burden from the mind, give beauty for ashes, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. But unless the weight of the burden is felt the gospel can mean nothing to the man; and until he sees a vision of God high and lifted up, there will be no woe and no burden. Low views of God destroy the gospel for all who hold them." —A. W. Tozer

The cold comes …

Well, it should be cold over the weekend. As you can see they're predicting that it won't be much warmer than zero (that's -17 below for the most of the world) until next week. Today's high may not even reach the -11 F that is predicted. After all, look at the time stamp (1:34) and it's still -15. We're thankful for a warm apartment.

Also, I should mention that we had more adults at prayer last night than we had at the church service on Sunday. I'm not sure the reason for that but am grateful that people come out even when it was so cold.

Deans' weekly update

The bad news just keeps coming for Dashka. He was beat up last Tuesday walking home from a friend's house. A couple of drunks grabbed him and beat him up, saying, "Stay away from my friend." The only problem is that he does not know those two men or their friend.

The next day his son got a black eye at school. The day after his daughter fell while running on the playground and bruised her forehead. So for a few days the three of them looked like they had been in a fight.

the restaurant where we met

Sunday morning we had nine Mongolians come to the service. There was Dashka's bruised family who couldn't come. Another family was sick. The best I can tell, the rest just decided that it wasn't important to come.

What a contrast Sunday night was! We had nearly sixty people and a dozen first time visitors. We had an eight person choir sing. The children gave a short program. The Ritchie family provided gifts for everyone. I preached the good news of God's greatest gift: Jesus Christ. Although there were no decisions, we received a lot of positive feedback. There were people involved in the choir that had not served in any way before, and the choir enjoyed themselves so much that many of them want to do it again at Easter.

the choir singing

This weekend, our family is hosting a children's Christmas party for our Sunday school children and neighbors' children combined. It is a lot of work to prepare for it but always a big hit with the children. It gives us a chance to present the true Christmas story and distribute Gospel literature.

Please pray for Dashka. I know that God is teaching him many things and that His plan is always best. But frankly, he has suffered so much this last year. Also, pray for us as we prepare for the Christmas party. This is a unique opportunity to reach out to our neighbors that we want to take proper advantage of.

For the grammar buffs: I wasn't very happy ending my final paragraph with a preposition. But really, conversationally speaking, "This is a unique opportunity to reach out to neighbors of which we want to take proper advantage" is an awkward sentence. And I remembered the famous orator Sir Winston Churchill's advice: "Ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put."

Mongolia has its own kind of winter beauty

We had a kind of freezing fog on Sunday morning when I rose. As you can see from these pictures, the ice froze to the trees creating beautiful white trees. It looks as if someone "frosted" the tress. But it is just ice. By today the effect was almost gone.

Meeting at a restaurant tomorrow

Some things to pray about:

Tomorrow the English preaching service is meeting at a restaurant. About ten of us have been practicing some Christmas music for the last six weeks. We have all been inviting guests out and hope to have a good crowd tomorrow. To make it easier for our guests to come and to accomodate a larger crowd, we have arranged to meet at Millies Cafe. At our current location, we can seat about 60. At Millies Cafe we may be able to seat as many as 90. Pray for all to go well. Many of these pieces are a first time attempt for us: the first time to have a choir sing and the first time to meet at Millies Cafe.

One another note, a Bible translator and our song leader Dashka was attacked by 3 men on Tuesday night and beaten. I've only been able to talk to him for a few minutes. I was not aware of the attack until Friday. I plan to visit him this next week to see him. He won't be able to make it to the service tomorrow. Pray for Dashka to recover and for all of us to learn the lessons that God is trying to teach during this difficult time.

Tomorrow we'll be converting this Cafe into a meeting place for the church.

Quote of the week

"If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. But since our greatest need was forgiveness, God sent us a Savior." Max Lucado

The World's Coldest Capital

I was talking with a fellow today who works for the United Nations (I can't remember: are they an ally or an enemy?). He is to be re-posted to a new location this summer and was mentioning that this is his last winter in Mongolia. I casually remarked that I hoped he would be posted to a warmer place. Of course, he responded, because Ulan Bator is the world's coldest capital any place he is posted would be warmer. We were talking as we walked away from the post office; the temperature at the time was about -20 F (-29 C).

This past Saturday it was a little warmer, so I walked to the post office from my house. It was zero when I started out in the late afternoon. When I arrived home the sun was setting, and the temperature had dropped to -6 F. I've posted some pictures from my walk.

That sidewalk is just a sheet of ice; folks who live in Mongolia learn to walk very carefully. And the weather is so cold that businesses will pay to have ice sculptures carved. (The one in the picture says "CENTRAL" for Central Tower). They know that the ice will last 3-4 months (usually late November to early March. You'll also notice a Christmas tree in front of the office building. They seem to be everywhere here this year. If you ask a Mongolian, they associate them with the upcoming new year's celebrations.

Deans' weekly update

The weather has warmed up a little since I last wrote to you all. As I write to you in the middle of the day it's currently 3 F (-16 C). My parents leave on Thursday to visit friends in Hong Kong where it is a balmy 72 F today. Perhaps I'll send Kristie with them.

We had a good attendance yesterday despite the cold: thirty-four in the morning and another thirty-eight in the evening. The choir is preparing our music for this coming Sunday. We have printed some flyers and distributed some by email. We anticipate a good crowd of folks will come out next week.

Pray especially for Togsoo (Took•suh') and his wife Gantoya (Gone'•toy•a). He has not been attending church meetings recently. His wife has only been coming sporadically. They say that they are too busy.

This past summer, Togsoo's mother died unexpectedly. This past weekend his middle-aged brother died suddenly. I suspect that God is trying to draw Togsoo's attention to Himself. Pray for Togsoo to find peace in seeking the one true God.

I've included a picture of our family with my parents.

Quote of the week

"The helpers themselves need much help, much care and instruction; but they are becoming more efficient as well as more numerous, and the hope for China lies doubtless in them. I look on foreign missionaries as the scaffolding round a rising building; the sooner it can be dispensed with, the better – or the sooner, rather, that it can be transferred to serve the same temporary purpose elsewhere." —J. Hudson Taylor, speaking of national helpers