No Competition in Foot Washing

some more prayer requests

I talked to Ganpurev on the phone yesterday and wanted to update you all on how they are doing.

The Sunday service was well-attended. It's their first Sunday without me in several years. I think that the church will do just fine. However, we need to continue to pray for their growth and that they would reach out to others. Ganchimeg mentioned at prayer meeting last week that they hope to reach out to their neighbors in the area immediately surrounding the church. We have had activities to reach out to the community previously, but such outreaches were initiated by me. So it is particularly encouraging to me to hear that the Mongolians comprehend their responsibility to preach the Gospel to their neighbors. I am convinced that they will do a better job than I did of presenting our Savior to their fellow Mongolians.

In family news, Ganpurev said that Ulzee is out of the hospital and doing better. But Aya has been doing poorly. She has been on morphine for some months now. The news Ganpurev had for me was that Aya is in a good deal of pain even though she is taking powerful painkillers. There are several other indications that Aya's health is deteriorating. So pray for Ganpurev and his family as they care for Aya.

prayer request

We have returned safely to Oregon and are currently staying with Kristie's parents. We will be here until we can find a place of our own.

I heard from Mongolia that Ulzee, Ganpurev's wife, is in the hospital. She's had some problems like this in the past. Please pray as it is evident to me that God is already allowing their faith to be tested. You can expect updates at this blog as they become available.

Picture of the week

Bro. Delaney, Baptist World Mission field director, me, and Ganpurev before the service on Sunday

pray for us

We find our time in Mongolia rapidly coming to an end. Our items to be shipped back to the United States were taken from us today. Our tickets are for next Monday's flight. By this time next week, we will be in Seoul, South Korea. Lord willing, by next Wednesday we will be able to see those of you at Westgate Baptist Church.

Just this morning, Bro. Delaney, Baptist World Mission's director for Asia, and his friend, Ronny Marino left Mongolia. We had a wonderful visit with these two brothers in Christ. They were able to meet several of the church's Mongolian families and the fellowship was so encouraging to all of us. We only wish that they could have stayed longer.

Kristie has had trouble sleeping. There is certainly some amount of stress and tension whenever one makes an intercontinental move. That is part of it. Now today they took our bed to be shipped to the United States. I suspect that it will be hard for her to sleep in our temporary bed. Please pray for Kristie to sleep well.

Living with another family's stuff

Our neighbors bought our apartment, and we are preparing to move out. But our neighbors had to move out of their apartment before we left ours. So they asked us if they could put some boxes in our entryway. Feeling sorry for them, I agreed that they could. 

Have you ever heard the parable of the camel who put his nose in the tent? Well, I should have taken that lesson to heart.

The next day they asked if they could put a couch and a TV stand in our house. But we ended up with a whole lot more than a couch and TV stand. So now we are sharing our apartment with many of our neighbors household items. I've included a picture of our living room filled with stuff.

I've highlighted my office in the corner (ringed in red). I'm trying to maintain my work while working out of a literal cubby-hole. We leave in nine days so I hope to have a regular office soon.
Keep praying for us.

Quote of the week

"To be broken means to have no rights before God and man. It does not mean merely surrendering my rights to Him but rather recognizing that I haven't any." —Roy Hession

Deans' weekly update

What a week it has been! Last week, I wrote to ask you to pray for the shipment of our items to the United States. I had contacted five shipping companies. But as of last Tuesday when I wrote that, I only had an offer to airfreight some of my items for an exorbitant amount or to ship by ocean freight to Seattle. From there it would be up to me to move my items through customs and to collect my household goods. I asked you to pray. I, too, was praying that God would lead me and give me clear direction by last Friday.

Thursday, three companies contacted me. I followed up with them, and it worked out that one of the companies would ship our things by ocean freight all the way to Portland. They also claimed that they could pick up those items in the next week or two.

Today (Wednesday) they came by to create a packing list. That involved weighing all the items and coding them. They are now working with Mongolian customs agents to export our household goods out of Mongolia. Please pray that everything would go smoothly and quickly. In two weeks time, Lord willing, we will be with you.

Which leads me to remark on a Biblical understanding of prayer; that is, our prayers do not change God, our prayers change us. Last Wednesday when we prayed, we did not alert God to a situation with which He was unfamiliar. Nor did we convince Him against His will to help us. Nor did we change His all-knowing, perfect mind. Rather, God knew all along about the timing of this shipment. He allowed the companies to delay and delay until I finally asked you all to pray. Once we agreed in prayer about this subject, God had aligned our wills with His. With our wills now aligned with God’s, God acted. And now He gets the glory for arranging all the details.

Recently, I read this verse in my personal Bible reading: “Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” What a promise! Within that verse is also a command to glorify the Lord. So join with me this week in praise God for His goodness and thank Him for answering our prayers.

Picture of the week

Many of you have been praying with us for Aya. Kristie and I visited last Saturday and took this picture while we were there.

Deans' weekly update

You all have been so faithful to pray for us, and we are grateful for your thoughtfulness. Your prayers are an important part of our ministry in Mongolia. Keep praying for us as we wind up our affairs in Mongolia and re-establish ourselves in your part of the world. It is hard to believe but three weeks from the time you read this, we should be in Oregon once again.

God blessed us again this past week with a reasonably good turn-out both in the morning & evening. The Pattersons are back, Ganpurev is growing into his position as pastor, another translator recently joined the translation team, and people keep asking us what we have for sale (but more on that another time).

This week we would ask you to pray that we can find the most efficient and cost-effective way to ship some of our books, valuables, and sentimental items back to Oregon. I have contacted several companies. One company wants to ship it to Seattle. One company has offered to ship it by air—you can imagine the cost. So pray for the right company and right time to ship our items.

Mongolia 52 years apart

This picture is from 1960. I found it in a book about Mongolia. Notice the pink building that dominates the left-center of the picture.

This picture I took last week. The pink building is now dwarfed by the new Central Tower.

Prayer request

This morning, I was planning to take a walk. However, we had a hard rain falling about the time I would normally leave on my walk. It was our hardest rain all year. I knew that the church building's roof was having trouble. But I guess there was a mess at the church. We were planning to start on the repair of the building's roof on Monday. Evidently, we are a few days too late.

Bill's desk after his Bible and computer were removed

Bill Patterson's office is on the top floor of his building. The hard rain caused a significant of water to flow from the roof into his office. The worst of it seems to be were Bill's desk is. Unfortunately, his Bible and computer were located on his desk when the rain happened. 

Bill's Bible and computer with plaster from the ceiling

It seems like there are too many examples of these type of "freak" accidents that hinder the work in Mongolia. Of course, there are hard rains around the world and plenty of leaky roofs. I'm not referring only to the leaky roofs. I am saying that it seems that there are constantly little (or big) problems occurring with the work here. 



We are not discouraged, I don't think Bill is discouraged. But please pray for the Pattersons as they re-adjust to life in Mongolia. And pray for God's glory to be revealed to the Mongolians.

Quote of the week

"A leader will help your organization through tough times; a good leader will have a plan in place already to react quickly to change; a great leader will have corrected course long ago so that you will never know what dangers were in your path." —Tom Williams

read the full article here http://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2012/07/10/how-to-be-a-great-leader/

Mongolia in the news

A couple of recent news articles about Mongolia:

lots of mining going on http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/nyt/20120627_Mongolias_coal_deposits_draw_neighbors_attention.html

good news from the recent election http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303567704577514142979652810.html

enjoy

Deans' weekly update

We had a good day on Sunday. After some months of low attendance, there were 54 people out on Sunday morning. Seventeen of those were Americans; still, that meant we had 34 Mongolians in attendance. So many of these Mongolians only come when it is convenient, when there is nothing else to do. I long for them to understand that the Christian life is a daily relationship and a life-long commitment to a God Who loves us.

In the evening, the crowd was slightly smaller but included three first-time visitors. We had our yearly visitor from Taiwan, Gregory Hincklen, who brought two Mongolians who had been exchange students at his university in Taiwan. He has such a burden for souls that he comes to Mongolia each year to try to integrate his Mongolian exchange students into a good church in their own country.

This is our last day with a vehicle. I have been driving other missionaries’ vehicles during their time in the United States. But today the last of them returns to Mongolia. After I return their vehicle, I will be without one until we leave. It is summer, the roads have been clogged with traffic anyway. I don’t anticipate needing a vehicle as much as we do during the winter, and I believe we can borrow a vehicle when necessary. Still, it will feel funny not having a car in the garage.

Please pray for Kristie. She has been unwell again. The Lord knew that she would be unwell and planned in His wisdom and sovereignty for the shipment of our items back to the United States to be delayed. I have been just as busy as always with church and work responsibilities so it has also been hard for me to give my attention to the logistics of moving. Please pray that Kristie would feel better, regain her strength, and be able to direct our packing.

This week is the Mongolians big, summer holiday: Naadam. During Naadam, Mongolians participate in the three manly sports: horse-racing, archery, and wrestling. Because the Mongolians will be busy with other pursuits, I should have an opportunity to focus on our preparations to return to Oregon.

Our schedule is something like this: Naadam this week, church camp next week (the Mongolians are organizing), the Baptist World Mission Field Director for Asia’s visit the following week, and then less than a week later our departure. As you can see we’ve packed many events, too many events, perhaps into this last month. Pray for Kristie’s health, for all of us to have energy, and for a smooth transition for the church and my family.

We are always grateful to think that you pray for us. Without God’s help, we are hopeless.

Picture of the week

Mongolians like to use a styrofoam-type product as insulation. If you want to buy it, you can stop at one of these roadside suppliers.

After purchasing it, you can load it up on a truck and take it wherever you want to go. It's light so load it up!

Good turnout on Sunday

They all came out of the woodwork on Sunday: we had 54 on Sunday morning, including some folks that hadn't attended in a long time. Thirty-seven of those were Mongolians along with 17 Americans.

Quote of the week

"Mongolian archery today is not what it was, having been robbed of its power by three centuries of Chinese rule. Though archery is still one of the three 'manly sport', today's bows are sloppy things, with pathetic range and arrows tipped by fat pads that are fired at, would you believe, nothing more than rows of wickerwork baskets a few down metres away. The bows I have tried send their arrows wobbling like a reed in a gale for not much more than 50 metres. I have not heard of anyone in Mongolia making bows in the old style, or of anyone backing a revival of old-style archery." —from a modern writer

Deans' weekly update

We had some good services on Sunday both in the morning and evening.

The Pattersons returned to Mongolia last Thursday. I picked them up at the airport with their 18 bags. You have to carry a lot with you when you come to Mongolia to stay. They were able to move back into the apartment that they occupied when they were here before. They are buried in obtaining residency permission, getting phones set up, and all the details of moving to a new country.

We had a good group Sunday morning and Sunday night was even better. We had twenty first time visitors. Sixteen of those were a group of Ukrainians who came to visit our services. Though they did not speak English Enkhtuul did an excellent job of translating from English to Russian/Ukrainian even though her native speech is Mongolian. The group from the Ukraine also blessed us with a set of songs and a short challenge which was translated from Russian/Ukrainian into English again by the faithful Enkhtuul.

Please pray for us as we continue to prepare to leave Mongolia. There are many things that we need to do and it’s not always clear the best way to accomplish them. Our neighbors all pitched in and helped us dispose of much of the little items that we were looking to get rid of: books, clothes, small furniture pieces, some children’s bikes. Now we need to sell the bigger pieces of furniture in our home. Update: everything large in the house is sold!

Great Sunday night service

We don't usually have a crowd this large on Sunday night. They must have heard that Bill was back to preach. Many of these folks are from the Ukraine. They were traveling through and wanted to join our service.

Baysaa's bad news

On Wednesday Baysaa received a phone call about 7 AM. It was an acquaintance from his home area calling to tell him that he should call to the border and talk to a Mongolian whom he had never met. He called and found out that his father had passed away.

I did not even know that Baysaa’s father was still living. Baysaa never talked about his father; I knew that he had grown up without a father present but didn’t know the details. Had his father died? Evidently he did not die when Baysaa was young; indeed, he just abandoned his wife and children when they were young.

People in Baysaa’s hometown knew both Baysaa and his father though he father had moved to the Gobi many years before. Baysaa anticipated meeting his father someday. Like many dreams that we have, he did not have a clear plan to meet his father; he just expected that one day it would happen. And then Wednesday morning he called a stranger in the southern Mongolian town of Zamyn Ud and heard that his father had passed away. His father had been sick for some time, but no one ever thought to call Baysaa.

Baysaa took the news very hard. Without telling his wife the news he had heard, he left home and was gone all day in the rain. He didn’t report to work and didn’t take his phone with him. People tried to call, but his phone was unreachable was the only message that they heard. He returned home late in the evening soaked from the rain and his tears reflecting his sorrows. If only he had tried to see his father earlier! If only someone had called to tell him his father was sick! If only … if only …

Wednesday night after the prayer service and Bible institute class, Ganpurev, Dashka, and I visited Baysaa’s home to comfort him. He had a wracking cough and was quite hoarse. I watched with a mixture of admiration and joy as Ganpurev and Dashka comforted their brother in Christ and gave him verses and promises to encourage his heart. I almost felt as an unnecessary appendage to the visit. I said a few things myself but let the others do a majority of the talking.

Pray for Baysaa. He has so much to learn, so much growing up to do. And God is trying to teach him so many things. Pray that he would learn to rest in the sovereignty of God, not put off doing those things that he knows he ought to do, and be the father to his children that he never had.

Quote of the week

"The most pathetic thing in the world is one who has sight, but has no vision." —Helen Keller

Dean family personal update

Many of you have been praying for our apartment to sell. The Lord has heard your prayers and arranged for our neighbor to buy our apartment. They have already given us a considerable amount of earnest money and signed a contract that obligates them to pay us the rest at the end of July. The good news is the contract that they signed allows us to stay in our apartment until we leave. This is an excellent situation for us. We will use the money from the sale of the apartment here as a down payment on a place in Oregon.

There are some things we wish to ship back to Mongolia: mainly books and things of sentimental value. Our piano is an example of one of those household items that hold sentimental value. Many years ago we prayed for a piano, and the Lord answered our prayers by providing the exact amount of money needed at an opportune time. Every time that I hear it played I am reminded that the Lord will supply all that we need to serve Him.

Our friend Darryl Pape has already been a help to us; but frankly, on the Mongolian end, we seem to be having some unexpected obstacles. Because I don't do this often I'm not even sure what all the steps are. Pray for the right company to come along who will be able to ship our things back to the United States.

Pray for Faith Baptist Church. They need a long-term vision for what God wants to do through them. Usually, when they talk about what the church should do, they mean what Scott & Kristie should do. This is one reason for our decision to leave our ministry at Faith Baptist Church in Mongolia at this time. We know that God will do mighty works through all of His servants and desire that the Mongolians will catch a vision of what God will do through them!

Dean's weekly update

Summer is an interesting time of year for us missionaries who live in the capital city. June and July are usually busy as missionaries pass through the city either entering or leaving Mongolia. Last week, the Cofers returned to Mongolia. This week, the Pattersons return. Next week, the Owenbys depart. In two weeks, the Siekberts will return. Later in July the Tillmans will leave for a trip back to the United States. And finally, in August our family will be traveling back to Oregon. That means lots of trips to the airport for me. Fortunately, our guests usually exit the airport a little before midnight so traffic is not a problem.

We are glad to be a help but this summer have been hard-pressed to make arrangements for all the missionaries as they came through. Many of the places that once were available for guests are filled or no longer available. But the Lord has been good to us, and so far everyone has found a place.

The Pattersons’ return in particular is a welcome one because they have been such a help to us in our ministry at Faith Baptist Church. The Pattersons will continue their ministry in the English-speaking service after our departure. Pray for the Pattersons as they look for an apartment to rent. They anticipate moving back into the same apartment they occupied the last time that they were here. But in Mongolia, one never knows.

Quote of the week

"We are often unable to tell people what they need to know, because they want to know something else." —George MacDonald

Resignation announcement

Sometimes, in the course of our lives, we come to a point where we realize that God has a new direction for us. Inertia would have us "stay the course" and continue in a way that is comfortable and familiar. We have come to love a ministry and have developed a facility for it that is admirable. It often seems that, it is at those times that God calls us away to another place. So it is with us. I am writing to inform you that our time in Ulan Bator, Outer Mongolia, is drawing to a close. Kristie and I have discerned that the Lord's will is for us to return to the United States and continue to serve Him at Westgate Baptist Church, our sending church in Tigard, Oregon. There are several reasons for this decision, which I will share with you.

For the past eleven years, we have labored in Mongolia to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to this land. We have worked to lead believers into a steadfast relationship with Him, and we have developed Mongolian leadership to take our place.   For the past three years, we have placed more focus on developing Mongolian leadership by increasing their responsibilities at Faith Baptist Church. Sometimes the Mongolians have failed to fulfill those responsibilities and have needed encouragement and guidance. Sometimes they have led in ways that we would not have considered, but that are genuinely Mongolian.

The church is growing in its abilities to reach Mongolia for Jesus Christ. They have a building where they can afford to meet. It is the Mongolians who are teaching the children's classes. Ganpurev preaches every Sunday. They are taking the Gospel to their family and neighbors. Faith Baptist Church supports other missionaries, including a Mongolian man planting a church in another part of Mongolia.

As you know, with the counsel of fellow Baptist pastors, Faith Baptist Church took the crucial step of ordaining Ganpurev last March. It has been a blessing to watch him grow in grace and firmly take the reins of leadership in the church. The next step is for us to leave this work and allow the Mongolians to serve the Lord without us. In many ways, both we and the Mongolians would enjoy our continued ministry at Faith Baptist Church. But I did not come to pastor a Mongolian church, but to plant one. It is a bittersweet moment to see that we are no longer required, though much desired and to realize that the answer is for us to move to a new ministry and graciously allow the Mongolians the opportunity to make Faith Baptist Church completely Mongolian. We have considered the possibility of starting another church in Mongolia. However, we believe that God is leading us back to the United States.

This leads us to the first consideration we have to return to the United States: Kristie's health. Kristie's health has gradually worsened over the past few years. There is not the kind of health care in Mongolia that Americans have or even that many other Asian countries enjoy. We had hoped that, during our last furlough, Kristie would find explanations for her diminishing health, receive the necessary treatment, and regain her strength. Although we were making progress while in the United States, once we returned to Mongolia, her health immediately began to decline again. We perceive that God is using this difficulty to direct us back to serve Him in Oregon.

The second consideration is our children. God has blessed us with wonderful children. Our children are reaching an age where they will soon be making the adjustment from living at home with us to whatever is the next step that God has for them. For them, the adjustment requires not only adjusting to leaving their home, but also requires adjusting to a new culture: the American culture. As we consider these momentous adjustments, we anticipate that our presence in the United States will be in the best interests of our children. We want to be geographically near to them as they re-adjust to American society (which is increasingly fraught with deceptive temptations) and begin their adult lives. By returning to the United States with our children and guiding them in the re-introduction to American society, we will leverage the benefit of the years that we spent in Mongolia.

Therefore, we will be resigning from Baptist World Mission, effective July 1, 2012. We will return to the United States in early August. Westgate Baptist Church has graciously offered me opportunity to return to Mongolia to visit Faith Baptist Church as the Lord enables. Please continue to pray for the Mongolians in the months to come as they transition completely from my leadership to Ganpurev's leadership.

Some may see our decision to leave Mongolia as a retreat. I do not. To me, we have had a successful campaign and leave behind a Mongolian church that will continue without our aid. Some may think that fighting the same campaign will bring more rewards. Others, in a similar situation, may be tempted to rest on their laurels. However, we are convinced that God is leading us to engage in a new campaign back on the home front.

We wish to express our heartfelt gratitude for the many years that you have supported us. Your earnest prayers, interested communication, and sacrificial giving have encouraged us through our time in Mongolia. It is not a lack of support that leads us from Mongolia to the United States; rather, it is the discerning of God's will for our lives. Rejoice with us that God has raised up a Mongolian pastor for Faith Baptist Church and that He is building His church in this place.

Deans' weekly update

On my wife’s side is a history of Christian parents raising their children for God that goes back six generations; when you count Kristie and our daughters that extends this heritage of Christian parents and children to eight generations. I used that illustration this past Sunday to encourage the Mongolians to have a vision to raise the next generation and the generation after that for God. To further illustrate starting a godly heritage, I mentioned my own father who came from a family without a Christian heritage and determined to give his own children the heritage that he lacked as a child.

Ganpurev continues to do well in his preaching. He and his family are so faithful to come and to serve. But many others seem to come only when it is convenient.

We know that Jesus promised to build His church. But He uses people. The church here needs a strong foundation, Jesus Christ, and faithful Christians to build upon that foundation. Please pray for an attitude of faithfulness and a culture of commitment to grow among these Christians.

Trash in Mongolia

Mongolia has something of a trash problem. There is a trash disposal system in Mongolia complete with landfills and trash trucks many of which were donated by the people of Japan to Mongolia. The problem is rather uncommon in the built-up districts of town. However, in the ger districts it has become quite a problem. To understand the problem one needs to understand how the old system worked, the reason for the change to the new system, and the incentives of both.

For many years, Mongolia had a system whereby the property owner paid the trash truck whenever the truck came by to collect garbage. As I understood it, the more garbage one had, the higher the cost to dispose of it. It seemed like a fair system to me. The garbage men had an incentive to pick up the garbage—no pickup, no payment—and come by regularly.

However, the property owner had an incentive to dispose of the garbage, if possible, without the use of the trash truck. Some would burn their garbage which contributed to the pollution of the city. Some would dump their garbage in a convenient place. Once one person "announced" a convenient place to dump garbage, others would follow their lead and soon an alley or dark corner would turn into a miniature trash heap. One alley near our church's building was always clogged with garbage. When the trash truck came by, the property owner would correctly assert that he had no garbage to dispose of and avoid paying a fee.

Eventually, someone in government or the trash disposal business become aware of the problem. The law was changed so that property owners paid a basic garbage fee along with their electricity bill. This eliminated the property owners incentive to find "alternative" means to dispose of his garbage. He paid the same regardless of the amount of garbage he generated.

But now the garbage men were dis-incentivized to collect garbage as often. Before, the more garbage they collected, the more money they made. With the new system, the payment was the same. Whether the amount of trash collected grew or the rate of collection diminshed, I cannot say. But where before one could expect the trash truck to come every 4-6 weeks, now the trash truck may not come for months. Since January, the trash truck has come by the church property once. Because this is not often enough for us, we have paid a private trash collector on several occasions to dispose of the garbage.

Others still dump their garbage on the roadside, burn it at night, or fill the odd corner with trash. Where before they did it to avoid paying the trash collection fee, they now do it to avoid being overrun with refuse. It is all a matter of finding the right incentives.

Quote of the week

There’s a certain amount of peace in ignorance of the Gospel … which would explain why people sometimes respond so strongly to the preaching of truth.

Aya's health

Aya's health is starting to deteriorate again. For several months she's been relatively stable. She did start taking morphine for the pain some time ago.

Yesterday, she had some external bleeding. The cancer is beginning to "come out" the doctors informed Ganpurev. Aya's pain is also increasing. Please pray that through this Ganpurev, Ulzee, and Aya would be filled with all the fullness of God and the love of Christ.

Quote of the week

"Perhaps true greatness, or a truly great person, is someone who does the right things for the right reasons without expecting grand rewards. They don’t do things 'to be the best' or 'to be famous' or 'to be a legend.' Instead they sacrifice those ambitions in favor of simply doing what people around them need. They want to be great only through being useful to those they care about most, regardless of how little acclaim they get from the whole wide world for it." —Scott Berkun (who makes no claim of being religious much less a Christian)

About the company in Mongolia

Last week, I went early in the morning to visit a friend’s coffee shop. Daniel gives me a free coffee whenever I come and is continually inviting people out to our English church services. So I like to go by and see him once a week or so.

I arrived a few minutes early at the coffee shop to find that there were two customers already waiting by the door for it to be unlocked. I didn’t see Daniel inside, so I stood there patiently waiting for Daniel to open the door.

I had waited for a minute or two when another customer walked up, passed me, went by the two men waiting at the door, and tried the handle. I’m embarrassed to say that the door had been unlocked the whole time.

Mongolia is somewhat like that. There are things that seem difficult or impossible to accomplish but once you try it, you find out that there are ways to succeed at what God has called you to do.

Some years ago, a missions agency began calling countries to which it was difficult to send missionaries, creative access nations or CAN. This emphasized that there are ways to reside in a country if you are creative and indomitable. Mongolia is one of those creative access nations. They don’t encourage missionaries to come, and some people will tell you that proselytizing is illegal though I’ve never seen such a law or heard of anyone being prosecuted. In fact, most Mongolians will insist that the constitution of Mongolia guarantees freedom of religion.

[Of course, freedom of religion in some countries means freedom to practice your religion in private. In such countries, freedom of religion does not mean one is free to tell others about his religion or to convert from one religion to another.]

Getting back to the topic, Mongolia is one of those CAN places. You CAN come to Mongolia and do missions work. However, you probably cannot come as a missionary. Therefore, most Christians who have come to Mongolia specifically to be a witness for Jesus Christ find that they also must do some other work, as well. Initially, I worked as an English teacher. Later, I worked briefly under another independent Baptist missionary’s organization as a store manager.

Several years ago, following the examples of several other missionaries, I decided to found a legitimate company in Mongolia. The company would do woodworking. There were three reasons that I selected a woodworking company. First, in my years in Mongolia I had never found a satisfactory carpenter shop. Second, my father had many years of carpentry experience and offered to come to Mongolia to train some workers after he retired. Finally, God had provided me with a gifted carpenter: Ganpurev. I had seen what he could do with scrap pieces of wood. I imagined that he could do much better with real wood.

Founding a company also provided a legitimate way for me to construct a building. The first floor would be the carpenter shop. The second floor could be space where the church could meet.

By being the company president I could request a visa and residency permission to reside in Mongolia. For the past five years, I have received my visa and residency permission through my company. The company constructed a building and hired workers. All of this was done legally and legitimately.

Just last week I received another year’s residency permission. In the month leading up to requesting residency permission, I had heard of five cases where residency permission had been refused or where people had to change the organization that they were with before requesting residency permission. So I was grateful to God that I received my residency permission so easily.

Then the company has given Ganpurev a job where he can work 35-40 hours a week and make a living wage. Many people in Mongolia have jobs that require them to work 60-70 hours a week. While there is nothing evil about working hard, it would be impossible for Ganpurev to work such a job and pastor a church. This allows him to do both. Ideally, we look forward to the day when the church can pay Ganpurev’s salary. But for now, it is not possible, and Ganpurev will have to be bi-vocational.

Which leads me to my last praise: this past month the company has had plenty of work: work that pays well.

Deans' weekly update

We could not continue our ministry in Mongolia without the grace of God. Your prayers and support are one method that God pours out His grace upon us. We have been very busy and pulled in many directions recently. I would like to give you a few prayer requests to bring to our loving heavenly Father as you pray this week.

Kristie and I saw Aya on Saturday and are amazed at her good spirits considering that she has terminal cancer. Every time that we see her she is thanking the Lord. She is grateful to all those of you who are praying for her, as well.

Another lady, Ganchimeg, is in the hospital this week. She's been having heart trouble. Often her heart beats as fast as 120 beats per minute. She is only 30 years old. Please pray for her, her husband Baysaa, and her three children.

One thousand posts

This post is the thousandth time that I've posted to this blog. I think it's appropriate that I post a picture of Ganpurev and his family. While they are not the only family that we've impacted in Mongolia, they are the ones who have come the farthest. Ganpurev is now the pastor at Faith Baptist Church, and his family is a testimony that God's word works in Mongolian families.

Please pray for Ganpurev as he leads his family and Faith Baptist Church.

Quote

Sin is saying, "I will" when God says, "You won't."

Deans' weekly update

The family has been finishing up school and begun to put away all the school things. I have been busy with my Bible institute class on the Life of Christ. I have enjoyed putting the class together. Church attendance has been down because there have been many people sick.

We praise the Lord that Aya is still with us. She grows weaker bit by bit. But every time that I go to see her she has a good attitude and sweet spirit. I know that her poor health weighs on Ganpurev and Ulzee. God has been so good to give that whole family grace for every need. Keep praying for them.

Quote of the week

"The great difference today in the world is not between the liberal and the fundamentalist. But the great gulf fixed today is between the evangelical rationalist and the evangelical mystic. … We have evangelical rationalists who insist upon trying to reduce everything down to where it can be explained and proved. The result is, we have rationalized faith and we have pulled Almighty God down to the low level of human reason. There are some things human reason cannot do." —A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)

Deans' weekly update

Let me give you an update on the family this week. Last week I asked you to pray for Kristie. I’m glad to report that she is feeling somewhat better. However, her root canal that she had done in January needs to be re-done. She has an appointment Thursday to start that work.

Caleb was also sick much of last week: a nasty cold and occasional fever. Kristie and he were trying to get his schoolwork done this month. He continued to make progress on his schoolwork as he was able, but I think he has been delayed.

Charissa and Emily have been working hard to finish their school year. I think both of them have completed several subjects already. All the children are looking ahead to summer.

We had two visitors from Inner Mongolia at our service on Sunday. Afterward, they asked to meet with me. They wanted to tell me that they realized that Turks, Mongols, Maygars, Koreans, and Japanese are the descendants of Jacob’s son Benjamin. The conversation ranged from the Mongolian spot to ovoos to the shape of gers. It was an interesting conversation if not a particularly profitable one. It was also a reminder of the susceptibility of young believers to be blown about by every wind of doctrine. Please pray for Faith Baptist Church to be strengthened in faith and stable in doctrine.

Picture of the week

Our youngest church attenders

Quote of the week

"A worldly church cannot and will not reach the world. The church must be distinct from the world to reach the world. We must set ourselves apart to God if we hope to reach the world. In a word, the only hope for us and the lost world is a holy church." —Kent Hughes

Deans' weekly update

It is imperative that we praise God for His blessings as much as we beseech Him for those blessings. There are two specific items for which I would like to ask you to praise the Lord this week.

Many of you have been praying for Ganpurev for years. It was over nine years ago that I returned to my house rejoicing that Ganpurev and Ulzee had become children of God. And it has been a joy to watch them grow and watch God bless them. Now, I am thrilled to report that Ganpurev is growing into his role as pastor of Faith Baptist Church. This past week, someone remarked to me how Ganpurev seemed to be growing more confident in his position as pastor. I, too, have noticed the extra efforts he makes to lead Faith Baptist Church. By God’s grace, Pastor Ganpurev will continue to lead Jesus’ church in Ulan Bator for many years to come.

You also prayed with us last week about the renewal of our residency permission. I am glad to report that all was accomplished with few complications. We were, as usual, missing a single document. But that was easily gathered and duly turned in. We should pick up the residency permission cards on Thursday of this week.

Kristie has not been well: candida has sprung up again. Pray for her to regain some strength and energy. We know God is always in control and that His lovingkindness never fails. So we thank Him that even in sickness He is guiding. But we also find it easier to face life and the duties to which God calls us when we are healthy.

Look for another update next week. What a blessing it is to serve the Living God!

Mongolian hearse

Deans' weekly update

It’s simple: without residency permission we are unable to stay in Mongolia. For the past eleven years we have received regular and frequent (maybe too frequent) extensions of our residency permission. Sometimes we have been told that we were near the end of our residency; but the bureaucrats have always extended it.

This month we must renew our residency again. I have been waiting to write a weekly update until after I received word whether our application to the immigration office for the extension of our residency permission had been accepted. This is the last hurdle to receive a renewal of our residency permission. The paperwork once accepted and the extension fee is paid is an indication that the residency renewal is granted.

We thought that we would submit that paperwork today. However, we have been delayed from submitting the paperwork. The plan is to submit the paperwork the first thing tomorrow morning. Pray for the paperwork to be accepted. We do not anticipate any problems, but we should not wait until we have a problem to begin to pray.

We remain grateful for your prayers and know that God uses prayer to align our will with His. Please continue to pray for these Mongolians to grow in faith and in steadfastness.

Picture of the week

I find that I take more pictures when I carry a camera with me. This week's picture is a small traffic jam within a stone's throw of our house. These happen almost daily when people selfishly refuse to yield and instead block traffic thinking that they will get somewhere a few seconds more quickly if they stick their nose into traffic.

Hot weather

The weather is getting hot in Mongolia. It's a little earlier than normal. In previous years we have experienced snow as late as the first week of May. Today the temperature is 84 F or almost 30 C. Still, the heat is on in our building. The Mongolians like it hot; but also, the standard day to turn off the heat is May 15 whether the heat is needed or not.

I talked to one of building managers today and asked him when the heat would be turned off. His reply, "May 15 just like every year."

Thought of the week

Reading the Bible aligns our thoughts with the word of God; praying to Him aligns our desires with the will of God.

Deans' weekly update

There are many pressures on me this week. That's not a complaint; it's a statement of fact and a request for you to pray for me as I make decisions and lead people. Here are some specific requests.

Enkhtuul had a court date Monday because her husband is seeking a legal divorce. To encourage Enkhtuul, I asked another lady from the church to attend the court case with her and sent them both with some verses of encouragement. The verses I sent seemed especially sweet to both of them. Strangely, it was a part of the verse that I did not intend for them to notice.

The verse was from Psalm 146: "The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down." I wanted her to focus on God's preservation. It seems though that her husband was delayed in traffic and called the court to ask for a delay of the proceedings. We also expected the judge to summarily grant the divorce; however, the court delayed their decision for another ten days. Finally, a friend of Enkhtuul's talked her husband into paying for her past six month's rent. So the two ladies saw all these set-backs for Enkhtuul's husband as a fulfillment of the second half of the verse, "The way of the wicked he turneth upside down." Keep praying for reconciliation!

Our residency permission is up for renewal this month. I keep hearing stories of others who are struggling to reside in Mongolia. We hope that God will cause our residency permission to be renewed without extra work. I already have a blessing to share with you in that regard. As part of the process, I have to have my status at the Foreign Investment and Foreign Trade Agency (FIFTA) renewed. (This is before I renew my company documents so that I can renew my residency permission). I have a competent lady who is helping me with this process. Today she took my card into FIFTA. They told her that there would be two fees. Then they took a look at my card.

"Oh, that's 'Scott,'" the man said, "I know him so I'll waive the second fee."

How is that for an encouraging start to the renewal process? The entire process will take about two weeks, and there are still numerous obstacles to hurdle. Please pray for more treatment like today's at the FIFTA office.

Picture of the week

Ever wonder how extreme the weather can be here. Notice that earlier in April, we had a day with a high temperature of 73 followed by a cold the next day of 9. That's extreme to me.

This was just a forecast. It didn't turn out to be that extreme on the days expected. Friday the low was 9 (that's below freezing). The Sunday following the one listed here, it was an actual 72. And the Wednesday following that, we were back down to 9 degrees for a low with snow.

Some prayer requests

Ganpurev spent much of yesterday seeking medical attention for Aya, his mother-in-law. She is not doing well. I don't understand all the medical terms that he is using, but it seems to me that the cancer is starting to severely affect the regular functioning of her body. It is a testimony to God's grace that she has been with us as long as she has. Pray with us that God would give grace to the family and peace. Also, pray for Aya to be comfortable.

Tomorrow, Enkhtuul expects a decision to be handed down from the judge regarding her husband's request for a divorce. For us who have been praying for her, it seems like the moment of crisis. Legally speaking, there is no reason that the judge should not grant the divorce as I understand Mongolian law (which is to say, I don't). Let's pray that regardless of the judge's decision Enkhtuul will have peace. Also, pray for her husband Ganbayar to desire to return to his family.

This is a quote about Great Britain, but I think it has application to most of North America which shares a common heritage with England.

"We are a nation whose ideals were founded on the Bible. Also it is quite impossible to understand our literature without grasping this fact. That is the strong practical case for ensuring that children at school are given adequate instruction in the part which the Judaeo-Christian tradition has played in moulding our laws, manners and institutions." —Margaret Thatcher

April prayer letter

I really enjoy teaching. I have taught at a Christian high school, taught English as a second language, and have taught American Literature in a college. But I love to teach the Bible best of all. Since founding the Bible institute of Faith Baptist Church, I have taught a variety of Bible institute classes. More than simply giving Mongolian Christians knowledge about the Bible, the goal of the institute classes is to impart to them a love for the Bible and a desire to pass on the knowledge that they gain to others. The classroom environment with homework and assignments also gives Mongolians an opportunity to develop self-discipline. In the end, I purpose to develop godly men who know how to study the Bible for themselves and have a desire to teach that Bible knowledge to others.

Teaching a Bible institute class in Mongolia is a challenge. It starts with materials. A teacher does not simply go down to the Bible bookstore and pick out a book. Usually, there is not a textbook on the subject he wishes to teach, because Mongolian, as a language, has few speakers. There are dozens of languages in India with more speakers than Mongolian has around the world. So while there is a growing library of theological and Bible study books available in Mongolian, it still is a very small amount. A second issue is that often books here are given one (very small) print run. Which means that once a book is sold out, there is not another opportunity to buy it. Even in cases where I have found a book that would work for a class, by the time I arranged a class and returned to buy the needed books, they were gone. That means that for my Bible institute classes, I am translating material from English into Mongolian. Diagrams, charts, maps—all of these must be recreated and translated into Mongolian.

A chart of the Hebrew calendar I re-created in Mongolian for the class

This spring, I am teaching on the life of Christ. The focus on our Savior, His teachings, His miracles that prove His deity, His substitutionary death, and His marvelous resurrection has been a welcome one. I have four books from which I am pulling material and a variety of extra materials which I have prepared and been giving to my students. At the beginning of the class, I gave them a small notebook in which to keep the material that they have collected. Recently, two of my students told me that their notebooks were almost full. In addition, they are memorizing verses every week and outlining the book of Mark as we go along.

Students of the Bible institute class

It has been gratifying to hear that students notice the amount of material that they are learning about the Gospels and the life of our Savior. Several of the students have commented that they did not realize how much there was to learn. But I am excited to know that regardless of how much they may learn from this class, there is always more that they can learn.

Sudan

One of my friends in Mongolia and a man for whose salvation I have been praying has been deployed to South Sudan as part of a peace-keeping mission. I'm not sure what part of South Sudan he is in but have heard a lot about the fighting going on there. My friend's name is Erka. His wife is a member of Faith Baptist Church.

I made a point to go and visit him before he was deployed. He listened to me present the Gospel again. He even said that he believed in God. But he still is not willing to accept that he needs a Savior from sin.

Deans' weekly update: spring tiredness

They call it "khawriin yadargaa"; roughly translated it means, "The tiredness of spring." Not everyone in Mongolia is affected by it, but it seems that most are. I would describe it as a feeling of malaise that leads to carelessness in work and family. People feel like sleeping all the time, they are listless at their job, they frequently seem to be sick, and the excuse is "the tiredness of spring." I, too, have felt it. Though in my case, I think the tiredness stems from back pain that I have been experiencing at night that has interrupted my normal sleeping schedule.

The result spiritually can be dramatic: Christians quit reading their Bible, they quit coming to church because they slept in, they are careless in their relationships resulting in hurt feelings. It is at this time that a pastor must encourage the people God has given him to be reading their Bibles daily and to be fervent in prayer. Pray for the Mongolians to be eager followers of Christ and not just call themselves Christians.

In other news, we not only had Mongolians and Americans at the Sunday morning service this past weekend, we also had a lady from Singapore and another from the Ukraine. These two ladies were friends of Enkhtuul and had come to meet her church. It was an encouraging day to realize that though we come from many backgrounds, we all serve the same Savior.

Appearances can be deceiving

Appearances can be deceiving, especially in a society that does not follow God. In many cases, there is more concern for how things appear than what they really are. Today I came across two examples in one afternoon. 

We went to visit Ganaa today. She teaches the Mongolian language at a private  high school. Her school is somewhat unusual in that mostly of the students are foreigners. For almost all of them, Mongolian is a second language. But because the school is registered with the Mongolian Ministry of Education they are required to have the students study the Mongolian language including the Mongolian Old Script. 

Her students have not been doing well. They don't study; they don't apply themselves. All of their other classes are in English. For many of them, their primary exposure to Mongolian is in Ganaa's class. Many of them do not intend to continue their studies post high school in Mongolia. So according to Ganaa when they take the tests they do not score well. 

Well, it must be that poor test scores make the school look bad. The school's headmaster recently called Ganaa in to tell her that her students scores needed to improve. He did not tell her that the students need to be motivated or must do better on the tests. Instead he recommended that she give her students higher grades. She needs to score the tests so that the students receive grades that allow them to earn a certificate even though they haven't mastered the material. The headmaster's reasoning was that the students don't need to really learn Mongolian but they do need the certificate. Appearance is more important than reality. 

We left that visit with Ganaa to see a new store. I heard that it was a wholesale store, a branch of the Nomin stores that are common in our city. Hearing that it was a wholesale store, I imagined a larger than normal store with "wholesale" prices. Because Nomin stores are often competitive with other stores already, I imagined that the prices might be cheaper than the other Nomin stores. 

I was amazed at I walked into the store. The facade out front was impressive enough, but the store extended for some distance. It was laid out very similarly to a Costco store in the United States: high ceilings, a large area of clothes and books in the center, frozen goods towards the back, items still wrapped or boxed as if in a warehouse. 

Next I was surprised to note that the prices were the same as at the other Nomin stores.  For those of you who live in the Pacific Northwest it was as if Safeway decided to open a warehouse store and copy the interior of a Costco but keep the same prices. To the American mind, it doesn't even make sense. But to the Mongolian mind it's understandable. After all, it's the appearance that matters. 

Quote of the week

"When God looks at us, He does not see us so much as we presently are as for what we can become through His work in our lives. …He may love us as we are, but He also loves us too much to leave us that way." —Gary Inrig

Poverty in Mongolia, really?

There is no doubt that there is some serious poverty in Mongolia. But I am concerned that people think there is more poverty here than there really is. Today I came home from a meeting and looked out my window to see a Hummer limousine parked below. While I took a few pictures it was passed by a second Hummer as you can see in the first picture.

A few minutes later, I went down the stairs to take a picture from another angle. In the minute or two that I was down there the Hummer limousine was passed by a Mercedes SUV. And remember, financing a car purchase in Mongolia is not as easy as it is in the States. Many of these vehicles are bought with cash.

Weekly update

The weather is increasingly warm in Mongolia. After months and months of experiencing cold, one rejoices in temperatures above freezing. Somewhere I saw a report that it may be as warm as 73 F on Wednesday, but the same place predicted snow and temperatures below freezing on Thursday. Those of us from the Pacific Northwest are not used to such dramatic changes in weather.

We had four visitors Sunday night. I received a text on Saturday asking if I would pick someone up at a hotel downtown. It turned out to be a Filipino who came to work in Mongolia. He ended up being a friend of a friend of one of our regular attenders. Also, the Filipino man and I talked during our trip to the church meeting. He gave a clear testimony of salvation. In addition, a young Mongolian man who comes occasionally came and brought three relatives with him. After I helped him this past week he told me that he would come. He brought his brother and two cousins. I was preaching on the resurrection of Christ and was preaching the Gospel. Please pray for the salvation of Mongolian men.

But not only do Mongolians need to be saved, they need to grow in steadfastness. Please pray for this.   Many times we respond to God culturally rather than Biblically. For example, many Americans attend church because their parents attended church. They have no relationship with God that motivates them to gather with His people. They attend out of cultural habit. Similarly, many Mongolians only visit a Buddhist temple or go to see the shaman when they have a difficulty. They end up treating God the same way: they only attend church when there is some difficulty. Breaking the pattern of thinking that one need not attend church when things are going well is part of our work here. It's work that we are privileged to have but that we need the power of God to see progress.

How about you? Do you maintain a religious front because of cultural pressure? Do you long to skip a church service but worry that someone might call you to ask what is wrong? Do you attend out of a sense of duty? Examine your own heart and see if your relationship with God needs to be strengthened!

Small victories

Sometimes it's the small victories that encourage us.

This past week, Ganpurev and I met with another church member to pray. At this prayer meeting this church member mentioned that he had another engagement on Sunday that would keep him from church. Some fellow parents at his children's school had signed him up for some sort of sports contest and he wouldn't be able to come to church.

Ganpurev pointed out that by baptism and claiming to be a follower of Christ, this member had signed up to be at church. And I added, I would immediately sign him up to serve on Sunday morning. Actually, this fellow already has a place of service every Sunday but has often been careless and not fulfilled that role.

It's Sunday morning, and I just heard from this man that he will be at the church meeting and in his place of service. Praise the Lord! I know this means that he will disappoint others who were expecting him to be at the sports contest. I also know how difficult it is for him to disappoint people. But I would rather he disappointed people to please the Lord. I think the difficulty for him is that people are so close and sometimes the Lord seems so distant.

Pray for these Mongolians to take seriously their commitment to Jesus Christ.

Apatheism

"Giving the impression that you believe in God but don't care much about Him is not only the supreme insult to God, it is the supreme failure of love and friendship." —Gary Inrig

Are we telling our family, friends, and neighbors about Jesus Christ?

Mongolian ice

I was driving along the river bed that forms the boundary between my district and the next district to the west. It is often a dry river bed in the fall and is always a frozen river bed in the winter. Spring and summer, there is usually a little water flowing through it.

I noticed as I was driving by it today that the ice has not yet melted from winter. So I took a few pictures. I would estimate that the ice was about a foot and a half thick. And it's April 12!

Deans' weekly update

Have you ever had first-time visitors come to your all-church cleaning day? We have an annual tradition of an all-church cleaning day the Saturday previous to Resurrection Sunday. This past weekend, my family and I were a few minutes late to the cleaning day and were surprised to find that we were the first ones to arrive. We even arrived before the watchman who lives on the property; we teased him later that traffic made him late.

When Ganpurev came he brought with him his sister, brother-in-law, and niece to the cleaning day. It was the first time that they had been to a church gathering. They returned the next day for our Resurrection Day services. Ganpurev’s sister and niece are in the city seeking medical treatment. Please pray for their salvation. Their names are pronounced Boy•nah (sister), Bold (brother-in-law), and Buy•rah (niece).

I wish I could tell you that we were bulging at the seams on Sunday with people standing outside the door or even listening in at the windows which would be something amazing to see since the auditorium is on the second floor. Significantly, we did have two new families at Resurrection Day services. I don’t know if it was the eagerness to preach well or the weight of the day on me, but I did not speak Mongolian well on Sunday. I was too self-conscious about speaking the language well, I guess.

In the English service, the choir did a good job with their performance except for the soloist. He struggled a little on the first verse before the choir joined him in the chorus. Other than that I was pleased with the music. It has been such a blessing and a help to have the Ritchie family assisting us this year. He was responsible for all the music both at Christmas and Easter.

Quote of the week

Sorrow and grief replace my bliss,
I have no wish that any joy should be,
I have no room for any thought but this,
That I have sinned, have sinned, and grieved Thee.

—Jonathan Goforth

Building a missionary-minded church on the mission field

A great tragedy is occurring among churches around the world. The tragedy is that churches are not supporting missionaries. I am not talking about churches in the United States. I am talking about churches planted on the mission field who do not support missionaries.

I was at a missions conference while on deputation. It was a dinner along with the pastor and another missionary. The pastor asked us when we thought it was appropriate for a new church plant to take on missionaries. Specifically, he wondered if it was possible and appropriate for a new church to take on missionaries before it could fully pay. The salary of a pastor. The other missionary mentioned that if the church followed a faith promise missions model, the ability to pay or not pay a pastor's salary was irrelevant. The people could give their tithe to the church and give to faith promise missions. I thought that was a good answer.

But when I first began gathering people on Sundays I forgot that conversation. Initially, we did not even take up offerings. My missionary partner and I paid the cost for everything. This continued for a year or so until that partner left and I partnered with another missionary who wanted to take an offering. He was right. But I still could not shake the feeling that these people were too poor to give.

Then I met Bill Patterson, my fourth partner in ministry. As an aside: the fact that we had four different partners in the first five years of ministry should illustrate that missionaries do not stay very long in Mongolia. After our first two I warned our third partner that it seemed that as soon as we teamed up with a new missions team partner, they left. Sure enough, within eighteen months of that partnership, that family had to leave Mongolia for medical reasons.

But back to Bill Patterson—he grew up on the mission field of Mexico when there was serious poverty. Some of the people to whom they ministered where extremely poor. But his father had a policy of encouraging people to tithe. They saw how people in deep poverty sacrificed to give a tenth to the Lord and how God blessed them. He encouraged me to place a greater emphasis on Christians giving at least a tenth and more to the Lord.

Bill was also the one who urged me to support our first missionary: Jim Peterson in Ghana, West Africa. He said every church should support a missionary! And he was right. So the church began to send monthly support to the Peterson family. About that time, the church needed new chairs. A church in Spain joined with a church in the United States to provide chairs for the church. It seemed to me a direct confirmation that God blesses churches that support missionaries.

I also emphasized tithing more. Yes, these people are poor. But before I was doing them a disservice by neglecting teaching and preaching on the issue. After all, we serve a wonderful God that could take five loaves and few fishes and feed five thousand. He is a God that wants to bless those who give to Him. He said, "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." He also commended the Macedonians who gave in their deep poverty. So I preached on tithing, taught on giving to God, and urged them to show their faith in God by giving joyfully to Him. I have been glad to see God bless them by providing liberally for all their needs.

Still, I also wanted to implement faith missions giving with a Mongolian missionary whom we could support. Speaking frankly, it was not easy to find a Mongolian with similar doctrine and a heart for missions whom we could support. One fellow went to a town not far from the city to start a church. I waited a few months to see if it would last. I regret to say that it did not. He moved back to the city.

About a year later, I finally found a Mongolian man and his family who had left the city to go to a small village and work with an American missionary who was planting a church there. When I had him in to speak to the church they were all blessed by hearing his passion for Mongolians to reach their own people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I had found the man.

So a month or so later, I mentioned to the church that we would be supporting Erdenebileg regularly and encouraged them to pray about what they could give each month to missions. The next week I taught, or so I thought, on giving to missionaries above and beyond our tithe by faith. At the end of the lesson I asked if there were any questions. No one had a question. Good, I thought.

I passed out some sheets asking the Mongolians to commit a certain amount each month to Erdenebileg. Immediately, some one had a question. Remember, when I had just asked if there were naysay questions no one had any. Now that I was asking for a commitment there were questions. The Mongolian said he thought that we would just take the money for Erdenebileg's support out of the general fund. No, I responded, I want each family to bear the responsibility of giving to missions. So I told them to take the paper home and pray about it that week. The next week we started taking two offerings. One offering was for the general fund. I instructed the Mongolians to give their tithe in that offering. The second box was for the missionary. I instructed them to give their pledge to God for missions in that offering.

One by-product of faith promise missions that I was not expecting was church members now talk eagerly about the day when one of our own church members will go as a missionary. They are supporting a Mongolian directly and through that have seen the possibility of a Mongolian going as a missionary. We have not yet sent out member of the church but look forward to the day when we will.

Bible institute class

I've been teaching a Life of Christ Bible institute class and have had five faithful students. Baysaa and Ganchimeg recently mentioned to me that they are learning a lot in the Bible institute class. "We didn't know that there was so much to learn about Jesus' life," they told me. Really, I've not been able to get as detailed as I would like to do. But I'm glad that the students are learning from it.

Deans' weekly update

This Sunday is Resurrection Sunday, commonly called Easter. Unless, of course, you are Greek Orthodox in which case you will be celebrating Easter on April 15. You didn’t know that there was a difference between Western Christians and Eastern Christians about the proper date for Easter? Well, it has to do with the Julian calendar … oh, you say, you don’t want to know the details. All right, then …

I was talking just this week with a man whose job involves organizing elaborate meals at hotels and restaurants. He says that most of those who attend his meals are expatriates, foreigners who make Mongolia their home. I thought that was curious because Mongolians enjoy eating as much as anyone. But he pointed out that Mongolians do not like to plan ahead. His meals are so elaborate and often involve special foods that he brings to Mongolia. (By the way, I have never attended one of these meals because they cost more than $50 per person). So he must have a count of how many people will attend ahead of time. Mongolians, he said, like to decide the night of the meal that they will attend which is too late for him. So his meals are mostly enjoyed by expatriates.

I tell that story to explain the reason that we have waited until this week to start inviting Mongolians to the Resurrection Sunday services at Faith Baptist Church. This Saturday Mongolians will have a day to clean the church building and invite the neighbors to our services. Last year, we had 16 visitors come to join us on Resurrection Sunday.

The English service has already begun inviting folks to our special Resurrection Sunday service which will be held at Millie’s Restaurant as the Christmas service was. We have a choir of six members, a choir director, and our pianist Kristie who have prepared special music specifically for the occasion.

Please pray for these events and our witness to others. This Sunday should be a time of joy as we remember the resurrection of our Savior.

a couple of prayer requests

I would like to mention several prayer requests for those of you will read this blog regularly. First of all, we are planning another special service like the one we conducted at Christmas for Resurrection Sunday (Easter). We are planning to have it at Millie's as we did at Christmas but seem to have run into some miscommunication. I am still awaiting final approval (which I thought I had) to have the service at Millie's Restaurant. Pray specifically that Densma the co-owner would grant her permission for us to meet at Millie's next Sunday.

Also, Kristie has not been sleeping well. Please pray for her to sleep at night.

Missions thought

"One of the snares in the path of a young missionary is the temptation to put other than first things first—in other words, to 'potter' or 'fritter' precious time away on non-essentials, instead of bravely facing the inevitable hard task of regular language study. Many a missionary has gone through his or her missionary career with the great handicap of insufficient knowledge of either the written or spoken language because of having fallen into this trap."

—from Goforth of China

Quote of the week

"I have personally never ceased to rejoice that God has entrusted me with His service. People talk of the sacrifice I made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Can that be called sacrifice which is simply paid back as a small part of the great debt owing to our God, which we can never repay?  Is that a sacrifice which brings its own reward of healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter? …away with such a word, such a view, and such a thought!  It is emphatically no sacrifice.  Say rather it is a privilege.  Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger now and then, with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life, may make us pause and cause the spirit to wave and sink; but let this only be for a moment.  All these things are nothing compared with the glory which shall hereafter be revealed in us and for us." —David Livingstone

Springtime in Mongolia

It's springtime in Mongolia; and it's impossible not to notice. The weather can switch suddenly from one extreme to another. Today for example, the weather started out chilly. By mid-morning, snow flurries covered the ground with a thin, white layer. But not long after lunch, the clouds parted, the sun came out, and the snow melted away to damp pavement. I headed out to go to the bank. By the time I left the bank, the weather has changed backed to snow, this time large, heavy flakes. Mongolians say that spring is temperamental like a woman. I don't know if that true or not: my wife certainly isn't temperamental like a Mongolian spring.

Dashka's mother came through surgery without any trouble today and seems to be recovering well. Dashka is relieved. Please pray for Tegshboyan's salvation.

In our English church services, we have a Bible lesson for the children until age ten after which they join our adults for the preaching. That meant that my son, Caleb, recently began sitting under my preaching. I was flattered this last Sunday on the drive home from the church meeting. Kristie asked Caleb what he thought of my sermon. "It was great!" he responded enthusiastically.

My daughter groaned, "Oh, I want to listen to daddy's sermons …" But she's only eight and has to wait.

Still, it's flattering to think that my children want to listen to my preaching and enjoy it. Just don't ask them what I preached about. They usually can't tell you.

Deans' weekly update

I have two requests to bring to your attention this week. I would ask you to pray for Dashka’s mother who has surgery this week. You remember that Dashka’s wife and two brothers passed away in January 2011. Last month an uncle passed away. Now his mother is facing serious abdominal surgery. The first doctor to examine his mother refused to offer surgery because he considered her to be too frail. They found a second doctor willing to perform surgery; however, he has been explicit about the dangers. Dashka is very worried about this surgery that his mother is facing. Please pray for him to have peace.

Dashka and I shared the Gospel with his mother Tegshboyan several months ago. We both would love to see her become a child of God through this. None of Dashka’s family are Christians which makes the family decision making process rather difficult for Dashka.

Also, pray for Togsoo who was saved and baptized some years ago. Recently, he has allowed work to keep him from his personal walk with God. This past Sunday he attended an optional basketball tournament rather than attending the church service and sprained his ankle.

He has an older relative who is a shaman. This relative has been telling Togsoo that they must meet because the spirits of his deceased grandfather and grandmother wish to tell him something. I understand that so far Togsoo has resisted this temptation to participate in demonic activity. But his wife is very concerned that he will choose to participate at some point. I hope to meet with Togsoo soon. Please pray for me to have the right balance of grace and truth.

Suffer the little children to come unto me …

Quote of the week

"Did we evolve our capacity to use language, or were we made with that capacity because we were created in the image of someone who uses words? Language does not merely enable us to be creative. Language is itself creative." —Vishal Mangalwadi

Deans' March Prayer Letter: Ganpurev's Ordination

 Most missionaries with whom I speak have a desire to see indigenous churches planted. An indigenous church means a self-teaching, self-supporting, self-governing, self-propagating church. A self-propagating church spreads the Good News that Jesus saves, and supports Christians in church-planting efforts; self-governing means that nationals, not missionaries, make the decisions for the church. A self-supporting church does not rely on subsidies to pay its bills, including its pastor. A self-teaching church does not rely on foreigners to preach, teach, or disciple believers.

For me, finding a Mongolian man to lead Faith Baptist Church in Mongolia has been the longest part of the journey. God is very specific in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 about what he expects of the men who oversee His churches. In Mongolia, I have seen firsthand the tragedy of churches led by men who clearly do not meet the qualifications of the pastor that God has laid down. Covetousness, adultery, novices — these all have occurred here. In too many instances, the main qualification that a man had for leadership was English- speaking skills. That gave him direct access to the missionary and his money.

But enough of the dangers and pitfalls of turning over Christ’s churches to the nationals; even in America, we see the calamity of churches led by unqualified men. My goal was to find a man led by the Holy Spirit who was capable of leading Faith Baptist Church and who was willing to do so. Without such a man, Faith Baptist Church can never be truly indigenous.

There are two extremes that a missionary must take care to avoid in turning over a church to nationals. The first extreme is turning the church over too early before proper leadership has had time to develop. The other extreme is thinking that, because the nationals are not Americans, they are not as capable of leading Christ’s church as the missionary is. Both extremes are dangerous; and both extremes are common. In looking for a Mongolian man to be the pastor of Faith Baptist Church, I was looking for a man who evidenced his spiritual maturity through a public stand for Jesus Christ, victory over sin, biblical counsel for fellow believers, and a sincere concern for the welfare of God’s children.

This month, the church ordained Ganpurev to ultimately be the pastor of Faith Baptist Church, fulfilling a major goal in the planting of a truly Mongolian church in Mongolia. Pastor Ben Jaquith of my sending church, Westgate Baptist Church, came to Mongolia to visit. During his visit, Pastor Jaquith joined fellow missionary Jason Ritchie and me in an ordination council. The ordination council lasted almost four hours, partly because most everything had to be translated from English to Mongolian and Mongolian to English. Pastor Jaquith and Brother Ritchie, in particular, had many good questions for Ganpurev. Having trained Ganpurev, I did not ask many questions because I knew what his answers would be. At the end of the ordination council, we all agreed that we could heartily recommend Ganpurev to the church as prepared for ordination and clearly evidencing God’s call on his life to ministry.

Later and unsolicited, Jason Ritchie wrote to his supporting churches about Ganpurev, “I have grown to appreciate his fine Christian character and love for the Lord.”

Then, in an email that Pastor Jaquith sent to a Westgate Baptist Church member and then shared with me, he wrote, “Another positive aspect [of our trip to Mongolia] was the ordination examination and then formal church service following that, for Ganpurev.  He and his family are so solidly prepared.” What better recommendations can one ask for than these?

Based on their recommendation to Faith Baptist Church, the church voted to ordain Ganpurev, recognizing God’s call on his life to the ministry. I have been training Ganpurev for the past several years to prepare him for this momentous task. But it has only been in the past year that Ganpurev has recognized God’s call on his life to be the pastor of Faith Baptist Church.

I am looking forward, in the coming months, to gradually transferring the leadership of Faith Baptist Church into Ganpurev’s capable hands. This spring, I am teaching a Bible institute class on the life of Christ and further equipping the believers to preach Christ to their family and friends. Ganpurev and I are also working on revising the current church constitution, which is based on a Baptist church model from American to fit a Baptist church model for Mongolia. I am also launching a renewed effort to start evangelistic Bible studies in Mongolian’s homes.

Your prayers have been an important part of our ministry in Mongolia. Because you pray, you too share in the joy of seeing a Mongolian man ordained to the ministry. Someday, you will meet these precious believers in heaven.