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.

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Deans' weekly update

Monday morning I had an odd thing happen to me: I was walking down the street with Ganpurev and talking on my cell phone when someone grabbed me around the waist from behind. It was one of the most unusual things that has happened to me in a long time. I looked around wondering if Ganpurev was trying to protect me from something or if it was someone with whom I was acquainted. Ganpurev looked as shocked as I was. I next thought that the fellow holding on to my waist might want to steal my cell phone. So I excused myself and hung up.

The man let go of my waist and saluted me, wishing me a Happy Soldiers’ Day (which was on Sunday). A second man was also with him and saluted me. They were obviously drunk. Just then, one of the fellows grabbed me around the waist again.

Ganpurev reached out to intervene, asking “What are you trying to do?” I wiggled free and swiftly walked away.

As we strode away, Ganpurev asked me, “Do you know those guys?” I have no idea who they were.

In ministry news this week, Kristie and I were encouraged when we observed the Mongolians teaching an evangelism class to the children who came and received a gift two weeks ago. They have books that take the children from God's perfect creation to His perfect sacrifice and the resurrection of His Son. They are handling all this on their own, and we are observing. Our goal has always been to leave behind Christians who are capable of leading others to our Savior and make them His disciples. To watch them as they do so is a joy to our hearts. Their evangelistic efforts are the results of many years of work.

Soldier's Day

Today is Soldiers' Day in Mongolia. I think it's similar to Veterans' Day in the United States. The Mongolians don't seem to do much to honor soldiers, however, which is sad.

This morning, more than half of those in attendance said that verse from memory that the church is memorizing. The previous few weeks, only Ganpurev had said the verse. It was becoming discouraging; then God encouraged me as so many were prepared to say the verse from memory.

This morning, Kristie listened patiently to several complaints that a Mongolian had. The source of all the complaints was this Mongolian's service given to God was being taken advantage of by people who seemed careless. While I was sad to hear her complaints, it reminded me that the Mongolians are taking on more and more of the service in the church meetings. They are noticing more the inconsiderate behavior of unsaved guests or immature Christians. These are good steps for the Mongolians to be taking.

I was reminded of a little ditty I heard somewhere:

God has plenty of material
For prophets, priests, and kings.
What He needs are some volunteers
To do the little things.

Quote of the week

"The problem with the modern American church is that it is far too 'American' and not enough 'church.'" —Stanley Hauerwas

Yesterday's post

Yesterday's post may have caused some consternation among those of you who follow my blog and ministry. You may be wondering who are these folks that have passed away recently.

The first person to pass on to eternity was Bob's sister who is only a few years older than I am. I found out last Wednesday when he came to borrow some tables and chairs to accomodate the folks that would be visiting. His sister felt poorly Tuesday night, went to the hospital, and was gone by Wednesday afternoon.

That same day, Dashka's uncle passed away. I am not sure how old he was; but knowing his mother's approximate age, I think it is fair to guess that Dashka's uncle was about my parent's age.

Yesterday, Ganchimeg's aunt passed away. She was in her 50's, went in for surgery on her neck, and did not survive the surgery. It was very tragic and unexpected.

Aya is still with us. I am amazed at the mercy & grace of God to preserve her for us all this time. Please pray for Ganpurev, Ulzee, and Aya as they continue to serve the Lord.

However, Ganpurev called me this morning to tell me that a friend of his who is about our age also passed away suddenly. I had met Amraa once or twice years ago. He is a fellow who grew up with Ganpurev but was a heavy drinker. After Ganpurev became a Christian he found himself spending less and less time with Amraa who encouraged him to drink. But it is very tragic to see so many people not much older than me lose their life so unexpectedly.

Pray that God would use these reminders of the uncertainty of life to draw Mongolians to Himself!

Deans' weekly update

Three deaths in a week—there have been three deaths this past week in the extended families of our church members. All of them were relatively young, one of them only a few years older than myself. What a reminder that life is short and judgment is real! I had not personally met any of these Mongolians who are now in eternity. But the church folks had. This makes it imperative that I equip the Mongolians preach the Gospel to family and friends and impress upon them the urgency of the task.

Because of this burden that I have, I was pleased to hear that Ganpurev took several opportunities to preach Christ to family and friends during a recent, brief trip to the countryside. He used a new Gospel booklet to give the Good News to an old school friend and a brother-in-law among others. Please pray that all the Mongolians would eagerly tell their family and friends that there is a Savior and that He is the God of the Mongols.

On the weather front, it looks like tomorrow may be the first day above freezing since November. Of course, if we miss our opportunity for “warm” weather tomorrow they are predicting a new cold snap for us that means a week or more of sub-freezing temperatures. We would like it to warm up because we are already halfway through March.

Pray for Kristie

Kristie was sick for a few days last week and then became sick again yesterday. It seems like a stomach virus to me. She seems to be recovering this evening. But she has been sick quite a bit recently. Pray for her.

Quote of the week

"Home, with all its prohibitions and opportunities to die daily, offered training far greater than any Bible school curriculum." —Amy Carmichael

Weather

It was -22 F (-30 C) this morning when I rose from bed. And it's March! I hope it warms up soon.

Pictures from Ganpurev's ordination

The men at Ganpurev's ordination council (from left): me, Dashka acting as translator, Ganpurev, Pastor Ben Jaquith, missionary Jason Ritchie.

The ordination council recommending Ganpurev to Faith Baptist Church.

Ganpurev receiving his ordination gift: a new cell phone to keep in touch with the church.

Finally, in this picture from seven years ago I am baptizing Ganpurev.

Deans' weekly update

It's been a while since I posted anything. I hope I haven't lost my audience.

Here's the update: several weeks ago, I mentioned to you that the church would be involved in a project to give gifts to the neighborhood children and present the Gospel to them through music and a Bible story. Afterward, there would be follow-up with the families of the children who came. At that time and just days before they were scheduled to give out the gifts, they delayed the project for two weeks.

That moved the project to this past weekend. Because I was not needed and because my parents-in-law were visiting, I was unable to attend. When I asked how the project went one of the first things that Ganpurev said was, “We were not very experienced so there were things that we would have done differently.” I pointed out that they only way to gain experience is to attempt things. Experience is never gained by not trying. In my opinion this was a good start to future ministry for many of the Mongolians.

This past weekend the church held Ganpurev’s ordination ceremony. In many ways it felt like the culmination of seventeen years of ministry for me. It was almost seventeen years ago that I was ordained. Although I have worked with many men during that time, Ganpurev is the first man that has been ordained mostly through the influence of my ministry.

Ganpurev’s ordination is a key milestone in planting a Mongolian church in Mongolia. Building a place for the Mongolian church to meet was essential. Evangelizing the lost is also crucial. Discipling believers makes for a strong church. Ordaining a Mongolian as pastor means it will be a Mongolian church. Please pray for Ganpurev as he grows into his new role as pastor.

I will be at Faith Baptist Church for a while assisting Ganpurev in his transition. Also, I will be teaching a Bible institute class on the life of Christ. We started just this week. Teaching a Bible class in Mongolian is always interesting as I usually create most of my material myself or translate it from English materials that I have.

So there are some prayer requests: reaching out to families whose children attended the gift-giving project, Ganpurev in his new role as pastor, and for me as I teach this Bible institute class.