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.