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."