Wrap-up of 2019 Mongolia trip

What a blessed trip! Thank you all for praying. I was unable to accomplish all that I had hoped with this trip, but God blessed in unexpected ways also.

My first goal was to get Caleb settled into his new home, registered for school, and assist with obtaining his residency permission for living temporarily in Mongolia. All of those were accomplished. When you pray express gratitude to God for His help. When I left Caleb last night he seemed calm and eager to begin his adventure in Mongolia. He is planning to make his first visit to a Mongolian family on his own Saturday night. He did make a visit with his grandma once when I was busy moving our luggage from one place to another. Ulzee said he talked in Mongolian (other than his grandma, no other English speakers were present). But this evening he will not even have his grandma. Having struggled for years to speak the language, I am impressed with how well he does with it. Foreigners have commented to me that he does well because he grew up in Mongolia. But I know many American children who grew up in Mongolia and cannot speak the language today.

My second goal was to strengthen Khan Uul Baptist Church. I had the opportunity to preach three times in Mongolia and once in English. Many people—Mongolians & missionaries—told me how much of a blessing the preaching was. God was good to grant me the freedom and power to preach in Mongolian. After the morning service, Ulemj brought his friend Yesugei to me. Yesugei had many questions about salvation. In the end, I think that he was a Christian but had been confused by some false teaching at another church that taught that Christians must attend church regularly in order to get to heaven. I stressed to him the sufficiency of faith in Christ and encouraged him to make a public profession of faith in Christ alone at the next church service.

My third goal was to encourage the Mongolian Christians. In the past I have often stayed 12 days in the country with which travel makes a 14 day trip. This time I chose to make it a 12 day trip which meant 10 days in Mongolia. I was not able to visit as many Mongolian families as I wished to visit. One Mongolian family in particular that I wished to move forward seems stuck despite your prayers, my prayers, and my best efforts. God gave several opportunities for clear and open communication in Mongolian. But talk does not change people; the Holy Spirit changes people. Please pray for a new openness to the Holy Spirit’s work in this family’s life.

My fourth goal was to assist with the Old Testament translation project and get to the place where I can continue to help going forward. I have committed to one morning a week. Jason will send me materials that they are passing on to the translation team’s reading committee. I will look for obvious errors and doctrinal implications.

My fifth goal was to encourage the missionaries. Missionary life can be lonely, discouraging, and unrewarding. I was glad to be able to meet with three different missionary families as well as additional meetings with the missionary pastor of Khan Uul Baptist Church.

Some of you that are receiving this email are not a part of Elmira Baptist Church. You will be pleased to hear that the church rallied around and solved a difficult problem during my absence. The speaker that I had scheduled for the Sunday morning that I was gone was unable to come. I found out just days before Sunday. But my deacons and father stepped up to meet the needs, and I only heard good reports from last Sunday’s service. I had better not be gone any more than I must; otherwise, my church will realize that they don’t need me as much as they think. Praise the Lord for His grace that enables us to meet every need.

Last day in Mongolia

We are just a few hours away from leaving for the airport. I hid away a few precious hours before we left to update you and get some sleep. Our flight leaves just before midnight Mongolia time and lands in Korea about 4 AM. I do not sleep on the plane very well anymore, so red-eye flights mean no sleep. When I was in college, I often took red-eye flights because they were cheaper and I could sleep the whole time. No more. Getting old may not be fun, but it beats the alternative.

Thank you for your prayers for my preaching. Many people have commented on God blessing them through the preaching. I am so grateful for God's help! And it has been a blessed time for me to listen to missionaries, their concerns and troubles. I cannot solve every problem, but I know the One Who has grace for every trial. My visits to Mongolia always lead me to pray more fervently and specifically.

I sat with the Old Testament translation team for about six hours yesterday and remembered why God has not called me to translate. Bible translation is quite an undertaking. Pray for the team as they hope to finish up the Old Testament in the next four years. Then the important work of printing will begin.

I should be "back in the saddle” on Sunday at Elmira Baptist Church. Some of you I will see there. The others I will see as I have opportunity. I may write again from Korea. Thank you again for your prayers. 

Thursday update from Mongolia

We are getting closer to the end of our time here in Mongolia. I was ill yesterday evening and canceled a visit that I had scheduled. But I have learned to trust God in these things and not to get too anxious when something I wanted to do, does not work out.

Tonight I speak one last time to Khan Uul Baptist Church where Bradly Kubik serves. It is their midweek prayer service so I will speak on prayer. Tomorrow, I will speak to the translators of the Old Testament translation project and join them in their weekly translation meeting. Pray for wisdom in all these opportunities.

After the translation meeting, I will visit two Mongolian families as a sort of end-cap to our visits in Mongolia.

Friday, we pack up, take Caleb to his Mongolian residence, and then leave for the airport. So, as always, it will be a busy finish. Pray for strength for us and safety as we fly back to the U.S.

Where we have been

I have not written as many updates as I intended to because my mornings have been full which is unusual for my Mongolia trips. Usually, my mornings are free as people work, and I visit families in the afternoons and evenings. The exception, of course, is Sunday when I attend a church meeting in the morning. On this trip, however, my mornings have also been full.

I spent several mornings helping Caleb get settled. We visited his language school, met his teachers, etc. one morning. We spent another morning headed to immigration to obtain his residency permission—he already had his visa before he arrived. The immigration office is across town, and what took so long was traffic, not bureaucracy. Yesterday morning, we did some shopping together to find some items that he would need.

On Saturday morning, I attended the first chapel of Faith Baptist Bible College. I intended to attend one of the classes. However, the head of the Bible college caught me and wished to talk to me for a while. This morning, I met with a missionary and spent over 2 hours discussing Mongolian churches, the Old Testament translation, and some Mongolians that we both know. It’s all valuable work, but it has taken away my prime opportunity to write updates.

The preaching on Sunday went well. Several people told me that both the English message and Mongolian message were a blessing to them. The Holy Spirit is required in all preaching; however, He seemed especially present in the preaching on Sunday.

I will speak again in Wednesday night at the prayer meeting. The following morning, I will speak to the translators at their weekly meeting. So please pray for my continued opportunities to speak in Mongolian.

Caleb has impressed me on this trip. When we lived in Mongolia, Caleb did not speak much English or Mongolian. When he did speak to me, he almost always spoke English. Despite being away from the country for more than seven years, he speaks Mongolian incredibly well. On Saturday, I left him at Ganpurev’s house with his grandmother (my mom). I expected to be gone less than an hour. Because of traffic, it took me more than two hours to accomplish my simple errand. That entire time Caleb carried on a conversation with the Mongolians in the house.

Later, we visited another Mongolian family where he impressed them with his Mongolian language ability and his ability to write Old Script Mongolian which I never learned. So he is off to a good start. His classes start next Monday after we leave. During our time in Mongolia so far, he has been visiting Mongolians with my mom and me. He has grown up so much in the last few years. It is a joy to watch him become a young man. Please pray that God will protect Caleb from evil during his time in Mongolia.

Crazy traffic

Crazy, it’s simply crazy. I thought traffic was bad when I left Ulaanbaatar. It’s worse now. Last night, what should have been a 15 minute ride home turned into an hour long trek that included two taxis, a walk in the rain, and a splash of muddy water from the street. By the time that we arrived home we were all soaked. But we did arrive home safely.

But first, a little bit about what we did during the day. Caleb and I joined one of Charissa’s old friends, now grown up and studying to be a doctor, on a trip to the immigration office. The bureaucracy itself was quick, and Caleb received his residency permission to stay in Mongolia. It was the traffic that was achingly slow. I was glad that I did not have to drive. Caleb starts language classes on Monday, Sep. 16 and is studying not far from where we live. I have also encouraged him to take part in the Bible classes that are offered on Saturdays at Faith Baptist Bible College.

In the evening, we joined the 2019-2020 opening ceremony of Faith Baptist Bible College of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. I was pleased that so many Mongolians came, especially so many young people. Bradly Kubik whom Elmira Baptist Church supports was there. I had the honor of giving the opening address and spoke from I Tim. 2:1-3 about being a good soldier of Jesus Christ and relying on the grace that we find in Christ Jesus.

I must mention that Caleb is off to a good start. He is speaking Mongolian with the young men that he meets and must have carried on a conversation in Mongolian for most of an hour last night. It took me over a year of study to come close to doing that. I could greet people and ask a few questions but long conversations were difficult for me. Some of you might think, of course, Caleb is speaking Mongolian well; he grew up there. And you would be correct that he grew up here. However, when he lived here he never carried on long conversations like that. It’s mentally tiring so I commend him for his efforts. If he continues to yield himself to God for service, he will be a good asset at Khan Uul Baptist Church.

Tomorrow, I will be speaking at Khan Uul Baptist Church in English and in Mongolian. I appreciate your prayers for me.

Haven't left the United States yet

I am excited about this trip to Mongolia. However, for the first time ever my excitement is more for someone else than for myself. Since 1997, I have made this trip many times. My trip in 1997 when Kristie and I visited the country and in 2001 when I took my family to Mongolia are my most memorable trips. This one will rank right up there.

This time I will be delivering my son Caleb to Mongolia and leaving him there for seven months. It is an ambitious undertaking for an 18 year old man. Caleb in close consultation with me made this decision some years ago and has been laser focused on returning to Mongolia since then. He has been saving money and teaching himself Mongolian in anticipation for his trip.

Last Tuesday, we went to the Mongolian Consulate in San Francisco to pick up his visa. Now I find myself writing to you from the San Francisco International airport. So our trip begins. I’ll be posting this email and future updates at mongolia-ministry.blogspot.com. I will also be posting pictures to my Instagram account at @mongoldean and my Twitter is also @MongolDean.

Caleb

Next summer after he graduates from high school, Caleb desires to travel to Mongolia to spend 6-9 months there furthering his study of Mongolian and experiencing missionary life as an adult. In addition to living in Mongolia for the first 11 years of his life, Caleb has also taken three short-term trips to Nicaragua and learned much Spanish.

Kristie and I are excited about what God is doing in each of our children's lives. We support Caleb in this endeavor because he believes that God has called him to do Bible translation work. He worked at a farm and has saved the past two summers to make it possible for this trip. He has more work to do this year to reach his goal.

His time in Mongolia will increase his effectiveness studying at Bible college. We know that God has great things ahead for him. Please pray with us that God will direct our son and provide for his needs. God is good … all the time.

Mongolian in California

I have been searching for Mongolians in the United States for some time now. I know that there are pockets of them. Until today, however, the only Mongolian I had met in America was in Utah. He had comverted to Mormonism in Mongolia and was doing his “mission” in Utah. But that was before I knew much Mongolian.

Yesterday at church some of the members told me about two Mongolians who run a Japanese food restaurant in Fairfield. So today, Caleb, Elsie, and I took a quick trip over to Fairfield. There we met Bat, a common Mongolian name. He did not want to talk about religion and could not comprehend why we would want to live in Mongolia. But we told him that we were Christians and left him with the Gospel of John.

Another prayer request for Mongolia

Please pray for the Mongolians to be a witness. The key to the evangelization of Mongolia is not missionaries but Mongolians.

Pray for Ganpurev to have work

I am grateful for those of you who are praying for our Mongolian brothers & sisters. Please pray for Ganpurev to have work. The last few months have been very slow.