Details of Bob's salvation

It was not so many weeks ago that Ganaa (also known as Bolroo) was baptized. She was saved when we first met her in 2001. (She was Kristie's language tutor and helped me as well.) However, she was not a very mature Christian.

It took us a long time to see her baptized. We certainly encouraged her to be baptized; however, she usually had some excuse. We fully expected her to come to our previous baptismal service and be baptized and were disappointed when she missed.

I have also witnessed to her husband Bob many times. As a matter of fact, Bob was the first person to whom I witnessed in Mongolian. In 2005-2006 when we were on furlough, we asked our supporters to pray for his salvation.

It seemed to us that immediately after her baptism her problems increased. I was sure glad I did not promise my listeners that if they were baptized all their problems would go away. On the advice of his drinking buddies her husband told her the next day that she would have to choose between Jesus and him. Then he called me and asked my family to stop having Ganaa teach our children Mongolian.

The day after that, Ganaa, Kristie, and I met. It was amazing to see the peace that Ganaa had as she told us that Bob told her that if she followed Christ she would need to leave the house. She told us plainly, "I will follow Jesus even if I have to move out." She was seeking advice on what she ought to do. We began to pray with her that God would soften Bob's heart.

On the Saturday following I was going out to visit people. I was not sure if I should visit Bob's house or not and finally decided against it because I was concerned that a visit might make the situation worse for Ganaa. After all, he had not yet insisted that Ganaa leave. Instead I was led to pray that God would give me an opportunity to run into Bob. Strangely enough, I had completed all my visits and was returning home when I stopped at a local grocery store to buy some cheese. Who should be there but Bob! Providentially, God brought us together. I determined that I would show him that I loved him. My father-in-law (who is also my pastor) had offered to bring something with him to give to Bob as a goodwill gift. So I asked Bob if there was anything from the States that he wanted. He asked for two pair of jeans.

My parents-in-law visit was the perfect opportunity to have Bob over to our house. We held an open house for our friends to meet our parents and invited Bob and his family to come. Kristie's parents had brought with them the pairs of jeans that Bob had requested. Bob came with his family and seemed to enjoy his time with my pastor.

My pastor who was preparing to speak on Sunday told him that he could pick up his jeans at the church service. So Bob came again on Sunday. My pastor spoke and then Ganpurev preached an evangelistic message. Bob picked up his jeans, asked if he could meet with me and my pastor, and said that he would be back the next week.

A few days later Bob invited our family to come over for a meal. On Saturday, we went to Bob's house where he gave us plenty of good food to eat. Afterwards, my pastor and I took the opportunity to witness to Bob. It was not that Bob was unaware of the claims of Christ or needed to know the way of salvation. I had, in fact, been witnessing to him several weeks before his wife's baptism when he cut me off and said, "I know all that." His problem was that he did not want to place his trust in Jesus Christ as his Savior from sin. It was a classic situation where a person knows that Jesus claims to be the way, the truth, and the life but does not want to believe it.

Bob shared with us that Saturday that he was afraid that if he became a Christian he would be a hypocrite. He said he knew many men who said that they were Christians but continued to drink, lie, and deal dishonestly. It was apparent that Bob understood the basic concept of repentance; that is, if he were to become a Christian God would want to change his sinful life. A Christian's life should stand in stark contrast to the world.

My father-in-law wisely reminded Bob that we cannot be worried about God's responsibility but must accept our responsibility. Our responsibility is to respond to God with faith; it is God's responsibility to save and sanctify us. Bob said that he would think about it. I pressed him to give us an answer, and my pastor reminded him that no answer was to continue to resist the Holy Spirit. I asked if he would give us an answer the next day; he said that he would think about that too.

The next day, a Sunday, Bob again came to church. When we sang "I Have Decided to Follow Jesus" to close our service, I noticed that Bob was singing the song, something that he has never done before because he believes as I do that it would be hypocritical for him to sing any song if he does not agree with the words. I noted this change of character in him and wondered what it might mean.

After the service, I asked Bob if he was ready to put his trust in Jesus. He said, "Let's talk, the three of us" referring to my pastor and me and him. So we found some privacy in a little storage room and talked. The conversation probably lasted an hour. Bob continued to express a fear that he could not live the Christian life. We agreed with him that he could not live the Christian life, showed him Galatians 2:20, and emphasized that the Christian life was simply allowing Christ to live through us. We also pointed out that he could only take one step at a time and that today's step was to put his trust in Jesus Christ and to ask God to forgive him.

Finally, after about an hour Bob said, "Okay, I'm ready to do that." So I suggested that he should pray and tell God what he had just told me. Bob bowed his head and without any prompting told God that he was a sinner, asked God for forgiveness through Jesus, and asked God to begin to change him. It was very moving for those of us who know how proud Bob was to see him humble himself before a holy God and admit his sinfulness.

For many years, I have witnessed to Bob, sometimes even angering him with my boldness. Now the Holy Spirit has transformed him, and it is exciting to see God at work.

(Bob's family is in the picture to the right)

God's sovereignty in Gustavo's life

As Christians we all say that we believe in the sovereignty of an Almighty God. We would verbally agree that no one can prevent God from working or compel God to do what He does not wish to do. However, when problems arise we often complain or become discouraged as if God were not in control. Sometimes we witness some amazing “coincidence” and fail to see God’s hand in it. Either way, while we may profess to be believers in the sovereignty of God, we often act as if we are unaware that God is in charge. This post focuses on God’s sovereignty: His awe-inspiring work to bring people to Himself, especially as it relates to Gustavo's life.

You will recall that last month I wrote about Gustavo, a Cuban man who had come to our church service. In an amazing “coincidence” the very next Sunday Billy Patterson–a missionary who grew up in Mexico, spent some time pastoring there, and speaks fluent Spanish–“happened” to be at our church service to preach. Because he had only arrived in Mongolia for a short visit two days before, we did not extend him an invitation to preach until Saturday evening. By the time that he stood up to preach that Sunday, Gustavo had not arrived. One could be excused for wondering “Where was Gustavo?” However, Brother Patterson had not even concluded his opening remarks when Gustavo walked through the door without his wife.

Now consider the fact that Gustavo came alone. Gustavo speaks very little Mongolian; he speaks about as much Mongolian as I speak Spanish. His English is much weaker than my Mongolian too. His wife is expecting and was sick and vomiting Sunday morning when he rose from bed. He said later that he just planned to stay home but that something (I would say Someone) caused him to come without his wife. Since his wife was sick and he does not speak much Mongolian or English and he did not know that a Spanish-speaking man would be preaching, why should he come? I am convinced that God in His merciful sovereignty brought him out to our church service!

When Brother Patterson was introduced to Gustavo as a Spanish speaker he began to preach in English which was translated into Mongolian. Then he would follow up by repeating his preaching in Spanish. At the end of the service, Brother Patterson spoke with Gustavo personally for some time. At the end of that time, they knelt down to pray. When they rose from their knees, Brother Patterson said that Gustavo had become a Christian. Gustavo was smiling from ear to ear. Several hours later Gustavo sent me an SMS message, “Very good day today, thanks [sic].”

Later that week, Roland, Billy, and I went together to visit Gustavo and his wife at their home. Gustavo told us how in Cuba although his father and mother were Catholic his aunt was a Baptist who would read the Bible and gather him along with other children together to teach them about Jesus Christ. His aunt has since passed away, but she too had a part in planting the seed in Cuba that lead to Gustavo’s astonishing salvation in Mongolia.

Already in his young Christian life, Gustavo has shown instances of a repentant spirit and a desire to learn more about our Savior. The day that he made a profession of faith in Christ, I asked for my home church to send me a Spanish Bible for Gustavo. Of course, they sent it out before the end of the week. However, because it takes some time for mail to arrive, Gustavo asked me a week or so later, “Where is my Spanish Bible?”

I am convinced that it was not chance that brought Billy Patterson to our church. It was not fate that caused Gustavo to come by himself that Sunday. It was God showing once again His sovereignty in the affairs of men. Praise be to the Almighty God!

Gustavo gives his testimony

Here's video of part of Gustavo's testimony translated from Spanish into English and then into Mongolian.

Enkhee and Bayambaa's salvation testimony

This actually occured about two years ago now, but I was recently asked for the story. It was such a blessing to remember the details of their salvation testimony that I thought I would share them with you all, the readers of my blog. I trust that you will enjoy reading this true story.

It was Ganpurev and Ulzee who introduced me to Enkhee and Bayambaa. Enkhee is Ulzee’s older brother and Bayambaa is Enkhee’s wife. They have three children: Soyoloo, Mongonoo, and Bombog. One reason that Ganpurev and Ulzee introduced me to Enkhee and Bayambaa is that they had a burden for them to be saved. But I had difficulty visiting Enkhee and Bayambaa because they both worked seven days a week. Finding a good time to visit often proved troublesome. On top of that the whole family seemed dysfunctional to me. Often when I arrived, Bayambaa, the wife, would be scolding her husband about something. Or Enkhee, the husband, would be tacitly approving of the children’s disobedience to their mother. On several occasions when I visited Enkhee was drunk. Still, I tried to visit as often as I could.

At one point I heard that Bayambaa was in the hospital, something about her liver or kidneys bothering her. Now, Mongolians go to the hospital for much more minor things than Americans do. In fact, occasionally a Mongolian will say something like, “I’ve not been feeling well. I think I’ll lie in the hospital for 10 days and have some injections.” So the fact that someone is in the hospital does not mean that they are seriously ill or in any danger of dying.

I took the opportunity to go with Ganpurev and Ulzee to visit her while she was in the hospital. I was not really certain what to say but know that my visit meant a lot to the family. Not long after, Mongonoo and Bombog began to come to Kristie’s Sunday school class. Since our goal is to reach the whole family, not just the children, I redoubled my efforts to visit them.

Often when I would visit, Enkhee would pick up a newspaper or stare at the television as if he were ignoring me. But his sister, Ulzee, assured me that he was not ignoring me, he just is not very sociable. Still, it was difficult to visit their house only to seemingly be ignored. I took the opportunities when I visited their home to speak to them about Biblical truth. We talked about the true Creator God and that all the other gods were false gods.

We talked about what sin is. When I pointed out that everyone had sinned, Bayambaa quickly agreed, “Oh yes, everyone is a sinner.” But instead of meaning that as a problem, she meant it as an excuse. Of course everyone has sinned. So what? This was the real message of her agreement. So we discussed that sin is an offense against a holy God and that we must have forgiveness in order to enjoy fellowship with the God Who created us.

I taught that Jesus was the perfect God-Man, fully God and fully man. I also taught that his death on the cross paid the penalty for our sins and enabled us to obtain God’s forgiveness for the sins that we had committed against Him. It often seemed as if I were talking to people who were simply not interested. Finally a day came when Enkhee had to leave Mongolia and travel to China for business and was gone over a month. My visits and our Bible lessons suddenly stopped.

I remember that it was on Easter evening that Enkhee called me about eight o’clock. “I’m back from China,” he said, “Can you come to my house tonight?” At the time I had guests at my house but told him that I would come over as soon as possible. My guests left about nine; and not long after, I left for Enkhee’s house. I was there until nearly midnight. It was the start to new Bible lessons reviewing the same things I had taught before.

One night about a month later when I visited, Bayambaa said to me suddenly, “I believe in Jesus.”

Next to me was the family “god shelf” with pictures and idols of various deities, pictures of the Dalai Lama, and some incense. I gestured to the god shelf as I asked, “If you really believe in Jesus, what about these gods? I have taught you that there is only one true God and that all these gods are false. If you truly ‘believe Jesus’ then you would get rid of these false gods.”

“What should I do with them?” she asked, absent-mindedly poking at the fire in her cast-iron stove with a stick.

“Throw them in the fire and burn them.” I said. She quickly closed the door to the stove and proceeded to tell me all the reasons that she could not burn her idols. It was revealing to me that although people say that they believe Jesus, the truth can be seen in their actions.

I realized that the greatest hindrance to saving faith in Jesus Christ was the gods that they were already worshiping. Concerned that I was not communicating well enough with them, I took Ganpurev over to their house. On the way over, I explained to Ganpurev that I thought that their most serious problem was that they still clung to their old gods. I kept thinking of the verse in I Thessalonians, “how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” I did not want them to merely say, “I believe in Jesus,” pray a prayer with me, and add a picture of Jesus to their god shelf (I have been asked before for a picture of Jesus so that they can add it to their god shelf). I wanted their lives to reflect the change that the Holy Spirit brings when He truly quickens a life.

During our visit, Ganpurev, who is only a young Christian, was very insightful in his comments to them. He taught them from Deuteronomy 10:17: “For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God.” He pointed out that the God of the Bible was not even of the same rank as these gods that were on their god shelf. He was God over those gods. It was an interesting observation coming from one who had grown up in a polytheistic culture.

Then Bayambaa suggested that they could give the pictures and idols away to others instead of burning them. Though I did not immediately see the significance of this idea, Ganpurev quickly grasped its significance and responded, “Why would you want to avoid burning your false gods? They’re not real. They can’t hurt you. If you really understood what we are teaching about the true God, you would realize that He is more powerful than these gods [pointing to the god shelf] and that He can protect you. You don’t want to burn these gods because you’re scared of them.”

Enkhee and Bayambaa did not have much to say to that and our lessons ended again.

Several weeks later on a Sunday, Enkhee and Bayambaa unexpectedly showed up at Ganpurev’s ger, a circular tent made of felt and canvas pulled over a wooden framework. Gers are a very common living situation for Mongolian families. Ganpurev was not home and looking for Ganpurev, they called me. I did not know where Ganpurev was but told them to wait at Ganpurev’s house because I was coming to meet them.

Ganpurev arrived home not long after I arrived. Ganpurev and I, Enkhee and Bayambaa joined now by Ulzee continued our conversation about God, Jesus Christ, sin, and repentance for several hours. At the end of our conversation, Enkhee and Bayambaa announced, “We’re going to go home and burn our gods!”

Now, you must understand that Mongolians often promise to do things that they do not really intend to do. So when they said this, I did not immediately jump up and down with joy because I wanted to see if they truly went home and threw their gods in the fire. But something about their attitude seemed different.

I went home and told my wife, “I think Enkhee and Bayambaa are genuinely saved.”

Her question was, “Did you pray with them?”

“No,” I replied, “But they said that they were going to go home and burn their gods. If they do go home and burn their gods, we’ll know that they are truly saved!”

On Wednesday, Bayambaa called Ulzee and said, “We went home Sunday night and threw all our gods in the fire! Now three days later, we are still so happy and have no regrets [about throwing our gods in the fire].”

When I heard the news from Ulzee, I was so happy! Here was the Holy Spirit changing lives.

That next week, Enkhee and Bayambaa asked me to bring my whole family and to come over to visit to their house. I had been explaining to Kristie how anti-social Enkhee often was and how dysfunctional the entire family seemed to be. But our visit was so pleasant and Enkhee was so friendly and attentive that as we were driving away, my wife asked me, “Are you sure you were telling me about the same family?”

“Yes, but isn’t it amazing the way that the Holy Spirit is already changing them?!”

As an epilogue, several months later, I was at their house teaching a Bible lesson from Psalm 139 about how well God knows us and protects us. I had asked a question that neither Enkhee nor Bayambaa seemed to be able to answer when Soyoloo, their teenage daughter, spoke up and gave an impressive answer.

“So you’re interested in the Bible too. Are you a Christian then?” I asked Soyoloo.

“Of course, I’m a Christian. When we threw those false gods into the fire, it was a family decision,” was her basic response. It reminded me of the Philippian jailer in Acts 16 of whom it was said, “believing in God with all his house.”

This story really gets interesting when you hear the rest of the story.

You recall that I had been teaching about the Bible, God, Jesus, sin, and repentance for several months and how uninterested the family seemed to be. However, they continued to send their two children to Kristie’s Sunday school class. Several months before Enkhee and Bayambaa burned their gods, Kristie had asked some of our prayer partners at Westgate Baptist Church to join with us in prayer for the children in her Sunday school class. It was decided that families would adopt children and pray for them by name. To encourage them in prayer, Kristie sent pictures of the children to the families that had agreed to pray for them.

In Oregon, the Ojala family agreed to pray each day by name for Mongonoo and Bombog and received a picture of the two children. After several months of prayer, their oldest daughter Mia, a young lady of about twenty, felt personally impressed not only to pray for Mongonoo and Bombog but also for their parents to be saved. We only found out later that the week that Mia began to pray for their parents to be saved was the very same week that Enkhee and his family burned their gods. What wonderful news to give the Ojala family as they asked about the spiritual condition of the parents of the children for whom they had been praying.

It was also a vivid reminder that your prayers really do have an impact on our ministry. Even though the Ojalas are thousands of miles away, the God of heaven Whom we serve took those prayers and drew a Mongolian family to Himself. Never forget that your prayers enable our ministry.