Rioting over the election results

This is shaping up to be an interesting week. The preliminary election results have caused many Mongolians to question the fairness of the elections. Some have become so frustrated that they are rioting. I do not anticipate any danger to foreigners since we have stayed out of politics. But upheaval in Mongolia would certainly affect our work.

High gas prices - no problem ...

Mongolians do not have to worry about high gas prices today ... there is no regular gasoline at all. There is some diesel and some very low quality gas that people put into old, old vehicles because it is cheaper. But there is no regular gasoline.

The news began to report on this yesterday. Ganpurev checked with one station and was told there was no gas. I checked with another station and received the same answer. No one seems to know when there will be gas either. I have enough gas to get through the next couple of days so if we get a shipment soon, it should not be a problem.

New ministry - an English service

Three of us missionaries in Mongolia have banded together to begin a new ministry - an English service for expatriates and English-speaking Mongolians.

Bill Patterson preached, Daniel Elliot taught a children's class, and I led the singing. We are meeting in the same facilities where the Mongolian church meets.

We had twenty-five people at the first meeting which included four Mongolians. Please pray for us as we try to reach the people of Ulan Bator through this ministry.

Fire!

Kristie woke me up Monday morning about 4:30 with the news that there was a fire burning outside of our children's bedroom window. Now understand: our apartment is on the eighth floor, and the fire was at ground level so although the fire was directly below their window it was actually about 80 feet away.

The smoke from the fire was what initially woke Kristie up. She went to investigate and discovered the fire outside the window. She woke me up thinking that the fence was on fire since she could not see the building through the flames.

It took me a minute or so to be roused from my bed. By the time I reached the children's window and saw the fire for myself, we also saw that lights and heard the sirens of the fire engines. Someone had already called the fire station.

The trucks stopped in the driveway on the east side of our building, and the fire fighters ran their hoses from there to the fire which was on the north side of the building. It only took a few minutes before the fire was under control.

Unfortunately, two cars that were parked along that side of the fence were damaged. The noise and excitement of the fire woke up Kristie, Caleb, Elsie, and me. The other two children slept blissfilly through it. The rest of us had a short night's sleep.

Some disappointments

Recently, it seems that whenever we have people over to our home to get to know them better, they quit coming. About a month ago, a lady came to our services for three weeks and said that she really enjoyed coming. We invited her over to our house, had a good talk, and have not seen her since.

Then, several weeks ago I had a third Bible study with Basca, Bilgee, and Jagaa. I was so excited about it that I wrote about it in my monthly prayer update. The previous two Bible studies had been at the church rooms. The third Bible study was at my house, and I have not seen Basca or Jagaa since then. I tried calling both of them but one no longer is using the number that I had and the other had given his phone temporarily to a friend. Basca told Bilgee that he would be there Sunday ... but did not come.

Finally, we had a lady named Gantsetseg come on two different Sundays. She came for our time of prayer on Wednesday; and afterwards, Kristie and I talked with her at our home for over an hour. She said she planned to come again this Sunday with her sister. Neither she or her sister came on Sunday. I told Kristie, "Maybe we need to quit having people over to our house."

Weekly update

I have not been able to post as much as I would like to this week. I had intended to write this update yesterday but instead put it off until today. Yesterday was typical day where I seemed to spend much time doing little things. I started my work yesterday by going to the property where I am planning to build a building. Currently, there are some Mongolians working on building a block fence around the two public sides of the property. I checked on that project and met briefly with Ganpurev who feels as if he is running an ambulance service. He has taken a family member to the hospital for doctor appointments five times in four days. In between those hospital runs, he has been helping me with the fencing project.

After that I met with Bold to work together on translating a brief history of revival in a nearby Asian country entitled "When God's Fire Swept Korea." Following that, I visited the Bridge College where two young men from my church will be studying next year to drop off some paperwork that is needed to obtain permission from the Ministry of Education that allows those two young men to study here. I finally was able to sit down briefly for lunch. Then I met with Daniel, another missionary, about a project that we will be working on together - more about that in a moment.

After my meeting with Daniel, I took my car to Gustavo for some work. I hope to have the car back soon. Then after a thirty minute break for dinner, it was time for prayer meeting. Prayer meeting went well. After that, Kristie and I met for over an hour to counsel Gantsetseg and finished after nine o' clock. Gantsetseg is new to our church. Currently, her husband and her are separated. The Holy Spirit guided our conversation, and I believe some progress has been made. Sunday, Gantsetseg said that she would be bringing her sister to church with her.

Daniel Elliot, Bill Patterson, and I will be starting an English service on Sunday nights beginning this Sunday. I am leading songs and providing the rooms where our Mongolian church meets. Daniel is providing a children's program. Bill will be preaching. I suspect that the English service will be better attended than the Mongolian service. Please pray for God's help and blessing with that.

Also, the Mongolian parliamentary elections will be this Sunday. Although I do not know exactly how the new parliament will affect us, I would ask that you would pray that honest people would be elected. The church will be holding a special prayer meeting this Saturday evening to pray.

Aya update

Aya is Ulzee's mother. Several weeks ago she had surgery to remove some abdominal tumors. The results of the biopsy of those tumors came back today, and they are malignant. The doctors are saying that she needs chemotherapy.

I have three prayer requests in all this.

First, I would like Aya to present a clearer testimony of her salvation to her family and me. She says that she has given up her other gods and believes in Jesus. I am grateful for this confession and for her obvious decision to quit performing Buddhist rituals.

Second, pray for comfort and strength for Aya. If she does endure chemotherapy here in Mongolia, I can assure you that it will be more physically demanding than chemotherapy is even in the States.

Third, pray that through this situation Aya's extended family members would come to saving faith in Jesus Christ. Aya is currently the eldest member of her extended family and that carries some amount of respect with it. As difficult as the circumstances are, it is a unique opportunity for Ganpurev, Ulzee, me, and Aya to be a witness for Jesus Christ. But we need the Holy Spirit's power, strength, and help to be a witness and the convict the hearts of Mongolians.

Your prayers at this time for us are greatly appreciated.

Quote of the day

"If I had a hundred lives, they should be at Christ's disposal." - F. B. Meyer

Mongolian administrative divisions

For those of you interested in maps and curious about some of the places that I have visited, I am posting a map of the Mongolian aimags. You can think of them as provinces.

Many people who live in the city identify with the aimag where they were born or where their parents came from. It is difficult to find third-generation inhabitants of Ulan Bator.

There is more information about the individual aimags on this Wikipedia page. Just for reference, the latest Mongolian census put the population of Ulan Bator at over 700,000 though most people here think there are considerably more people than that currently live in the City.

Dean's June prayer update

"And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also" (II Timothy 2:2).

One of my primary goals for the work in Mongolia is to leave behind faithful men who will teach others also. In this passage there is a progression from Paul to Timothy to faithful men.I think about how many people have impacted my life, those who have invested in my life, exhibited Christ-like attitudes, and taught me God's Word. My goal is to invest my life in young Mongolian men "who shall be able to teach others also."

That is why the recent opportunity to study the Bible with Bilgee, Baska, and Jagaa is so exciting. I have known Bilgee almost since I arrived in Mongolia, and I met the other two young men years ago. However, it has only been recently that God has brought the other two young men back across my path. When I suggested that we study the Bible together, they were excited and agreed.

By their own testimony, they are Christians; but also by their own admission, they have lost some of the zeal they once had for our Savior. And I have noticed that in the past they have often had a zeal "but not according to knowledge" as Paul says about the Jews of his day.

My goal is to pour my life and biblical knowledge into them and show them by Spirit-filled living what a Christian leader ought to be. Then, it is my prayer that they will grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to be the leaders of churches in Mongolia.

Please join me in prayer for these three young men. They need to be serious about serving the Savior, to the extent that they put aside secondary concerns and do not allow the cares of this life to distract them from eternal things. They must realize that to put Christ first means to sacrifice other opportunities in life. However, if they will do these things I know that God will use them to bring honor and glory to Himself!