Sunday update

Wow! What a Sunday! We were overjoyed this week to have 32 Mongolians join us for a service this morning! They just kept coming in; one fellow even joined us about the time of the invitation. I think (without looking at my records) that it was the best turnout we have ever had on a Sunday morning.

Jagaa and Sanaa came for the first time in a long time, Dawaajab was back, even Enkhamgalan came. He has not come for about a year. Dashka job took him to the countryside for most of the summer; he had only been able to come a handful of times since summer started. He came today. We also had a first time visitor: the husband of one lady who has been visiting with us.

I was greatly encouraged by the good turnout. Please pray with us as we follow up this week with some who came.

Picture of the week

We have two young men with us for the next 9 months. We are excited to have them with us. As you can see they are quite adventurous. We visited Turtle Rock, and they climbed to this high point.

Though their main focus is language learning, they also are utilizing opportunities to minister in English.

A young man and an elderly woman

Basca came to my house for a Bible study last night. We both thought it went very well. His Bible knowledge is very wide and quite orthodox. However, he lacks the self-discipline that he needs to grow consistently. We talked about that too.

Aya has started radiation treatments for her cancer. After after treatment she experiences nausea and vomiting. She has been wearing a bandanna on her head to cover it. However, I saw her the other day without it; she has lost almost all of her hair. For being such an elderly lady she has held up to the chemotherapy and radiation treatments well. Ganpurev was telling me that they see many people at the cancer hospital where they visit who seem far worse physically than Aya is.

Pray for Ganpurev and Ulzee. It is difficult for them to watch Aya's health decline. The make trips to the hospital with her almost every day. It is good for them that their employers are so understanding.

Children at the church picnic

Prayer update

When we talk about 'open doors' we usually think of instances when all the circumstances are lined up just so and enable us to accomplish something that we thought would be difficult or impossible. But when Paul talks about an 'open door' in I Corinthians 16 he adds, "... and there are many adversaries." So it should come as no surprise that greater opportunities for service are usually accompanied by greater opposition and trouble.

This has been illustrated to us recently. We have had people throw rocks at some missionaries passing out tracts in front of our church. Someone damaged the church sign. A lady who was baptized last week has seen her problems at home increase. A strange stomach illness has laid me low twice recently and threatened to again the day before our baptismal service.

You might think that I want you to pray that God would deliver us from persecution and trials. Instead, I just want God to be glorified in our tribulations and trials. My desire is to see God use these difficulties to strengthen our faith and increase our effectiveness in Mongolia. Please pray with us for God to be exalted and our faith to be energized through our problems.

Baptismal service

We had a baptismal service recently and baptized two ladies (one of whom is afraid of rivers and lakes since experiencing a near-drowning as a youth). We had a church picnic with the baptismal service, and God granted us wonderful weather! It was warm and sunny as you can see from the pictures. The very next day was cold and rainy.

Ganaa whom we first met when we came to Mongolia and was Kristie's language tutor was baptized. The following day her husband began putting added pressure on her to renounce her faith. Please ask God to give her grace to respond Biblically to her husband and live for Jesus Christ.

Gantsetseg began coming to our services several months ago. She noticed right away that things were different among the Mongolian Christians. She especially noticed the peace that they exhibited. She has been estranged from her husband for some time but has asked us to pray that they would be reconciled.

Prayer update

Each Wednesday evening we have a short Bible study about prayer and then a time of prayer. Last Wednesday, four Mongolians came which was the largest number of Mongolians to come in quite a while. One of those who was there was Gantsetseg. (She was the subject of last week's update). This past Sunday Gantsetseg invited her two sisters and a brother-in-law to come.

She made a remark at last Wednesday's prayer time that I wish to share with you all. She mentioned that one of the things that attracted her to our church was seeing Ganpurev and Ulzee and their children all attend as a family. She noted how peaceful they seemed.

Her statement was all the more amazing because she has only known Ganpurev's family for the past three months. During that time, Ganpurev's family has been experiencing some of those tribulations that the Bible talks about. Ulzee had a miscarriage. Her mother Aya has cancer that the doctors say is terminal. For several reasons Ulzee chose to take several months off work which meant the family was under some financial strain. Despite all these things, God has given them peace! And it was a major reason that Gantsetseg is attending today and encouraging her family to attend.

Praise the Lord for His promise to give us peace that passes all understanding when we simply by prayer and supplication let our requests be made known to him. Many people in our church currently are facing unusual and difficult circumstances. My prayer is that God would use these illnesses, unemployment, job stresses, opposition, etc. to strengthen His church and prepare us to be better able to serve Him. I am grateful to know that you are praying.

Picture of the week

Lots of people, lots of trouble

We were blessed with a good attendance yesterday, one of the best turnouts in recent history. Five of the folks were visitors. Also, Buren's wife Sonin came on a Sunday morning for the first time in a very long time. So I was particularly bothered by the fact that I misplaced my sermon notes. It was the first time ever that I tried to preach in Mongolian without notes. Later, Kristie asked me how it went. I am really not sure. I still have not found my notes.

On Sunday evenings there is a service in English. This week's Sunday evening attendance was almost double last week's attendance. Praise the Lord for His goodness.

At the same time, the people are also experiencing a variety of troubles, sorrows, and sickness. The health of Ulzee's mother continues to decline. Ulzee is concerned that is will not be long before her mother is an invalid. The doctors have suggested combining her chemotherapy treatment with radiation treatment. The combined treatments will also be very hard on Aya's body. Some nights Ulzee has trouble sleeping as she thinks about her mother's condition.

Bayambaa who comes very faithfully was unable to come yesterday. She is sick, and her daughter has had a rash for the past three days. It seems that the doctors told Bayambaa that her daughter needs to stay home. I am not sure why. I talked to her on the phone but often on the phone I misunderstand what people say.

Several people are also without work. There is a spirit of discouragement that I am sensing among the people. Providentially, my last two sermons have been on God's work in our lives through trials and tribulations. I sincerely believe that the trials and tribulations that we all are facing will make His church stronger. But going through them may be difficult and painful.

Pray that the people would keep their eyes on God and not be defeated or discouraged by their circumstances. Pray that God would give all of us wisdom and especially bless Kristie and me with wisdom and strength as we try to exhort, encourage, and love the people that God has given to us.

Prayer update

I have noticed that Christians seem to go through a few stages. The first stage is the initial excitement of salvation. As the Holy Spirit fills a person for the first time, there is a joy and peace that they have never experienced before. It is so thrilling to watch.

Then there is often a stage where everything is new. The baby Christian begins to ask questions: can I participate in this activity? should I be watching this? why do you always choose to do that? As a lover of people, this fills my heart with joy. To watch a Christian who wants to please his Savior reminds me of that first love that we all have to avoid forsaking. This reflects some of the meaning of the verse in 1 John - "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous."

I have been watching a Christian in this second stage recently. Gantsetseg recently lost her job. She had been hired as a teacher at a local school and thought that it was a permanent position. However, she ended up being replaced by a teacher with more seniority who had left on maternity leave. (Mongolian mothers can receive up to two years of maternity leave.) The school told her about two weeks before school started that she no longer had a job. She has looked diligently for another teaching position; however, it is hard to find a teaching job this close to the beginning of the school year. Gantsetseg has been so eager to serve and has also been asking questions about living the Christian life. Her summer job took her about an hour outside the city, but she made it a point to attend the service each Sunday only missing a couple of Sundays all summer. She told me that she has been challenged by the sermons of tithing this past summer (there were two sermons on giving) but now she is without work. Please pray for her as she grows in grace and knowledge and as she looks for work.

Also, I mentioned Aya and her cancer treatment in another recent post. She and her family continue to think that it may be better for her to forgo radiation treatment and continue her chemotherapy. Her daughter Ulzee realizes that the reality is that she may become very sick and unable to take care of herself. Please pray for Aya and her family too as they face this difficult time together. Pray that God would use what humanly seems so traumatic to bring glory and honor to Himself.

We also had a memorable weekend with our neighbors. First, I was very sick last Thursday and could hardly get out of bed. I recovered enough by Friday to go to camp but was still week. Kristie had an opportunity to witness for some time to a lady named Selenge who lives in our building but is preparing to go to Dubai to work. I had an opportunity to tell the story of Jonah and the whale to the children there and emphasized that only the God of the Bible is able to save us. We are excited to see how God will use these seeds we planted as we go forward.

We insisted that we had to leave Saturday because we had a church service on Sunday. My neighbor Temulen suggested we could just skip church. When I insisted that we needed to be there, it was interesting to me that it was Selenge who agreed with me and emphasized that it was important to be in church.