Serving his own generation

Outer Mongolia is littered with the hopes and dreams of missionaries. That is not to say that starting a church in Mongolia is hard. Literally, thousands of churches have been planted ... and perhaps almost as many have disappeared since Mongolia opened up to the Gospel 18 years ago. Every so often a new church will pop up, grow to include huge numbers of Mongolians, and as almost as quickly vanish.

When Kristie and first came in July 1997, the traveler we were with had already visited Mongolia in 1995. Before we arrived in Mongolia he told us he knew of a church where hundreds of Mongolian believers met every Sunday. As soon as we arrived in Ulan Bator, he began to call around trying to find out where the church was currently meeting. In the two years since he visited the church had dissolved completely and no longer met anywhere.

A journalist who first visited Mongolia in 1989 wrote about his second visit: "When I came back to Mongolia in May 1991, I rented out a flat, as the hotel was full of evangelists, religious and economic." I have talked to a lady who came in that first wave and her statement was that she is one of the very few left in Mongolia.

Others will tell you that most of what passes for church growth is just Mongolians leaving one dying church to attend the newest and greatest church. The result has been a few huge mega-churches that meet in public auditoriums, dance halls, and theaters. There is a reason that those churches meet in entertainment venues: it is the best way for them to showcase their style of "worship service."

For independent Baptist missionaries in Mongolia, service has been short. I did an informal survey of all the independent, Baptist missionaries that I have met in Mongolia. The average length of time that they stay in Mongolia is less than six years. Almost half of all the independent Baptist missionaries who have come to Mongolia have already left permanently. I personally have worked with four different families since my church planting work started five years ago.

There are various reasons that missionaries leave Mongolia. Sometimes it is health. Several missionaries came to Mongolia with a five or six year plan and stuck to it. More than one missionary just went back to the States. The number of churches that they left behind can be counted on one hand.

I certainly do not want to imply that every missionary who left Mongolia permanently did so outside of God's will. I have no doubt that some of us missionaries God has moved on to other harvest fields. But I think it is significant to realize that many missionaries who come to Mongolia do not stay for a length of time that would allow them to learn the language, plant a church, and see it reach a point of spiritual stability.

Some of the missionaries I knew well enough to know why they left; in many cases I can only guess at what motivated them to leave. However, I can tell you what I think: as missionaries we can look at our circumstances, we can look at our abilities, we can look at our frailties, and we can be disheartened. There are many times that I have wondered why God called me to work in Mongolia. Certainly, there must be people with better leadership abilities, people with better linguistic abilities, people with better organizational abilities, people with more energy than I have who could do a "better" work for God in Mongolia … and then I remember: God did not call that other person to Mongolia. God called me.

If one believes in God's sovereignty - and I do! - than wherever God's will takes one, he can agree with Mordecai's sentiments when he asked Esther rhetorically, "Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such as time as this?" God places people where He needs them in His timing.

To question whether God called the right person to Mongolia or not is to question the wisdom of God. Frankly, many times I ask that question with a good conscience while wishing for God's sake that He had a better servant through whom to work. But there are other times when I have asked whether God called the right person to Mongolia because I wanted to quit, I wanted the pain to stop, I wanted the frustration to go away, I wanted to be somewhere else, I wanted to be part of a thriving ministry rather than a ministry that seemed to only be surviving. Such an attitude is wrong. It is a reminder that I am wandering away from God. A truly Spirit-filled Christian will not experience the lack of peace and joy that causes one to question his Master's will.

There are two attitudes that I have come to recognize whenever I question God's choice of me as a missionary. The first is the wrong-hearted questioning. It goes something like this:

"God, I'm tired of all this; You have obviously called the wrong type of person; therefore, with or without your permission, I'm going to move on to another ministry in which I feel more comfortable."

The other attitude that I have come to recognize may come from the right heart but is certainly wrong-headed. It sounds something like this:

"God, You could have found someone better than me and accomplished a lot more work through him."

I have recognized a few key Biblical truths that I remind myself of whenever I question God's wisdom in calling me to Mongolia.

1. God in His infinite wisdom called me to Mongolia. I should not think that I was a "bottom of the barrel" pick—so to speak. It was not that God really wanted to call someone more qualified but could not find anyone else; therefore, in His desperation (is God ever desperate?) He called me.
2. God was uniquely preparing me for this ministry in Mongolia since before I was born (Jeremiah 1:5).
   
3. If I am discouraged, disheartened, or disabled by some obstacle, I can identify the source and ask God for help. But there is no room in the Christian life for discouragement (dismay), disheartened attitudes, or refusing to go forward because the obstacles to God's will seem insurmountable. We often read "dismay" in Joshua 1:9 and say, "I'm not dismayed merely discouraged," when frankly, those two words are synonymous. As one wise Christian once said, "Those who take responsibility surrender the luxury of being discouraged or depressed."

So where does this leave us? "David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God …" God appoints each of us a time and place for service. Then He expects that each one of us will use that opportunity that He has granted us for His honor and His glory.

Tonight's visit

It was good to be back in a ger again teaching the Bible and preaching Christ to the unsaved.

I was at Gantsetseg's house tonight. Ganpurev and I were teaching a Bible lesson to Gantuya, Ganchimeg, Bysaa, and Gantsetseg. Togsoo tried to make it from work but came late.

Later Gantsetseg's neighbor came over. She has heard about the one true God and God's Son Jesus. But she is confused, as most Mongolians are, about why we worship the one true God and Jesus Christ. She is looking for "her prayers to be answered" as she put it.

Both Ganpurev and I preached to her sin, repentance, and faith in Christ at separate times. She said that she will come to the service this Sunday morning with Gantsetseg. Pray that she does.

Weekly update

One never knows what is going to happen. This past week after returning from our trip to Hatgal, a young Mongolian man named Togsoo called me to invite me over to his house on Thursday. Thursday afternoon, another family came to our house to visit. When they heard that I was going to Togsoo's house, they asked if they could come along. I agreed and four of us - Togsoo, his wife Gantuya, her sister Ganchimeg, and her husband Bysaa - studied I John 5:13. Gantuya was saved and baptized last spring. However, the others were still not Christians; so I thought. At the Bible study, however, all of them made professions of faith and expressed a desire to be baptized! I was thrilled. However, when Ganpurev heard my story, he expressed some reserves about their professions of faith. So this Friday, all of us and another saved & baptized sister Gantsetseg will be gathering for another Bible lesson. Please pray that Ganpurev and I will have wisdom to determine whether they are truly saved and eligible for baptism.

I so want to see these young couples saved. Their families also include six children who by God's grace may have the unique opportunity in Mongolia to grow up in a Christian home. This past Sunday we had fourteen children in attendance with their parents! This was an encouragement to me as it has always been my goal to see entire families united in Christ and serving our Savior together.

Speaking of serving the Savior, I suggested to some of the teenage children that they should consider teaching the younger children a Bible story using puppets during the Sunday school hour. They were so excited and have been talking about it at home with their parents. Pray that God will bless and empower our efforts to spread His Gospel and love people as Jesus loved them.

Let me append here a few other notes …

For those of you interested in seeing what the text of a Mongolian Bible looks like, try this link.

Tunga is out of the hospital and resting at home. She does not go back for more chemotherapy treatments for a few weeks. Please continue to pray for her salvation.

Sunday update

We had a good turnout on Sunday; I think it was the best turnout that we've had all summer. Maybe we're just getting nearer to school starting. We had about 10 children in the nursery. That room is simply getting too small. But that's a good problem to have. We simply have several families each with a toddler or baby or two.

Dashka was out yesterday with all his children. It was the first time that I think I've ever seen him bring all four children to a Sunday service. He said that Tunga may be discharged from the hospital on Monday. However, I don't think she's out of the woods yet; she has several more rounds of chemotherapy and must watch her diet carefully while also regaining her strength and vigor.

We also had a good turnout in the evening too. Because Bill Patterson was away, I was scheduled to do both the song-leading and the preaching. Although that can be a tough assignment, it seemed to work well yesterday.

Quote of the week

We tend to become impatient with people because they do not become Christians immediately. We do not see that they are so much under the dominion of sin and Satan, they are so much the dupes of the devil, they are so twisted, and perverted, and polluted ... inwardly by sin, that they really are in a spiritual sense in this condition of the dog and swine. - D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (commenting on Matthew 7:6)

Report from my absence

My preaching trip to Hatgal was an opportunity to see how the arrangements for church ministry would work in my absence. Based on my assessment of the effectiveness of various Mongolians during my absence, I planned to make some final decisions who does what during my furlough.

I am pleased to report that things ran quite smoothly in my absence.

There are several ministries that need to be covered whenever I am gone. One is the preaching on Sunday mornings, another is the singing, and a third is the day-to-day help and counseling that I give.

Because Ganpurev already preaches every Sunday, I was searching for a second person to cover my preaching opportunities in my absence. One Sunday was covered by Bilgay, the other Sunday was Bill preaching in English with Bilgay translating. Both did just fine, although Bilgay was peppered with aggressive questions after the end of his message. Ganpurev did quite well in addressing the questions. While the questions themselves were good questions, the manner and timing of the questions was unbiblical. I dealt with the member who asked the questions at an inappropriate time and in an inappropriate manner. However, it is a reminder that in my absence there could be interesting interruptions unless strong leadership and a biblical approach to Biblical study obviates them. I think Ganpurev is ready in this regard though I am not sure about Bilgay.

In my absence Dashka led the singing. Although his wife's spiritual and physical condition is dangerous (or perhaps because of it), spiritually Dashka has been growing rapidly during the past few months. It is exciting to see it. However, his wife's poor health limits his involvement at the present time and will limit it until his wife's health situation is resolved.

As for visiting, day-to-day help and counseling, and direction of the church's ministries, Bill and Ganpurev working together did an excellent job while I was away. I feel very confident that they are prepared to guide Faith Baptist Church in my absence.

Continue to pray for spiritual growth especially in the men of the church and for laborers. We know that our goal is to leave behind a Mongolian church completely self-sustaining and led by Mongolian men. Our furlough will be an opportunity for these men to stretch their wings, so to speak, and reach new heights in service and struggles.

Weekly update

We had a good trip to Hatgal where I had the opportunity to preach two times and also had a productive question & answer session. Have you ever tried to "think on your feet" in a language other than English? It is most embarrassing when you misunderstand the question and give a wrong answer. However, that did not happen to me on this occasion.

The children enjoyed being away from the city and participating in some unique activities. They went on a boat ride, played in the freezing waters of Lake Khovsgol, rode on a four-wheeler, saw some reindeer, and enjoyed playing with friends.

We have some serious requests to bring before you this week. Tonga, Dashka's unsaved wife, is not doing well. Chemotherapy treatment caused her health to worsen, and she was admitted to ICU for almost a week. On Monday she left ICU but was unable to restart chemotherapy. We commit her to the hands of the Great Physician and ask for you to earnestly pray for her salvation. Also, her husband has been responding to God's grace in a remarkable way. Pray that he would remain encouraged and grow in grace during this time.

Another member, Bymbaa, has a husband who is not saved. We have been praying for his salvation and witnessing to him for years. He seems to be on a downward spiral into drink. It has been a true burden on his wife. Please pray for his salvation also.

Thank you for your prayers.

Back from Hatgal

The family is back from Hatgal where I preached 2 times and held a short question and answer time. Pray for my allergies; they are really hampering my work this year.


That a picture of me with a reindeer if you're wondering.

Out of town

The entire family is traveling tomorrow to Hatgal in northern Mongolia. I will be speaking to the church that is there and the family will be relaxing for a few days. Because of this, the posts will be sparse for the next two weeks.

Church camp

We had a great time at church camp this past weekend. Mongolians who live in the city love to get out into the countryside and enjoy the fresh air.

This year's church camp was marked by difficulties.

We were trying something different this year. Last year's camp cook spent most of her time cooking and very little time participating in the camp's activities. So this year we decided to have a different cook for each meal which meant that no one person would be burdened by all the cooking. What I didn't consider was that instead of one person dealing with food, etc, we had five people dealing with food. (Each family was asked to bring a picnic to kick off the camp dinner on Friday night.)

One Friday morning, we found out the folks responsible for Saturday's lunch were not coming and not able to take responsibility for their meal. That left us about five hours to decide on a meal for 43 people, get all the supplies together, and prepare whatever parts of the meal would need to be prepared ahead of time. That is not so easy to do in a place without supermarkets.

Added to that, Ganpurev and I understood that we had a truck at our disposal and were intending to use the truck to haul much of the luggage that was headed for camp. The owner suddenly needed his truck and withdrew his invitation to use it. So here we were only hours from leaving without a truck and without a meal. But God put both those things together for us.

All week long I have been battling with allergies. The medicines that I have tried here are not proving very effective in reducing my symptoms. But Friday afternoon before we left was particularly bad. Compounding the problem, I suddenly had some serious intestinal problems that I thought was going to keep me close to a restroom for a day or two.

Sitting in a small room, I prayed, "Lord, I can't be effective at camp if I have allergies and these other problems. I need your help." Not long after that I felt better. The allergies were a problem on and off at camp; but the intestinal problems did not come back until Monday morning after I returned home.

Then Friday night and Saturday morning the Mongolian group next to us serenaded us with Mongolian long songs all night. I mean all night. From just after midnight until around 7 a.m. they drank and sang Mongolian traditional song after Mongolian traditional song. Frankly, had they been singing rock and roll, it would have been much worse. But still, seven hours of Mongolian traditional music when you really want to sleep is not as pleasant as it may sound. No one got much sleep that night.

And still we had a great time! God is good. All the food was good, no one was sick or injured, people were attentive to the preaching, and everyone who spoke to me about it said that they had a great time! One fellow remarked to me that he felt as if he was getting rid of two or three years of built-up stress.

We also had a Bible question and answer time with some excellent questions and some great answers. Most everyone enjoyed it, and many expressed to me that we should do it again.

Thank you for your prayers. Pray that God will cause the seed planted to grow.