Pray for Enkhee

Some of you may remember Enkhee (Ink-hay' with the emphasis on the second syllable). He is Ulzee's older brother. He is an electrician by trade and was recently electrocuted at work. He lost consciousness for a while and has had problems with his eyesight since the accident. Please pray for our great and merciful God to draw Enkhee closer to Himself through this trial.

Enkhee made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ about six years ago; however, he has not grown much because he puts work before all else. Perhaps this will cause him to consider his eternal future and his life now.

This is a picture of Enkhee on the left with Ganpurev on the right.

Weekly update

Today I find myself at Northland Baptist Bible College (NBBC) for their annual missions conference. Has God ever put you in a place where you thought you knew what you were getting into but then later realized that God had planned for more than you were expecting? But leave that for now ...

I asked you to pray last week for Kristie's health. Every time we think that she is beginning to feel better, she seems to relapse. (Perhaps she is allergic to feeling better.) She certainly is not back to complete health yet so please pray for a complete recovery. Long-term it is important for Kristie to be well when we return to Mongolia. The stresses of living overseas and home-schooling the children are enough without the added burdens of ill health and the associated fatigue.

Among the chapel speakers at this conference are Bob Jones III, Matt Recker, and one Scott Dean. Wow! These are people with much more wisdom and life experience than I have. I am truly awed to be counted among their company, a junior member, of course. Please pray as I will be preaching the college chapel tomorrow.

I am so glad to know that you pray for us. Pray for Kristie's health and my preaching this week.

Interesting information

I found this interesting information from Operation World recently and wanted to share it with those of you who pray. You can read the whole page here.

Notice what it says about the Church [sic] of Mongolia and its challenges: "b) Age-imbalanced congregations – most are comprised of youth with a few old folk, but the churches need to reach more working-age people, especially men."

Pray for the men of our church to be the leaders that they ought to be.

Quote of the week

"The things that we are willing to make sacrifices for reveal what our idols are."

Sea of Galilee

The Sea of Galilee is a blue jewel lying almost 700 feet below sea level in between the Golan Heights and the mountains of Galilee.

Personally, I found it to be a beautiful lake but was surprised that it was not larger. I guess from childhood I had also imagined a large lake. The water seemed clean without many contaminants.

This picture is taken from the west side of the lake at about its mid-point. The place is called the Cliff of Arbel. Capernaum would be to the left. Tiberius is just over the hill slightly to the right. Behind me several miles would be Nazareth positioned in the hills of Galilee. Across the lake would have been the country of the Gadarenes mentioned in Mark 5 and Luke 8.

Weekly update

From the church in Mongolia we continue to hear good things. The best news that we have had is that several of the men are shouldering their responsibility. Because the Mongolians must realize that this is their church such news is encouraging to me. It was one of the reasons that we felt our furlough was necessary at this time.

In general, however, Mongolia is experiencing an extremely difficult winter. Many animals have died leaving some herders without a viable means of support. Each winter already draws thousands of new Mongolians to Ulan Bator in search of work; this winter should see an increase in the movement of people from the countryside to the city.

We arrived back in the United States from our trip to Mongolia late last Tuesday night. Kristie became sick on the trip home and has been sick ever since. Please pray for her to make a complete recovery. I have a busy couple of weeks coming up with meetings in Wisconsin, Montana, and Colorado before I head to California for meetings. It would be great if Kristie and I and the entire family were healthy.

Harsh Mongolian winter

These pictures that I have posted are from a Mongolian friend.

In Mongolia this winter has been particularly cold. Millions of animals have died leaving some Mongolians without a livelihood.

Here is another article from USA Today reporting on the Mongolian winter.

Resurrection Day

It seems appropriate on this day that we commemorate our Savior's resurrection to post some pictures and content related to that great event.

In Jerusalem is a place not far from the Damascus Gate that has been set aside to celebrate our Savior's resurrection in a less commercial style. Called the Garden Tomb and owned by an association from Great Britain, it serves as a place to remember our Savior's death, burial, and resurrection.

We cannot know for certain that Jesus died and was buried on that spot anymore than we can know for sure that his resurrection happened on April 4. But we can use the quiet spot to remember our Savior's great love for us.

"He is not here: for He is risen, as He said"

The Garden Tomb is set in the midst of a beautiful garden. Imagine the women coming early on in the morning on the first day of the week, wondering how to roll away the stone, and finding the stone rolled away from the tomb.

An angel announced to them: "He is not here: for He is risen, as He said." I like that last part especially, as He said. It reminds me that the Resurrection of Jesus was not an afterthought, something that God tacked on to His plan when He realized the magnitude of the finality of His Son's death. God always planned it with the Resurrection in mind. The Old Testament prophets testified to His resurrection. (see Luke 24:24-27 and John 12:34). Jesus told His disciples about the Resurrection well before His death (see Matthew 16:21). They just refused to believe.

"declared [to be] the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead"

And then when Peter and John entered the tomb later that day they found it empty without any bars or gates (like the Garden Tomb has). Well, it was not completely empty: they saw Jesus' grave clothes wrapped together neatly and lying there.

His Resurrection reveals to us His deity and His power.

"But for us also, to whom it [righteousness] shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification."

But all this should not simply be intellectually acknowledged. We must understand and believe that Jesus death, burial, and resurrection was for our sake. Without it, there would be no justification, no sanctification, no hope.

So rejoice with me today that He is risen, as He said!

Many prayer requests

It seems like all is filled with bad news this week. From Mongolia I heard news that Byambaa has an unexpected crisis the details of which I cannot share. Pray for Ganpurev and Ulzee as they counsel her and for God's grace to be evident in her life. She is emotionally distraught at this time.

The Gays need our prayers too. Roland & Joann were forced to come back to the U.S. for almost two years because of poor health. They returned to help Faith Baptist Church and assist the Bible translation project. However, Joann has been sick ever since they arrived in mid-February. I know that there will always be opposition to God's work; but it is difficult to watch close friends go through difficult circumstances.

Perhaps most dire is the news that our friends Daniel & Lydia Elliott lost their six-year-old daughter Esther to cancer on Friday. Please pray for God's comfort, grace, and love to be evident in their lives. In our times of distress let us turn to the God of all comfort and the One who knows our infirmities.

Model of Jerusalem

One of the highlights of a trip to Jerusalem has to be visiting the model of Jerusalem during the Second Temple period; in other words, during the time of Jesus the Christ.

Here is a picture from that famous model.