Children's Christmas party

It was below zero outside but our house was warm as we had 15 children at our place for a Christmas party. We invited our neighbors’ children and the children from the church’s Sunday school class to be with us. There was a craft, cookie making, the true Christmas story, and a search for the presents.

Kristie and our children had prepared the cookie dough ahead of time. Everyone pitched in the clean the house. In past years Kristie or I had taught the story but Tsegii, a young lady from the church, come to teach the story this year. It is definitely true to say that some of the children at the party heard the story about Jesus’ birth for the first time.

Opportunities such as this are important to our desire to teach the Mongolian people about Jesus Christ. Pray that the seeds planted today will grow into plants that will scatter the seed of the Gospel far and wide in this country.

Quote of the week

"All the problems of heaven and earth, though they were to confront us together and at once, would be nothing compared with the overwhelming problem of God: That He is; what He is like; and what we as moral beings must do about Him.

"The man who comes to a right belief about God is relieved of ten thousand temporal problems, for he sees at once that these have to do with matters which at the most cannot concern him for very long, but even if the multiple burdens of time may be lifted from him, the one mighty single burden of eternity begins to press down upon him with a weight more crushing than all the woes of the world piled one upon another. That mighty burden is his obligation to God. It includes an instant and lifelong duty to love God with every power of mind and soul, to obey Him perfectly, and to worship Him acceptably. And when the man’s laboring conscience tells him that he has done none of these things, but has from childhood been guilty of foul revolt against the Majesty in the heavens, the inner pressure of self-accusation may become too heavy to bear.

"The gospel can lift this destroying burden from the mind, give beauty for ashes, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. But unless the weight of the burden is felt the gospel can mean nothing to the man; and until he sees a vision of God high and lifted up, there will be no woe and no burden. Low views of God destroy the gospel for all who hold them." —A. W. Tozer

The cold comes …

Well, it should be cold over the weekend. As you can see they're predicting that it won't be much warmer than zero (that's -17 below for the most of the world) until next week. Today's high may not even reach the -11 F that is predicted. After all, look at the time stamp (1:34) and it's still -15. We're thankful for a warm apartment.

Also, I should mention that we had more adults at prayer last night than we had at the church service on Sunday. I'm not sure the reason for that but am grateful that people come out even when it was so cold.

Deans' weekly update

The bad news just keeps coming for Dashka. He was beat up last Tuesday walking home from a friend's house. A couple of drunks grabbed him and beat him up, saying, "Stay away from my friend." The only problem is that he does not know those two men or their friend.

The next day his son got a black eye at school. The day after his daughter fell while running on the playground and bruised her forehead. So for a few days the three of them looked like they had been in a fight.

the restaurant where we met

Sunday morning we had nine Mongolians come to the service. There was Dashka's bruised family who couldn't come. Another family was sick. The best I can tell, the rest just decided that it wasn't important to come.

What a contrast Sunday night was! We had nearly sixty people and a dozen first time visitors. We had an eight person choir sing. The children gave a short program. The Ritchie family provided gifts for everyone. I preached the good news of God's greatest gift: Jesus Christ. Although there were no decisions, we received a lot of positive feedback. There were people involved in the choir that had not served in any way before, and the choir enjoyed themselves so much that many of them want to do it again at Easter.

the choir singing

This weekend, our family is hosting a children's Christmas party for our Sunday school children and neighbors' children combined. It is a lot of work to prepare for it but always a big hit with the children. It gives us a chance to present the true Christmas story and distribute Gospel literature.

Please pray for Dashka. I know that God is teaching him many things and that His plan is always best. But frankly, he has suffered so much this last year. Also, pray for us as we prepare for the Christmas party. This is a unique opportunity to reach out to our neighbors that we want to take proper advantage of.

For the grammar buffs: I wasn't very happy ending my final paragraph with a preposition. But really, conversationally speaking, "This is a unique opportunity to reach out to neighbors of which we want to take proper advantage" is an awkward sentence. And I remembered the famous orator Sir Winston Churchill's advice: "Ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put."

Mongolia has its own kind of winter beauty

We had a kind of freezing fog on Sunday morning when I rose. As you can see from these pictures, the ice froze to the trees creating beautiful white trees. It looks as if someone "frosted" the tress. But it is just ice. By today the effect was almost gone.

Meeting at a restaurant tomorrow

Some things to pray about:

Tomorrow the English preaching service is meeting at a restaurant. About ten of us have been practicing some Christmas music for the last six weeks. We have all been inviting guests out and hope to have a good crowd tomorrow. To make it easier for our guests to come and to accomodate a larger crowd, we have arranged to meet at Millies Cafe. At our current location, we can seat about 60. At Millies Cafe we may be able to seat as many as 90. Pray for all to go well. Many of these pieces are a first time attempt for us: the first time to have a choir sing and the first time to meet at Millies Cafe.

One another note, a Bible translator and our song leader Dashka was attacked by 3 men on Tuesday night and beaten. I've only been able to talk to him for a few minutes. I was not aware of the attack until Friday. I plan to visit him this next week to see him. He won't be able to make it to the service tomorrow. Pray for Dashka to recover and for all of us to learn the lessons that God is trying to teach during this difficult time.

Tomorrow we'll be converting this Cafe into a meeting place for the church.

Quote of the week

"If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. But since our greatest need was forgiveness, God sent us a Savior." Max Lucado

The World's Coldest Capital

I was talking with a fellow today who works for the United Nations (I can't remember: are they an ally or an enemy?). He is to be re-posted to a new location this summer and was mentioning that this is his last winter in Mongolia. I casually remarked that I hoped he would be posted to a warmer place. Of course, he responded, because Ulan Bator is the world's coldest capital any place he is posted would be warmer. We were talking as we walked away from the post office; the temperature at the time was about -20 F (-29 C).

This past Saturday it was a little warmer, so I walked to the post office from my house. It was zero when I started out in the late afternoon. When I arrived home the sun was setting, and the temperature had dropped to -6 F. I've posted some pictures from my walk.

That sidewalk is just a sheet of ice; folks who live in Mongolia learn to walk very carefully. And the weather is so cold that businesses will pay to have ice sculptures carved. (The one in the picture says "CENTRAL" for Central Tower). They know that the ice will last 3-4 months (usually late November to early March. You'll also notice a Christmas tree in front of the office building. They seem to be everywhere here this year. If you ask a Mongolian, they associate them with the upcoming new year's celebrations.

Deans' weekly update

The weather has warmed up a little since I last wrote to you all. As I write to you in the middle of the day it's currently 3 F (-16 C). My parents leave on Thursday to visit friends in Hong Kong where it is a balmy 72 F today. Perhaps I'll send Kristie with them.

We had a good attendance yesterday despite the cold: thirty-four in the morning and another thirty-eight in the evening. The choir is preparing our music for this coming Sunday. We have printed some flyers and distributed some by email. We anticipate a good crowd of folks will come out next week.

Pray especially for Togsoo (Took•suh') and his wife Gantoya (Gone'•toy•a). He has not been attending church meetings recently. His wife has only been coming sporadically. They say that they are too busy.

This past summer, Togsoo's mother died unexpectedly. This past weekend his middle-aged brother died suddenly. I suspect that God is trying to draw Togsoo's attention to Himself. Pray for Togsoo to find peace in seeking the one true God.

I've included a picture of our family with my parents.

Quote of the week

"The helpers themselves need much help, much care and instruction; but they are becoming more efficient as well as more numerous, and the hope for China lies doubtless in them. I look on foreign missionaries as the scaffolding round a rising building; the sooner it can be dispensed with, the better – or the sooner, rather, that it can be transferred to serve the same temporary purpose elsewhere." —J. Hudson Taylor, speaking of national helpers