Deans' weekly update

One day, a young missionary new to the country and eager to find wisdom from the veteran missionary asked, "How did you get to be so successful?" and eagerly awaited the answer.

"By making good decisions," the senior leader said.

The young man was somewhat disappointed at such an obvious answer and so followed up with this question, "Yes, but how do you learn to make good decisions?"

"By making bad ones," the old man replied.

I am reminded of this little anecdote as I consider the church's effort to reach out to our neighbors. As a missionary/pastor I desire to protect the church that God has entrusted to me from poor decisions and mistakes. But as they mature spiritually there comes a time for them to make more decisions. Let me tell you a little of the most recent decision that they made.

A few weeks ago a church member brought to the church's attention a project to give gifts to children in an effort to share the Gospel with them. A charity provides the gifts and a suggested program to share the Gospel. Local churches sign up children and plan a program.

"Free" and "gifts" are like a bright neon sign calling Mongolians to participate. Most of the parents with children in our church saw an opportunity to obtain a gift for their own children. Soon the church members were clamoring to join the program. They looked to me: surely you will lead in such a program.

I saw an opportunity for the church members who were personally excited about this project to grow in serving. So even though I declined, I did not forbid them from joining the program if they chose and told them that they could participate in the program if they found people to organize and run it.

They appointed a "chairmen" to lead them—the same lady who brought the program to their attention- and began to split up the responsibilities. A few of them went out to the neighbors surrounding the church building and invited them out. Along with the children of the church we soon had 55 children enrolled to receive gifts.

When they heard how many children had enrolled, they began to realize that it would take nearly every church member participating to handle so large a crowd along with the parents that were invited to come. The program required an enrollment process: we would need registration help. The program suggested teaching the children songs: a songleader was needed. There was a Bible story to tell. The church building needed some decorations. Some were needed for crowd control.

At nearly every opportunity to serve someone would say, "Surely Scott can do that" or "Surely Kristie is the best one for that." Need a songleader? Kristie leads the children's songs during Sunday school; of course, she will lead the songs for this program. Need a Bible story told? It's obvious, Scott should teach it. And at every suggestion, I politely declined to help. "This is your project," I reminded them and then with enthusiasm added, "I know you all can do it!" I also knew that if I allowed them to do so, they would gladly volunteer Kristie and me to run the whole program. And to me, I saw this as their opportunity to serve.

But with my polite but persistent refusals to do for them what they could do for themselves, soon nearly every member (and even a non-member) had a part to play in this program. They began to discuss when they would have the program and decided on the Saturday before the Mongolian Lunar New Year. After all, Mongolians customarily give gifts to each other at the Lunar New Year. That would be an appropriate time to give gifts to our children and the neighbors' children. I cringed because the weekend before the Lunar New Year is a very busy time of preparation for the Mongolians. But I determined that this was their program and that they needed to make the decisions.

This past Sunday was to be the last meeting before the Gift Giving Program. This coming Saturday the gifts will be given out. The following Wednesday the Lunar New Year begins. And because the Mongolian celebration was so close, I was not surprised that almost half of the people who had agreed to help were unable to come to the church service and the planning meeting that followed it. So now invitations have been given out for a program that has too few workers.

I am not worried or stressed or frustrated at the lack of commitment. But I am concerned that some young Christians may become frustrated at their brothers and sisters in Christ who were so eager to receive gifts for their children but not to participate in this outreach. So pray that God would give me wisdom as I allow the Mongolians to make decisions. And pray for the workers we need to make this a well-run program.

I'll let you know next week how it went.

Quote of the week

"Who wants to hear the truth when they can hear that they are right. Too often we are seeking affirmation not information.

Aya update

Kristie and I went up to see Aya today. We had heard that she wasn't sleeping well or eating well and were concerned about her. We imagined that she was lying in bed, half-conscious.

So you can imagine our surprise today when we entered her little house and found her cleaning. She told us that she had been lying in bed earlier in the week but felt good today. She talked with us and laughed and told us much news about her family. We smiled and laughed with her. It was so encouraging to see her in good spirits.

She's looking forward to the Mongolians' Lunar New Year's celebrations. Many people will be coming to visit her.

One of her visitors will most likely be Kristie's father. They will be coming on the second day of the Lunar New Year and stay for almost two weeks. We are looking forward to their visit.

Deans' weekly update

Our family is finally past the illnesses that have limited our ministry the past few weeks. Now it is the cold. We have not had temperatures above zero degrees Fahrenheit for some weeks. The first few weeks, we soldier through. But after a while it becomes tiresome to dress for the weather and yet still be constantly cold when one is outside. The cold weather should break soon and temperatures should be in the low teens once again.

One of my joys of working in Mongolia is small group ministry: home Bible studies and small groups. The study can be more informal allowing questions and even disagreement to be expressed. As a pastor/missionary, I can confront people with personal weaknesses in a small group setting that could not be done in a church setting. Finally, the challenge of dealing in Mongolian with the real life situations that people bring up is interesting.

So this past week, I found great joy in restarting two home Bible studies and in a third small group meeting that took place at the church building one morning with two men that were there. One home Bible study has been on hiatus during the holidays and general busyness of my parents leaving. The second home Bible study stopped sometime during my last furlough and then never was re-started. I have been pushing that couple to pick up in their discipleship books where they left off when Ganpurev was teaching them. For over a year now, they have had various excuses as to the reason that they could not continue their studies. But recently they agreed to meet with me on Saturday afternoons.

Then last week, I planned to discuss a Women's Day holiday event with Ganpurev. Baysaa came unexpectedly into our meeting, and we spent over an hour discussing the ways that husbands should love their wives and in general how men can honor women. The courtesy and respect that women deserve is sadly lacking in Mongolia and is also decreasing in the United States.

These opportunities to study the Bible bring me great joy. Please pray for God to use these studies for His honor and pray for these Mongolians to internalize and apply the truths of Scripture that they are studying.

Cold, cold weather

For a boy from California and Oregon, the recent cold snap in Mongolia seems very cold. (Those readers of mine in Fairbanks may not think it so cold). The last time the temperature was above zero Fahrenheit was Jan. 11. And the forecast is that it will stay below zero for another few days.

Quote of the week

"Come near to the holy men and women of the past and you will soon feel the heat of their desire after God. They mourned for Him, and prayed and wrestled and sought for Him day and night, in season and out, and when they had found Him the finding was all the sweeter for the long seeking." —A.W. Tozer

Deans' January prayer letter

In our first prayer letter for 2012, I am pleased to announce the upcoming ordination of Ganpurev to be the pastor of Faith Baptist Church of Ulaanbaatar. This is a plan that has been many years in the making. As long as five years ago, I began to think that Ganpurev would be the Mongolian man who would one day pastor Faith Baptist Church.

His preparation has included Bible institute classes and much time spent one-on-one. We have discussed the Bible, its application to Christians, its inherent impact on Mongolian culture, and leading a church. He has preached now almost every Sunday since Roland Gay left four years ago. He also capably assisted Bill Patterson during our furlough two years ago.

He meets all of the qualifications of an elder listed in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. Most notably, he has a family whom he rules well. This is an increasing rarity in the world and in Mongolia. The people of the church respect him, his family, and his ministry. They have such regard for him that they sometimes avoid him when they are struggling with sin.

The only delay has been waiting for Ganpurev to recognize God’s call on his life. He is acutely aware of the immense responsibility that accompanies the call of being a pastor and has been hesitant to go forward. But he now recognizes that it is God Who is asking him to be the pastor of Faith Baptist Church, and it is God who will enable him to effectively serve as an under-shepherd.

The plan is for my pastor, Ben Jaquith, to join us in Mongolia on Saturday, March 3 for an ordination council. Faith Baptist Church will then ordain Ganpurev to be their pastor on Sunday, March 4. Following his ordination, Ganpurev will take on the responsibilities as the pastor of Faith Baptist Church of Ulan Bator, Mongolia. For the time being, I will assist him in his ministry and assist the church in their transition to a Mongolian pastor. During the spring, I will be teaching a Bible institute class, continuing to preach on Sundays, and leading home Bible studies.

Although I expect this to be a time of joy and expectation for the church, I also know that our adversary seeks to discourage the church, delay the ordination, and destroy the leadership of the church, if possible. So please pray for God’s protection and wisdom as we take this great step forward.

Deans' weekly update

Some weeks just seem to have more things that "happen" than others. God has been teaching me that He is in charge, He has a plan, and His plan is always best.

I begin by asking you to pray for Ganpurev, Ulzee, Aya, and the rest of the family. Aya is slowly losing her strength. Ganpurev and his family have been such a good support to her. I pray that God will bless them with grace and peace for the days ahead. I recall last summer that I doubted whether she would make it a month. And yet, she still holds on.

My family's problems do not seem like anything at all when compared to Aya's poor health. However, last week flu symptoms ripped through our family and laid many of us low. It started with Charissa and then began to afflict the rest of the family. Charissa, Emily, and Kristie were all down last week. Kristie is still not feeling well at the start of this new week. Of course, when mom is sick, it seems to slow the whole family down. And yet, despite being slowed by personal sickness and the sickness of my family, the peace of God ruled in my heart. I do not recall feeling anxious or hurried or harried. Isn't our God good?

I visited Togsoo and Gantoya in their new home this past week and rejoiced when I heard that they want to re-start their home Bible studies. Togsoo lost his mother and an older brother in a few short months. He has not been reading his Bible; has not been coming to church; has not been his normal, exuberant self. I also had a chance to visit Dashka's mother and introduce her to the person of salvation: Jesus Christ. Please pray for the seed that was planted to grow into saving faith.

Quote of the week

"Whatever form it may take, the theology of hyper-faith causes Christian compassion to deteriorate into an obsessive fix-it mentality. People and their problems cannot be tolerated, but must be instantly remedied. Why? Because the self-esteem and the emotional equilibrium of the supposed helper are at stake. In the hands of such “care-givers,” the one being cared for cannot be allowed simply to work through a problem in his own way and at his own speed. No, there is no room for that. Instead the thing has to be fixed immediately." —Mike Mason

Deans' weekly update

Last week I mentioned to you my plan to teach Mongolians how to use a evangelistic booklet as a tool to teach about the Christian faith to their family and friends. I have been burdened for some time to write an evangelism tool that Mongolian Christians can carry with them. The tool should be easy to use but thorough in its presentation of the Good News that Jesus is the Savior of the world.

I had some ideas from a missionary to Cambodia who ministers to people who have some of the some cultural obstacles to the Gospel that Mongolians have. For example, to Buddhists, sin is not considered to be a problem; suffering is the problem. Many tracts from the United States discuss sin as a bad thing. The Buddhist mind does not comprehend that and wonders why the religious material leaves out the important information. Last year I taught a class on the doctrine of salvation to several men in the church. This evangelism tool incorporates some of those ideas as well.

It will be a booklet with pictures and some major points. I have already begun on Sundays to teach the Mongolians how to use this tract. They will need to give an oral presentation of the Gospel but can leave the booklet with their Mongolian family member or friend after they leave. I am eager to see Mongolians leading other Mongolians to the Savior.

Dashka and I are planning to go to visit his mother this week. Part of our plan is to take some of this Gospel material when we go and use it to witness to his mother who is a Buddhist. Please pray for us as we go. Some of you know how difficult it is to witness to family. In addition, witnessing to a person who is older than me takes tact and patience, both of which are often in short supply when I am speaking the Mongolian language.