Deans' weekly update

Monday morning I had an odd thing happen to me: I was walking down the street with Ganpurev and talking on my cell phone when someone grabbed me around the waist from behind. It was one of the most unusual things that has happened to me in a long time. I looked around wondering if Ganpurev was trying to protect me from something or if it was someone with whom I was acquainted. Ganpurev looked as shocked as I was. I next thought that the fellow holding on to my waist might want to steal my cell phone. So I excused myself and hung up.

The man let go of my waist and saluted me, wishing me a Happy Soldiers’ Day (which was on Sunday). A second man was also with him and saluted me. They were obviously drunk. Just then, one of the fellows grabbed me around the waist again.

Ganpurev reached out to intervene, asking “What are you trying to do?” I wiggled free and swiftly walked away.

As we strode away, Ganpurev asked me, “Do you know those guys?” I have no idea who they were.

In ministry news this week, Kristie and I were encouraged when we observed the Mongolians teaching an evangelism class to the children who came and received a gift two weeks ago. They have books that take the children from God's perfect creation to His perfect sacrifice and the resurrection of His Son. They are handling all this on their own, and we are observing. Our goal has always been to leave behind Christians who are capable of leading others to our Savior and make them His disciples. To watch them as they do so is a joy to our hearts. Their evangelistic efforts are the results of many years of work.

Soldier's Day

Today is Soldiers' Day in Mongolia. I think it's similar to Veterans' Day in the United States. The Mongolians don't seem to do much to honor soldiers, however, which is sad.

This morning, more than half of those in attendance said that verse from memory that the church is memorizing. The previous few weeks, only Ganpurev had said the verse. It was becoming discouraging; then God encouraged me as so many were prepared to say the verse from memory.

This morning, Kristie listened patiently to several complaints that a Mongolian had. The source of all the complaints was this Mongolian's service given to God was being taken advantage of by people who seemed careless. While I was sad to hear her complaints, it reminded me that the Mongolians are taking on more and more of the service in the church meetings. They are noticing more the inconsiderate behavior of unsaved guests or immature Christians. These are good steps for the Mongolians to be taking.

I was reminded of a little ditty I heard somewhere:

God has plenty of material
For prophets, priests, and kings.
What He needs are some volunteers
To do the little things.

Quote of the week

"The problem with the modern American church is that it is far too 'American' and not enough 'church.'" —Stanley Hauerwas

Yesterday's post

Yesterday's post may have caused some consternation among those of you who follow my blog and ministry. You may be wondering who are these folks that have passed away recently.

The first person to pass on to eternity was Bob's sister who is only a few years older than I am. I found out last Wednesday when he came to borrow some tables and chairs to accomodate the folks that would be visiting. His sister felt poorly Tuesday night, went to the hospital, and was gone by Wednesday afternoon.

That same day, Dashka's uncle passed away. I am not sure how old he was; but knowing his mother's approximate age, I think it is fair to guess that Dashka's uncle was about my parent's age.

Yesterday, Ganchimeg's aunt passed away. She was in her 50's, went in for surgery on her neck, and did not survive the surgery. It was very tragic and unexpected.

Aya is still with us. I am amazed at the mercy & grace of God to preserve her for us all this time. Please pray for Ganpurev, Ulzee, and Aya as they continue to serve the Lord.

However, Ganpurev called me this morning to tell me that a friend of his who is about our age also passed away suddenly. I had met Amraa once or twice years ago. He is a fellow who grew up with Ganpurev but was a heavy drinker. After Ganpurev became a Christian he found himself spending less and less time with Amraa who encouraged him to drink. But it is very tragic to see so many people not much older than me lose their life so unexpectedly.

Pray that God would use these reminders of the uncertainty of life to draw Mongolians to Himself!

Deans' weekly update

Three deaths in a week—there have been three deaths this past week in the extended families of our church members. All of them were relatively young, one of them only a few years older than myself. What a reminder that life is short and judgment is real! I had not personally met any of these Mongolians who are now in eternity. But the church folks had. This makes it imperative that I equip the Mongolians preach the Gospel to family and friends and impress upon them the urgency of the task.

Because of this burden that I have, I was pleased to hear that Ganpurev took several opportunities to preach Christ to family and friends during a recent, brief trip to the countryside. He used a new Gospel booklet to give the Good News to an old school friend and a brother-in-law among others. Please pray that all the Mongolians would eagerly tell their family and friends that there is a Savior and that He is the God of the Mongols.

On the weather front, it looks like tomorrow may be the first day above freezing since November. Of course, if we miss our opportunity for “warm” weather tomorrow they are predicting a new cold snap for us that means a week or more of sub-freezing temperatures. We would like it to warm up because we are already halfway through March.

Pray for Kristie

Kristie was sick for a few days last week and then became sick again yesterday. It seems like a stomach virus to me. She seems to be recovering this evening. But she has been sick quite a bit recently. Pray for her.

Quote of the week

"Home, with all its prohibitions and opportunities to die daily, offered training far greater than any Bible school curriculum." —Amy Carmichael

Weather

It was -22 F (-30 C) this morning when I rose from bed. And it's March! I hope it warms up soon.

Pictures from Ganpurev's ordination

The men at Ganpurev's ordination council (from left): me, Dashka acting as translator, Ganpurev, Pastor Ben Jaquith, missionary Jason Ritchie.

The ordination council recommending Ganpurev to Faith Baptist Church.

Ganpurev receiving his ordination gift: a new cell phone to keep in touch with the church.

Finally, in this picture from seven years ago I am baptizing Ganpurev.

Deans' weekly update

It's been a while since I posted anything. I hope I haven't lost my audience.

Here's the update: several weeks ago, I mentioned to you that the church would be involved in a project to give gifts to the neighborhood children and present the Gospel to them through music and a Bible story. Afterward, there would be follow-up with the families of the children who came. At that time and just days before they were scheduled to give out the gifts, they delayed the project for two weeks.

That moved the project to this past weekend. Because I was not needed and because my parents-in-law were visiting, I was unable to attend. When I asked how the project went one of the first things that Ganpurev said was, “We were not very experienced so there were things that we would have done differently.” I pointed out that they only way to gain experience is to attempt things. Experience is never gained by not trying. In my opinion this was a good start to future ministry for many of the Mongolians.

This past weekend the church held Ganpurev’s ordination ceremony. In many ways it felt like the culmination of seventeen years of ministry for me. It was almost seventeen years ago that I was ordained. Although I have worked with many men during that time, Ganpurev is the first man that has been ordained mostly through the influence of my ministry.

Ganpurev’s ordination is a key milestone in planting a Mongolian church in Mongolia. Building a place for the Mongolian church to meet was essential. Evangelizing the lost is also crucial. Discipling believers makes for a strong church. Ordaining a Mongolian as pastor means it will be a Mongolian church. Please pray for Ganpurev as he grows into his new role as pastor.

I will be at Faith Baptist Church for a while assisting Ganpurev in his transition. Also, I will be teaching a Bible institute class on the life of Christ. We started just this week. Teaching a Bible class in Mongolian is always interesting as I usually create most of my material myself or translate it from English materials that I have.

So there are some prayer requests: reaching out to families whose children attended the gift-giving project, Ganpurev in his new role as pastor, and for me as I teach this Bible institute class.