Quote of the week

There’s a certain amount of peace in ignorance of the Gospel … which would explain why people sometimes respond so strongly to the preaching of truth.

Aya's health

Aya's health is starting to deteriorate again. For several months she's been relatively stable. She did start taking morphine for the pain some time ago.

Yesterday, she had some external bleeding. The cancer is beginning to "come out" the doctors informed Ganpurev. Aya's pain is also increasing. Please pray that through this Ganpurev, Ulzee, and Aya would be filled with all the fullness of God and the love of Christ.

Quote of the week

"Perhaps true greatness, or a truly great person, is someone who does the right things for the right reasons without expecting grand rewards. They don’t do things 'to be the best' or 'to be famous' or 'to be a legend.' Instead they sacrifice those ambitions in favor of simply doing what people around them need. They want to be great only through being useful to those they care about most, regardless of how little acclaim they get from the whole wide world for it." —Scott Berkun (who makes no claim of being religious much less a Christian)

About the company in Mongolia

Last week, I went early in the morning to visit a friend’s coffee shop. Daniel gives me a free coffee whenever I come and is continually inviting people out to our English church services. So I like to go by and see him once a week or so.

I arrived a few minutes early at the coffee shop to find that there were two customers already waiting by the door for it to be unlocked. I didn’t see Daniel inside, so I stood there patiently waiting for Daniel to open the door.

I had waited for a minute or two when another customer walked up, passed me, went by the two men waiting at the door, and tried the handle. I’m embarrassed to say that the door had been unlocked the whole time.

Mongolia is somewhat like that. There are things that seem difficult or impossible to accomplish but once you try it, you find out that there are ways to succeed at what God has called you to do.

Some years ago, a missions agency began calling countries to which it was difficult to send missionaries, creative access nations or CAN. This emphasized that there are ways to reside in a country if you are creative and indomitable. Mongolia is one of those creative access nations. They don’t encourage missionaries to come, and some people will tell you that proselytizing is illegal though I’ve never seen such a law or heard of anyone being prosecuted. In fact, most Mongolians will insist that the constitution of Mongolia guarantees freedom of religion.

[Of course, freedom of religion in some countries means freedom to practice your religion in private. In such countries, freedom of religion does not mean one is free to tell others about his religion or to convert from one religion to another.]

Getting back to the topic, Mongolia is one of those CAN places. You CAN come to Mongolia and do missions work. However, you probably cannot come as a missionary. Therefore, most Christians who have come to Mongolia specifically to be a witness for Jesus Christ find that they also must do some other work, as well. Initially, I worked as an English teacher. Later, I worked briefly under another independent Baptist missionary’s organization as a store manager.

Several years ago, following the examples of several other missionaries, I decided to found a legitimate company in Mongolia. The company would do woodworking. There were three reasons that I selected a woodworking company. First, in my years in Mongolia I had never found a satisfactory carpenter shop. Second, my father had many years of carpentry experience and offered to come to Mongolia to train some workers after he retired. Finally, God had provided me with a gifted carpenter: Ganpurev. I had seen what he could do with scrap pieces of wood. I imagined that he could do much better with real wood.

Founding a company also provided a legitimate way for me to construct a building. The first floor would be the carpenter shop. The second floor could be space where the church could meet.

By being the company president I could request a visa and residency permission to reside in Mongolia. For the past five years, I have received my visa and residency permission through my company. The company constructed a building and hired workers. All of this was done legally and legitimately.

Just last week I received another year’s residency permission. In the month leading up to requesting residency permission, I had heard of five cases where residency permission had been refused or where people had to change the organization that they were with before requesting residency permission. So I was grateful to God that I received my residency permission so easily.

Then the company has given Ganpurev a job where he can work 35-40 hours a week and make a living wage. Many people in Mongolia have jobs that require them to work 60-70 hours a week. While there is nothing evil about working hard, it would be impossible for Ganpurev to work such a job and pastor a church. This allows him to do both. Ideally, we look forward to the day when the church can pay Ganpurev’s salary. But for now, it is not possible, and Ganpurev will have to be bi-vocational.

Which leads me to my last praise: this past month the company has had plenty of work: work that pays well.

Deans' weekly update

We could not continue our ministry in Mongolia without the grace of God. Your prayers and support are one method that God pours out His grace upon us. We have been very busy and pulled in many directions recently. I would like to give you a few prayer requests to bring to our loving heavenly Father as you pray this week.

Kristie and I saw Aya on Saturday and are amazed at her good spirits considering that she has terminal cancer. Every time that we see her she is thanking the Lord. She is grateful to all those of you who are praying for her, as well.

Another lady, Ganchimeg, is in the hospital this week. She's been having heart trouble. Often her heart beats as fast as 120 beats per minute. She is only 30 years old. Please pray for her, her husband Baysaa, and her three children.

One thousand posts

This post is the thousandth time that I've posted to this blog. I think it's appropriate that I post a picture of Ganpurev and his family. While they are not the only family that we've impacted in Mongolia, they are the ones who have come the farthest. Ganpurev is now the pastor at Faith Baptist Church, and his family is a testimony that God's word works in Mongolian families.

Please pray for Ganpurev as he leads his family and Faith Baptist Church.

Quote

Sin is saying, "I will" when God says, "You won't."

Deans' weekly update

The family has been finishing up school and begun to put away all the school things. I have been busy with my Bible institute class on the Life of Christ. I have enjoyed putting the class together. Church attendance has been down because there have been many people sick.

We praise the Lord that Aya is still with us. She grows weaker bit by bit. But every time that I go to see her she has a good attitude and sweet spirit. I know that her poor health weighs on Ganpurev and Ulzee. God has been so good to give that whole family grace for every need. Keep praying for them.

Quote of the week

"The great difference today in the world is not between the liberal and the fundamentalist. But the great gulf fixed today is between the evangelical rationalist and the evangelical mystic. … We have evangelical rationalists who insist upon trying to reduce everything down to where it can be explained and proved. The result is, we have rationalized faith and we have pulled Almighty God down to the low level of human reason. There are some things human reason cannot do." —A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)

Deans' weekly update

Let me give you an update on the family this week. Last week I asked you to pray for Kristie. I’m glad to report that she is feeling somewhat better. However, her root canal that she had done in January needs to be re-done. She has an appointment Thursday to start that work.

Caleb was also sick much of last week: a nasty cold and occasional fever. Kristie and he were trying to get his schoolwork done this month. He continued to make progress on his schoolwork as he was able, but I think he has been delayed.

Charissa and Emily have been working hard to finish their school year. I think both of them have completed several subjects already. All the children are looking ahead to summer.

We had two visitors from Inner Mongolia at our service on Sunday. Afterward, they asked to meet with me. They wanted to tell me that they realized that Turks, Mongols, Maygars, Koreans, and Japanese are the descendants of Jacob’s son Benjamin. The conversation ranged from the Mongolian spot to ovoos to the shape of gers. It was an interesting conversation if not a particularly profitable one. It was also a reminder of the susceptibility of young believers to be blown about by every wind of doctrine. Please pray for Faith Baptist Church to be strengthened in faith and stable in doctrine.