Mongolia 52 years apart

This picture is from 1960. I found it in a book about Mongolia. Notice the pink building that dominates the left-center of the picture.

This picture I took last week. The pink building is now dwarfed by the new Central Tower.

Prayer request

This morning, I was planning to take a walk. However, we had a hard rain falling about the time I would normally leave on my walk. It was our hardest rain all year. I knew that the church building's roof was having trouble. But I guess there was a mess at the church. We were planning to start on the repair of the building's roof on Monday. Evidently, we are a few days too late.

Bill's desk after his Bible and computer were removed

Bill Patterson's office is on the top floor of his building. The hard rain caused a significant of water to flow from the roof into his office. The worst of it seems to be were Bill's desk is. Unfortunately, his Bible and computer were located on his desk when the rain happened. 

Bill's Bible and computer with plaster from the ceiling

It seems like there are too many examples of these type of "freak" accidents that hinder the work in Mongolia. Of course, there are hard rains around the world and plenty of leaky roofs. I'm not referring only to the leaky roofs. I am saying that it seems that there are constantly little (or big) problems occurring with the work here. 



We are not discouraged, I don't think Bill is discouraged. But please pray for the Pattersons as they re-adjust to life in Mongolia. And pray for God's glory to be revealed to the Mongolians.

Quote of the week

"A leader will help your organization through tough times; a good leader will have a plan in place already to react quickly to change; a great leader will have corrected course long ago so that you will never know what dangers were in your path." —Tom Williams

read the full article here http://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2012/07/10/how-to-be-a-great-leader/

Mongolia in the news

A couple of recent news articles about Mongolia:

lots of mining going on http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/nyt/20120627_Mongolias_coal_deposits_draw_neighbors_attention.html

good news from the recent election http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303567704577514142979652810.html

enjoy

Deans' weekly update

We had a good day on Sunday. After some months of low attendance, there were 54 people out on Sunday morning. Seventeen of those were Americans; still, that meant we had 34 Mongolians in attendance. So many of these Mongolians only come when it is convenient, when there is nothing else to do. I long for them to understand that the Christian life is a daily relationship and a life-long commitment to a God Who loves us.

In the evening, the crowd was slightly smaller but included three first-time visitors. We had our yearly visitor from Taiwan, Gregory Hincklen, who brought two Mongolians who had been exchange students at his university in Taiwan. He has such a burden for souls that he comes to Mongolia each year to try to integrate his Mongolian exchange students into a good church in their own country.

This is our last day with a vehicle. I have been driving other missionaries’ vehicles during their time in the United States. But today the last of them returns to Mongolia. After I return their vehicle, I will be without one until we leave. It is summer, the roads have been clogged with traffic anyway. I don’t anticipate needing a vehicle as much as we do during the winter, and I believe we can borrow a vehicle when necessary. Still, it will feel funny not having a car in the garage.

Please pray for Kristie. She has been unwell again. The Lord knew that she would be unwell and planned in His wisdom and sovereignty for the shipment of our items back to the United States to be delayed. I have been just as busy as always with church and work responsibilities so it has also been hard for me to give my attention to the logistics of moving. Please pray that Kristie would feel better, regain her strength, and be able to direct our packing.

This week is the Mongolians big, summer holiday: Naadam. During Naadam, Mongolians participate in the three manly sports: horse-racing, archery, and wrestling. Because the Mongolians will be busy with other pursuits, I should have an opportunity to focus on our preparations to return to Oregon.

Our schedule is something like this: Naadam this week, church camp next week (the Mongolians are organizing), the Baptist World Mission Field Director for Asia’s visit the following week, and then less than a week later our departure. As you can see we’ve packed many events, too many events, perhaps into this last month. Pray for Kristie’s health, for all of us to have energy, and for a smooth transition for the church and my family.

We are always grateful to think that you pray for us. Without God’s help, we are hopeless.

Picture of the week

Mongolians like to use a styrofoam-type product as insulation. If you want to buy it, you can stop at one of these roadside suppliers.

After purchasing it, you can load it up on a truck and take it wherever you want to go. It's light so load it up!

Good turnout on Sunday

They all came out of the woodwork on Sunday: we had 54 on Sunday morning, including some folks that hadn't attended in a long time. Thirty-seven of those were Mongolians along with 17 Americans.

Quote of the week

"Mongolian archery today is not what it was, having been robbed of its power by three centuries of Chinese rule. Though archery is still one of the three 'manly sport', today's bows are sloppy things, with pathetic range and arrows tipped by fat pads that are fired at, would you believe, nothing more than rows of wickerwork baskets a few down metres away. The bows I have tried send their arrows wobbling like a reed in a gale for not much more than 50 metres. I have not heard of anyone in Mongolia making bows in the old style, or of anyone backing a revival of old-style archery." —from a modern writer

Deans' weekly update

We had some good services on Sunday both in the morning and evening.

The Pattersons returned to Mongolia last Thursday. I picked them up at the airport with their 18 bags. You have to carry a lot with you when you come to Mongolia to stay. They were able to move back into the apartment that they occupied when they were here before. They are buried in obtaining residency permission, getting phones set up, and all the details of moving to a new country.

We had a good group Sunday morning and Sunday night was even better. We had twenty first time visitors. Sixteen of those were a group of Ukrainians who came to visit our services. Though they did not speak English Enkhtuul did an excellent job of translating from English to Russian/Ukrainian even though her native speech is Mongolian. The group from the Ukraine also blessed us with a set of songs and a short challenge which was translated from Russian/Ukrainian into English again by the faithful Enkhtuul.

Please pray for us as we continue to prepare to leave Mongolia. There are many things that we need to do and it’s not always clear the best way to accomplish them. Our neighbors all pitched in and helped us dispose of much of the little items that we were looking to get rid of: books, clothes, small furniture pieces, some children’s bikes. Now we need to sell the bigger pieces of furniture in our home. Update: everything large in the house is sold!

Great Sunday night service

We don't usually have a crowd this large on Sunday night. They must have heard that Bill was back to preach. Many of these folks are from the Ukraine. They were traveling through and wanted to join our service.