Sunday's services

Today, about half the people who normally come were not their. Yet we still had a first-time visitor and seven adults in attendance. Praise the Lord for progress. Now if we can only get everyone out at the same time.

I was at Ganbold's last night. He is very busy with work right now but asked me to come next Sunday. Let's all pray this week that all four of his sons, his two daughters, and his wife will be there. We also need to pray that the Holy Spirit would work mightily in their lives!

A Week of Ministry

Some weeks seem more productive than others. I wish that I could say that every week I am seeing people saved, and that every week is exciting as I watch people grow in Christ. There are weeks though when I seem to plant a lot and reap a little. A quote by one of Adoniram's sons was given to me some years ago and continues to be an encouragement to me. "The sacrifices of my father’s life were more fruitful than his labors. If you succeed without sacrifice, someone has sacrificed before you. If you sacrifice without success, someone will succeed after you." Paul said it with a little different emphasis: "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase ... For we are laborers together with God." Wow! Working together with God, not because He needs us but rather because He chooses to use us. I never cease to be amazed at God's condescension in working through us.

But perhaps you wonder what I do with my weeks. One of the most asked questions that I have was asked when I was in the U.S. went something like this, "What constitutes your week?" Here's a brief summary of this week.

Every morning, I try to spend some time studying and preparing Bible lessons. Even though I have another missionary who works with me here in Mongolia, I usually need to prepare three or four lessons a week in Mongolian. Often my afternoons are taken up with errands or special jobs. This week it was a visit to the bank to transfer money from a bank account in the city to another town in Mongolia to help a missionary there. What should have taken fifteen minutes ended up taking over an hour. When I first arrived, the network was down. They said it would only be five minutes so I waited. Then the power went out. The power was out for some time. After the lights returned, the network was up so I conducted my banking. Then the power went out again and the computers were off. So it goes in Mongolia.

Another afternoon, I worked on having an oven repaired for a fellow missionary who is still learning Mongolia. One afternoon, I spent working with a Mongolian language teacher and fellow brother in Christ on translation work. Free afternoons can be used as more preparation time.

The evenings are often spent in people's home. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night, I scheduled visits to people's houses and gers. Although Thursday's meeting was canceled at the last minute, I often visit four or more homes a week, often teaching the Bible one on one. On Tuesday night's visit I had an opportunity to witness for Christ (see this recent post) and Wednesday I taught a Bible lesson in Ganpurev and Ulzee's home.

Thursday night, I ended up spending with family because Friday night, Kristie and I are scheduled to fellowship with some fellow missionaries. We try to get together once a month for fellowship and recreation.

Saturday's activities vary. Every Saturday morning I meet with other missionaries to pray specifically about the Bible translation work (which is progressing slowly: more details should follow in another post). The rest of the morning is often spent communicating with family in the States through Internet chat and e-mail. Often I spend the afternoons and evenings visiting with Mongolian. Some of them have come to my home; sometimes I have gone to theirs. Also, on Saturday evenings I try to go over my sermon for the next day.

So that's a typical week in Mongolia for me. I hope that helps you understand more about what I do as a missionary. Much of it can be mundane. Sometimes it is very exciting. The most important thing to me is always to be prepared to give a reason for the hope that is within me.

Prayer update

On Tuesday night, I visited Bayambaa's house and had a good chance to talk with Bayambaa's father about salvation in Jesus Christ. His name is Tsendee, and he has been coming on Sunday mornings fairly regularly the last few months. He pays close attention to the lessons and seems to be soaking it all in. However, Tuesday's conversation was another reminder that he is not yet saved. He still is thinking about salvation in terms of doing good works and certain rituals. Tuesday night was another opportunity to emphasize that Jesus Christ is the only way to God the Father. Jesus Christ alone makes it possible for us to receive forgiveness for sin. I also said repeatedly that we are born sinners in need of reconciliation with God.

To me, it was also exciting because sitting right there for most of the conversation was Bayambaa's husband, Mandaa. Mandaa is not a Christian and says that he is not interested in hearing about it. Perhaps overhearing our conversation will spark an interest. Interestingly enough to me, Mandaa is an artist who primarily makes idols for a living. Would it not be a great blessing to see him saved and to see him give up his current line of work for one that pleases our Creator?

Please pray for Tsendee's salvation in the coming weeks. He seems so sincere and earnest. Pray specifically that the Holy Spirit would guide Tsendee to understand what he heard on Tuesday night. Also pray for Mandaa that he would be interested in learning more about our Savior. Pray that I would have wisdom for ways that I could awake an interest in him.
Tsendee & Bayambaa with Bayambaa's son between them

News from Sunday

We had a good crowd on Sunday with eleven Mongolian adults and half a dozen children. I keep thinking that we should have more. But when ones considers that we started with three adults last September, we are making progress.

We are planning for some special meetings in about a month and would appreciate your prayers as we plan and prepare. The meetings will mainly be designed for our regular attenders but we would love to see some people saved during the meetings as well.

Ganpurev's and Ulzee's Post-Salvation Testimony

Two Saturdays ago, I shared with you Ganpurev's and Ulzee's salvation testimonies. Today I want to post their post-salvation testimony. Eventually, I will combine these as one post.

The very next day, my wife met with Ulzee and greeted her. The typical Mongolian greeting goes like this:

“Are you well?”

“(I’m) well? Are you well?”

“(I’m) well. What good news do you have?”

“Nothing. (Everything is) peaceful.”

No matter what has happened recently you must answer this way. I have seen a situation where one’s father had just died and the opening greeting went just like this. “Everything is peaceful,” he said despite the recent death. Another time a wife had a major fight with her husband, came to our house and told Kristie, “Everything is peaceful,” before launching into the story about the fight with her husband. Kristie and I have both discussed how strange it seems to us as foreigners to hear people invariably respond by saying, “Nothing” or “Everything is peaceful” when one knows from the look on their face that not everything is well.

So it was this morning. Before Ulzee came to our house, Kristie, who knew all about the events of the previous night, asked me, “What should I say to Ulzee?” I said, “Don’t say anything. If she doesn’t say anything, ask her what happened last night.”

When Ulzee came, the conversation went like this:

Kristie: “Are you well?”

Ulzee: “(I’m) well. Are you well?”

Kristie: “(I’m) well. What good news do you have?”

Ulzee: “Oh, (everything is) peaceful. I became God’s child last night!”

I was thrilled that as soon as she could (within the limits of her culture) she told my wife that she had become God’s child. Not only with us but with many other family members they were very open about their new life in Christ.

This would soon cause me some hesitation, me of little faith. Before I explain why, you must understand some about Mongolian Buddhism. Mongolian Buddhism was imported from Tibet many centuries ago. Mongolian Buddhists today still revere the Dalai Lama and call him the Living God.

When Tibetan Buddhism came to their country, Mongolians mixed it with their pre-existing shamanism to make a mix of superstition and religious ceremony that survives to this day. However, shamanism and Buddhism, superstition and religious ceremony all have a common object: the manipulation of supernatural spirits or forces to cause them to do the will of the supplicant. Whenever a Mongolian visits a Buddhist temple or a shaman they have a clear goal of what they want from the gods or spirits. Sometimes the goal is to build up spiritual good works that they can call on later when they have a specific request; it is like depositing money in a spiritual bank account so that the worshipper can draw on it later in a crisis.

As Mongolians see it, people who observe the superstitions and customs will be blessed; people who ignore the superstitions and ceremonies will be cursed. Just as I warned them it would, trouble came to Ganpurev and Ulzee despite their new-found faith in Jesus Christ. In retrospect, I am so glad that I emphasized to them that Christians still experience trials but that they can still find grace, strength, and peace in Jesus Christ.

About two weeks after they made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ and began telling everyone about their Savior, Ulzee contracted appendicitis. This was just before the Mongolians celebrated their Lunar New Year. That meant that all of their family members were soon aware of her sudden illness.

The pain started on Sunday. Ulzee went with her husband to the hospital where they told her that she definitely had appendicitis and needed surgery. However, the doctor informed that the hospital did not do appendectomies on the weekends and that she would have to come back on Monday. She returned home and the pain increased through the evening. Late that evening a fellow Christian came to their ger and prayed for her to feel better. She immediately felt relief from her pain which continued until the next morning.

Monday morning she returned to the hospital to have her appendix removed. We did not hear from them until Ganpurev called late Monday morning to tell us that Ulzee had an appendectomy. My first thought was that this was a severe test for such new Christians. I also wondered what the rest of the family would think. I could imagine them thinking, “Here Ganpurev and Ulzee forsake their gods for a new God; see what happens: Ulzee gets appendicitis.”

I asked Ganpurev if Kristie and I could go with him to the hospital to visit Ulzee. Because Mongolian hospitals only provide one meal a day of varying quality, the family always provides food for those that are in the hospital. I asked if we could go with Ganpurev when he went to deliver her meal. I expected since she had just had an appendectomy that we would be admitted to her room, stand around her bedside, pray with her, and try to encourage her. We went around the back of the hospital building to an obscure entrance that seemed more like a fire escape. We went up several flights of steps. Each flight of steps had a closed door. We stopped at the top of a flight of steps where the door had a window in it. Ganpurev stuck his head into the window and called for a nurse. He told the nurse that he wanted to see his wife and gave the nurse her name. The nurse disappeared and a few minutes later I was surprised to see Ulzee, holding her stomach with one hand and nearly bent over double, approaching the door. Evidently, visitors were not allowed into the ward. The patients had to meet us at the window. We spend a few minutes at the window with her and told her mainly that we were praying for her and wished her well. She talked a few more minutes with her husband and then made her way slowly back to wherever she came from.

Humanly speaking, they had every reason to be gloomy; but amazingly on the way home Ganpurev shared blessing after blessing that they had received from the Lord. I could see how God was using Ulzee’s sickness to strengthen their faith and bring honor and glory to Himself. The rest of the family may have wondered if their new-found faith was the source of their “bad luck.” However, they also saw how the peace of God that passes all understanding also guarded Ganpurev’s and Ulzee’s hearts.

Since then, I have been much less concerned about how difficult circumstances will impact a person’s faith. It was a vivid reminder that God brings difficulties, illnesses, obstacles, and diverse temptations into our lives to strengthen us and teach us patience. Pray the Lord for His faithfulness!

Small steps

It is not every week that I am privileged to witness someone turning from idols to the true and living God. This week’s update is about one of the more incremental changes.

Dashgaa was saved through the witness of many Christians over a period of about ten years. He was a Mongolian teacher at one of the language schools here in Ulan Bator. After his salvation he was baptized by Roland and began attending a group that met with Roland on Sundays. Through various circumstances, the group of people that James and I had been teaching was merged with a group that Roland was teaching, and Dashgaa began to attend our meetings on Sunday mornings.

Dashgaa on left with Roland & Ganpurev

Dashgaa’s wife Tongaa is not saved. Her family is very Buddhist and although Dashgaa and Tongaa have their own ger they live in the same little fenced area. This means that there is much pressure on Dashgaa to deny his Christian faith and return to his Buddhist roots. Dashgaa and Tongaa have three children about the ages of our children, a daughter age 11, a son age 4, and another son who is a toddler.

Dashgaa’s wife is quite antagonistic to the Gospel, does not want to hear about Jesus, and refuses to attend our meetings on Sunday morning. I am determined our family will do our best to love their family to Jesus. Towards that end, my family had visited their home during the Lunar New Year and enjoyed our chance to get to know them. A small step.

Then about a month ago, we had a celebration on Thursday night for International Women’s Day which is a holiday in Mongolia. Because I was planning a game involving couples, I invited Dashgaa to bring his wife which he did. I was a little surprised to see her come. She had a chance to meet the other ladies in our little group and seemed to enjoy her time. Another small step.

Two weeks ago, I asked Dashgaa if I could visit his home. Normally, I try to ask the first time that I visit a Mongolian home and then just show up after that. (Did I mention to you that it is rude for a close friend to ask if he can visit? A true friend is expected to come over without asking.) I picked him up from work, and we went to his house. On the way there, Dashgaa said that when he told his wife that I was to visit, she basically said, “Why would he want to come to our ger?” Many Mongolians are embarrassed to host a foreigner in their ger. I asked if that meant she did not want me to visit. He assured me that she did not mind me visiting. If she had not wanted me to visit she would have said so directly.

I had a pleasant visit and was able to acquaint myself more closely with his family. Towards the end of the evening, I mentioned to Tongaa that my wife taught a Bible class for children and asked if her children might attend the class when her husband came on Sunday. Tongaa became very quiet and gave me no response. I moved on to other topics since she seemed agitated by my request. But the visit and the invitation to send her daughter were another couple of small steps.

The very next Sunday, Dashgaa was unable to attend on Sunday. Frankly, I forgot about the invitation that I had extended to Tongaa to send her daughter. So you can imagine my joy when this past Sunday, Dashgaa walked in with his eleven-year-old daughter behind him. I was so glad that I wanted to jump for joy. Yet another small step: such small steps, you might think, but such small steps lead to Jesus. My prayer is that through patience and love we would see this entire family united in Jesus Christ. Please pray for Tongaa’s salvation and that God would bless us with wisdom, love, and patience as we endeavor to show her the love of Christ. For the love of Christ constraineth us …

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Every day is a new day to serve God and Sunday, April 15, 2007, was no different. We had a good attendance in the morning; the number of those who come is slowly growing. Those that came paid good attention to the teaching and preaching of God's Word. It is thrilling to be here and watch these young Christians grow in their understanding of and desire for God.

In the evening I went over to Ganbold's again to teach a lesson. Three of his sons were there and listened well. They all certainly have heard the Gospel multiple times now. Continue to pray for the conviction of the Holy Spirit that would lead to their salvation.


I took this picture of Ganbold's family while I was there. One unmarried daughter is missing. This picture gives you some idea of the ministry that I have. The grandmother in the back sitting next to Kristie is Soli and is a Christian as is Ganbold, I believe. Ganbold is the one holding the little girl. Most of the rest have heard the Gospel clearly but have not yet responded.

News and prayer requests

I hope that there are some of you who still check this blog regularly for updates. In Mongolia, there are some weeks, months even, where not much of interest happens. I have learned to take a breath and prepare because at some point I will plunge into a swamp full of responsibilities. The last few months have been rather slow until Ganbold's recently renewed interest in studying the Bible with me. But this week it seems that the logjam of uneventfulness is starting to break free. I just hope that I have taken a deep enough breath.

Of course, this past Sunday, I saw Ganbold's change of heart and noticed that his idols were gone. This has rejuvenated my hope that events will start moving faster with his family. He has three married sons, a college-aged son and daughter, and a high school age daughter. There is so much potential there. Not only his children, but Ganbold is the oldest in his family. There are eight of them, and three are now Christians. Age and birth order bring significant respect in Mongolian society. The other two were the younger ones in the family, but Ganbold is the oldest. I suspect that should Ganbold's life change as radically as others have, his whole family will sit up and take notice.

Then another thing came up this last week. Enkhamgalan and I had some conversations last year, but recently have had little contact. When I visit Bilgee at work and see him in passing, he often teases me by speaking Mongolian very quickly and saying odd things. However, when I saw Enkhamgalan on Thursday, he was very serious and told me that his father had stomach cancer. His father has had an operation and is still in the hospital. Obviously, this has upset Enkhamgalan very much. He told me that he intends to came this Sunday to our meeting. The peace that he is desperately seeking is only found in Jesus Christ.

That was Thursday. Friday Daimkaa came over to my house. It has been years since Daimkaa came to my house, although I visit Daimkaa's ger several times a year. His life is in turmoil too, he says; and the answer to him is to move to Ireland. But to move to Ireland he needs several thousand dollars which he does not have. I told him (again) that what he really needs is Jesus Christ. This time he listened to me. He response was that he has heard all this before and respects the Bible. He just does not believe. But he agreed to meet with Ganpurev and Ulzee and hear their testimony.

So you can see that there will be more opportunities in the coming weeks than there have been in a while. Pray for the salvation of Ganbold's children, Enkhamgalan and his father, and Daimkaa. I will keep you updated.

Missions quote

Francis Schaeffer once said, "The problem that confronts us as we approach modern man today is not how we are to change Christian teaching in order to make it more palatable … rather it is only a problem of how we may communicate the Gospel so that it is understood."

I would modify that to say, "The problem that confronts me as I approach Mongolians is not how can I change the Gospel in order to make it more palatable, rather it is only a problem of how we may communicate the Gospel so that it is understood."

Resurrection Sunday

This past Sunday we remembered our Savior's resurrection from the dead showing His victory over the grave. Unfortunately, two of our faithful men were called away by work, and for the first time since our return to Mongolia, we had more women at the service than men. For those of you who are interested in the numbers there were seven Mongolian adults (four of whom were women) and seven Mongolian children.

But the best news of the day came in the evening when I went to teach Ganbold and his family another lesson from the Bible. In the past his wife, who seemed quite antagonistic toward my Bible teaching, would always leave as soon as I began my lesson. This last Sunday night, I asked her if she would stay for the Bible lesson. She surprised me and agreed to stay. Along with his wife, Khorloo, three of his four grown sons were also there.

Another surprise was waiting for me when I looked around Ganbold’s ger last night. All his idols were gone. When I asked him where his idols were, he told me that he had disposed of them. I followed up my initial question by asking him why he had done that. He told me that he now believed in Jesus and no longer needed them. At the end of our lesson Ganbold also prayed to ask the Lord God for forgiveness for his sins. Many of you have been praying for his salvation, and I am glad to report that although I cannot see his heart, I believe that he has shown the fruit appropriate for repentance.

Monday, when I told one of Ganbold’s relatives that his idols were gone, she expressed surprise that Ganbold would have already given up his gods. Ganbold’s father was a Mongolian shaman, and the idols that were in Ganbold’s house were his. The whole family felt that he would never give up his idols because they had been his father’s. To me, his willingness to give up his gods is just another evidence of the Holy Spirit regenerating a wicked heart.

Khorloo & Kristie

Sunday, I also asked his sons if they wanted to pray to ask God to forgive their sins. They said that they were not ready. Frankly, even before I asked I expected that they still were not ready. However, I am not discouraged because they are still listening to the preaching of God’s Word. I told Ganbold that he needs to pray for the salvation of his sons. I will prepare another lesson on salvation next week and be back to preach Jesus Christ to his family. Please join with us in praying for the salvation of Ganbold’s sons: Gantulag, Gerel-od, Gerelsaikhan, and Darkhanbold. Certainly do not neglect to pray for his wife, Khorloo. She seemed genuinely interested in the Bible teaching last night.