Weekly update

"We certainly were busy last week" - that was Kristie's response when I asked her what we should write about this week. I am reminded of the proverb, "Where no oxen are, the crib is clean; but much increase is by the strength of the ox." Sure, it can be difficult to work with sheep but it is better than having nothing at all to do.

Much of last week was taken up with reaching out to young Christians. Kristie and I went to visit Tamiraa and Hongoroo who welcomed their first child into the world this month. (A picture of them with their new little one is to the left. They still have not given her a name. It is not uncommon for Mongolians to wait for some time before giving their children names.) They claim to be Christians and since they were not attending any church they said that they would visit our church; however, only Hongoroo has come and only a few times.

Kristie and Ulzee have been working with Bayambaa to ground her in Biblical truth. Last week they had a Bible study with her. She wants to do right and follow the Bible in every area. Her husband Mandaa is still not saved and sometimes makes her choices difficult.

Then a young couple who were planning to get married visited our house because they had a terrible argument. (Other than the providence of God, I cannot say why they choose to come to us for counsel). Although we feel comfortable with the Biblical counsel that we gave them much will depend on their follow through. On Sunday they said that they have postponed their wedding which was scheduled for this Wednesday (yesterday, North American time). Both of them are Christians and say that they want God's best for their lives. Now they just need to put feet to their words.

Sunday update

We missed the Gays again this past Sunday although Ganpurev's lesson this past Sunday was even better than the previous Sunday's lesson. He will just keep getting better and better at preaching God's Word. He just needs to do it. And it really is exciting to hear a Mongolian preach God's Word in his own language.

There were nine adult Mongolians when we started but halfway through another three came in to make it an even dozen again. (We seem to be stuck on a dozen adults.)

The Mongolians' singing seems to me to be growing ever stronger and stronger. My sermon was about Christians and music. It seemed a new idea to some of them that Christians ought to Biblically consider a song's music and not just its words in light of Biblical principles. I think a foundation has been laid for a Biblical examination of music. Personally, I felt very comfortable as I attempted to use the Mongolian language to talk about a very sensitive topic. Let me say a sincere "thank you" to each of you who prayed for the message last week.

Mongolian writing

This is for those of you who wonder about Mongolian writing. A neighbor recently gave me a copy of an article in both Cyrillic, the current script, and in Mongolian Old Script which was used before the 1930's in Outer Mongolia and is still used in Inner Mongolia. Below is the picture. The Cyrillic is written from left to right. The Mongolian Old Script is written up and down.

Spring weather in Mongolia

The weather in Mongolia in the spring is always interesting. Yesterday was an example: we had snow flurries in the morning, followed by such strong winds that there was dust everywhere, followed by a calm and sunny evening. Although the dust picture was taken earlier, it was dusty yesterday I just did not take a picture. The other two pictures are both from yesterday.

This week's update

This has been a slow month for blog posts, hasn't it.

Last month I wrote some posts about music, referring to buying hymnbooks and my personal application of Biblical principle to music choices.

A church member recently approached me suggesting that if we had more up-beat music we could attract more people. I know this church member well enough to know that "up-beat" music to him means that we need to imitate the world. It is indisputable that the churches in Mongolia with the largest attendance also have music that is hardest to differentiate from the world's music.

I have spent the last two Sundays detailing the purpose of the church's meetings and my philosophy of ministry. This Sunday I will specifically be dealing with a Christian's choices in music. Music is a difficult issue to teach on in English due to its technical nature. In Mongolian, teaching about music will be a daunting task. Please pray that the believers of Faith Baptist Church will re-evaluate the basis on which they choose their music. The church member who brought this to my attention admitted that the Christians with whom he is acquainted choose their music based on what appeals to them which can be a dangerous method of picking music.

Please pray both for me as I prepare and teach and for the people as they listen to something that is entirely new to them. I remain convinced that music has a much larger influence on us than we imagine.

As a postscript let me mention that I found a good article about music in the past week on a website that promotes God-honoring music.

Go to a seminar! Become a Christian!

This blog's title is intended to be ironic. I do not believe that simply attending a seminar makes one a Christian. The reason for the title will become clear as you read on.

Through a voluntary English teaching opportunity, I met Naranchimeg who spent three years studying in Australia for a Master's Degree in Health Administration. Upon returning to Mongolia, Nara (nickname) could not find a job in health administration so she took a job as an English teacher at the local school where I met her.

Several weeks ago when talking about Christianity, she said that her son attends a church led by a Korean. While in Australia, she said that she and her son attended church regularly. Since returning to Mongolia she has not been attending church.

She came at my invitation to our church service on Resurrection Sunday and heard the Gospel. Last week she told me that she had become a Christian.

"Really," I responded, "How did you become a Christian?"

"I attended a seminar on Saturday at my son's church. At the end of the seminar they said that if we wanted to become Christians we should sign a form. I signed the form and am now a Christian. Is that how one becomes a Christian?" she asked me.

To which I responded, "A Christian has a relationship with God."

"I pray," she interrupted after which a class ended our conversation. I invited her to my home on Thursday to meet my family and join us for dinner. Although she said that she would come, she ended up canceling.

However, she came to our service for a second time on Sunday and brought a fellow teacher, Bysaa. After the service she asked a question about the nature of sin that indicated to me that she does not understand the Biblical seriousness of sin. She said that people have a black part and a white part. Taking everyone to Isaiah 64, I pointed out that everyone righteousnesses are as filthy rags. She left rather quickly after the service, but God willing we will meet again later this week when I teach English again.

She seems to be interested in what the Bible teaches. Please pray for her salvation.

Current weather

The weather here in Mongolia has been very warm recently. Temperatures have been in the 60's which is about 15 degrees above average. We have been grateful that the heat in our building has already been turned down. Still, we leave the windows open all the time except when windstorms kick up the dust.

The skies during a windstorm.

The skies after a snow storm.

The day after tax day

April 15th is Income Tax Day in the United States. Recently, I preached from Mark 12:13-17. The Pharisees ask whether it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not. But Jesus takes their question and turns it around urging them not only to pay taxes to Caesar but also telling them to give God His due. This would be a good time of year to remind ourselves of this important message. Even more important than paying our taxes on time, it is important that we obey the God Who created us.

Quick update

We had another good Sunday (for us) this past Sunday. We had another dozen adults in attendance again. It was the Gays last Sunday.

Roland, Joann, Julia, and Joseph Gay left Mongolia to return to the U.S. yesterday. It is always hard to see friends leave Mongolia. Because our ministry focus when we return to the States is on the West Coast we will probably never have a chance to see these friends again this side of glory. But God is faithful to comfort and strengthen us.

Ganpurev will be preaching in Roland's place. Please pray that he would see himself as the oracle of God (I Peter 4:11) and would gain confidence and humility from it.

Sunday update

This last Sunday we tried something for the first time. I asked the people the Sunday before to be prepared to pick the songs that we would sing. I was not sure how it would turn out and so picked a couple of songs ahead of time - just in case. But I should not have been concerned. We sang about twice as long as normal before I stopped taking requests. The church really sang out and it blessed my heart to hear them sing.

Even though the weather is warming up, the heat is still on. To let in some cool air we had opened the windows of our rooms. With the windows open and the people singing out, I am sure that many passing by heard us.

It has taken some time for us to get to the point where the people sing out. Remember, every person who has come to our church has been a new Christian; all these songs are new to them. The words of the songs are even new to my family though we may know the tunes. So I am grateful to hear such enthusiastic singing. We will have to set aside a Sunday every month to let the church pick the songs.

We continue to have a good turn out. We have had ten or more Mongolian adults in attendance now for over a month. It used to be that we would have a good Sunday and then a bad one (attendance-wise). It has been encouraging to see the attendance stabilize.

Roland and Joann Gay's last Sunday is coming up. They leave next month to return permanently to the United States where Roland will continue to work on Mongolian Bible translation work. We will miss their help. Ganpurev will take over some of the preaching responsibilities. I really want to see the Mongolians help out with the preaching, the singing, the children's ministries, etc. and really make this their church.