Picture of the week

This week's picture is two sets of brother and sister. The younger brother and sister are Ermune and Oyungaa. Those two are the children of the lady on the right whose name is Byambaa. She has been coming to the church for some years now.

The young man on the left is her younger brother, Hashbayar. While he was staying at her home for a while last year, I took the opportunity to witness to him. But he did not really want to talk. After some months, he returned to his mother's home in the countryside.

Hashbayar came back to stay at his sister's again this fall to attend school. He has been coming faithfully to church on Sunday. Last Thursday, Ganpurev and I took the opportunity to preach Christ to him again. He seemed interested. Though he is not yet saved, I am praying that he will be saved soon.

Aya update

Aya has been going through a course of ten radiation treatments for her cancer: one each day. It is an outpatient treatment. On Friday she went in for another treatment, but after the doctors checked a test that she had given, they decided that it was not wise to continue the radiation treatment at this time. From talking to Ulzee it is not clear what the hindrance is.

Ulzee is very concerned about her mother. She says that someone needs to be close to her at night when she is sleeping. Maybe I misunderstand her Mongolian, but I think she is concerned that Aya will slip away in her sleep. She talks about her breathing stopping.

Aya has not been eating well either. The radiation treatments make her vomit up whatever she has eaten, and even before the treatments she did not have much appetite.

She is also in between chemotherapy treatments. The chemotherapy doctor saw her this past week and said that he would need to wait until after her radiation treatments were over to decide when to treat her again with chemotherapy.

I am truly grateful to all of you who have been praying for Aya, Ulzee, and Ganpurev. Ulzee asks me yesterday to pray every day for them. I will continue to post updates as I know more.

Melamine in the milk

Many of you probably have already heard about the milk scare in China that is rapidly spreading throughout Asia. For those of you wondering, China is a large source of milk in Mongolia. Also, Chinese milk usually tastes more like milk that American are used to drinking which means that many expatriates in Mongolia only buy milk brands from China.

For good or bad, Chinese milk is usually slightly more expensive than Mongolian or Russian milk. Since my children have grown up on Mongolian milk which is less expensive, they do not mind the taste. I do not drink milk anymore, and Kristie uses powdered milk. Our powdered milk may be from China.

I had an American friend who just bought a whole case of Chinese milk. He will not drink it since the United States Embassy in Mongolia issued a press release stating that Chinese milk should not be bought or consumed.

A new face

Hashbyar is Byambaa's brother. He came to live with her last year while he attended school. But he was very undisciplined, sometimes disappearing for days at a time without telling his sister where he might be. Despite the fact that his mother and sister had scraped together money for his schooling, it was only a few months before he quit school and returned to the countryside. Last year, he only visited our services once. I saw him a few times at his sister's home, but he usually was inattentive and quiet.

Hashbyar returned to the city this year to return to school. Since he returned he has attended our services every Sunday and payed close attention to the sermons.

This evening, Ganpurev and I went him at his sister's home. He says that he has been reading his sister's Bible. He has also read with interest several tracts that his sister gave him. He also listened attentively as Ganpurev and me once again witnessed to him. He did not have any questions, and although he admitted that he is a sinner, he seemed unrepentant at this point. He did say that he has stopped his previous practice of saying Buddhist mantras for protection.

Please pray for his salvation. This picture above shows Hashbyar with his sister, niece, and nephew.

Restarting a Bible study

"One of my primary goals for the work in Mongolia is to leave behind faithful men who will teach others also. In this passage there is a progression from Paul to Timothy to faithful men.I think about how many people have impacted my life, those who have invested in my life, exhibited Christ-like attitudes, and taught me God's Word. My goal is to invest my life in young Mongolian men 'who shall be able to teach others also.'

That is why the recent opportunity to study the Bible with Bilgee, Baska, and Jagaa is so exciting. I have known Bilgee almost since I arrived in Mongolia, and I met the other two young men years ago. However, it has only been recently that God has brought the other two young men back across my path. When I suggested that we study the Bible together, they were excited and agreed." --

I remember writing these words in my June prayer letter. I had such high hopes for these three men. And then ... nothing. Baska disappeared, Jagaa started to attend another church and despite the fact that he had no job he had no time to meet for a Bible study, and Bilgee claimed that he was too busy to have a Bible study. I was disappointed.

Then Baska came back somewhat repentant. He did not say where he had gone or what he had been doing. He did say that he was sorry that he had been away. During the time that he was away he started a job that required him to work on Sunday mornings. Perhaps that is why he stopped coming to the church service.

Whatever the case, he has been very faithful the last few weeks. Even though he cannot come on Sunday mornings because of work, he has been coming to the English service on Sunday night. (Since he does not understand English, he has trouble being edified through the English service. Please pray that either he job would give him time to attend on Sunday mornings or that he could find another job that would give him free time on Sunday.)

He has also been meeting with me once a week for a Bible study. He invited Bilgee to join us, but Bilgee declined stating that he was very busy. We met today. He admitted that in the past his Christian life has not been very stable and said that has to change. I was thrilled when he asked if we could meet twice a week to study the Bible together.

Baska asked me to pray that he would be more faithful in his Bible reading and growth in grace. He can be a very serious-minded, zealous man. Please pray with me for Baska to be spiritual stable and to grow in grace.

"And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also."

Sunday update

Wow! What a Sunday! We were overjoyed this week to have 32 Mongolians join us for a service this morning! They just kept coming in; one fellow even joined us about the time of the invitation. I think (without looking at my records) that it was the best turnout we have ever had on a Sunday morning.

Jagaa and Sanaa came for the first time in a long time, Dawaajab was back, even Enkhamgalan came. He has not come for about a year. Dashka job took him to the countryside for most of the summer; he had only been able to come a handful of times since summer started. He came today. We also had a first time visitor: the husband of one lady who has been visiting with us.

I was greatly encouraged by the good turnout. Please pray with us as we follow up this week with some who came.

Picture of the week

We have two young men with us for the next 9 months. We are excited to have them with us. As you can see they are quite adventurous. We visited Turtle Rock, and they climbed to this high point.

Though their main focus is language learning, they also are utilizing opportunities to minister in English.

A young man and an elderly woman

Basca came to my house for a Bible study last night. We both thought it went very well. His Bible knowledge is very wide and quite orthodox. However, he lacks the self-discipline that he needs to grow consistently. We talked about that too.

Aya has started radiation treatments for her cancer. After after treatment she experiences nausea and vomiting. She has been wearing a bandanna on her head to cover it. However, I saw her the other day without it; she has lost almost all of her hair. For being such an elderly lady she has held up to the chemotherapy and radiation treatments well. Ganpurev was telling me that they see many people at the cancer hospital where they visit who seem far worse physically than Aya is.

Pray for Ganpurev and Ulzee. It is difficult for them to watch Aya's health decline. The make trips to the hospital with her almost every day. It is good for them that their employers are so understanding.

Children at the church picnic

Prayer update

When we talk about 'open doors' we usually think of instances when all the circumstances are lined up just so and enable us to accomplish something that we thought would be difficult or impossible. But when Paul talks about an 'open door' in I Corinthians 16 he adds, "... and there are many adversaries." So it should come as no surprise that greater opportunities for service are usually accompanied by greater opposition and trouble.

This has been illustrated to us recently. We have had people throw rocks at some missionaries passing out tracts in front of our church. Someone damaged the church sign. A lady who was baptized last week has seen her problems at home increase. A strange stomach illness has laid me low twice recently and threatened to again the day before our baptismal service.

You might think that I want you to pray that God would deliver us from persecution and trials. Instead, I just want God to be glorified in our tribulations and trials. My desire is to see God use these difficulties to strengthen our faith and increase our effectiveness in Mongolia. Please pray with us for God to be exalted and our faith to be energized through our problems.