Sunday update

We had a good turnout this past Sunday despite a lot of sickness in Ulan Bator. Our total turnout reached 40 in the morning. Strangely enough, we had a very unusual guest come; I only know him as Dash Akh. He is one of the prime movers in the neo-evangelical movement in Mongolia. He pastors a church near where we live which is one reason his appearance was so unexpected. He also is a leader in the Mongolian Evangelical Alliance and heads up the Mongolian United Bible Societies. He came after the first hour and sat through my whole sermon.

I preached on the importance of prayer and challenged the church to pray specifically for four things.

1. The salvation of unsaved spouses of church members
2. A strong salvation testimony from Aya
3. God's blessing on Byambaa as she contemplates having her entire thyroid removed
4. For God to restore Gantsetseg's marriage

We then concluded our service with an extra time of prayer.

I know that many of you are praying for us and would ask you to pray for these four things with us. I'll try to write some more specific background on each request in this coming week.

The death of a friend's mother

I just received a message from Khongoroo who was one of my first English language students here in Mongolia. Her message was to inform me that her mother had passed away. I plan to visit her tomorrow. She and her husband both claim to be Christians but do not show it in the way they live. Please pray that God would give me wisdom as I visit.

Christmas post

It can feel a little odd here in Mongolia because December 25 is not a holiday. Because there will be some big celebrations on December 31, many Mongolians confuse Christmas with New Year's Eve. They will ask me when I celebrate Christmas and sometimes express surprise when I tell them that I celebrate Christmas on December 25. If they have any concept at all of Christmas it is the very commercialized "Santa celebration" without any reference to a Savior. It has been our privilege since we arrived to introduce many Mongolians to the fact that Christmas is a celebration of the birth of a long-awaited Savior.

We, the Dean family, wish each of you reading this a Merry Christmas. Remember the message of the angel to the shepherds, "Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." The wonderful news of the birth of a Savior is not intended to only be for Americans or Canadians or Europeans or Africans or Asians. No, our Savior is the Savior of the world. May Christmas reflect the joy of salvation that we find in Jesus Christ.

Quote of the week

When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmastime. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stocking with legs? - G. K. Chesterton

Sunday update

It has been a while since I updated you all on the attendance on Sundays. We have continued to have many first-time visitors and returning visitors. Many of them are finding us by walking past our new location. So besides having a larger set of rooms, it seems to me also that our new location is a more visible location in our community.

Last December, we had between fifteen and twenty-six people in attendance. So far this December we have had as few as thirty-seven and as many as forty-three. We also have a newly-established service for English speakers that has been running around thirty in attendance.

I am grateful for the way that God has blessed us with increasing attendance these last few months.

Cold weather front

The cold weather has arrived. This about 8 AM it was -9° F outside. By 4 PM this afternoon, it had fallen to -20° F. The forecast for tonight calls for a low of -32. One person told me that this afternoon's temperature with the windchill factor was -52! I've been out three times today; it certainly feels cold.

Some health updates

Yesterday I mentioned that Gantsetseg's daughter Ulaakaa was in the hospital. I visited her today and both of them were in good spirits. You would hardly know that Ulaakaa had been sick.

Also, Byambaa is considering having her thyroid removed. She has experienced thyroid trouble for the last few years. She has been asking for wisdom. Her doctors are telling her that her only option for treatment is the complete removal of her thyroid.

Need your prayers

I know that many of you pray not only for us but also for the Mongolians to whom we minister. One Mongolian who could really use our prayers right now is Gantsetseg and her daughter Ulaakaa.

Gantsetseg began attending Faith Baptist Church last spring, was saved, and was baptized in September. She has been very faithful to bring family and friends to visit the church. Both her father and mother passed away some time ago.

She has been separated from her husband who is not saved since before we met her last spring.

Two weeks ago her father-in-law passed away in a tragic car accident on a slick, icy road. I was praying that the tragedy would be the first step towards her husband and her reconciling. However, it only seems to have deepened the divide between them.

Tonight she called and said that her two year old daughter has been admitted to the hospital because she is very sick. I'll be visiting them tomorrow. Please pray that God would use these trials to teach His daughter His faithfulness and unfailing love.

Weather update

It looks like were expecting a little bit of a mid-winter heat wave. (Don't even tell me it's not strictly winter yet.) On Friday, the temperature did not even rise above zero. Yesterday's high was 7°. But this week's temperatures are to be near 20 above.

Children's Christmas Party

Something we do every year (the party for 2006 can be found here) is host a Christmas party in December for the children of the church and neighbors' children. It is a good opportunity to preach Jesus to the children. Unlike many American children most Mongolians children and adults alike tend to confuse Christmas and New Year. Although they are different words in Mongolian, often when we talk about Christmas Mongolians associate what we are describing with New Years Eve celebrations. Our party each year allows us to talk about why Christians celebrate Christmas: because Christmas is the time that we thank our God that He sent His Son to be the Savior of the world.This year we had more children than ever. Although we only invited a dozen children, 16 came to the party. Along with our four children that meant we had twenty children in our apartment. With temperatures outside below zero, sending the children outside to play was not an option.

We had a small craft for the children who came early. That was followed by the cookie decorating time which is always an event that the children look forward to. The sugar cookie dough is made ahead of time and then distributed to the children who roll it out and use cookie cutters to create various cookie shapes.
While the children are listening to the Christmas story and participating in the gift exchange the cookies are baked. Then the cookies go home with the children at the end of the party. With sixteen different children all trying to find their cookies at the same time it was quite a crowd in the kitchen.
Somehow when I took the picture at the end of all the children who came I cut out two of children on the end. Not counting our own family, nine families are represented in this picture. We have had the chance to witness to most of the parents at least once. Please pray for the salvation of our neighbors and that the seed planted at this year's party will grow to fruition on the lives of these young Mongolians.