Dealing with the police with only six months language training

Recently, John went to the airport with Mark Siekbert a fellow missionary in Mongolia to pick up a missionary who was coming into town. They were driving to the airport in a nine passenger van. On the way to the airport a policemen pulled them over. In Mongolia, a policeman sometimes stop drivers only to check their car registration and driver's license.

Mark was unaware that a nine passenger van requires a different endorsement on a driver's license. Seven passenger vans do not require such an endorsement. This causes no end of confusion as drivers wonder whether their van is considered a seven passenger van or a nine passenger van.

So the policeman checked the vehicle registration and Mark's driver's license and then confiscated his registration and license. Mark has only had a few lessons in Mongolian. John himself only has six months of Mongolian. So the responsibility fell on John to communicate with the police officer.

I was surprised to hear later that John was able to talk the policeman into allowing Mark to continue on out to the airport with the agreement that they would stop on the way back to clear up the confusion. So Mark and John went out to the airport, picked up their fellow missionary, and returned to discuss the issue with the policeman.

I was impressed that John was able to handle the situation as adroitly as he did. He's doing well with the language. On Sunday he spent some time talking with several Mongolians.

God's protection while driving

This morning while driving to pick people up for the church's service, I had pedestrians scare me in two separate incidents.

The first incident occurred when I was still near home. I had just turned onto the main road and was headed north when a teenage boy and girl crossed to the middle of the street ahead of me. Once in the middle, they hesitated and then the young man ran in front of my vehicle. That was not a problem because plenty of space remained between me and him. The young lady however remained standing on the white line marking the middle of the street but looked as if she might run anytime. This became more of a problem as I approached her and continued to be unsure of her intentions. I slowed and moved towards the right shoulder to give myself more response time should she make a sudden move. As she stood in the middle, I passed her; after I passed I looked into my rear view mirror to notice what she did. She ran in front a car following behind me; the car braked sharply to avoid hitting her. I was thankful to the Lord that she did not run in front of my car.

The second incident occurred mere minutes later when I was traveling on a different street. My jeep was one vehicle in a line of perhaps six or seven cars all traveling in close proximity to each other. I noticed ahead of me that a young girl perhaps six or seven looked as if she was about to cross the road. I figured she would wait until all five or six cars passed before crossing since there did not seem to be much room between cars for a person to pass safely. Suddenly she darted behind the car that I was following which meant that she was trying to cross in front of me. I hit my brakes while moving towards the shoulder again in an effort to buy time to stop.

She hesitated in the middle of my lane as if she was now reconsidering her decision to cross the road in front of my car. By God's grace I was able to stop in time, and she finished crossing the street in front of my car.

Sometimes the safety God provides from day to day is so providential that we don't even notice it. Today it was strikingly apparent that God was protecting me and enabling me to drive safely despite the careless pedestrians around me.

Local religion

This week's picture was taken by one of the young men during a speaking practice trip to the most famous Buddhist monastery in Mongolia. This is one of the small building there. It contains several idols within. Outside are some prayer wheels. People believe that by spinning these prayer wheels they obtain favor from the gods. Please pray that we will be a bright light in this land of darkness.

Purpose of the Bible institute

The Bible institute work that I do in Mongolia by God's grace will have the greatest impact of any of the ministries with which I have been involved since coming to this country. The Bible institute will be an incubator where Mongolian men can be trained to serve their own people and take the Gospel to the rest of the world.

It is because of the Biblical injunction to train faithful men who shall be able to teach others also in II Timothy 2:2 that I was challenged to start these classes. Of course, there is teaching on Sundays and Wednesdays. Also, I have had basic Bible studies with many of these men in their homes. However, the Bible institute is designed in such a way that it places a greater burden on men to be diligent in their studies. The Bible institute has tuition; it is a small amount but enough to make the men ask themselves what they expect to get out of the class. There are quizzes each week and a final examination at the end of the term. Those whose marks merit such will receive a certificate showing that they have completed the course. It is my goal to offer enough courses over the next several years to enable a man who studies diligently to be granted a certificate of completion in Biblical studies. Because all official schools and their curriculum must be approved by the government it is unlikely that we will ever be able to offer a diploma. However, by having some sort of documentation of their work I hope to encourage men to stick with the program for several years and increase their knowledge of the Bible.

The Bible institute will also provide training for the translators necessary to work on a faithful translation of God's word into beautiful Mongolian. The current translation is something with which we can and do work. We encourage all Mongolians to read their Bible daily, to study it faithfully, and to obey it. However, those of us with access to the Bible in other languages can see the current translations deficiencies. You must remember that from the first translation of the Bible in English by John Wycliffe to the publication of the King James Version in 1611 was nearly 230 years. We should expect that initial translations of God's word into Mongolian will need some help.

The Bible institute provides a formal way to give some of the necessary help. Every good Bible translation should have a wealth of knowledge about the Bible at his fingertips and an excellent understanding of Biblical doctrines. Such doctrinal preparation will be invaluable to them as they approach the translation of Scripture.

A rigorous study of Bible doctrine will also enable Mongolians Christians to challenge error when they hear it. Many Christians in Mongolia when talking of false doctrine will say something to the effect, "I don't believe that but ..." and offer some excuse as to why they do not confront false doctrine. I believe that many Mongolian Christians see the Bible as a mysterious book whose teachings cannot be known exactly. Rather they believe that there is wide latitude for various understandings. While the human mind because of its finite capacity cannot comprehend all that God has for us, the Bible is a book that God wants us to understand. Too often Mongolians will refuse to engage teachers of false doctrines because they simply do not know their Bible well enough. So error proliferates at an alarming rate while truth seemingly grows slowly. The Bible institute will contribute to the growth of truth and equip believers to confront error when they hear it.

The Bible institute by requiring attendance, charging a nominal fee, encouraging note-taking, and examining the students' retention of doctrine will illustrate to Mongolian Christians the seriousness of Bible study and research. It is not enough for Christians to have a superficial knowledge of the Bible.

The Bible institute has also been a help to me as I prepare and translate materials. Many theological words remain undefined in Mongolian. Teaching at a Bible institute level grants me the opportunity and privilege to study more myself as I prepare to teach others.

Our first Bible institute class, we had eight Mongolians. At our second Bible institute class, five returned and a new Mongolian who had previously expressed an interest came. Another Mongolian came to me later to apologize for missing the class. Please pray for Bill and I as we teach and pray for the Mongolians as they study the most important work ever written because it was penned by God.

Weekly update

This past week has been very busy since Roland Gay from the US has been here. The church has had some extra meetings, and Roland, Bill, and I have been meeting a lot to discuss translation. Sometimes I wish that there were two of me or even three of me to accomplish all the things that need to be done.

Sunday's turnout was excellent. We had five first-time visitors and heard a good message from Roland.

At the Bible institute class on Tuesday, we had five returning Mongolians and one new student who had talked to me earlier about coming but was unable to attend the first class.

Please continue to pray for these "mixed" families where one spouse is saved and the other is not. I specifically asked you to pray a few weeks ago for Byambaa's husband Mandaa who was hoping to got to Kalmyk Republic in Russia to work. Byambaa does not know any details because her husband is not talking to her about it anymore. However, he was supposed to leave last week sometime and is still here. So maybe that is a good sign.

Sunday update

We had a good turnout in the morning service. Roland and Ganpurev preached. I was not sure where Ganpurev was going when he opened his sermon with the question, "When was the Holy Spirit created?" He went on to tell us that the Holy Spirit was a member of the Trinity and therefore was not a created being. It was a decent sermon for a difficult topic such as the Holy Spirit.

Oyungerel, the mother who came in with her children Saturday night, was back with her children. Her children attended the children's Sunday school class while she stayed with the adults.

Bob was back too for the first time in a while. I think he is making a serious effort to do right and read his Bible everyday. Let's pray for God's protection and help. To me, he seems like a young plant that needs sunlight and water in proper proportion and some protection from the elements to grow. He is still a greenhouse-type of plant.

Special meetings

We held special meetings on Friday and Saturday night where Roland preached. The preaching was good and encouraging. The second night several young children wandered in off the "street" to join us. I think they were mainly bored and wanted to see something.

After leading the singing, I went back and sat with them. They were eager to look up the verses in the Bibles that we loaned them even though it was painfully apparent that they were not even used to using books. They seemed to be to be between four and eight years old.

Occasionally, I would say, "Amen" to something that Roland said. Hearing me say, "Amen" always got their attention. They would echo me with a chorus of amens. With about fifteen minutes left in the service, one of the children's mothers came in and sat through the rest of the service. She asked some questions of one of the ladies and then hurried out. But before she left, I was able to invite her to come back on Sunday.

Roland did a good job of preaching the Gospel during his message which means at least our visitors heard the Gospel that Jesus died and rose again for our sins.

Picture of the week

This week's picture was taken at the Bible institute on Tuesday night. We had eight Mongolians in attendance which was twice the number I was expecting. Pray with us that all eight of them finish.

It's getting warmer

We're glad that it's finally warming up! Last week we saw our first days with temperatures over freezing on consecutive days in months. Today, the temperature reached almost 50° F; it's a heat wave in March. A week ago the high was only 3°.

There will still be some more cold spells, and the most difficult part of spring is the wind. But for now, the children can play outside; and we can open the windows and let the fresh air in.

Weekly update

Our Sunday this week was only average. But the new news is that I finally have started the Bible institute that Bill Patterson and I have been working towards for many months. I realize that a primary part of my ministry here is training men. The Bible institute should facilitate the training of men.

I was expecting two or three men to be involved. Instead we had six men and two ladies at the first session. Please pray that all of them would finish the twelve week course. Later this week, I should be posting a picture on the blog.

On Friday and Saturday evenings this week, we will be having Roland Gay, missionary evangelist to Mongolia, preaching about spiritual revival. Roland is one of the few people in the world who regularly comes to Mongolia and preaches in Mongolian. I am personally very excited to hear his preaching. I have been praying that God will use his messages to stir all of our hearts. Pray with us for the power of the Holy Spirit to be evident, and a spirit of repentance and surrender to pervade the meetings.

Thank you for your prayers. I believe that they are having an effect in Mongolia.