Weekly update

Thank you for praying. We are truly grateful to know that people pray for us; it is a continual source of encouragement to us!

My parents arrived from the United States and were with us for both the morning service in Mongolian and the evening service in English. Here are several of their observations.
1. Mongolians are wonderfully friendly people. We have far more invitations to visit people's homes than we can visit.
2. Mongolians usually come late to church. We had six adults when we started and sixteen by the time we finished.
3. Mongolian drivers are crazy.
4. Mongolian pedestrians are even crazier. We've seen three people almost hit by cars in the last few days. I guess because I'm here all the time, I don't notice it anymore.

As as example of the things that surprise my parents, just Sunday night walking to church, we saw a bicyclist prepare to shoot out into the road. At the last second, the bicyclist and the car on the collision course with him hit their brakes ... hard. They came to a stop about a foot or two from each other.

Then coming home from our church building my father said to me, "Is that car really going to try to fit between those two [parked] cars?" Sure enough, the Mongolian driver had a couple of inches on each side and pulled out nonchalantly. I did not have the heart to tell my father that I drive that way too.

It has been great having my parents with us. This week my father and I and two of the children are headed to the Mongolian countryside to do some fishing. It should be a great time unless the car breaks down which is what happened the last time that we went fishing.

It is good to know that God is in control.

Weekly update

We observed the Lord's Supper for the first time in the church's history. It is such a serious and sincere event, a time of cleansing and reflection, a too brief moment of celebration and remembrance.

My parents arrived safely last night. We are so glad for two sets of parents who support our efforts to serve Christ in a far off country and are willing to sacrifice financially in order to visit us. I am only aware of two other missionary families in Mongolia who have had both sets of parents come to visit them in Mongolia. After all, Mongolia is never one of those places "on the way to somewhere else." Americans do not pass through Ulan Bator; they come here because they want to visit Mongolia. We thank God for blessing us with two sets of parents who love us, support us, pray for us, and are willing to sacrifice to visit us.

Our youngest daughter Elsie's prayer the night before my parents arrived was, "Help us not be too excited in the morning about Grandma and Grandpa coming." All the children are pleased to have their grandparents around for a brief visit.

Picture of the week

Last Saturday, we held a baptismal service at the river. Except for the wind, it was the perfect day for it: warm and sunny. Everyone brought a picnic lunch. After we had eaten, I preached about baptismal, and immediately following Gantuya and Uganaa were baptized. My excitement for the baptism of these two women was tempered by the knowledge that there were three men whom I believed might have been baptized who let other things stand in their way.

Pray for these who were baptized and for the men who were not.

Doctrine divides

One of the greatest antidotes to ecumenism is doctrine. Ecumenism thrives in an environment where doctrine is disparaged. Such is the situation in Mongolia, where the initial missionaries, in an effort to promote a false unity, agreed to minimize doctrinal differences and speak only of unity. Though unintended by the initial missionaries, the result was a general inability to judge any doctrine according to Scripture.

Today, there are many doctrines that are being taught in churches in Mongolia that do not line up with Scripture. Professing Christians sometimes will even admit that what they have been taught is not in Scripture but, with a smile, will argue that they have no right to judge another man’s doctrine. One national pastor I know, sponsored by Baptists from America, told me that he has no right to say that praying in tongues is wrong.

Sometimes, a Mongolian knows that what he is being taught is wrong, but he does not know the biblical reason why it is wrong. Even well-taught Christians in Mongolia often say to me, “I know it’s in the Bible somewhere, I just don’t know where.” Because Mongolians do not have the extensive reference materials in Mongolian that we have in English, it can be difficult for them to find verses when they say, “I know I’ve read that somewhere.”

The last observation is that there are no Mongolians who have grown up in church hearing the Bible stories and Bible lessons that many of us heard as children. They are unaware of the significance of Abraham. They sometimes do not know David as more than a king of Israel who wrote the Psalms. Daniel is an unknown to them.

To meet these needs and to inculcate doctrine into Mongolians, particularly Mongolian men, Bill Patterson and I started an evening Bible institute. The classes this spring are A Survey of Bible Doctrines and The Pentateuch.

At the beginning we were encouraged by the high level of interest. One night there were seven Mongolians in attendance. However, that number has gradually dwindled until three students were left. But I refuse to be discouraged. The three students whom we have are learning important doctrines and are better prepared to defend their beliefs than they were when we started. They are learning that a Christian who submits himself to the teaching of Scripture is required to measure all teaching that he receives by the Bible. We encourage them to study their Bibles and to bring us questions they have on the topics we are teaching. They know the significance of Abraham’s faith and can give you an overview of the Bible’s teaching on Itself. Further, because we require them to take copious notes, they have a systematic record of what they have studied. The next time someone tries to tell them that Jesus is not truly God, even if they cannot remember exactly where it can be found, they can go back to their notes to be reminded of Bible doctrine.

The goal is to leave behind doctrinally solid, nationally led, truly independent Baptist churches in Mongolia. Although there are many facets to such a work, the Bible institute contributes substantially to the doctrinally solid aspect of planting churches.

My desire is that you will pray with us for this Bible institute as it continues on into the future. Pray for me to teach with wisdom and clarity; pray for the students to remember and to use the doctrines they are studying, and pray for greater interest in the Bible institute among the men who attend the church.

May weather

Yesterday was a hot 88° F. But we were warned that cold weather was coming.

I work up this morning at 5:45 to a beautiful sun. I checked the temperature. It was 54°. But then the cold weather front came in. By 3:30 this afternoon the temperature had fallen to 36°, and by 5:00 it was 32° and snowing!

We can use the precipitation because it has been an unusually dry spring. But snow ... in late May?

Weekly update

Reading my Bible this week, I was reminded that it is not enough simply to be patient and diligent. God commends His church at Ephesus for their works, their labor, their patience, and their doctrinal purity. However, He had one complaint: they had left their first love. We can work hard, we can wait patiently on God's work, and we can carefully maintain our doctrinal purity. But if we do not strive to love God will all our heart, soul, mind, and strength then God has somewhat against us too.

This lesson has been burning in my heart this week: it is not enough to be diligent and patient, God wants our love too. John tells us, "This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments." Are we keeping His commandments? Second, if we love someone, we want to spend time with them. We enjoy spending time with them. Likewise, if we love God we ought to enjoy spending time with Him, meditating on His Word and praying to Him.

I want this same love for God to be evident on Mongolian believers' hearts! I must model it for them, teach it to them, encourage them not to leave their first love. Pray for us!

Memorial Day

It is all too easy while living in Mongolia to forget the holidays that we celebrate as Americans - as my recent interns Kevin & John will attest to. Even today I was planning to call the U.S. Embassy in Ulan Bator to discuss a few questions when a friend reminded me that they were closed for Memorial Day today.

The sacrifices of our soldiers is something all of us should recognize. Being a missionary has given me a different appreciation for the sacrifices that soldiers and their families make daily. Except our situations are very different because I am not facing death each day and I am not separated from my wife and children.

I will never forget watching a Marine band at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington Cemetery. I had traveled back to Annapolis to visit the United States Naval Academy. Those of us visiting the Naval Academy traveled down to Arlington to hear a Marine band. As the band played The Star Spangled Banner we all stood and put our hands over our hearts except for the sailors among us. The stood at attention saluting the flag rather than placing their hands over their hearts. You could see simply by the way that they stood that they were more disciplined than the rest of us. For them the Tomb of the Unknowns was not simply a memorial; for them it was a possibility. But they were willing to give their lives in service to their country.

So to commemorate the sacrifices that our soldiers have made and are making today, I offer this poem that I received several years ago.

I watched the flag pass by one day:
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Marine saluted it,
And then he stood at ease.
I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud.
With hair cut square and eyes alert
Distinct in any crowd.
I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years?
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers' tears?
How many pilots' planes shot down?
How many died at sea?
How many foxholes were their graves?
No, freedom isn't free.

I heard the sound of Taps one night
When everything was still,
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered how many times
That Taps had meant Amen
When the flag had draped the coffin
Of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons, and others
With interrupted lives.
I thought about the graveyard
At the bottom of the sea,
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, freedom isn't free.

Weekly update

The sermon on Sunday morning was on patience: like the husbandman who patiently waits for the precious fruit of the earth and for the early and latter rain, we too much wait on God. There are so many circumstances outside of our control. People disappoint us, projects fail to bring the desired result, friends are not there when we think we most desperately need them. However, the quality and quantity of our time spent with God is within our control; and like any good farmer, we continue to do our part as we wait for God's blessing to be poured out like rain.

This week has had its disappointments. Several whom I thought would be baptized this coming Saturday told me that they would not be baptized and did not stay for the baptism lesson. A misunderstanding with a friend brought a painful confrontation. Waiting and waiting and waiting requires patience that we do not have. As I was recently reminded, "Whenever we ask for patience, we can expect that God will send trials to teach us what we requested."

I perceive that unless God intervenes Faith Baptist Church is in for some rough times ahead. Please pray that God would move in hearts and that we would see those saved for whom we are praying and that Christians would confess sin. To God be all glory and honor and praise!

Weekly update

I write to you that pray for us today with a simple thought. Let's consider two kinds of Christians: those who read what is in God's word and try to conform to it and those who read what is in God's word and try to explain it away. Which one are you?

There is a young man who has much Bible knowledge. He has read his Bible several times. However, he has never been challenged to think Biblically. Recently, Bill and I have taught that baptism as recorded in the New Testament was always by immersion. "That is right," he agreed but then added, "but persecution through the centuries has caused some Christians to be sprinkled and call it baptism." He was trying to make the point that sprinkling is a Biblically valid mode of baptism. Then Ganpurev pointed out to him that we face no persecution in Mongolia. So why would sprinkling be necessary? He had no response for that.

Later, the issue of women leading churches as the pastor/overseer/elder came up. Again, he agreed that the Bible teaches that women are not to be in positions of leadership and teaching men in the church. But, he continued, that was for those times. We live in different times today.

So I pointed out to him that it sounded to me as if he were saying, "The Bible clearly teaches this, but today we cannot do it that way." I insisted that if God gives us a pattern for doing something, He will give us the ability to do His will in a Biblical manner without resorting to methods devised by men.

What kind of Christian are you? Are you always saying, "Yes, but" to Biblical truth? Pray for Mongolians that more of them would be like the Berean Christians who searched the Scriptures and then submitted themselves to its teaching.

Would post pictures

Kristie, Emily, and Elsie went out with some other ladies today to enjoy some fellowship. The plan was to spend some time together doing "lady type activities."

Kristie took some pictures which I would post except that her purse was stolen from its spot next to her feet while she was eating lunch. The camera she had been using was in the purse along with a sum of money. Our Mongolian friend, Uganaa, brought the missing purse to the attention of the restaurant staff including a couple of security guards who were there. Although everyone was very sympathetic, no one was able to locate the purse.

Of course, it made the rest of the day much less enjoyable for Kristie. It would be easy and wrong to become cynical about the lack of honesty in this culture. We want to continue to love Mongolians and point them to Jesus Christ who is the way, the truth, and the life.