Pray for Dashka

The main purpose of this blog is to keep my prayer partners informed of prayer needs in a timely manner. Such a situation exists right now.

Many of you know of Dashka. He's the church member with a wife who underwent cancer surgery and chemotherapy last year. His wife Tonga has actually made a fair recovery from all that.

But that does not mean that the pressure is over for Dashka. His youngest child Amee ("am" like in I am; not like the common name "Amy") has been sick for some days and not sleeping well. You mothers know that when a child is not sleeping well, you don't sleep well. Tonga had not been feeling well anyway, but combined with a lack of sleep and other factors has been quite depressed recently. She has made statements in the last few days such as, "It would have better had I died." This is very discouraging to Dashka.

Then yesterday Dashka found out that his older brother Dawaa has cancer that has spread to his liver, pancreas, and stomach. The doctors told him that surgery is pointless and asked him to come for some tests today to see if chemotherapy would be useful. They are seeking second opinions, but in a national health care system second opinions do not always provide options.

Because Dashka's father died of a similar cancer some years ago, the family is very worried about Dawaa. Dawaa is 46 years old and has six children.

These circumstances are weighing heavily on Dashka. Please continue to pray for the salvation of Tonga and add Dawaa to your list. Also pray that Dashka would find peace and comfort despite his tumultuous circumstances.

The family has already been to the Buddhist temple to perform rituals for Dawaa's healing. Dashka graciously declined to go (a serious step of faith for a Christian here) but told Dawaa and the family that his church would be praying which we are. I am praying that if God in His mercy and lovingkindness reaches down and heals Dawaa that He would get the glory for the healing and not false gods.

I am comforted to know that we have a God Who cares. May He be glorified in our weakness!

Mongolians assault the Great Wall

During the time of Genghis Khan China's Great Wall had fallen into disrepair. The Chinese dynasty who drove out the Mongolians repaired and extended the Great Wall. It is their wall that we see the ruins or reconstructions of today. Still, it makes for an interesting picture.

Weekly update

We are extremely grateful to those of you who love and pray for us. We have had several unusual things happen the last few weeks. In the midst of strangeness we take great comfort that the God who watches the sparrows cares about us and that many of you in the United States continue to pray for us.

Two Sundays ago now, we had a visitor come late to the service. It is not unusual for visitors, regular attenders, or even members to come late to a service. What was unusual is that the young man claimed to be an artist and had small gifts for all of us. No one in the church could remember meeting him before, but he seemed a pleasant fellow and followed the preaching closely.

After the service, he hung around and hung around which was a little unusual. Unknown to me, he left with a married lady whose husband had left the meeting early because of work. So this stranger and a married member left together. He told her that he wanted to take her to lunch which he did. At the end of the meal, he asked if he could borrow her phone to make a quick call. It is not odd for people to borrow another person's phone to make a call because most cellphones in Mongolia are on a pre-paid system. I have found myself without any money to make a call before. He then disappeared with the lady's cellphone and left her to pay the bill! He was a con man all along. These things happen in churches. Here in Mongolia con men often frequent churches because they believe Christians to be more gullible than the average person.

This past Sunday, I arrived at church forty minutes early to find that there was a leak dripping in our main room where our church meeting is held. Ganpurev usually is in charge of maintenance but was away to attend his sister's wedding in the countryside. I did not have a phone number for the maintenance crew for the building. Fortunately, I knew where the maintenance men could be found. After spending the remaining minutes before the service arranging for a plumber to look at the leak, I arrived at the service harried. However, before too long the leak was stopped. Praise the Lord!

We had a good service despite the distraction of the water leak. Bilgee preached a good message, and there was a good turnout. Please pray for these water leaks. The water is leaking again today (Tuesday). Also Kristie has had some serious trouble sleeping with no apparent cause. Please pray for her to sleep well.

Sunday update

We've had a lot of different things occur in the last few days. We had our first snow in Saturday. It didn't stick and September 25 is a little early for a first snow.

We had a decent crowd out on Sunday. Ganpurev and Ulzee went out to the countryside to attend a wedding. Bilgee preached in his place and did a good job.

When we arrived at the church building on Sunday morning, there was water on a chair and down unto the floor. Our neighbors above us had sprung a leak, and water was dripping from the ceiling. I had to spend my time before the service tracking down the plumber. By the end of the service the dripping had stopped. Usually Ganpurev would have done this for us. He has phone numbers for the plumbers and all the neighbors. During our time in the States, the church experienced dripping more than once including a massive leak on one occasion. So Ganpurev has been busy calling plumbers. But this Sunday it was my turn.

Prices in Ulan Bator 2

As interesting prices of items come to my attention, I intend to post them. Today's item is a 103" television. The price was equivalent to $42,000. You might wonder what I was doing in a store that sells forty-two thousand dollar televisions. I was looking for an office printer. I did not pay nearly that much for the printer.

Weekly update

It was 23 F yesterday morning when I woke up. I took a walk a few hours later, and it was still cold. It is an early start to winter for us.

We had our first Bible institute class yesterday. There were four Mongolian men there for which I was grateful. The first class was a Greek class. The second class was a Doctrine of Salvation class. I want that class to be more than just head knowledge. My goal is for the students to become a better witness for our Savior and to be ever more grateful for the great salvation that God has given us so liberally. Last night's class led to some interesting questions. Please pray for spiritual growth and that all of us in the class would have our eyes opened to the many opportunities to preach Jesus Christ in this country.

Weather in Mongolia

I have not updated you on the weather in Mongolia recently. We have had very pleasant weather since our arrival: not too hot and not too cool. But cold weather is already coming. This week temperatures are predicted to be below freezing at night, and forecasters are calling for snow before the end of the month. It makes growing anything outside difficult here in Mongolia because the frost-free days are so few.

Quote of the week

"America's Founding Fathers knew full well the kinds of troubles experienced by ancient Greece and Rome [where republics were first founded]. They knew how fragile [a republic] could be. A lady once asked Benjamin Franklin after the Constitutional Convention had drawn to a close what he had given the nation. The old man replied, 'You have a republic, madame. If you can keep it.' The founders knew that keeping a [republic] is often more difficult than starting one."

—Arthur W. Hunt III in The Vanishing Word

Rain from above

We appreciate rain here in Mongolia because it is a dry country. But we do not appreciate rain inside our apartment which is what happened this morning.

I had been up for some time, had finished my devotions, and was preparing to leave for work. Before I left, I choose to check my water meters since the water meter reader would be coming any day to ask for the readings. For some time as I finished my devotions and prepared to leave for work, I had heard water running, but I did not think much of it because we often hear the water running.

But minutes before I would leave Elsie pointed out to me that water had begun to run down from the corner of the kitchen. Soon we had water dripping from all over our kitchen and living

room. In some cases, the water dripped directly on the plants which meant that they would need no watering that day. But it was also "raining" on the piano, piano books, pictures, and stereo. Charissa and Elsie assisted and we began bring out pots to catch the water, move delicate items out of the way, and mop up the mess that had already been made.

I went up stairs to talk to the neighbors. Some pipes below the sink had become disconnected and flooded their entire kitchen and living room area before flowing down into our apartment. Wow!

They soon had the water stopped but not before some damage had been done to our apartment. I posted a picture of the most heavily water-damaged corner.

Weekly update

We are so grateful to know that you pray for us. Without the help of God our ministry in Mongolia is vain. Let us spend extra time looking to Him this week.

A praise: the English service on Sunday nights has been packed out. This past Sunday we had 45 people in attendance. There were only two empty seats in the whole place. I had the opportunity to preach for which I was grateful. The Pattersons returned last week, and Bill will start preaching again. We are grateful to God for their good help.

First prayer request: we will be having a church business meeting of sorts with the Mongolians to remind people of their responsibilities. While many aspects of the church ministry went well while we were away, there are some programs that need shoring up. Also, I want to present some new possibilities of ministry and challenge the church to continue to move forward.

Second prayer request: Kristie continues to spend a significant amount of time feeling ill. There have been several and various viruses and germs making people sick in UIan Bator just like there is sickness everywhere. However, Kristie has had something that has been lingering for some time. Please pray with us for substantial relief and strength for her.