Deans' weekly update

We are blessed to have Kristie’s parents with us this week. We have already had a great visit … well, once their plane landed. For about an hour, we did not know where their plane was, nor did Kristie’s parents know where they were. I mean they knew they were on the plane but although the plane was obviously delayed they did not know if they were to land in Ulan Bator or return to Seoul.

Our whole family including Kristie’s parents visited Buren’s house last night. It was a pleasant visit capped off with another opportunity to tell Buren and his wife about their need for Jesus Christ. I was fascinated to hear Buren tell us that he needed to “prepare” before he could become a Christian. Please pray for the salvation of Buren and Sonin this week. They said that they would come to the service on Sunday.

The Mongolians started their Lunar New Year celebrations last week. That meant this past Sunday was the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. Many of our friends and acquaintances were traveling out of town on that day to see relatives. At a few minutes after eleven on Sunday morning, only one family had arrived. (I do not worry anymore about the attendance when so few are there when we begin.) So we started the service with more Americans than Mongolians.

But more Mongolians came late than came on time; and despite the fact that some of our most faithful families were missing, we had 19 Mongolians in attendance. In past years we have had as few as a half dozen in attendance. So we are beginning to see Mongolians set priorities and serve the Lord even when it is inconvenient.

This Sunday we will be ordaining Ganpurev to the ministry. It is a critical time for Ganpurev, his family, and the Mongolian church as they take this step of faith. Please pray for them.

Waiting for the plane

Charissa and Emily, Elsie and I were sitting at the airport waiting for the Jaquiths to arrive. When we left home Korean Air was reporting that the plane would land about 4:00. With that information, we left our house at 4:00 for the 45 minute ride to the airport. When we arrived at the airport the screens there said that the expected time of arrival was 4:15. The only problem was that it was already 4:45 when we arrived and the plane still had not landed.

So we waited anxiously along with many Mongolians for word of the flight's arrival. About 5:30 the flight from Seoul was removed from the arrival list. I went to the information desk to ask what had happened. A crowd of Mongolians had already arrived and  begun to ask questions.

“When will the plane from Seoul land?"

“We don't know.”

“Will it land tonight?”

“Maybe”

“Should we drive back into town and return later?”

“Perhaps. I don't know.”

“Where is the plane?”

“We don't know.”

You can see from the information desk's vague answers that nothing was clear. So I called Kristie. What does the Internet say about KE 867?

After a quick search of the Korean Air website she reported back, “It says that the flight will land at 4:10 [remember it's already 5:30] but in the notes section it says that it has been delayed because of ‘aircraft operational condition.’” I wondered whether the plane was over Mongolia or en-route to return to Seoul. I suspected that if Korean Air had a malfunctioning plane they would order it back to Korea for maintenance.

But no one at the help desk would tell us exactly what was happening. I called Kristie again to tell her that we might come home, and I would return to the airport that evening after the plane had landed. She agreed that such a plan might be best. I talked to the children to tell them that we would be leaving the airport without their grandparents. Then I headed to the information desk one more time to see if there was any new information.

The ladies at the help desk had left, all except one lady who did not seem to be answering questions. Without any more information, I decided to head home. As I headed back to where the girls were seated, the airport voice announced that the plane had landed. An audible sigh was heard throughout the waiting area.

The strange thing was that I later asked Kristie’s father what had happened on the plane. He told us that it was not clear to them what had happened. The plane left a little late (as the internet information indicated). But they circled for about an hour before landing he told me. The pilot came on the intercom several times to mention that the plane was waiting for clearance to land from the airport. But the airport did not seem to know where they were either.

Charissa was the closest to a reasonable solution when she mentioned it was like the Bermuda Triangle.

A visit to Aya's

The family and I were able to visit Ganpurev's house earlier this week and saw Aya while we were there. She seemed in really good health. We were able to get a few pictures of her while we were there. This one included Aya with her great granddaughter Nandinbileg.

Quote of the week

"No one stands taller than those who are willing to stand corrected." —William Safire

"Here's a thought experiment for you: you are most likely to be right when you admit you're wrong."

Deans' weekly udpate

Imagine the following little scenario with me. Christmas is the next Wednesday. A week before Christmas the school district suddenly realizes that they forgot to schedule a Christmas break into the school year. There is no chance of holding classes on Christmas or the days following; but classes cannot be canceled either. Instead, the teachers tell the students that they will have classes on Saturday to make up for Christmas being a day off from school.

Crazy? Yes, it sounds crazy to me. But that’s what the Mongolians do. We found out last week that Saturday was going to be a school day (and an official business day) so that everyone can take days off this week for the Mongolian Lunar New Year.

I started off with that story to explain the reason that I cannot update you on last week’s children’s outreach: it never occurred. I wrote to you on Wednesday; on Wednesday the parents heard that their children would be going to school on Saturday (three days thence). On Thursday the Mongolians decided through a series of phone conversations that Saturday would not work as the day for the outreach and re-scheduled the outreach for a Saturday two weeks later. (Assuming that the schools do not decide to hold school on that Saturday too.)

It probably worked out for the best because many of the church children were ill on Saturday and would not have been able to attend even if it had been held that day. So the gifts are still sitting in the storage room at the church building.

We also had a low turnout on Sunday morning between illness and the upcoming holiday and wondered how many people would come Sunday evening. To reach the church’s building people must travel through one of the busier shopping areas of the city. Because of all the shoppers traffic was heavy. Still, we had a good turnout on Sunday evening.

We are looking forward to Kristie’s parents and our pastor and his wife arriving this week. Many of you already know that Kristie’s father is our pastor and that makes her mother our pastor’s wife. It will be their first visit to Mongolia in four years. So much has happened since then. We are excited to show them all the differences.

We are also looking forward to the Mongolian New Year this week. We will be visiting many of our Mongolian friends, some of whom are not yet Christians. The visits will give us another opportunity to speak with them about Jesus Christ. Please pray for us as we preach Christ to our friends and neighbors.

Quote of the week

"We are often hindered from giving up our treasures to the Lord out of fear for their safety. This is especially true when those treasures are loved relatives and friends. But we need have no such fears. Our Lord came not to destroy but to save. Everything is safe which we commit to Him, and nothing is really safe which is not so committed." —A. W. Tozer

Deans' weekly update

One day, a young missionary new to the country and eager to find wisdom from the veteran missionary asked, "How did you get to be so successful?" and eagerly awaited the answer.

"By making good decisions," the senior leader said.

The young man was somewhat disappointed at such an obvious answer and so followed up with this question, "Yes, but how do you learn to make good decisions?"

"By making bad ones," the old man replied.

I am reminded of this little anecdote as I consider the church's effort to reach out to our neighbors. As a missionary/pastor I desire to protect the church that God has entrusted to me from poor decisions and mistakes. But as they mature spiritually there comes a time for them to make more decisions. Let me tell you a little of the most recent decision that they made.

A few weeks ago a church member brought to the church's attention a project to give gifts to children in an effort to share the Gospel with them. A charity provides the gifts and a suggested program to share the Gospel. Local churches sign up children and plan a program.

"Free" and "gifts" are like a bright neon sign calling Mongolians to participate. Most of the parents with children in our church saw an opportunity to obtain a gift for their own children. Soon the church members were clamoring to join the program. They looked to me: surely you will lead in such a program.

I saw an opportunity for the church members who were personally excited about this project to grow in serving. So even though I declined, I did not forbid them from joining the program if they chose and told them that they could participate in the program if they found people to organize and run it.

They appointed a "chairmen" to lead them—the same lady who brought the program to their attention- and began to split up the responsibilities. A few of them went out to the neighbors surrounding the church building and invited them out. Along with the children of the church we soon had 55 children enrolled to receive gifts.

When they heard how many children had enrolled, they began to realize that it would take nearly every church member participating to handle so large a crowd along with the parents that were invited to come. The program required an enrollment process: we would need registration help. The program suggested teaching the children songs: a songleader was needed. There was a Bible story to tell. The church building needed some decorations. Some were needed for crowd control.

At nearly every opportunity to serve someone would say, "Surely Scott can do that" or "Surely Kristie is the best one for that." Need a songleader? Kristie leads the children's songs during Sunday school; of course, she will lead the songs for this program. Need a Bible story told? It's obvious, Scott should teach it. And at every suggestion, I politely declined to help. "This is your project," I reminded them and then with enthusiasm added, "I know you all can do it!" I also knew that if I allowed them to do so, they would gladly volunteer Kristie and me to run the whole program. And to me, I saw this as their opportunity to serve.

But with my polite but persistent refusals to do for them what they could do for themselves, soon nearly every member (and even a non-member) had a part to play in this program. They began to discuss when they would have the program and decided on the Saturday before the Mongolian Lunar New Year. After all, Mongolians customarily give gifts to each other at the Lunar New Year. That would be an appropriate time to give gifts to our children and the neighbors' children. I cringed because the weekend before the Lunar New Year is a very busy time of preparation for the Mongolians. But I determined that this was their program and that they needed to make the decisions.

This past Sunday was to be the last meeting before the Gift Giving Program. This coming Saturday the gifts will be given out. The following Wednesday the Lunar New Year begins. And because the Mongolian celebration was so close, I was not surprised that almost half of the people who had agreed to help were unable to come to the church service and the planning meeting that followed it. So now invitations have been given out for a program that has too few workers.

I am not worried or stressed or frustrated at the lack of commitment. But I am concerned that some young Christians may become frustrated at their brothers and sisters in Christ who were so eager to receive gifts for their children but not to participate in this outreach. So pray that God would give me wisdom as I allow the Mongolians to make decisions. And pray for the workers we need to make this a well-run program.

I'll let you know next week how it went.

Quote of the week

"Who wants to hear the truth when they can hear that they are right. Too often we are seeking affirmation not information.

Aya update

Kristie and I went up to see Aya today. We had heard that she wasn't sleeping well or eating well and were concerned about her. We imagined that she was lying in bed, half-conscious.

So you can imagine our surprise today when we entered her little house and found her cleaning. She told us that she had been lying in bed earlier in the week but felt good today. She talked with us and laughed and told us much news about her family. We smiled and laughed with her. It was so encouraging to see her in good spirits.

She's looking forward to the Mongolians' Lunar New Year's celebrations. Many people will be coming to visit her.

One of her visitors will most likely be Kristie's father. They will be coming on the second day of the Lunar New Year and stay for almost two weeks. We are looking forward to their visit.

Deans' weekly update

Our family is finally past the illnesses that have limited our ministry the past few weeks. Now it is the cold. We have not had temperatures above zero degrees Fahrenheit for some weeks. The first few weeks, we soldier through. But after a while it becomes tiresome to dress for the weather and yet still be constantly cold when one is outside. The cold weather should break soon and temperatures should be in the low teens once again.

One of my joys of working in Mongolia is small group ministry: home Bible studies and small groups. The study can be more informal allowing questions and even disagreement to be expressed. As a pastor/missionary, I can confront people with personal weaknesses in a small group setting that could not be done in a church setting. Finally, the challenge of dealing in Mongolian with the real life situations that people bring up is interesting.

So this past week, I found great joy in restarting two home Bible studies and in a third small group meeting that took place at the church building one morning with two men that were there. One home Bible study has been on hiatus during the holidays and general busyness of my parents leaving. The second home Bible study stopped sometime during my last furlough and then never was re-started. I have been pushing that couple to pick up in their discipleship books where they left off when Ganpurev was teaching them. For over a year now, they have had various excuses as to the reason that they could not continue their studies. But recently they agreed to meet with me on Saturday afternoons.

Then last week, I planned to discuss a Women's Day holiday event with Ganpurev. Baysaa came unexpectedly into our meeting, and we spent over an hour discussing the ways that husbands should love their wives and in general how men can honor women. The courtesy and respect that women deserve is sadly lacking in Mongolia and is also decreasing in the United States.

These opportunities to study the Bible bring me great joy. Please pray for God to use these studies for His honor and pray for these Mongolians to internalize and apply the truths of Scripture that they are studying.