Archive for March, 2007
The problems and issues of this city become more real - and more clear - every day I walk outside our apartment. Poverty is a cruel master. If poverty is a cruel master, alcoholism is doubly wicked. As need confronts me each day, I actually have to resist the temptation to become hard-hearted. It’s a daily assault. Young boys asking for food. Little girls asking for money. A man with no hands waits outside the grocery store. Another man with no legs plays a flute for toogriks in an offering box. Drunks by the dumpster, hoping to get the dregs of thrown away vodka bottles and scraps of food thrown out with the trash. There is constant need. This week a couple of little girls followed us home from a restaurant. One had no coat. As we neared our home they met up with a little boy who had no shoes, just socks. I see these kids almost every time I go get groceries.
Most Mongolians see it every day, as well. They are pretty hardened to it all. Frankly, I have found that it’s possible to acquire calluses relatively quickly. I don’t like that. However, it does seem that generally speaking most Mongolians are unmoved by the plight of the poor. Perhaps it’s because so many are only a step away from poverty themselves.
Renee’ and I are doing a language practicum this week (finishing today, actually). Our practicum topic has been the plight of at risk children in Mongolia. We have had the opportunity to visit two different orphanages, plus the “Save the Children” offices in UB. This has given us the opportunity to be exposed to what many different organizations are doing for the poor, and particularly for children of poverty. One organization that I was impressed with is the “Christina Noble Foundation“. ABC news has a pretty interesting article and video about this foundation’s work in Ulaanbaatar.
I watch this video and am glad what this and other organizations are doing. However, I watch this video and I am also grieved. I am grieved that there is not an equipped church in Mongolia that is able to meet these needs with the compassion of Christ. The “Christina Noble Foundation” is a great organization, and my hat is off to them. However, I long for the day when there will be something a million times better. I long for the day when the Mongolian church will rise up strong and merciful, with a message that does more than help the poor. It’s a message that eternally changes everything (and helps the poor). When the church proclaims that message and backs that message up with compassion and mercy and justice for the poor and needy and orphans and widows, then Christ is exalted and God is glorified throughout eternity. He becomes famous. That’s what I want to see. I am not interested in personally meeting all of the needs in front of us. I am most interested in seeing an equipped Monoglian Church facing the consequences of the fall head on, with great courage and power.
All of this drives me back to the task at hand. Renee’ and I must saturate our minds and our hearts with this language and this culture in order to gain the appropriate tools, skills, resources and relationships required for the equipping of the saints in Mongolia, that mercy, compassion, truth and justice will proceed from an equipped church. Then - and only then - will we see needs being met in a way that meet eternity’s standards.
But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
(Amos 5:24 ESV)
For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD.
(Psalms 33:4-5 ESV)
March 31st, 2007
This is one of those posts that the women in my family don’t understand. However, one of the things that I was kind of excited about when preparing to move to Mongolia was the fact that I actually had a legitimate excuse to buy outdoor gear. It’s not that I am the proverbial “gearhound” - but I have to confess that if I had unlimited financial resources and a less restrictive conscience, I really could be. Of course, we also used to live in Tennessee, where if it gets really cold you might have to put on a long sleeved shirt. I know that there are some who read this who will find this an absolute waste of blog-space. That’s okay. You can stop reading now. However, I wanted to share a little about how we actually stay warm here - and I am telling you, I stay quite warm even when temperatures drop well below 0 degrees F.
Now, I will qualify this by letting you know that we have had a rather mild winter this year. The real bitterly cold temps (-40F or -50F) didn’t really hit this year - we will see what happens next year. Nevertheless, we definitely saw -25F and -30F. I walk the dog every night at around 10:00 PM, and was never really cold.
I found the key to be removeable layers, particularly living in the city. The buildings here are really quite warm. If you aren’t wearing clothes that can be easily removed, it’s possible to suffer heat stroke in language class. I typically wore a tee shirt every day, with a fleece and a good coat. This method enabled me to stay comfortable with the summer time temperatures of my classroom and sub-freezing temperatures while waiting for the bus.
However, if I knew I was going to be outside for any length of time, this became a different matter …
Layer 1 - A good set of synthetic (NOT Cotton!) long underwear. Cotton long underwear will absorb moisture and bring on hypothermia like flies on a yak (ummm… Mongolian metaphor?).
Layer 2 - Normal clothes
Layer 3 - A good fleece. I don’t really find good synthetic fleece here. But that could be because they actually wear sheep wool (isn’t that what fleece is supposed to be, as opposed to polyester?). I brought several fleeces from the States, and they have been fantastic.
Layer 4 - A good “shell”. I have been using a shell jacket made by Nordica, that is intended to be used for skiing. There is a Gore-Tex coating and it has been quite sufficient to keep the Mongolian North Wind from slicing through my bones on cold winter nights. I was also given a pair of North Face ski pants that make a great outer shell for the legs, particularly if there is a lot of snow and my kids have intent of hitting Dad with snowballs…
Appendices - This is key. If feet, hands or head are cold — then everything else is a wash. So…
Head: A good hat. I’ve been wearing a hat that used to belong to Renee’s grandfather. It’s warm with a fleeced lining, and an option to come over the ears, if necessary. It’s warm and has some sentimental value.
Hands: I bought a good pair of North Face guantlet style ski gloves. They’re perfect.
Feet: Here’s the best. I like my Smart Wool socks. But the essentials are my Sorel Caribou’s. Being waterproof and with a -40F rating, they are the best and most comfortable shoe for snowy and cold conditions.
It is now spring time. Temperatures have creeped back to above freezing several days this week. Night time temps are staying slightly above 0F. The lighter jacket has come out of the closet, and normal shoes are sufficient. Perhaps next winter will be colder than our first winter here - if so, I may have to get different gear. Too bad about that …
March 21st, 2007
Last week one of my teachers was wearing a pin with a Mongolian flag and some writing on it. Being the typical nosey American that I am, I wanted very much to ask her what her pin said. While I haven’t made great strides in learning this language, I know enough to not ask that question. Why? Because according to Mongolians, her pin can’t “say� anything. I also know that I can’t say, “That sweater looks nice on you,� because of course, a sweater can’t “look.� So, in both cases I kept my mouth shut because I didn’t know the right verb to use.
I’ve thought about that a lot this week in light of the Mongolian church. In typical American church language, a non-Christian is encouraged to “accept Jesus into his heart.� This week I am thinking that we are not using the right verb. Several things have had me thinking along these lines:
• My Mongolian language study
• An article in Christianity Today
• Weaknesses in the Mongolian church
• Weaknesses in the American church
As I started to wrestle with this in my mind, my first question is, “Is this in the Bible?â€? I can’t find any instance in the New Testament where an individual is encouraged to “Accept Jesus.â€? Jesus and the disciples challenged people to repent, to believe, to follow, to become as little children. My husband who has spent more time (especially recent years) studying church history than I have tells me “accept Jesus” probably originated with D. L. Moody or his mentor, Charles Finney. Godly men, to be sure, but over the years, this terminology doesn’t seem to be bringing about a change in lives that reflects New Testament Christianity.
To me, the important thing isn’t whether or not we accept Jesus, but whether or not He accepts us. He accepts the ones who come to Him in repentance and faith.
So in my context, I have to ask, “When we ask a Mongolian to accept Jesus, how do they understand that question?� This is really critical when you factor in the fact that the religion they know most about is Buddhism, and this calls on them to accept just about everything. It would be possible to “accept Jesus� without rejecting false religion, idolatry and self-orientation. I’m afraid there are Americans in church pews every week who have “accepted Jesus� and not left behind their idolatries either.
The Waodoni (Auca Indians) seem to have a better understanding when the verb they use is to “become� a “God-follower.� Many Africans now “walk the Jesus road.� These verbs indicate a change of path, indicating an understanding of the difference between the straight and narrow as opposed to the broad way that leads to destruction (Matt. 7:13, 14). It is easy to “accept,� it is difficult to “follow.�
I think we have to get the verb right. Eternity depends on it.
For the record, I know that this is not my typical blog. It sounds much more like Bernie wrote it. He usually does the theology blogs and I do the ones about how I feel (think Venus and Mars). Let’s leave it with the fact that I feel very strongly about this theology and had to blog about it. Besides, a blog can’t sound anyway.
March 12th, 2007