Archive for November, 2007
Perhaps some of our readers have enough spare time on their hands to anticipate this week’s Friday Photo. Maybe that is how you spent your time digesting your Thanksgiving turkey. Those who have been following our Mongolia journey for over a year (and had nothing better to converse about over your meal) may have remembered our photos from last year and concluded that this week’s pictures might be another interesting scenario of sheep’s heads and mashed potatoes.
You would be wrong for two reasons. First of all, Bernie did not want to have to eat his meal on the balcony with the dog. After all, it was -5 degrees last night. This year Renee’ put her foot down and said, “I didn’t slave in the kitchen all day and set this lovely table for you to mess it up with a sheep’s head.� In case that sounds vain, have you ever tried eating stuffing/dressing with giblet gravy and cranberries while listening to the sound of eyeballs being slurped out of their sockets? Your appetite can go south in a hurry.
The second reason has nothing to do with culture. There were eight of us around the table: four Andersons, our house helper Undra, Jeff and Shauna Spence from language class, and Chris Thompson, one of Jonathan’s teachers at ISU. The table looked very nice. We had a lovely chicken (our dwarf turkey) on the platter.
The table was set with special dishes. We were all posed and ready to say smile when Bernie set the timer. He ran quickly to join us. But wait — there was no blinking red light. You guessed it…the camera battery was dead.
So, we’re sorry to disappoint you. We had a lovely meal (as Cori would say) and sat around and talked and laughed. It was almost like home, but without the football games and Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade and you. However, we are deeply thankful for your love and prayer and support which allows us to share our Indescribable Gift with the Mongolians around us.
November 23rd, 2007
On a recent cold Saturday morning, we went with some of the students from our church on a prayer walk through the city. There were four groups who went in four different directions to pray over Ulaanbaatar and to ask the that God would shine his light in the hearts of people.
This was a first for many of these students. Many had not been on a prayer walk before. However, when it was over, there was excitement on their faces and they were very happy - it was something they really enjoyed and would like to do again. It was a great joy for me to watch the two young people who went with me pray over the large monastery that is a mere stones throw from where our church meets. This is probably the most important monastery in Mongolia. Last summer the Dalai Lama himself stayed here.
People feed all of these birds as an act of worship. They believe they are feeding them for Buddha himself. My fledgling ability in Mongolian may have been a factor here, but I thought I understand one of folks who prayer walked with me to say that these birds are for Buddha to eat - which if that’s true, strikes me a as a little strange. I thought Buddha didn’t kill anything and was indeed a vegetarian? I may have misunderstood; or perhaps when he’s in Mongolia, Buddha eats meat like all of the other Mongolians.
So we pray for light, love, freedom and grace. May the Gospel do it’s work in hearts. I am okay with Buddha going hungry.
November 20th, 2007
Jonathan and Cori go to a youth group every Friday night, made up of kids from other organizations all over the city. This week the entire gang came over to our apartment for games. The kids had a great time. Today’s photo of the week was taken after the games were over. The blurred figures dancing in the middle would be Cori and her friend.
Take your shoes off at the door. It’s the Asian way.
November 10th, 2007
Last winter, my heart was always moved when the little street boys would come into the church service. They would sing and clap and totally engage in the service, but as soon as they sat down for the message, they promptly fell asleep. No one minded, really. They found a warm comfortable place. I knew that seeds were sown and that God could bring to mind the truths they heard in the songs and prayers and that they would remember His people who allowed them to feel safe and warm for an hour each week.
I confess to feeling a little differently last week. We are renting a new building and have purchased new chairs (probably not conducive for sleeping in). I confess that when they came in and sat their grimy, dusty little bodies in the new chairs I grimaced inside. When one of them leaned his dirty sleeve against the freshly painted wall, I confess I started wondering where we packed the 409. Until…
It was during the offering and Bernie leaned over to me. “Did you see that he (the little street boy sitting in front of us) put 20 tugriks in the offering?� I didn’t see, but now I can’t forget it. In the big picture, he gave the equivalent of 2 cents. But in his reality, if he had held on to that, only four more would have bought him a steaming hot hoshur for his hungry tummy. While I was enjoying the nice new facility, God was enjoying a heart that would give sacrificially.
It’s the same story Jesus told in Luke 21. When Jesus saw the poor widow put her small copper coins into the offering box, he told his disciples, “I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she put in all she had to live on.�
David also understood this. When it was time to build the temple, he said, “How can I give to the Lord that which costs me nothing?�
I find myself wanting to give in the same kind of environment the street boys want to sleep — the comfortable kind. Some weeks it is a struggle to offer the percentage that we have determined before the Lord to be our tithe. It’s going to make our grocery budget a bit tight. Or we might have to put off replacing our water boiler for another week.
I’m not only convicted about this on a financial level. I do the same thing with my time. I want to give to the Lord of my time, but I’m much more hesitant to give it up sacrificially. I can comfortably have a 20-30 minute quiet time. Anything longer than that, and it starts to cost me something. I might have to get up earlier, or not have time for breakfast. I want to give so much time in ministry, but not so much that it deprives me of my free time, or my family time.
It’s easy to put God on our calendar, or daytimer, or PDA or in our Outlook. It’s harder to give it all to Him and if He gives us some back, so be it. If not, perhaps He has found the same joy in our offering as He did from the widow and the street boy.
November 2nd, 2007
