Our drama queen (that’s Cori, for those who may not figure that out) was actually just in a real Drama! ISU just did a production of the “Emperor’s New Clothes”, and Cori played the scheming con-artist, Sigigeteh. She and her partner in crime tricked the Royal Family of Mongolia into going to great expense for the sake of his vanity. What he thought were royal robes, was really no clothes at all.
Cori did a great job. Here is a little film clip (not great quality) of her production.
(Click on the photo to start the video)
April 27th, 2008
I went for a run yesterday morning to clear skies and a beautiful sunrise.
By the time we took our break during class, the skies had darkened, the wind picked up speed - and in came the sands of the Gobi. We had a horrific dust storm yesterday. When we got home from school , we realized that we had made the mistake of leaving one of our windows open. There was a thick layer of black and yellow dust all over the window sill. It was quite amazing to see the massive amounts of dust and dirt that was in the air. Here are a few shots from the pedestrian walkway that is a short distance from our apartment.
   
Normally you can see the mountains behind the blue circus building quite clearly. It was starting to clear up at this point. Previously the mountains were completely invisible. It’s supposed to be quite warm today (70’s!), and there’s a possibility of snow tomorrow.ÂÂ
Ahhh … springtime in Mongolia…
April 18th, 2008
Bernie has been encouraging me to write a new blog, but I haven’t really had very much inspiration until yesterday. I read the blog of a friend in the same situation, who ended up with a positive pregnancy test (congratulations Kellie) to blog about. So, in a panic, I decided I had better come up with something, inspired or not. I’m going to take the thoughts that have been swirling around in my head and see if I can make some sense of them. The common thread that seems to run throughout them is “Perspective.�
Last Tuesday found Jonathan and I spending the first half of the day in the Korean hospital here in UB. From the day he was born, Jonathan has only seemed to have one gear, and that was full speed ahead. That hasn’t changed, and it is that kind of energy that pleases his P.E. teacher immensely. This past Monday, his shoulder took the brunt of that drive in a game of American football. The result is (we think) a contused muscle, and fortunately not a break (we think). So, after successfully maneuvering through the language barriers of the Mongolian system and a Korean doctor we left with four shoulder x-rays, a donated sling, three days worth of medicine and a receipt for our insurance. The whopping total for all this was $43.34.
In our mind, that is quite the bargain. In the US, that would cover the co-pay and possibly the medicine (generic only). It’s hard to imagine that you can get an x-ray for $10. Where perspective comes in is if you look at this from the point of view of, for instance, our language teacher. Her monthly salary is $100. One x-ray would be 10% of her living expenses for the month. Our entire bill would be almost half of her monthly salary.
Three of the past four Bible studies I have taught the girls in our church have required me to look at things from a different perspective. Take, for instance, the story of Abigail, Nabal and David in 1 Samuel 25. David makes a simple request of Nabal. We took care of your sheep; please share some of your food with us. Nabal refuses and David blows a fuse. He has 400 men take up their swords to go and deal with the man. It seems a bit like overkill, doesn’t it? Why in the world is David acting so irrationally? Well, as I backed up a bit, he had been anointed king but not able to take his throne, killed a giant that had terrified everyone else, been chased across the country and slept in caves, and then just prior to this, his mentor, Samuel dies. When you look at it from that perspective, his irrationality becomes quite understandable.
Previously, in 1 Samuel chapter one, I saw the same lesson. Two women married to one man. Hannah is a beautiful picture of what a godly woman should be. The other wife, Peninnah, seems mean and spiteful. It is easy to pass judgment on her. On the other hand, every woman desires to be loved by her husband. She knew she was his second choice. He had probably married her to produce children. Even the most sweet-tempered woman is going to be strained in that situation. That doesn’t justify her behavior, but it helps us understand it. Perspective.
God seems to be teaching me a little something about perspective when it comes to other people. Being the black and white person that I am, I confess that I tend to rush to judgment. Right is right and wrong is wrong. Period. But judgment without perspective more often than not leads to judgment without compassion. I find myself in good company here. Or at least, company. This was the standard operating procedure of the Pharisees.
An older Southern Baptist preacher, Vance Havner, was a favorite of mine. He had a sermon on this. He would say, “Right in the facts; wrong in the conclusion.� It’s easy to be right and wrong at the same time. That was the Pharisees. They expected Jesus to operate "by the book".
Jesus came in such contrast to them. When they expected Him to agree with their assessments, He surprised them by showing compassion. It is so easy to look at fellow believers and accurately determine how they should behave based on Scripture. What is harder to do is to show compassion when they fail to act according to our expectations. This happens all the time in the church. The Apostle Paul calls us to the task of “bearing with one another with love� (Ephesians 4:2).
It’s not as easy as it sounds. A happily married woman with two children is going to have a different perspective from the 16 year old girl with a baby and no husband. Or the woman who has been married for 20 years and was never able to have children. When they don’t live up to my expectations of what Christian should look like, what then? Do I rush to judgment? Perhaps I can feel sympathy for them. But will I take the time and the energy to step back and consider their perspective and bear with them in love?
Jesus declared of Himself: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because he anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives. And recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden.� As long as there is a church remaining on this earth, it is our place to continue that mission. The challenge is when some of those people are in our churches. It’s hard and it’s messy and it would be so much easier to write them off (judged and sentenced) than it is to press on with compassion.
When you think about it, the only ones that weren’t recipients of Christ’s compassion were the Pharisees. He had a different perspective. That is the perspective I want to learn to take. Maybe, just maybe, God is working in me to make me less like a Pharisee and more like His Son.
April 16th, 2008
There are some days when I am put to shame. Today was one of those days. Before I explain, please let me introduce you to our friend and co-laborer, Dogi.
(Dogi with Yeruuloo and her friend Onong)
We met Dogi for the first time in 2003. Dogi translated for my friend Mark (who will be joining our team this summer!) and I while we taught the book of Galatians at ABTC in Darhan.
It was good to reconnect with Dogi again in 2006 when we moved to UB.
Dogi is now married to a great young man named Erka (Erka is also Jonathan’s guitar teacher), and a beautiful little boy named … Jonathan! (His Mongolian name is Yeruuloo.) Dogi is one of the founders of our little student church, and has been in leadership from the beginning. However, the one thing that Dogi loves doing more than anything in service to the church is leading worship. She leads every week with great enthusiasm and spirituality. She has also become a very important part of our Thursday night leadership training class. Because of our limited language, we are in need of a good translator each week. Dogi has been a real answer to prayer and is becoming a vital member of our team.
Today during after the morning message, there was a testimony time in our church. Dogi stood up and shared how God is showing himself faithful to her. Dogi’s husband, Erka works with YWAM Mongolia - enabling them to live at the YWAM base just outside of town. Dogi is responsible for food for the entire base staff (approximately 30 people). Last week they had no money, and Dogi was worried about all of the people at the base going hungry. So she did what she knew. She prayed. “Father, you know our need. You know we have no money. And these folks need to eat.� Of course, God once again proved his faithfulness. Someone who had no idea about the needs on the base brought two large containers full of meat. She also shared how God provided for diapers for their little boy, and her bus fare back into the city for Sunday. What impresses me so much about Dogi is her obvious deep desire to learn what it means to live by faith. Her life is not necessarily an easy one. Salaries in Mongolia are not high. Life here can be difficult. I have talked to Dogi about this. Her response is humbling. She says with a cheerful heart, “It’s okay. I believe that God is teaching me to trust Him and depend on Him.�
I am humbled by Dogi’s faith. She trusts as a child. She trusts while I gripe and whine. Her childlike faith is actually what makes her mature and Christlike. I have to believe that her faith is the kind that Jesus is impressed with. I know that I am.
April 7th, 2008
I saw this old guy sitting in front of a garage near where we go to school.ÂÂ
Whenever I see older Mongolian people, I wonder what they think about all of the change that has taken place in their country during their lifetime. This old guy has seen a few years and I am sure has his opinions. He wasn’t too eager to talk to this camera-carrying foreign guy. Nevertheless I got a couple of good shots of him before I had to go back to language class.ÂÂ
April 4th, 2008
