Good ingredients and good help are the key …

And of course we know the essential ingredient is Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese. Nothing else will do. We imported this for just this occasion.

My first assistant was Cori’s Puppy who made sure that nothing edible was left on the floor.

Cori makes a lovely server.

And it was a delicious final product that we all enjoyed immensely.

Part of the reason for silence on the blog front is probably due to busyness of schedule in recent months. We’ve found that things have been quite intense lately. Here’s a rundown of recent activity:

We are continuing our work with students at the “Grain of Wheat” student center. It has been a real blessing to see students show up for English class and cafe’, as well as guitar lessons. We are in the process now of making plans for a big start-up in the fall. We are raising money to purchase a computer, books for the library, as well as a stove so we can begin making our own pastries, cakes and other speciality items. We are going to kick things off this fall with a full program. For those who are going to the C&MA’s General Council, be sure to look for the Yak Polo/Vision for Chile booth to purchase your 2009 Yak Polo shirt – as proceeds will go toward Grain of Wheat. Friday, May 29th will be “Yak Polo Friday”, so I hope that we will see photos of all of you sporting the latest Yak Polo fashion trend!

Another new twist in our current ministry is the start of an International Church in UB. Cornerstone Church of All Nations has been officially meeting since Easter Sunday. On the first Sunday we had almost 180 people, from over 23 nations in attendance. Since then we’ve continued to see the Lord’s blessing and His hand upon the church. Last Sunday we were blessed with Dilip Kurian from the Hillsongs worship team who led worship at our church (with over 200 in attendance). We’ve already more or less outgrown the rented space we are using now. A church like this is such a need in this city. Currently I am serving as interim pastor, until we can find a pastor to take this task on full time. We are praying for God to call the right person here to take on this ministry. It’s a little strange to be “Pastor Bernie” again, but not too strange. It is a blessing to see God at work and a real need being met in our adopted hometown.

Another area of ministry for us is the discipleship of Mongolian students in UB. Right now we are finishing up the school year, and many of our students are heading home for the summer. There will be a few residual students staying in the city, but most will be departing. However, summer will still be busy for us, as we will begin making preparations for the Fall. We are going to begin working with a team of Mongolian students to start a Student Fellowship on Friday evenings which will be used to reach their peers. From this, we want to disciple and equip them to be involved with or start local churches around the city. This will be a challenge on many levels, but we’re excited about the potential we see in reaching students in Mongolia for the Kingdom of God.

Our field director couple Dennis and Marilyn Maves have left the country for their one year home assignment. This also leaves some extra responsibilities for those of us left here in the city. I will be working some in the field office, and Renee’ will be working with the female staff members through Bible study, discipleship and prayer with them.

Renee’ also has her plate full with ‘volunteering’ (that is a mandatory volunteering!) at the kid’s school every week, as well as attending a ladies’ Bible study and helping at the Student Center and with the International Church.

I am also currently working on a graduate degree program from the University of South Africa. This is consuming time and energy, as well. However, I am enjoying the reading and writing that is involved. When I am finished I will have a recognized degree for the first time in my life. I feel that it is a necessary thing to obtain, as I desire to work more closely with higher education here in a Mongolian context. Having the proper degree is important to them in this regard.

On top of all this, Cori has brought home a new puppy. I managed to dodge the last “new puppy” bullet, as we found a home for it. When she brought this one home, I tried to be the hard-nosed Dad for as long as possible – but I went soft in the end and let her keep it. So now we have Gemma, the fluff ball. She is good for a laugh most of the time, and Cori has something to sleep with her at night – now that it’s finally stopped it’s night whining. Sadie seems to get along with it fairly well. They seem to keep each other company.

Jonathan and Cori are both finishing up their school year this month. Jonathan is having to say goodbye to a lot of friends who graduating this week. We’re all continuing to learn that this lifestyle involves saying good-bye alot. It can be hard on the kids, at times. But it is amazing to see our good God at work bringing new friends into our lives and meeting our every need.

In it all He’s been faithful. We look to Him to supply for all we need now and all that is to come.

Thanks to all of you for your prayers, support and partnership!

“Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles i to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.” 1 Peter 2:11

For the past six weeks we have been sojournering. We spent Christmas vacation taking a break from Mongolian winter and were reunited with friends and family in America. It was a strange feeling for me. I must say that I felt that I was resting in Rivendale, particularly when we were in Franklin having coffee or Irish pubbing with old friends. It was happy reunions and “many meetings” which made it almost a homegoing. Almost.

We visited family. My Dad met us at the airport and my Mom met us at the door of their home in North Georgia. Again it was a wonderful resting place for us after a long journey. And not just a long journey of 24 hour flying, but a long journey of 2 1/2 years living in a foreign land. We were free to rise early and nap and recover from jet lag and reaquaint ourselves with Starbucks and “The Cheesecake Factory”. We then went to Adamsville, TN to the home where Renee’ spent most of childhood years, growing up. It was where she called home. Her “Shire”, in a sense (although she would never approve of such blatent ‘Lord of the Rings’ metaphore). We spent a wonderful Christmas with her family and were so happy to see them – to be with them – again. It was good to be ‘all together’ for Christmas, and we were sad when it came time to say ‘goodbye’. These sojournings could also have been catagorized as something of a homegoing. But not quite.

We visited a different church almost every Sunday, all of which were churches that are close to our hearts; good friends are there. We felt very much ‘at home’ in each of these churches. Perhaps a real ‘homecoming’ has everything to do with connecting with Christ’s body. Yet, that wasn’t quite it, either.

Several people asked me while we were Stateside, “So where do you ‘go home’ to? Is coming back to America ‘home’ or do you feel like you’re going home when you go back to your apartment in Mongolia?” Renee’ and I talked about this several times while we were traveling together. Our mutual answer to that question is “neither”.

Mongolia is not our home, and can never be because this will never be our own culture, language, society, or people. No matter how well we adjust here, no matter how long we stay here, no matter how fluent we become in the language.

On the other hand, we now know that we’ll never really be ‘at home’ in America. It’s not a culture or a society that we can be comfortable with. Plus no place is the same. When we’re in the States now, it seems that everything is in flux … and we don’t see an end to that feeling. All four of us are learning that the life God has called us to also contains “many partings”. We say goodby a lot. When that happens it can be difficult to figure out where home really is.

So 1 Peter helps a lot. It’s a truth that I’ve known my entire Christian life. It’s a truth every Christian should live according to. I am just now beginning to understand how LARGE this truth really is for me. I am not and never will be at home on this earth. In no place. Never.

What this vacation has helped us to see is that we really are okay with that. Christ calls us to be satisfied sojourners. We’re exiles, living out God’s purpose and will for our lives on this earth. The “Grey Havens”, whatever that may look like for us, is where home really is found. Ultimately (not to be cliche’), it’s where Jesus is. So I am okay with not feeling at home anyplace. In fact, I am now convinced that our lack of feeling at home here will make make our real Homegoing that much sweeter. All will be well as ends better.