We Now Live On Abby Road

This is a tad odd.



For a reason unknown to us, a small stage was built in the little plaza/walkway that's just outside of our apartment. The stage features a sort of odd-looking bronzed replica of the Fab-4. None of us have any idea why we now have a monument to the Beatles in UB. But, it is a bit of a novelty - even though it looks a little strange.

Did you know that the fifth Beatle was actually a girl...

Sometimes You Just Need a Nap

Two stories behind this picture.

1. For God only knows what reason, we allowed Cori to rescue this puppy from certain death and destruction while on a recent shopping trip. We were assured she could find a home for it, because we are NOT going to have two dogs. Dad still is insisting that we are NOT going to have two dogs, and is holding out for that.

2. Prior to hosting a prayer team from the Santa Rosa Alliance Church (more on that later), Renee' had been a bit sick. So she was getting some sleep so that she would be well for the trip (and apart from a lingering cough, is doing better).

So if you're sick or you have a puppy or you're sick of having a puppy ... or if you are a puppy ... sometimes you just need a nap.

Friday Photos - Flashback Friday Edition

Thanks to the Internet and particularly social networks like Facebook, we find ourselves connecting with people with whom we had long since lost connection. So, for those of you who are new to our website, we’re going to borrow from our friend Kellie’s blog and make our Friday Fotos a “Flashback Friday” and bring you up to speed.

After our marriage (yes, we understand this is way back but bear with us) in 1989 -- making next year the big 2 - 0 -- we spent three years in Memphis in secular employment and lay ministry in an Alliance church there. We both felt called to missions and were taking time to adjust to life together and see exactly where we were to go.



Jonathan joined us in 1992 and just before his first birthday Bernie accepted a call to pastor a church in Franklin, Tennessee. Yes, we know. It was a surprise to us as well, but a very clear direction. God’s reasons for that were His own, but His wisdom in that was abundantly clear as we learned how to walk with Him in His work.



Cori was born our second year in Franklin. Faith Community Church was a great place for a young family and we got to walk through the parenting process with many good friends. It certainly had its ups and downs, but we loved our church family and totally enjoyed pastoral ministry.



As a matter of fact, it was our desire to stay there a very long time. But....

During our 13 years there we were able to take quite a few short term missions trips. This was something that had been an important part of our life as singles, and was a double blessing as a couple. There was still that spark deep down that had never died, however, so each time we would visit a field, we would be open to God. Was He calling us there? It seemed like no matter where we went, we always returned with a certainty that we were exactly in the place God would have us be. With that certainty came peace and joy.

That is until November 2003. As part of her ministry on a Missions Mobilization team through the C&MA national office, Renee’ took part in a conference in Thailand. Each of the eight team members were requested to lead an extension trip before or after that conference and of course as we are a team, Bernie was also able to participate (actually he did most of the work). We requested the China extension, but two other members who had been before were given those two trips. However, since you go through Beijing to get to Mongolia we were told that if we led that trip we could have a few days between to see China.



We had no idea that would be the life-changing trip. As a matter of fact, Mongolia was the first country we visited where Renee’ didn’t even want to go. We were barely here for a week. But that week we were able to spend with the Mongolian believers, became something we couldn’t forget. Just this week when asked her first impression of Mongolia as short termer replied, “I feel like I’ve come home.” Aaahh, we know the feeling.

When we returned home this time, we no longer had that sense that pastoral ministry in Franklin was what we were supposed to do. We had sat with little groups who were amazed that of our small team of seven, four of them were pastors. They just couldn’t believe there were four pastors in one room. There were very few pastors here, as a matter of fact few men believers.

God never wastes a situation. We would never say that God put us in pastoral ministry only to prepare us for Mongolia. God doesn’t do that. However, we see now that His purposes for us there were for more than ministry to that congregation. It was to prepare us for next assignment. As a matter of fact, most of our previous experiences have in some way been part of His training. We believe that is always the case for all of us.

So, to sum this up, we went home and after a few weeks we talked and realized we were both still not able to put Mongolia in the past. So we prayed. We had several reasons why we could not come to Mongolia. We’re grateful for those hurdles. We saw them come down, one by one, as God confirmed His call. In the fall of 2004 we made the phone call to the candidate office of the C&MA. We spent the next year in the applicant process. In December 2005 we were officially approved and in January 2006 dropped the bomb to our family and friends. We left the US for Ulaanbaatar July 24, 2006.

Now our newbie readers know The Rest of the Story.

Brimful

This past summer we gave our kids a reading assignment while they were in the States. As a family we are now spending time each week talking about the book “Do Hard Things” by Alex and Brett Harris. Today as we were having our weekly family discussion, the importance of that Biblical call to do the difficult thing for the name of Christ and the Gospel and the Glory of God, really came home to me.

By the estimation of most, we have done the “hard thing”. We left home and family and country. We studied language. We live with inconvenience and difficulty and frustration all the time. Yet, it is possible to completely waste my life in Mongolia. Maybe as much, if not more that it is possible to waste my life in America. Crossing the ocean doesn’t guarentee that I won’t live a wasted life. In fact, it is frightening for me to think about the fact that I could waste my life while giving the unholy pretense of not wasting it because I live outside of the US comfort zone. There is a sense in which that is is worse because it’s not just a wasted life, it’s a hypocritical wasted life. That is perhaps the greatest misspending of all.

One morning this past week, I was walking and praying - and thinking about some of these things. I was thinking about all the times during this past week when I was grumpy with my family (even though it wasn’t their fault that I was tired) and had hateful thoughts (and a few words) about rude and selfish and bad drivers and harsh words that had been directed at my daughter (who is just trying to wade through being 13). I realized that what came out of me at those times was grotesque, offense, self-indulgent flesh. That’s when I remembered a simple illustration that I’ve known for much of my Christian life. Amy Carmichael uses it in her devastating little book “If”.

“If a sudden jar can cause me to speak an impatient, unloving word, then I know nothing of Calvary love. (For a cup brimful of sweet water cannot spill even one drop of bitter water however suddenly jolted).”

Here is what I’ve determined. I am going to seek every day to be full of Christ. He is sweet water. I am not going to battle unsweetness, and impatience and unlove by taking battling them directly. I will daily ‘be filled’. In the end, I just want people to see Jesus. Not me. Just him. I am pretty confident that it will only be at that point that life is not wasted. The hard thing is daily fellowship, surrender, emptying and filling.

So while we talk to Jonathan and Cori about what it means for them to “do hard things”, the Holy Spirit is challenging me to “do hard things”, as well.

In the end, I pray that Jesus will be seen in all of us.

Stained

This week we have been working hard to get a building renovated to be used as a student ministry center, in the heart of Ulaanbaatar. We have hired a young lady to manage the center. Her name is Onon (we'll write more about Onon on a later post - but you can begin praying for her now!).

Friday photo's for this week are some renovation shots (you may be getting a lot of these in the near future!). Our main accomplishment this week is getting a concrete floor stained. Onon said this is probably the first stained concrete floor in Mongolia. When we went to the building supply district (called zuun aile in Mongolian - think Home Depot explodes, and lands in a flea market setting) and explained our plan, we were told several times that it couldn't be done. Well, as you can see below, it is being done! We'll be sure to post shots of the finished product when we get it all done.

Until then, here are some shots of the work in progress.

Also, we recently put out this funding newsletter. Please be sure to read it and let us know if you are being led to help in this project!