Mongolian Missions

COTTON CANDY FRIDAY

2011-06-06T22:48:00.006+08:00

Here's a few pics of the grandkids here with us last Friday. We dusted off the old cotton candy machine and gave them a treat. Ginny likes it too.

MONGOLIAN REPORT - JUNE 2011

2011-06-03T21:30:00.005+08:00

MONGOLIAN MISSIONS
And I also heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?
Then said I, Here am I; send me. Isaiah 6:8

May 29, 2011

Greetings from Mongolia in the wonderful name of Jesus!

Below is our latest Mongolian Ministry Report for your information and prayer.

Bible School is now finished for this school year. We finished the year with 14 students. All have been released to their respective home churches and pastors for their summer ministry work assignments. Classes will resume September 1st for the next school year. Please pray for this ministry and it impact among the nations.

We've started a NEW CHURCH PLANT in UlaanBaatar City. Nasa and Baagii are heading up this work. Muugii and I are helping from time to time with the Sunday morning meetings there, but the day to day responsibility is on Nasa and Baagii. Please pray for this outreach.

The CHURCH here is maturing and growing. Last year several of our young people graduated from university and have entered the job market. Many of these have also finished Bible School and are ready for God's service. Please pray as our people venture out into ministry.

We are restructuring our CELL GROUPS. Our cells seem to have hit a plateau and we are praying for God's guidance and fresh Holy Spirit anointing to breathe new life into our cells. Cells are so important as they reflect the early church in its simplicity and ministry.

Our SUMMER PROGRAM is scheduled for July1st, 2nd and 3rd. This a great time for our local body as we gather together for a few days of intense ministry and fellowship all centered on Jesus.

STATESIDE TRIP: Ginny and I are contemplating a trip to visit our families, our home church, and supporters in the US. We have not done this in over 5 years. While it's always hard for us to leave the field for a state-side visit, we know it's past time for us to do so. We hope to touch base with each of you as the time nears and try to schedule some time with you. Right now we are planning on February 2012. Please pray for The Lord's provision and protection in our travels.

THANK YOU so much for your faithful prayers and support. It is an honor and privilege for us to co-labor with you in the Lord's work.

Blessings, Grace, and Peace in Christ Jesus,

Mark & Ginny

COLDER!!!

2011-01-27T17:28:00.002+08:00

Here is a photo of our first blanket give-away.

This lady is all alone with her 3 children. Her name is Tsendee and she is 33 years old. Her youngest little boy is 1 year old. We recently gave them some clothes for him and his 2 older brothers (8 and 15). They have no father and it is very cold in their home. They are very poor. Today it was 34 degrees below 0 Celsius! We brought them some food and milk and some firewood and coal, but it won't last too long. We invited them to come to our church service Sunday and also invited the 15 year old son to come to our youth meeting on Saturday. The boys now usually come everyday to our feeding program.

COLD!!!

2011-01-21T17:20:00.005+08:00

It has been very cold here in Mongolia (37 below 0 c!). To me it seems like every winter is colder than the last one.
We've recently found several families living without proper winter clothing. It's so difficult for us to imagine how difficult their lives are. They usually just stay inside as much as possible or maybe they borrow clothes from one another as they must go out for some reason. They also have problems with keeping warm as many don't have city heating and must rely on firewood or coal (both very expensive) for heat.
We've had kids not coming to our feeding program because they don't have the clothes to survive the cold. The one hot meal a day that we provide is very important to their health and growth.
Recently we have partnered with Global Impact (as we have the last three winters) for our Children's Christmas Outreach. With Global's help we were able to buy warm winter clothing for 6 local children.
They were all so blessed and appreciative for their new clothes.

We were also able to provide a Christmas party for the children. A good time was had by all.

Praise the Lord for His faithfulness in providing the funds to continue this fruitful outreach.

GINNY'S DECEMBER UPDATE

2010-12-03T21:30:00.003+08:00

Looks like winter is upon us to stay - snow doesn't melt now. A few weeks ago we had a very wet snow (unusual for this dry climate), and all of Darhan is still icy and slippery. Another heavy snowfall since then is making it hard for the road crews to 'chisel' the roads clean and safe again.

We are thankful, though, that the road out of Darhan going to UB, the capital, is clear. Because it was, I was able to spend a few days with Mel and her family as Mel was recuperating from minor (which turned out to be a little more than minor) surgery. Everyone is home now and very happy to be there. This happened during the time of Thanksgiving, so we haven't celebrated a Thanksgiving meal together yet. We may wait until Christmas to enjoy the turkey that Mel got blessed with recently.

My last letter said that Nasa and Boggie (the oldest of our 2 Mongolian 'daughters') were planning their wedding for the end of August, but they decided on the end of October instead. And it was a beautiful wedding indeed. A lot of hard work went into making that day very special. Several of our young church members, not just once, but several times, worked all night long to sew and decorate the church, and then went to school the next day! No complaining, just giving of their time in love. I was truly blessed.

Mother-to-Mother has 'birthed' 3 more babies - 2 in August, and 1 in October. I am now helping 4 mothers-to-be - 1 due this month, and 3 in the early months of next year. Since I began doing this ministry in May of 2005, 26 mothers have been in the program. 3 of the babies (that I know of) were rescued from planned abortions.

Thank you for what you do so that we can be here doing what we do - for the KING.

Have a wonderful holiday season; Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Love and blessings,
Ginny <>< ~"The way to avoid a judgment is to meet it by repentance."~

VISAS

2010-12-02T12:23:00.003+08:00

Praise the Lord! We were able to renew our visas for another year. This makes the 13th year that we've been able to get our visas renewed. We hear many accounts of missionaries having to leave the field because of visa issues, but God has been so faithful to us in allowing us to stay on the field.

Proverbs 21:1 says, "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: He turneth it withersoever He will."

Join us in thanking the Lord for His grace, favor and provision!

MONGOLIA FOR JESUS

2010-11-29T16:31:00.001+08:00

PAPERWORK!

2010-11-14T21:25:00.003+08:00

Well...We finally got our Enerel (Mercy) Organization's permission for another 2 years (the maximum) from the Minister of Foreign Relations in UlaanBaatar. Miracle of miracles!!! Many organizations much larger and more active than Enerel were refused renewals, but we got another 2 years. Praise the Lord! Now we are going to Ulaanbaatar to purchase some required stainless steel kitchen equipment to satisfy the local bureaucrats. We've had to divert the money we had on hand from our re-roofing project to kitchen re-equipping. The roof work will have to come later.
We were also blessed with another 1 year permission (the maximum) renewal for our God's Jesus Church. Our visas are through the church so while in UB we will also get 1 more required stamp on our church document and then submit all of our paperwork for our visa renewals. Please pray that the visa renewals are approved quickly.

This has all been very touch and go for the past several months and many of you have been praying with us for God's favor and provision. Thank you all. Praise the Lord! He hears and answers prayer.

NEW LIFE CHALLENGE SEMINARS

2010-11-09T17:51:00.010+08:00

This past Thursday morning (11/4), Muugii, Davgaa and I were held a New Life "Good Choices" seminar at public school #16.

There were about 100 students present and also teachers and counselors. We spoke to the students about the importance of making good choices about alcohol and tobacco based on factual information.

These seminars are important for the youth of Darkhan and we thank God for these open doors. Through we have so much contact with the young people as well as teachers, counselors and school administrators.

Next month we already have scheduled seminars at school #15.

Praise the Lord!

NEW LIFE SEXUAL ABSTINENCE SEMINARS

2010-11-09T10:02:00.005+08:00

Ginny (along with Muugi) was privleged to hold another New Life Sexual Abstinence Seminar at public school #16 in October.

There were about 100 16 and 17 year old students in attendance along with their teachers and social workers.

Her message was very well received and it appears as though the Lord has opened doors and hearts for this ministry.

Our prayer for these young people is that they take our message to heart and that their hearts be opened to the Good News of Jesus.

Please pray for New Life. This ministry is beginning to grow and as the Lord gives us opportunities we pray for His provision for His work.

OCTOBER MONGOLIAN MISSIONS UPDATE

2010-10-19T10:12:00.008+08:00

Greetings to you and yours from MONGOLIA in the wonderful name of JESUS!

Praise the Lord! We are happy to write you now and give you an update on the work here in Mongolia.

Bible School is well under way at this writing. We have 15 students from 4 different local churches. It is so exciting for us to be involved in the training up of God's Mongolian believers, preparing them for ministry.

Enerel (Mercy) Organization, our poor children's feeding program, is doing well. Everyday we have 40 - 50 children come in for a hot meal (hot is important in Mongolia's fall and winter). As it gets colder the number of children will probably rise. While here, the children are able to use our library to do school work as well as play some board games or read books from our collection. This allows us ample time to interact with them and show the love and compassion of Jesus in a personal and real way.

Our permission for this ministry expires very soon and the government is giving us a very hard time in granting a renewal because they do no like to see churches and help organizations working together. We need God's favor and grace. PLEASE PRAY!

God's Jesus Church is growing in numbers and spiritually. We are seeing "in-house" ministry being raised up and matured for God's glory and ministry.

Our permission for our church has just expired and the government has refused to even consider it at this time (maybe next month "they say"). No real reason has been given, but anti-Christian sentiment is growing in here. Our visas also depend on church permission renewal. PLEASE PRAY for God's favor and open doors.

New Life Challenge Organization is also getting more involved in the local society. World Vision has asked to partner with us in working in the public school system with our Good Choices Program. Ginny has her abstinence curriculum all set up and we have our alcohol prevention materials ready. This is a great opportunity and open door for us. PLEASE PRAY for boldness and wisdom for our teams as we step out in this ministry.

PLEASE PRAY and believe with us for God's ample provision for His work here.

Thank you so much for your prayers and financial support. Ginny and I appreciate you and your ministry. It is an honor and privilege to co-labor with you in the Lord's harvest.

With you in Christ Jesus,

Mark and Ginny

CHURCH SUMMER PROGRAM

2010-08-17T17:30:00.006+08:00

We just held our church's annual summer program. This is a much looked forward to event when we as a body take a few days to go to the Mongolian countryside for fellowship, Word, and spiritual growth.

This is a very important event in the lives of Mongolian Christians and they really look forward to sharing this time together.

Since we live in Mongolia and the "unfrozen summer" river is our baptismal font, usually this is our once a year opportunity to baptize believers who have shown themselves faithful over the previous year.

MARK'S JULY E NEWS

2010-07-13T08:09:00.004+08:00

Warm (hot July) summer greetings to you and yours from Mongolia in the wonderful name of Jesus! We rejoice with you in His name. ALL FOR JESUS!

This weekend was the great Mongolian NAADAM FESTIVAL with Mongolian wrestling, archery, horse races and lots of colors, all in all very nice and very interesting.

God's Jesus Church is doing well. We passed our big intrusive government check and we were overwhelmingly approved so now we're full speed ahead. Of course it's a year to year thing ----- but God. Proverbs 21:1 "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord...".

Our recent graduates are finished with their university as well as Biblical studies and all are praying for God's grace as they are attempting to enter the work-force. We are believing that as they go out the Lord will provide for them and for His work. He is faithful!

Muugii and I are praying about a trip to the South Gobi area to see about the possibility of planting a church there. This is a newly developing area of Mongolia and has sort of a frontier boom town atmosphere since the main focus there is mining coal, gold, etc. The presence of Jesus is sorely needed.

New Life Challenge continues to be a challenge (pardon the pun). The more we challenge others the more I see I need to be challenged myself.

Mongolia is slowly being destroyed from within, (suicide by alcohol). Alcohol addiction is the norm here and is the root cause of most of the social problems facing this country such as domestic violence, child abuse, poverty, unemployment, suicide, etc. People tend to blame the alcoholism on these problems instead of the other way around. We have seen the lives of several men changed by the power of Jesus. Please pray for New Life as we step out and expand our outreach.

Enerel (Mercy) Organization is also continuing with our poor children's feeding program as well a special outreaches to the children of Darkhan. This is a difficult work for us to financially maintain as the rising costs of operation seems to always outrun our income. Our local church here is financially helping out the Enerel work to some extent which is a good healthy move for the church. The Lord provides as He leads.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support. Together, we are making a difference for the King and His Kingdom.

With you in harvest,

Mark & Ginny

GINNY'S NEWSLETTER

2010-07-10T22:40:00.002+08:00

We've finally warmed up! In fact, a little too warm. We've already hit 41C - 105.8 in the shade! This past winter seemed so long, and now the other extreme is upon us. But, His grace is sufficient. And it doesn't stay very hot for more than a few days right now.

We have a Bible school graduate, Vanessa, from America with us for about 2 months for her time of practice. She is busy learning Mongolian language basics, Mongolian culture, and ministry opportunities.

Mother-to-Mother has 'birthed' 2 more babies - girls. One was born April 22, and one was born June 23. Mothers and babies are doing fine.

We recently hosted Nasa, his father, and several members of his family for a very special supper. They came to officially ask for Boggie's hand in marriage to Nasa. And we officially said yes. We are very happy with her 'choice'. Plans are being made for sometime toward the end of August.

In July, Mongolia celebrates its big summer festival - Naadam, with horse racing, wrestling, and arrow shooting. We ventured out the first year we were here to see the local celebration, but it happened to be a very hot summer that year. In the years after that summer, if we wanted to see any of it, it was from our TV in the living room!

Have a safe and happy summer.

Love,
Ginny <>< ~They are indeed rich in whom the word of Christ dwells richly.~

SUMMER ENGLISH LANGUAGE INSTITUTE

2010-07-01T08:04:00.007+08:00

We began our Summer English Language Institute outreach on June 28. It will run through July 30. We're actually running two classes, one for the intermediates and one for the advanced.

In the first picture above is our (my) advanced English language class. We are left to right (front row) Dama, Gamba and Mohoo, (back row), Deegii, Muugi, myself, Nara and Tsasnaa.

The second photo is of the intermediate class which is being taught by Vanessa Rodriguez our summer intern from Living Stones Bible College, as well as Nara, Muugii's wife. Vanessa and Nara are in the center of the photo. Nara is also teaching Mongolian language to Vanessa as well as studying English in the advanced class in the evenings.

GOD'S FAITHFULNESS

2010-06-19T10:32:00.005+08:00

Waaaaay back when I was in Bible school (MTI class of '88), I remember a brother who would always stand up and testify as to God's faithfulness. Every time he would get ready to say something we all knew what it would be about - God's Faithfulness.

I did not understand then that this brother had a real understanding of God and His faithfulness. Now after all these years I am beginning to understand just how faithful God is and and that He cannot be separated from His faithfulness. He is faithfulness!

I believe that just as we understand the goodness of God we are led to repentance, when we truly have an understanding of the faithfulness of God, we are led to faithfulness.

Thank you Lord for your faithfulness!

BIBLE SCHOOL GRADUATION

2010-06-14T08:02:00.006+08:00

We finished our Bible School classes for this two year curriculum and held our graduation ceremony on Tuesday, June 8.

The graduation ceremony itself was great. Our students, their pastors, families, and friends all participated in a wonderful time of praise and worship. The Word was shared, and they received their hard earned diplomas. The teachers and pastors prayed for the students and then we shared a wonderful meal and fellowship.

It has been a long two years but also very rewarding and very worth the effort as we see the enthusiasm in our students and teachers.

Our students have now been released back to there perspective home churches ready for service.

We are promoting the Bible School again for this coming September. Please Pray that the Lord will allow us to prepare more servants and harvesters for His harvest.

GOD'S JESUS CHURCH GRADUATES

2010-05-30T22:36:00.003+08:00

This is a pic of some of our church members who are graduating from various local schools and universities (two are not included in this photo). We are so proud and happy at what the Lord is doing in their lives.

MOTHER TO MOTHER

2010-05-30T22:27:00.004+08:00

This is our latest Mother to Mother birth. Mom's name is Sara. She and her husband, Baatar, and the rest of their family are members of our church. Their baby girl was born last month.

LADIES GROUP

2010-05-21T09:54:00.012+08:00

Ginny's ladies group meeting is a teaching ministry of our God's Jesus Church. This is a weekly meeting in addition to our various cell group meetings. It is held every Wednesday afternoon at 5:00pm.

Ginny is now teaching a Scripture by Scripture teaching out of the book of Proverbs. Her group is growing in numbers as there are new ladies coming almost every week. This is a very fruitful ministry. There are many testimonies of lives being changed and it is evident that God is doing great things in the lives of these ladies.

Please Pray for God's anointing and grace for this ministry. Pray that He alone receive all the glory and honor and praise.

MOTHER TO MOTHER MINISTRY

2010-05-14T11:29:00.005+08:00

Presently we have 4 ladies enrolled in the Mother to Mother Pregnancy Program. In this program the mothers-to-be have their vitals checked every week. They are given some pre-natal vitamins and healthy foods to eat and receive health counseling concerning their health and the health of their developing babies. Some of the ladies are Christians and some are not as the program is open. We are so happy to have this opportunity to reach out to these women and share the love, life, and message of Jesus with them.

POOR CHILDREN'S FEEDING PROGRAM

2010-05-13T19:01:00.003+08:00

Our Enerel (Mercy) Organization's Poor Children's Feeding Program provides a hot meal every day (M-F) for the poor children of Darkhan. These are a few of today's photos of some of the children. For many of these children this is the only hot food they will get daily.

CO-WORKERS

2010-05-11T22:35:00.004+08:00

These are a few of our young men. They are , Amara, Nasa, and Gamba. These are some of our best upcoming leaders in our church and are all involved in our praise and worship team. Amara (our sound engineer and bass player) is graduating from high school this month. Nasa (our Praise and Worship Team leader) is graduating from university now and has already graduated from our Bible school. Gamba (our bass player) is graduating from his university now and is also graduating this month from our Bible school. We thank and praise the Lord for sending us young men of character and quality like these as well as others like these, to partner with us in the work here.

JAGA'S TESTIMONY

2010-05-08T20:32:00.004+08:00

My name’s Jargal. I am 30 years old. I live with my husband and our 3 children in Darkhan, Mongolia. All of our family goes to God’s Jesus Church. I am very happy to be sharing with you about my change in Christ and how my life was before. I am one of 13 children in my family. Because my parents had so many children, they never were close with each of us at same level. They always loved one of us more than others. So this really hurt me. I really always wanted to be loved and cared for but they didn’t care about me. So I grew up without any self confidence and a very selfish person. I went high school, but I left when I was in the 8th grade. About that same time my father lost his job. Then he started to drink more and more and we always had big arguments and fights in our home. Our life went down lot. I was really tired of this entire situation, so I left my house started to live with my brother. One day my sister who was close with me invited me to church on Easter Sunday. There, the people received me really happily and told me that Jesus died for my sin and that I am valuable to Him and that He loves me. After I heard about this I decided to believe in Jesus. Since this time I have started coming church regularly, and God started right away to change my life little by little. I left all my bad habits and also I forgave all people who hurt me. I am very thankful to God for my husband and children. Now I am not afraid of anything because my Father God is protecting me and loving me. Praise the Lord!

LUNCH DATE

2010-03-31T21:01:00.004+08:00

Just a couple of pics of our day out with Melanie, Nate, and Abi. It was so nice to be able to spend some time together, and no, I did not plan for Ginny and I to dress alike (that is so un-cool). I didn't even notice until I saw the pics. Hahaha.

GO AND TELL

2010-03-23T21:19:00.008+08:00

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, whom shall I send, and who shall go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. Isaiah 6:8

I just heard the testimony of a young lady about a dream she had very recently. This young lady was in her room in this dream. Jesus came into her room and sat on her bed. Jesus then told her that He was coming back soon and that many people did not believe that He is coming soon, but He is. He told her to tell them. In the dream she began to tell the people and many did not believe.

He IS coming soon!

We have all been COMMANDED to GO. What is it that holds us back? What excuses are we making for our unwillingness to GO and our SILENCE?

He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Revelation 22:20

UPGs

2010-03-21T07:57:00.004+08:00

MONGOLIA is home to 2,671,000 people. This population is divided into 20 distinct unreached people groups or UPGs.

At present we are working primarily with the Khalka Mongols who make up the largest UPG in Mongolia with a population of 1,742,000 souls.

Please Pray for the UPGs of Mongolia and the rest of the world! So many have never yet heard the Good News while at the same time most of those in the western world have heard it many times.

NEW LIFE

2010-03-17T18:25:00.001+08:00

We just held a NEW LIFE seminar at the Darkhan Professional Training Center. It was GREAT! There were about 150 students in attendance and the teacher in charge of the social programs there asked us to come back for at least two more seminars. This open door opportunity came to us through an earlier seminar we held last month at the Darkhan University. God is so good! We prayed and asked for open door opportunities and He faithfully provided.

THANKFULNESS

2010-03-08T13:44:00.004+08:00

Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were they thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Romans 1:21

I do not want to become un-thankful towards God. I do not want to take his grace, mercy, and goodness for granted.

I do not need a darkened heart. You do not need a darkened heart.

BE THANKFUL!!!

EGSHIGLIN UPDATE: Saturday 3/6

2010-03-04T20:15:00.004+08:00

Saturday 3/6 Egshiglin Update:

Praise the Lord! Egshiglin is back home now and healing and health has been restored. Our God lives!

Thank you all for praying with us, now you can rejoice with us.

Mark

GOD SAYS ----- GO! GO! GO!

2010-02-28T15:35:00.008+08:00

Therefore said he unto them, The harvest is truly great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.
Luke 10:2

I wonder what part of GO is it that people just don't understand. Can it be the G? Or, maybe it's the O? OK, hahaha, just kidding, BUT, I know everyone understands, but then if everyone understands, why doesn't everyone GO?

Please, I seriously would like to get some feed-back on this topic.

GOD IS SO GOOD!

2010-02-24T10:53:00.013+08:00

As it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 1 Cor 2:9 KJV

As we look back since our salvation, our call into ministry and awareness of and response to God's missions mandate, we can see that our God is truly awesome and great. We could never have imagined the blessings that we have known since answering His call.

GOD BLESSES OBEDIENCE! It's a fact. Ginny and I are both eyewitnesses to this. God has consistently carried us, healed us, provided for us and encouraged us. He has shown us the way when there seemed to be no way. He has answered us when there seemed to be no answer.

GOD IS GOOD!

BIBLE SCHOOL

2010-02-20T12:36:00.005+08:00

Bible School is entering its last three sessions of this year. We should be all finished by very early June. Our students are excited as they are anxious to be placed into the Lord's service by their respective home churches.
This year we have had several visiting Mongolian teachers come and help us. They were great! We view this as a very positive sign of Mongolian church growth and maturity.
God is "redeeming the time" here in Mongolia as we move deeper and deeper into the end times we've all been anticipating with great expectation.
We are already promoting the school for next September among the local churches of Darkhan. PLEASE PRAY that we get good participation.

NASANKHUU'S (NASA'S) TESTIMONY

2010-02-17T16:59:00.004+08:00

My name is Nasankhuu. I was born on October 29, 1986 in Darkhan Uul Aimag. I am the youngest of 8 children in my family. Now I am living with my father, 2 sisters and their children. First I went to school in 1993 but in 2003 I left, which means that I did not finish. Then in 2005 I finally finished my high school.
When I went to the second grade my mom disappeared. I was lonely then. When I was in the 5th grade I started to smoke and use alcohol. 2 years later my family moved to the barrack neighborhood. It was a completely new world for me. I started to have new friends and my life went more and more downward. I almost did everything a young guy can do. After my mom disappeared my father went down lot too; he started to drink all the time then he would cry and cry. Sometimes he even blamed me for her leaving, saying it was my fault, that because of me my mom left. These things affected me and even I began drink more. One day I was in my neighbor’s building. Her name is Solongo. She told me about Jesus for the first time in my life. At first I did not understand, but it was interesting to me. Soon I decided to go to a church close by. Then I left my old life; I quit smoking, quit drinking alcohol, I even stopped using my bad language. I changed my friends 100%. God gave me new friends and brethren. Also now I have a new Father. Jesus is my only Hope. He answers my prayers. He gave me the special ability of music. So, now I make songs for Him and praise Him. I am very optimistic and joyful. I decided to serve all my life only one LORD.
Now I am a senior in my university. I will graduate later this year with a degree in banking. I have already finished Bible School.
I am serving my Lord Jesus in His church as Praise and Worship leader and as a cell group leader.

God bless you.

HEY!!! BE CAREFUL!!!

2010-02-16T12:07:00.004+08:00

Be careful what you hear so much today about a "new thing".

"Thus saith the Lord, Stand thee in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, we will not walk therein."

TSAGAAN SAR

2010-02-10T22:57:00.007+08:00

Tsagaan Sar (white moon or white month) is the traditional Mongolian lunar new year. Usually it is celebrated about the same time as Chinese New Year. It is traditional time for family gatherings and feasting marking the end of winter and the beginning of spring.
Tsagaan Sar has many superstitions attached to it and most recently in Mongolia it has turned into a very expensive tradition that many of the poorer people cannot afford. Alcohol consumption is also a very big problem during the festivities and of course this opens the door to all types of evil.
It is a difficult time for the new, first generation Christians of Mongolia. While they value the traditions of family and want to participate in these gatherings, they are placed in difficult positions and are often tempted to compromise their new Christian beliefs and convictions.
PLEASE PRAY for the Mongolian believers this Tsagaan Sar. PLEASE PRAY that the believers will find a way to present the Good News of Jesus to their friends and relatives this Tsagaan Sar. Everything will officially start Friday the 12th of this month and run through Tuesday the 16th.

OPEN DOORS!!!

2010-02-08T18:31:00.013+08:00

Praise the Lord for a BIG open door of ministry. We were recently contacted by the Mongolian military and asked to go into the local prison with our New Life Organization presentation.
Today was our first meeting and we eagerly went without knowing exactly what we would run into. We thought we would be ministering to the prison staff but to our surprise the prison was opened to us and we were able to minister to over 40 prisoners.
Muugi and Nasa prepared a power point presentation that was very helpful and eye opening for the attendees. It was very well received. Davgaa took advantage of the opportunity to share his personal testimony of the life-changing power of Jesus in his life. I was also able to share a message of hope and encouragement to these men. I prayed before I went and asked the Lord to let me see these men as He sees them.
The prisoners asked that we PLEASE come back often. When we told them that we would need to talk to the prison authorities and staff about this they told us that they were sure it would be OK because they would "put the pressure on from the inside".
Please pray for this wonderful opportunity and God's favor.
God is so good! ----- Mark

ENKHBOLD'S (MONKHOO'S) TESTIMONY

2010-02-05T08:46:00.005+08:00

God is doing great things here in Darkhan! Below is the testimony of one of our leading young people. God has transformed this young man's life. It is a great encouragement to others as well as to us as we see God's love, power, and grace doing the "impossible" in the lives of even the most "unlikely".
Thank you all so much for standing with us for Jesus here in Mongolia.
God bless!
Mark, Ginny and the Mongolian Team

My name is Enkhbold. I was born in 1987. Everyone has both good and bad memories in their life. My family used to live in building number 58. We had plenty of neighbors, so I had many friends around me. My friends and I enjoyed going to building number 45 which is where the Enerel Organization is located because of the warm atmosphere, hot food and games, etc. At that time my family was in pretty good shape. My father was working and making a good salary, but suddenly he started drinking. Because of alcohol my father left us and lost everything. Since that time I just hated alcohol, but unfortunately even I started to drink when I was 16 years old. Also I not only drank, but my friends and I would steal and rob other people. Whatever we got from doing this we would spend on alcohol and tobacco. Eventually this became my regular lifestyle. I and my friends just turned to the gang lifestyle. We stopped going to school and just wasted all of our days. Exactly like my father, I lost everything; my dreams, relationships, and education. I used to go to church at that time, but I didn't understand anything. Of course all I was really concerned with was entertainment, but God in His time changed me. Now I am studying in my last year of university. Also, this year I will graduate from my Bible school. Now I am a member of our praise and worship team in our church. I am very happy with my life. Praise God!
(Enkhbold)

SO MANY - SO MUCH WORK TO DO

2010-02-03T15:15:00.003+08:00

Time is short and there is so much work to do. So many have not yet heard the GOOD NEWS of Jesus.
I pray the Lord of the Harvest send workers into His harvest. It is harvest time!

WINTER ----- again!

2010-02-02T08:45:00.002+08:00

Wow! Winter is back and with a vengeance! It's 37 BELOW 0 this morning. Brrrrrr!
For south Louisiana people this is C-O-L-D.

AWESOME

2010-02-01T01:12:00.008+08:00

Early yesterday morning (Sunday) I read something very interesting which was posted on the internet about our AWESOME God. Through this reading God showed me something I had not seen before, as I sometimes do not see the forest for the trees.

Think about the way in which God is viewed today.

Visit any church worship on Sunday morning and you will likely find a congregation comfortably relating to a deity who fits nicely within their precise doctrinal positions, lends almighty support to their social crusades, or who is exactly what they desire in spiritual experiences. But there will be an absence of awe! This group has dared approach the Almighty God yet they feel no awe; no sweaty palms, no shaky knees. The atmosphere is totally different from that found in the Scriptures (Rev 1:17; Heb 12:28-29).

"Reverence and awe have been replaced by a yawn of familiarity. The consuming fire has been domesticated into a candle flame".

Ginny was already thinking that every time she would go to use the word AWESOME for anything other than God, the Holy Spirit would correct her. Only God is AWESOME.

COLD??? WHAT COLD???

2010-01-25T23:56:00.006+08:00

Wow! I never thought I would think 12 below is warm, but today really was a nice day and felt almost "spring-like". OK, OK, I guess I've been in Mongolia too long hahaha.

We (our church) turned in a carload of donated materials today for the herdsmen in the countryside who are suffering because of the cold and loss of their animals. We also decided to send a financial offering to a trusted missionary friend who is going to Haiti to bring some relief to the people there.

Acting with true compassion in these troubling events is a clear way to show the love and compassion of Jesus. We pray that in these troubling times people see the love of Christ and as He is lifted up, they would be drawn to Him. --- Amen!

BIBLE SCHOOL

2010-01-21T22:22:00.002+08:00

As I write this we are finishing the half-way mark for this years Bible school. Our school uses a 2 year curriculum and our students are eagerly working towards their graduation this June. It has been a long journey for them. We are excited that they all remain committed to finishing the course work set before them.

We envision our students being sent out by their local churches to plant churches throughout Mongolia, Asia, and to the uttermost!

We are very impressed with our students as they represent the First Fruits of this very First Generation of Mongolian believers!

They are excited and committed to GO!

COLD Update

2010-01-12T12:18:00.005+08:00

It is so so so cold!!!! Like 45 - 50 below 0. We heard today that Mongolia has lost over 2,000,000 animals because of the cold. We are blessed because our building is warm compared to the outside but we are still well bundled up.
In some local buildings, the water, heat and sewage lines are frozen. People are suffering. Many homeless people are dying. We are seeing more and more home fires because people are burning anything to stay warm. The price of coal went up 100%. 1 sack of coal is now the cost of a day's pay!
We are praying that this severe winter cold will finish very soon.
Mark

GOD'S JESUS CHURCH

2010-01-11T22:16:00.006+08:00

Praise the Lord! Church service yesterday was GREAT! We had a super turnout (even at 40 degrees below 0!).
Praise and Worship was awesome. Nasa and his team are doing an outstanding job.
Cell leaders are excited as we're seeing a fire of evangelism take hold here among our members.
We are believing God for a Great Mongolian Winter Harvest of Souls.
Children's church is running at or above capacity and our teachers are devoting time this week to special seminars and training.
Please continue to pray for us as we believe our Great God for great things!

COLD!!!!!

2010-01-11T12:33:00.006+08:00

It is so COLD here!!! I know we're in Mongolia and that it usually get's cold here, BUT, it has been extremely cold recently. It's been getting down to a minus -45 (Celsius) which about -49 F. THAT'S COLD!!! Our "wonder dog", Lobo, handles it very well and it doesn't seem to bother him. He just curls up in a ball and sleeps well it seems. I on the other hand have a few problems with the cold hahaha.
There are no school buses here. Schools don't close for cold weather. Kids just bundle up and walk to school. The markets are still open as are all the government offices.
We recently had a weather phenomenon here i call the 3 suns. Pretty weird sight really so I've included a photo for you. STAY WARM!!!

MONGOLIAN CHRISTMAS, SUCCESS!

2009-12-20T20:44:00.006+08:00

Our Mongolian Christmas project was a great success. 9 children received new warm winter clothes (it's been getting down as low as 45 degrees below 0 here!). 50 children were with us for our Christmas 2009 party. All of these children heard the Gospel message, played games, shared cake and refreshments, and received a gift bag with a special Christmas gift as well as fresh fruits (a rare treat here), candies and fruit juice. Thank you all for praying for this and a special thanks to Global Impact for their financial help. God is great!!!

ENEREL MERCY ORGANIZATION

2009-12-11T11:07:00.004+08:00

Our Enerel (Mercy) Organization's children's work has been on hold for the last few weeks because of the virus quarantine - but - PRAISE THE LORD! - We are now back in operation and again the children are returning for their daily hot meals.

Enerel's ministry is dedicated directly to the poor children of Darkhan. We daily (m-f) offer a hot nutritious meal to the poor children of our area. Usually we have 60 - 70 children come in daily. We have built some really great relationships with these children as many of them have been coming regularly for several years.
We also have our library open daily for the kids where they can study, play board games, and enjoy some good safe fellowship.
Many of these children have become believers and now follow Jesus. Some of them are now active leaders in our church.

BIBLE SCHOOL

2009-12-05T11:52:00.007+08:00

Our Bible School is going very well. This year we have 14 full time students all of whom are in their second (final) year of studies. They are all so excited to be nearing their immediate goal of graduation in June.
Upon graduation they will each be released back to their respective home churches for ministry.
We hope to be able to organize a mission trip to another (unreached) part of Mongolia this spring where the students can put some of their energy and preparations to good use.
Please Pray for our Bible school, (CMTIM).

OPERATION MONGOLIAN CHRISTMAS

2009-11-23T11:35:00.017+08:00

Last year we were so blessed at Christmas-time here as we partnered with Global Impact of Rockford, IL with our first ever Operation Mongolian Christmas.

This year we want to replicate that outreach and maybe even enlarge it to some extent. We want to reach out to the poorest of the poor children in our area. These children struggle every year just trying to keep warm and alive through the cold Mongolian winter.
Our plan is to buy and give each child some warm winter clothes (coat, hat, scarf, gloves, sweater, pants, leggings, underclothes, socks and boots).
We also plan to host a special Christmas party for these children as well as others where we would be able to share the love and compassion of Jesus Christ with them in a very meaningful way. At this party each child will hear the Gospel story and the Good News of Jesus, they would receive a hot meal, and they would all receive a gift bag with some fruit, candy, an appropriate gift, and some Christian literature.

Please pray for us and our project Operation Mongolian Christmas. This is an excellent way for us to reach these future church leaders of Mongolia and share the love of Jesus.

These are a few pics of some of last year's children.

THANKSGIVING (for chicken)

2009-11-22T15:58:00.017+08:00

It always amazes me just how fast THANKSGIVING arrives every year. This year marks my personal 58th celebration of this important event. Even though it has only been later in my life that I have realized how important and proper it is for us to give Thanks.
Our family has not celebrated a Thanksgiving in America since 1988. Since that time (21 years ago) we've always celebrated in a foreign country (either Mexico or Mongolia).
As far as I can remember we have had turkey for Thanksgiving dinner only one time in all these years. Usually we had to make do with chicken. We found a turkey (alive) once while in Mexico, bought him and brought him home a few weeks before Thanksgiving along with some feed corn in order to fatten him up for Thanksgiving dinner. Well..... He ate up the corn, but he didn't get fat. So, we waited for Christmas dinner. He still ate corn but he didn't get fat. So we killed him and plucked him and ate him anyway. Ha ha... Our Christmas dinner was all as traditional as we could possibly make it, but we were all disappointed with our turkey. He was definitely not "broad-breasted".
This year I was in a traditional frame of mind so I began to look for a turkey here in Mongolia. Ginny asked me "why?" A good question that I really didn't have an answer for except that I had desire for tradition. This is very unlike me.
I spent a lot of time and phone calls, not to mention placing a burden on all of my Mongolian contacts all to no avail. There are no turkeys in Mongolia. This year we will be Thankful for chicken.
Of course we are Thankful for so many of the true blessings the Lord has showered upon us through His great grace and love.
May your THANKSGIVING be truly Thankful also.

EXTENDED QUARANTINE

2009-11-21T00:14:00.005+08:00

We just got word tonight that our quarantine has been extended Until December 1. It's difficult to shut down the church for a month and during that time maintain some continuity. Thank God that our cells are mature and we have strong well prepared cell leaders. The work continues!

One of our young people is in the hospital with pneumonia or virus or something. His name is Turuu. He's only about 12 years old and doesn't get much help from his usually absent mother and father. The hospital here is overflowing and they say they will not have medicine to treat Turuu so he will have to buy his own medicine. Please pray for Turuu.

CONTACT US

2009-11-20T17:17:00.004+08:00

Email contact:
Mark: mkocke@newlifechallenge.org
Ginny: ginnyk@newlifechallenge.org

Snail mail contact:
Mark Kocke

P.O. Box 127

Darkhan, MONGOLIA
45000
Asia

BIBLE SCHOOL

2009-11-13T23:37:00.012+08:00

Our Bible School , Christian Ministers Training Institute Mongolia (CMTIM) is now back to holding classes again after having been on a government ordered "H1N1 virus break" for the last couple of weeks. Our students are once again in class and are excited to again be about the work of preparing for ministry.

Our present students are now studying in their second (final) year of classes and represent three local Darkhan churches. We are so happy and excited to have a part of preparing God's elect for His service.

GINNY'S MOTHER 2 MOTHER MINISTRY

2009-11-12T04:28:00.014+08:00

Here are a couple of photos of some of the women and their babies that have participated in Ginny's Mother 2 Mother program. In this program pregnant women have their health monitored regularly, receive health and prenatal as well as spiritual counseling, and given nutritious food and vitamin supplements throughout their pregnancies. This special care improves the health and safety of the mother as well as dramatically increases the birth weight and health of the babies.

NEW LIFE - MOVIES

2009-11-11T10:34:00.003+08:00

Tommorow I will meet with Tom Terry,the director of Eagle TV, (the only Christian broadcaster in Mongolia) in UlaanBaatar regarding the two movies we have translated and dubbed into Mongolian. The purpose of this meeting is to offer to Eagle the use of these movies for broadcast.

Both of these Mexican movies are dramatized testimonies of true stories, and we believe they will be very effective here in Mongolia. We've already shown one of them here in Darkhan on TV and plan to show the second very soon.

Please pray for this outreach and for lasting fruit.

DAVGAA'S NEW LIFE TESTIMONY

2009-11-11T10:09:00.002+08:00

Davgaa’s Testimony:
Hi I am Dorjdagva (Davgaa). I am a 41 year old Mongolian man. I live with my wife (Zaya), 2 sons (Mishel and David) and my daughter (Suvdaa) in Darkhan, Mongolia. Now we are all serving our God. Before I received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, my life was meaningless and dark. I was an alcoholic for 28 years. All these years I suffered under alcohol’s slavery and the heavy bondage of sin. During all this time I didn’t have any hope for my life. I tried several times to quit alcohol. Five times I had intensive alcohol treatment, but nothing ever changed in my life. Instead of change I started to drink more and more. Because of alcohol I had been to jail twice. My life was just ruined. Now I know now that when someone loses their hope they start to look for something else. I had this searching feeling. So right about this time in my life I met with Pastor Mark and Ginny. After he shared about Jesus with me, and as I started to know more about Jesus, I received Jesus in my heart. Since that time (about 9 years) I have experience the great love of Jesus as well as His joy in my life without alcohol. Praise the Lord Jesus’ Name! Amen.

Praise Report

2009-11-10T22:52:00.004+08:00

Praise the Lord! Many of you have been praying for us as we go about our annual circus of Mongolian visa renewals. We just learned this afternoon that our visas have been renewed for another year. Praise the Lord for His goodness, faithfulness and grace. Our God answers prayer! Our church permission also was renewed for another year.

The quarantine is still on for Mongolia. Thursday morning I must travel to UlaanBaatar to pick up my passports, visas, and our church papers. We may have to have health certificates before we travel. We will check on this tomorrow so we can have an early departure Thursday am.

Tomorrow we will have a cell leaders team meeting in order to prepare the cell leaders for their weekly lesson. This is very important of course and now especially since we will not have our usual Sunday service. Our cell leaders are doing a great job and the work they all put into their preparation was a very good investment.

Mongolian Leaders

2009-11-10T22:41:00.003+08:00

These are our young Mongolian leaders of God's Jesus Church here in Darkhan, Muugii and his wife, Nara. We have been working together now for over 6 years and it was evident to me from when we very first met, that Muugii has "a heart after God's own heart". Nara is wise beyond her years and she makes an excellent help-meet for Muugii. Muugii and Nara are first generation Mongolian Christians. Their two daughters,Gegeene (6) and Eshiglen (4), are some of the very first Mongolians to be born in a Christian home! This is so exciting and we are honored to connected to such fine young Christians leaders. MONGOLIA FOR JESUS!

Our Home Team

2009-11-05T13:22:00.005+08:00

Here's a photo of Baagii (22) and Zaya (16). These are our two Mongolian daughters. They are such blessings to us. Baagii is finished with her university education. She is a very good Mongolian/English/Korean translator and works in our New Life Organization and Bible school. Zaya is in the 1oth grade (only 11 grades in Mongolia). She is a very good Mongolian/English translator also. Both Baggi and Zaya are active in our church's Praise and Worship team as well as serving as cell group leaders. We thank the Lord and Praise His holy name for putting Baagii and Zaya in our lives!

Mongolian Bureaucracy

2009-11-05T10:17:00.003+08:00

It's that time of year again. Visa renewals. Every year it's differet and there are always several new beureaucratic red tape hoops we must jump through. We've turned in all of our paperwork and we are praying (please pray with us) that our paperwork is approved and our visas are issues quickly.

National Emergency

2009-11-05T09:40:00.004+08:00

We just received OFFICIAL notice that the Mongolian government has declared a national emergency due to the H1N1 virus. All public meetings (including church services) have been banned for the next couple of weeks. This is just one example of the many reasons cell churches are a good idea. Cell churches go on and continue in adverse circumstances.
Schools have been closed with the exception of kindergartens and universities. I don't really understand how "that" was decided but----it is what it is.
In an abundance of precaution and public co-operation, we've decided that we will suspend our Bible school classes until the 17th also.

A little more information

2009-11-04T17:05:00.001+08:00

Our work here in Mongolia is divided into three main activities:
1. God's Jesus Church
2. New Life Challenge Center
3. Enerel (Mercy) Organization

Greetings

2009-11-04T17:03:00.001+08:00

Hi. I am Mark Kocke. This is our first post on our first blog. Please be patient with us (hahaha).
We greet you all from the land of Chingis Khan (Mongolia) in the wonderful name of JESUS!
God has been so gracious to us. He has allowed us to live and work among the Mongolian people for over 11 years now. It is a great honor and privilege to serve King Jesus!