Youth Summer Camp

A few months ago God gave our youth leaders a dream-- to host a summer camp that would include all of the youth in our 6 branch churches. This was quite a big endeavor since the total number of youth is about 100. We had never held camp for that many people before but were excited to see our leaders take charge and start the planning.

On July 29-31 107 youth set out to a beautiful camp site in Zulzag, about an hour drive on dirt roads from Darkhan. We were blessed with beautiful weather and were able to baptize 14 new believers in the nearby river.

Here, Amaa, our head chef from UB Christian Fellowship, counts heads and divides everyone into smaller groups.

There was wrestling...

The World Cup spirit was still in the air!



Hetee relaxes with a young university student from Erdenet who studies in UB.


Here Melanie takes a break from playing soccer to talk to some young girls


Soccer fans...

Our youth leader, Bogi makes milk tea for breakfast.


Beautiful smiles and even more beautiful servant hearts!

Everyone enjoyed the mealtimes and Amaa's cooking!
Our young people returned to their home churches blessed,refreshed and ready to take on the next school year with destiny and purpose. We were encouraged to see the spiritual growth and maturity that has taken place in the churches in such a short time. Most of the people you see in the pictures are active cell members and leaders. They don't have much in the way of posessions but they have given their all for God's Kingdom. What an honor to serve alongside these wonderful people!
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Women's Encounter Weekend

In April we held a Women's Encounter Weekend. It was an incredible time of renewal as 49 women set themselves apart to encounter God. Many lives were changed and amazing testimonies resulted. We are so thankful to God for His faithfulness to His daughters!


Myself, with Murun and Oyuna, both my G12 group members, at our pre-encounter party

The Praise and Worship was simple but very powerful



Me, giving an illustration about how life's "baggage" weighs us down but Jesus wants to set us free!

Part of our incredible team

Just a few highlights from the W.E.W.:

  • One woman who lost her baby to a tragic accident 2 years ago testified during the Encounter that God healed her of pain and guilt. She assured the women in attendance that God is a God who heals!
  • One young girl blamed herself for many years for her parents' divorce. She was told by her grandfather that it was because of her that they divorced and subsequently abandoned her. During the encounter she came to see herself through God's eyes as the extremely valuable creation that she is. She was healed and has been able to forgive her parents.
  • One woman who manifested demons was set free and her family restored. Her husband who had abandoned her returned 2 weeks after the encounter. Please join us in praying for his salvation.

God moved in many ways, some we are still finding out about. One thing is certain: when 2 or more gather in His name He never lets us down! He's always there, always powerful and always faithful!

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Heaven Rejoices!

I wish a had a picture to go along with this post!

A few weeks ago I (Melanie) was asked out for coffee by the mother of one of Nate's classmates and the grandmother of another classmate. As we sat in a little cafe near the school they began to ask questions about the Bible and Christianity. I shared the gospel with them and the grandmother accepted Jesus on the spot. The other lady is very open and has invited us to her home to answer more questions.

The woman who received Jesus as her Saviour is a retired singer. She used to sing for the Ulaan Batar Philharmonic in her younger days and is now so excited to use her talents for God's Kingdom. She has been attending cell group and is beginning to grow in her faith. Please pray for her. Her name is Oyuna.

Praise God for open doors and soft hearts!
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Another life saved!

Recently, Oyuna, a young woman from Melanie's G12 group shared this testimony with us. We hope it encourages you as much as it encouraged us!


I was in the doctor's waiting room waiting to go in. There was another girl there and I gathered that she was there to have an abortion. I was very concerned for her and began to ask her some questions. She said that she barely knew the father and that she was studying in university. She had no money and no one to help her. I told her that abortion is wrong, that it is the same as murder. She had never heard that before and she became upset but told me that she had no other choice. I begged her, on behalf of her child to reconsider. I even told her that my husband and I would take the baby! Then I went in to see my doctor.

After I saw the doctor I waited for the girl. She took a long time to come out but I waited the whole time, praying that she would change her mind. She came out of the doctor's office and saw me there and came over and told me that she didn't now how she would ever make it but she decided to keep her baby. I was so thankful to God that He answered my prayer and saved this baby's life!

I gave the girl my phone number and we parted ways. I still pray for her but I know that God will finish what He started. Praise God!
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Singapore, 2010

I just returned from the annual G12 conference in Singapore. As always, I was very blessed by the conference. A team of 30 attended from Mongolia--10 of them from our Christian Fellowship Church in UB. I was asked to translate again this year for the Mongolians.

One of the highlights of the trip was being able to travel and spend time with my Dad. He attended the conference as one of the leaders from Ulaan Baatar Mission Church. He turned 60 the day we arrived in Singapore.
I am always amazed by the love and humility of Pastor Khong, Pastor Nina and Pastor Castellanos as well as the other speakers. It is a huge blessing to learn from them during the conference as well as during times of meals and fellowship. They have a love for Mongolia that humbles me and challenges me to love and serve the Mongolian people even more.
The translation booth, where I spent most of the conference!

My dad, a dear friend, Pastor Steven and myself

During the conference God challenged me to believe for 1,000 members in our Darkhan church. We currently have about 220 members. It was strange because right before the conference the Lord had been teaching me that no matter how big the church, the main thing that concerned God was my personal relationship with Him. But when I let go and told God I would believe Him for 1000 souls this year, I experienced a breakthrough and an increase in my level of faith. It was so refreshing and freeing. We will put our faith in Him as we press on toward the goal of 1,000 souls in 2010!
Since last fall, Mel and I have been seeking God about pastoral training. At this point we feel that formal study is important for our future as ministers. A door has opened for me to study in Singapore at FCBC's Ministerial Training School from May to September of this year. We are still praying that our whole family will be able to go, and we ask that you also lift us up in prayer. In order to make this move we will need to up our monthly support by approximately $300.00 USD per month for the 4 months that we will live there. We also need to raise money of our airfare. About $3,000 USD will be needed for our round trip tickets. Please pray and seek God as to how you can be a part and help us reach our goal (donations can be made by clicking on the Paypal "donate" button on this page). Also please pray for us as we iron out all the details of a place to live and visas.
Thank you all so much for your prayers. You are all such a huge part of what God is doing in Mongolia and in our family. May God bless you all.

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Countryside Church Leaders


Every two months we have the privilege of meeting with and building up our mission church leaders. We currently have 4 mission churches in smaller towns around Darkhan.

Our last meeting was yesterday. Hetee spoke to the leaders about developing and maintaining their love relationship with God. He also shared with them about prayer and fasting and about finishing strong.

Before closing they discussed the paperwork process for acquiring church permissions for each church. We ask that you continue to pray for all of our churches as we go through this process.

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Victory of Christ's Love

We are still believing God for our church permission papers. We have resubmitted all the paperwork and asked that they allow us to reopen as a new church. In order to do that we have had to change the names of our Darkhan church and countryside mission churches. Our new Darkhan church name has been changed to "Victory of Christ's Love Church". It is by the Love of Christ that WE WIN! We have victory over self, sin and bad habits, hurt, bondage and over Satan himself. AND it is only through the Love of Chirst that we win others to Him.

Please keep us in your prayers as we've been told that it will be very difficult to get permissions for the church. But we know that God is Lord over Mongolia and He will have His way in the end.
Since the beginning of the new year the Lord has been leading us on a journey of prayer and fasting. Our church is experiencing a new hunger and thirst for God and His presence. We have recently begun a 84 day (partial) fast and are already seeing growth in the spiritual lives of our believers.

We believe that the year 2010 will be a year of restoration for Victory of Christ's Love Church on 3 levels: Our relationship as a body with Him, that He will build a Christ-like character in us, and that each and every member of the body will rededicate themselves anew in service to Him.

God has answered our prayer about training and Hetee has been able to attend a pastoral training course called Asian Access. They gather once every 3 months for 1 week at a time over the course of 3 years. The classes are held near Ulaan Baatar and ministers from all over the world come and teach.

As a result of the previous prayer and fasting, God spoke to Hetee many times through the classes and other fellow pastors in attendance at Asian Access. Hetee received confirmation on a number of things that he had been seeking God about and was very encouraged.
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Tsagaan Sar

Every year for the Lunar New Year, or Tsagaan Sar as it is called in Mongolian, we like to honor the elderly at Christian Fellowship. This year we were blessed to honor 12 of our oldest cell group leaders. They happen to all be women and they are age 55 and older.



Happy New Year!

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The Beautiful Faces of Christian Fellowship











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Encouraging Feedback

Since the Samaritan's Purse gift distribution on Saturday, we have been getting some feedback from the children who attended. We thought we'd share it with you all so you could be encouraged with us!

One little boy, we were told, went home and told his alcoholic father about Jesus. He told his father that Jesus wants to take away his black heart and give him a white one.

Another child told her parents that she decided to believe in Jesus and asked them for permission to attend church. We are praying that the parents will not only allow her to attend but that they will also come themselves and that the entire family will come to know Christ.

One little girl was stunned as she opened a gift that contained things that she specifically wanted. She loves drawing and art and has won several awards as an artist through her school. She also does beading work with her mom. This little girl's gift box contained a drawing tablet, colors and color pencils--things she wanted and could really use! Not only that, but the box also contained a set of beads and string! The little girl was so pleased that God knew exactly what she wanted!

Please continue to pray for these children and their families. We have the promise that God's word NEVER returns void. Please pray that the seed that was planted in their hearts during the drama and salvation message take root and grow and bear fruit.
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Samaritan's Purse

Today we had the privelege of partnering with Samaritan's Purse to hand out nearly 200 presents to children in our community!

Our littlest helpers, Abi and Kenny were very excited to take part in the gift-giving. (Although Kenny doesn't look very excited in this photo!) When we left the house I told the kids that they would not be receiving a present since they had already gotten Christmas presents. I told them that this would be a time to give and to bless other children. Abi said, "Mommy, I don't want to get a present. I just want to see the happy faces when those children open their presents!"


Our drama team did "A Tale of Two Kingdoms". It is a powerful drama that explains salvation in a way even small children can understand.

Look at this girls expression as she watched Jesus being crucified in the drama
Now she's is smiling at His resurrection and coronation as King

After the drama, Hetee talked to the children about The Greatest Gift


Time to open the presents!

Some of the children received cards and letters that needed to be translated...

Today was this little girl's birthday!

Packed!

BAYARLALAA!!!

(Thank You!!!)

Whew! All done!
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Summer camp, 2009

I came across this post in the "drafts" folder. I started it way back but forgot to post it!

The pictures are from our church summer camping trip last summer.

About 40 people attended and we baptized 13.







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Urgent Prayer Request

Please keep us in your prayers as we appeal to the government once more for our church papers. Last month our church permission request was denied. In Mongolia churches have to renew their permissions every year. This year, almost half of the elected officials in charge are extreme Buddhist and have been very vocal against the Christian churches. They have decided that they will not grant any new permissions to churches in our town because they believe that there are enough churches as it is.

Our church is one of the first in Darkhan. But, due to misinformation from one of the government offices a while back, our papers were not renewed and so we have had to apply all over again. Now, they are treating us as a new church and refusing to give us permission to meet.

Hetee will meet with the government officials today on behalf of our church and several other Christian churches who have also been denied permission papers. Please pray that God will move on our behalf and that we will be granted church permission papers.
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Testimonies of God's Goodness


This is Chuka. He became a believer and started attending Darkhan Christian Fellowship 5 years ago. He used to be an alcoholic until a fight with a drinking buddy left him blind in his right eye.

While in the hospital, he read a Bible for the first time. A woman from church visited him and invited him to attend church with her. He began to attend church and a cell group and learned about forgiveness. His left eye was also damaged in a fight with a police officer and but he can see a little. He is believing God for complete eyesight restoration and asks that you all pray for him as well.

Chuka has been a member of Hetee's G12 for the past 3 years. He also attends Bible School and has a heart for the cripple and mentally disabled.

~~~~~~~~~

This is Nara. She has been a believer for 7 years and a member of Melanie's G12 for about 4 years. For a long time she was the only believer in her family but now her youngest son and one granddaughter have become Christians. She has been a tremendous example to her unsaved family members and is believing God for the salvation of her husband and grown children.


Nara's demeanor has changed a lot since becoming a believer. She used to be a harsh business woman. She was hard on her husband and children and very demanding of those around her but since she gave her life to Christ, she has become more loving, peaceful and generous. She has a heart for the poor and gives to them generously.


In spite of these positive changes, at a recent family gathering, her husband and children got to talking and decided to confront her about going to church and tithing. They had had enough and they wanted her to stop. But she told them that the changes that they had seen in her life were a result of her decision to follow Jesus. She reminded them that the strife that used to exist in their home was gone, and that the peace the whole family now benefited from was because of Jesus. They became quiet and agreed that she was right. Since then no one has told her to stop believing in Jesus and her husband has given his full consent to her attending church and cell group.


Please remember Nara's family in your prayers. Pray that Nara will not be discouraged and that she will continue to be a light to them and lead them to the Savior.
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