One thing that has been heavy on my heart is Christian's role in helping the poor and the oppressed. As I was walking down the main street in Ulaanbaatar a few weeks ago, a street boy asked me for money. Instead of stopping to take the time to show love on this child, I made sure my purse was tucked under my arm so it could not be stolen, and walked away fast. How I dealt with this situation bothered me for days! I could have taken the opportunity to take this child to a market near by and buy him some food, to show him the love of Christ, but I did not. The Holy Spirit has used this situation to work on my heart and think about what I can do to serve the poor. The Bible is filled with passages about remembering the poor and the mistreated, caring for widows, and loving the oppressed. Let's as a church body, do this well. As James 1: 27 says "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." The world is full of people in need who we can reach out to. People seem to be looking to the government to address these issues, but I truly believe it is the role of the church to deal with these problems and reach out to the poor. It does not necessarily mean with money, but with time and love, serve those in need. Let's seek to care for the poor well!
I met a young man last week who lived in the dump from age 7 years old when he was orphaned until age 16. In Ulaanbaatar, children, many who are orphans, live in the dumps. Can you imagine this, especially in a climate that gets to -40 degrees in the winter? They do not go to school and pick through the dumps to find food. This young man shared that a church reached out to him and gave him meals. And over many years of living in the dumps, the Lord worked on his heart to see the hope that the church people, who were serving him food, had. He wanted that hope and a future and he came to know the Lord. He now lives in a ger on the church property and is very involved in ministry with children who live in the dump. I told him that the Lord will use his story to reach out to many people. He is a very mature young man passionate for the Lord. He had not gone to school, but started around age 16 and will be graduating next year. What an accomplishment! I want to go visit this ministry as every Saturday they minister there, but I will have to prepare my heart for this.
Last week was great. I was in the office all week, which takes some getting used to being in an office 5 days a week. By Friday, I was wiped out! I had many meetings, two of them being with the US and Canadian Embassy, and I was so thankful for the support they are giving our program. Please pray for favor with the Mongolian government with a container that is bringing much needed medical supplies. Also please pray for a family who lost a teenage girl. She was a beautiful young woman who died much to young. Pray for comfort for her mother and family. Two families who have children with heart defect came into our office this week to seek assistance from our program. I am so thankful our program exists because there is very few other options for children with heart defects to be repaired in Mongolia. I am thankful we can give them hope by enrolling them in our program and also share about the true hope that exists in Christ Jesus.
Next week I start language lessons, which I am very excited for. I will start with a 20 lesson survival course. It will be intense, but what I need. Pray for me as I balance work and language, along with two visitors coming in the next few weeks.
Thanks for tuning in and supporting this ministry and work through prayer!
Blessings,
EM
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