Mongolia, Shanghai, and Thoughts

Hello all.

We’ve been in Shanghai since last night. It was great to be able to sleep in a real bed and to have air conditioning. We’ve been sleeping outside in Mongolian gers for the last week. It was very cool. Two nights, there was a Mongolian gully washer. Ok, I’m sure they call it something else, but I’m just saying… Our ger was the only one that didn’t get flooded. (Sorry guys)

We flew from Ulan Bataar, Mongolia to Beijing, then from Beijing to Shanghai. We didn’t miss any flights, none were cancelled and only one of them was even a little late. Krysta Edwards (Brent and Sherry’s daughter) has claimed her place as our good luck charm. So far, it’s working.

Our last day in Darkhan, Thursday, 7/5/2007:

For breakfast, we had monkey bread. For those of you who don’t know what it is, I’m sorry. Really. Let me know if you don’t know what it is and we’ll make some for you.

The cooks at the River campus are Leah and Sarah (I think), two American cooks who are giving their summer to serve God in Mongolia. Jerry is having them teach the Mongolian cooks how to do American food. All I can say is that it is working. The food was great all week. I had visions of myself losing weight…but that never happened, even with the walking we’ve done. But I digress.

After breakfast, we’ve been having a short devotional from members of the group. Chris Machen, Cecile, and I all did one. On Thursday, Leo, the head of the Texas Baptist Men (TBM), did one (They are in Darkhan to help with the poison water situation and to help build domes). He had been a preacher for thirty years and it showed. He spoke Matthew 11 and used the passage where Jesus says, “Come unto me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

I’ve been feeling dry and disconnected from the Father for some time. When Leo said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” I got a tremendous picture of how loving our Father is. He’s not worried about all my baggage and the stuff that I say stands in the way of my relationship with him. I saw myself coming to him, weary and burdened, with the burdens that I have placed on my back. It was powerful, but that wasn’t all.

Next, Leo said, “You have to yoke yourself to God.” It’s odd, I have always thought of this as a yoke that Jesus placed on me and that I carried by myself. I never considered that I might actually be sharing the yoke with him. Can you imagine what that would be like? Everywhere he goes, you go. Wow. I’m still chewing on that one. But, like taking up our cross, this is not something God does TO us, this is something WE do; take up our cross, take his yoke upon us. It requires action on our part.

So, after that, Jerry spoke for a few minutes and truly showed his passion for the Mongolian people. He spoke of giving them blankets, food, and water. He said that if we did all this and never told them about Jesus, we were just making them comfortable on the way to hell. I was glad to hear this, as it was confirmation of what I have been seeing all week; Jerry and Susan Smith love the Mongolian people and are concerned, ultimately, with their salvation. Please pray for them and their work in Darkhan and the rest of Mongolia.

Then, after thanking us for coming, Jerry washed the feet of every person who was willing and personally thanked us again.

Normally, I don’t really like this particular exercise. I think that, along with most people, I am uncomfortable being truly served and, on a deeper level, I am unsure if I have the level of commitment required from God to really be a foot-washer – a true servant. Anyway, for the first time, I saw this from another point of view. This guy, Jerry, is very highly esteemed in Mongolia. He has been made an honorary Mongolian (this may not sound like a big deal, but trust me, to them it is). And here he was, washing my feet. How could I possibly have a bad attitude for the rest of the day? How could I complain about the heat/food/fatigue/inconvenience/whatever that would come my way? He washed my feet.

Maybe this is one of those things that happens that are just for me. Maybe it won’t have the same deep affect on you because you weren’t there, inside my head. But, think about it; Jesus washed the feet of the disciples. The God of the Universe, Creator of Man, Prince of Peace, Holy One, Alpha, Omega, I AM kneeled down on the dirty floor and, with his bare hands, washed the feet of his disciples – even Judas!! Then he said, “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet … I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger great than the one who sent him.”

Still chewing on that one, too.