Pre-Trip Update

Greetings, all. I apologize that I have not posted an update in two months. This is mostly due to the fact that nothing huge or exciting has happened and we have simply continued with preparations. I am scheduled to leave on Saturday!! I can't believe it has come up so fast. I never imagined that eight months would pass so quickly. I am fully funded and my medical/dental work is complete.
The plan is for me to spend a few days in the city once I arrive in Mongolia before heading out to the countryside, specifically a province known as Dornogobi. Dornogobi is a province on the southeastern edge of Mongolia in the Gobi Desert. I thought I was going to the steppes.....apparently not. I hate the heat; God must have a sense of humor to send me to the desert in the summertime. Anyway, my specific jobs will be giving workshops to nomadic herders, teaching English, sharing the gospel when possible, sharing devotions and my testimony with my team, and possibly helping Mongolian veterinarians treat some sick animals. Any cases that I assist in treating, I will need to photograph and write up. This is called doing a case study and the studies will be used in the veterinary school this fall to show vet students how to write their own. I have been told that one of the most important parts of my ministry in Mongolia will be building up my Mongolian teammates and encouraging them in their faith. Please pray that I will be effective in doing this...and whatever else the Lord has planned for me. I am getting packed and feeling more excited. Thank you for your support; it is truly appreciated.

Matthew 28:19-20 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (NLT)

I think a lot of times we focus on the first verse of the Great Commission and forget about the second part. We go boldly proclaiming the word of God, making disciples (or at least converts) and baptizing them. But then we leave it there, figuring that they now have Christ, they are saved, good enough. Sadly, we forget that to truly make them disciples, we must teach new believers to obey all of the commands that Christ has given us. The teaching is an on-going process, one which cannot be completed in a specified period of time. As believers, we should all always be learning more and more to obey our Lord. It is this part of the commission that the team has assigned me. Yes, I will hopefully be making disciples as well but for this trip, teaching new Christians to obey what Christ has taught will be my focus. Please continue to pray for me and for the Mongolian people as a whole.