NTM Updates from MONGOLIA

MONGOLIA

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 0:00:00 EDT

Missionaries Jeremy and Roxy Thiessen continue to learn the Mongolian culture while they have good fellowship with the believers. Please pray that their ministry will affect many more lives and draw them to the Savior.

Living in Mongolia means give and take

Dena McMaster — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 0:00:00 EDT

Missionaries Jeremy and Roxy Thiessen and their three children have discovered that living in a Mongolian village requires a lot of give and take. They "give" many of their customs to Mongolian friends and find that in return, they receive a "touch of Mongolian culture."

The Lord has used Jeremy and Roxy to touch the hearts of several friends who have trusted Christ as their Savior. Through this they are learning to appreciate Mongolian food and culture and their friends are learning to enjoy western customs.

The children's friends have learned to enjoy Legos and Polly Pockets, and pizza is now a favorite snack of many of their guests. Some are learning to enjoy the slightly more spicy dishes that Roxy serves.

A dish of dried milk curds has become a Thiessen family favorite and steamed meat dumplings are another. A Mongolian proverb states, "It is better to have one thousand friends than one thousand dollars," and the Thiessens are discovering the true meaning of that proverb.

The believers meet together for fellowship and Jeremy and Roxy are greatly encouraged as they share God's Word together. The Holy Spirit is enabling their Mongolian friends to understand the Truth and He is using their friends' lives to teach them also.

Pray for Jeremy and Roxy as they continue to minister among the Mongolians. Pray also that they will continue to absorb culture and language and that God will use them to draw others to Christ.

MONGOLIA

Mon, 7 Jul 2008 0:00:00 EDT

As missionaries Jeremy and Roxy Thiessen minister among their Mongolian friends, they are learning more about the challenges that make up life in Mongolia. Pray that they are able to encourage their friends and build relationships.

Digging holes and dropping sheep

Ian Fallis — Mon, 7 Jul 2008 0:00:00 EDT

Each day's activities in a Mongolian village remind Jeremy and Roxy Thiessen of the words of Paul, "Who is adequate for a task such as this?"

"In recent days ... we have rubbed shoulders beside fellow townspeople, listened and experienced some of the challenges of life with them," the couple wrote. Those include family breakups, bank debts and husband-and-wife difficulties.

Roxy found herself on a steep learning curve when she traveled with a friend to the capital city of Ulaanbaatar recently. Among her experiences on the four-day supply run were "bouncing along slowly in a 3 ton truck, stopping to drop off 38 sheep, selling animal skins and guts along the road, helping purchase supplies and [watching] the truck while the supplies were being loaded."

Jeremy is staying busy using the tractor that was finally delivered to the village this past spring.

"He plowed up 8 hectares the other day, dug a 3-meter root cellar hole, moved a small house, leveled out some ground and will be helping a gardener working up 40 hectares," the Thiessens wrote. "The gardener is waiting for a 'good day' to plow, because the [local religious leader] said yesterday was a 'very bad day.'"

"Knowing that God is watching we keep pressing on," the couple wrote.

Pray for the Thiessens as they build relationships with the Mongolian people and live for Christ among them.

MONGOLIA

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 0:00:00 EDT

A team of experienced NTM missionaries recently helped Jeremy and Roxy Thiessen identify two areas of concern for planting a church. Pray that these issues will be overcome.