Would God Not Want You to Serve?

Many years ago, Jane Hsu visited Inner Mongolia, China, while teaching in China, and since then, she has had the idea of serving in Outer Mongolia/Mongolia if the opportunity arose.

At the end of March this year, the church to which Jane was committed encouraged the brothers and sisters to go to Mongolia for a short mission trip in August as a way of supporting F, the missionary who has been committed to Mongolia for a long time. Jane immediately signed up, although she had previously given pre-evangelistic keynote speeches in atheist, Islamic, and Hindu regions at the invitation of gospel organizations with good responses. However, she was uncertain if it would be applicable in Mongolia, where the main religions are Tibetan Buddhism and Shamanism. She prayed to the Lord, saying, "Here I am, Lord. If it is your will, use me."

On May 23, Jane informed the church contact, C, of seven keynote topics suitable for different ages and asked her to relay them to F. On June 13, she received a reply: Due to the prevalence of foreign heresies, local churches are very cautious about external courses. Additionally, due to cultural differences, local church leaders are concerned that the Chinese model may not be suitable for Mongolians. Therefore, they requested to review the outline or PPT of the parent-child seminar. Jane immediately provided the "Quality Parent-Child Interaction" PPT to the contact.

On June 27, Jane requested the contact to relay: "For the keynote speech, I need to know the time available, including translation. Equipment needed includes a projector, screen, microphone, presentation remote, and computer. Additionally, please inform me of the age range and approximate number of attendees."

On June 28, F replied: "The VIP room on the second floor of the hotel has a large round table, air conditioning, TV screen (on the left behind me), and power outlets. The lunch time is two hours, and we can insert the seminar depending on the situation. Generally, after serving the dishes, the service staff won’t interrupt, so we can use that time for short talks and discussion. We don’t have a church or a classroom, just like Jesus preached by the shore or on the hillside in any situation. Please be mentally prepared and stay flexible; everything is subject to change."

On July 2, Jane received a message from F: "Mongolia is anti-Chinese, so please use English. We have young adults of marriageable age, newlyweds and families with new babies. Do you have any interesting psychological quizzes? I could translate them and send them out to pique interest. The first cross-cultural lecture aims to build bridges and friendships; thinking of doing ministry to solve problems is wishful thinking. Without relationships, there is no trust, and without trust, there is no ministry. You can rely on our missionaries to connect you and have a relationship, but it’s impossible to gain their trust in a short time. Games, songs, dances, crafts, and sports, these universal languages, can help build mutual trust."

After confirming that they had not done the "Love Languages" serial quizzes, Jane designed two short talks, "The 5 Love Languages" and "Coping with the period of PURPLE crying" targeting these service recipients. She created both a couples’ version and a singles’ version of the quiz. To ensure smooth translation on-site, she wrote out the script for each slide verbatim. To give the translator enough time, she sent out the quiz first, followed by the PPT and script for the talks in batches.

On July 31 (two days before departure), Jane started experiencing nasal drip and a hoarse voice.

On August 1, at 4:00 PM, she received the " The 5 Love Languages" PPT with Mongolian translation. Seeing no other files, Jane felt uneasy.

On August 2, she arrived in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, in the evening. During dinner, F informed Jane (referred to as J): "12 people signed up, but not everyone who signed up may attend the banquet."
J: "Has the '5 Love Languages' quiz been translated?"
F: "Mongolians might refuse to fill out formal questionnaires, fearing that the pastor is collecting information. In Mongolia, psychological privacy is sensitive, and the terms are hard to translate."
J: "The quiz is not a questionnaire. They read it themselves and then discuss it with their partner. It's not collected, and the questions are all in everyday language with no technical terms. You didn’t read the file, did you?"
F: "I was very busy."
J: "The PPT for the talk for families with newborns hasn’t been translated, right?"
F: (Nods) "I sent the first two slides to three pregnant sisters, and they didn’t respond."
J: (While showing the PPTs) "The first two slides are the title and baby’s sleep. Why didn’t you send the third and fourth slides?"
F: (Surprised) "This content is very practical. We can arrange another time. I can translate the PPT."
J: "There’s no problem using the hotel TV to display the PPT and videos, right?"
F: "I haven’t used it before, so I don’t know. If it doesn’t work, we’ll use my laptop."
J: "Is there a microphone? My throat is inflamed."
F: "No microphone. The amplifier was sold a few years ago. Would God not want you to serve and just enjoy sightseeing?"
J: "Sightseeing would certainly be enjoyable. I’m just a soldier, ready to go into battle anytime. Whether or not to go into battle is the general’s decision."
F: "Why did you come to Mongolia? Why do you want to come?"

On August 3 in the morning, Jane spat out a large mouthful of phlegm with quite a bit of blood. Her throat instantly cleared, and her voice quality was excellent. At noon, they arrived at the restaurant, but the TV couldn’t connect to a USB, so they used a laptop. Including the translator, five people came, making seven with F and his wife. Everyone was focused and engaged in learning, with lively and joyful interaction during the Q&A. F said, "This is our first time holding a keynote lecture, a great start! Such a wonderful talk should be shared with some churches! Too few people came; it’s such a pity! Next time, you could teach parents… talk to couples… see, I have things to learn from you, and you have things to learn from me."

Thanksgiving items:
1. Safe and peaceful travels in and out of Mongolia from August 2 to 8. Although there were unexpected events every day, each day Jane experienced the Lord’s grace. Personally experiencing the significant cultural differences further highlighted the challenges and shortages in local service personnel, leading to more specific prayers for missionary F and his family in the future.
2. Pastor Qixian Ruan will represent the Lifting Hands Network at various joint prayer meetings in the northern region, introducing the association’s courses and publications.
3. Pastor Jack Wei led the group through "Healing Depression for Life: The 12-Week Journey to Lifelong Wellness," witnessing the growth and transformation of the participants, which was deeply encouraging. A new group will start again in November.

Prayer items:
1. May "Anxiety Reset" and "Healing Depression for Life" be greatly used by God, becoming a blessing to those who are feeling low, prone to anxiety, and burdened by stress.
2. Pray that those who said they would organize workshops on "Walk Out of Grief" and "The Secret of Psychological Body Armor" will make definite arrangements and book a session.
3. May "Sustainable Church: Growing Ministry Around the Sheep, Not Just the Shepherds” be a blessing to all churches.
4. Pray that the Lord will greatly use the publications of the Lifting Hands Network to enhance the relationships of Chinese people with God, others, and themselves.