Tom Lin

A few days ago, on August 17th, we witnessed history, a big step towards the official formation of a new IFES (InterVarsity) MOVEMENT in Mongolia. Our team, along with guests Gideon Yung (IFES E. Asia Regional Secretary) and Ung-Seop Shin (IVF-Korea President), officially appointed the first Mongolian staff interns. Borgio, Choka, Marta, and Zulaa were Mongolian students that just graduated and will begin 2 years of intern training, after which they are eligible to become full-time, regular national staffworkers. Parents, local pastors, and Mongolian students were also in attendance, as we celebrated this historic event!

Of course, much work comes with establishing a new movement as well! We have learned much from other workers about the Mongolian worldview, culture, and effective teaching styles for the Mongolian context (pedagogy). We spent August 12-18 in meetings with Gideon & Ung-Seop to discuss the future of the Mongolian student movement (FCS). We are in the process of finalizing:
— 4-year Strategic Plan
— FCS financial policies and support plan for future national staff
— FCS salary and administration structures
— FCS National Staff Handbook

We also praise Him for the work done through short-term teams this summer. The Korea IVF team departed August 8th after encouraging the Mongolian students in their faith. Because of the Korean IVF team and American IVCF team’s visits, we expect 18 NEW STUDENTS to join Investigative Word studies this September. Tom hopes to meet regularly with one of these students, Odko, who we have followed up with several times already. Odko recently said, “I want to learn Buddhism and Jesus, and then decide which is better.”

PICTURES ARE NOW ON OUR WEBSITE! [Thank you Mark Wang]. To view pictures and stories from this summer’s English camp, Tom doing the laundry, Nancy riding a camel, our wonderful staff partners, and more, click on: http://www.tomandnancylin.com/photos

Finally, we graduated from our 2-week Mongolian language “survival” course (August 5-16). We can now survive shopping, taking taxis, and other requirements for living in Ulaanbaatar. But it’s still difficult to communicate with most Mongolian students. We yearn to share our lives with the students, and we are diligently studying with that goal in mind. Our full academic year of language study begins SEPTEMBER 2ND.

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1. Remember OUR INTERNATIONAL STAFF TEAM. Our colleagues, Park and Lee, are Korean and we face some communication and cultural challenges. At the same time, we have much to discuss as we prepare for the establishment of this new student movement. Ask for wisdom in our discussions, building of trust, and for deep times of sharing between us.

2. P for OUR TIME INVESTMENTS THIS SEMESTER. In addition to our language course, the Mongolian students begin their academic year in September. We plan on committing to a specific ministry (non-believers ministry, basics for new believers, training disciples, or training the staff interns), but are not sure what’s wisest, esp. due to the limited time. Ask that Dad would show us which ministry is most effective for us to engage in.

3. P for MONGOLIAN SOCIETY. With zero believers just prior to 1990, p for the basic concept of God to be learned. Due to the influence of Shamanism, most Mongolians think gods of rocks, trees, and earth have supernatural strength, and ceremonies are done to appease these gods and change the god’s minds. However, they don’t believe these gods care about morality. Thus, it’s difficult to even teach about sin when there is no concept of morality, much less individual responsibility for one’s actions (i.e. lying, cheating, robbery, teenage sex, abuse, alcoholism, etc.). P that morality and responsibility would be sowed among the people, so that they would be ready to receive the good News.

Blessings,
Tom and Nancy
http://www.tomandnancylin.com

P.S. Our internet connection is now much quicker than before, so please keep in touch!
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