Tom Lin

As we are close to wrapping up another academic year, the phrase “There is still much work to be done” can be heard at every FCS leadership meeting. There are 2 major end-of-the-year retreats and 3 summer mission teams to prepare for, and there is a need to meet with students before some go off into the countryside during the summer.

Many students also become spiritually lazy during May, choosing not to show up for Bible study and not showing up for university classes. They struggle with finances, as they had to pay tuition ($300 annual) by the first of this month . Some didn’t, and were expelled from university during this past month. One student (still unknown) has apparently stolen some CD’s and other valuables from our student center. It can be OVERWHELMING when faced with all the urgent needs in this poor, non-Christian society.

But with all this “work to be done”, we are reminded that we are here to invest in the LONG-TERM. Our goal is to develop the Mongolian staff and leadership for future generations of FCS students. To this end, we planned 2 major training initiatives this month - (1) One-week training for staffs Chuka and Marta in Korea which ended last week, and (2) Sending 2 future staff and 1 current staff (Borgio) to the IFES-East Asia Regional Conference (EARC) on May 24-30.

The EARC CONFERENCE gathers all the Christian student movements from East Asia, and is an extremely helpful time for our Mongolians to gain vision for student ministry, to learn from countries who have more developed student movements, and to receive training by special speakers. We also decided to invest an extra week (May 17-24) into these 3 Mongolians, by first bringing them to Singapore to learn and grow our partnership with the Singapore movement.

Our UPCOMING TRAVEL SCHEDULE will look like this:
* May 17-24: Singapore
* May 24-30: Indonesia (EARC Conference)
* May 31-Jun 8: Beijing (Nancy and Abby only)
* May 31-Jun 8: Mexico + 50 hrs of flight time (Wycliffe mtg, Tom only)
* Jun 9-12: Beijing (Lin’s family vacation)

To invest in the long-term, we also met our EAST ASIA REGIONAL SECRETARY, Gideon Yung, in Ulaanbaatar on April 12-14. The time was very fruitful. We gained long-term vision and wisdom in long-term planning in areas such as (a) developing our Mongolian staff and preparing them for independent leadership, (b) revising finance/admin policies, and (c) stabilizing the rate of growth of FCS. For example, one practical outcome was to implement an early Staff Study Leave policy — sending (and “sacrificing”) our young staff for 2-3 years to study at a seminary abroad, in order to benefit FCS in the long-term when they return.

Finally, thanks for praying for the “30 Days of Evangelism.” On April 29, Nancy spoke on “The Difference btw God’s Love and Human Love” at the FCS1 EBS Camp. We praise God that 10 students decided to accept Jesus Christ that night!

We also praise God for Tom’s dad and brother’s visit to Mongolia on April 25-May 4. It was very encouraging for us, and we thank many of you for sending along gifts with them! SEE NEW PHOTOS from their visit, along with pictures of recent camps and meetings, at: http://www.tomandnancylin.com/photos/.

To see new media recently posted, click on http://www.tomandnancylin.com/multimedia/ . We want to highlight a new powerpoint presentation “STATISTICS: CHRISTIANITY IN MONGOLIA.” It shares the current situation of the church today.

—————— PRAYER REQUESTS [Please print and post] ——————

1. PRAY FOR NANCY. Nancy will be acting as the team leader for our EARC delegation. She also recently experienced some spiritual disturbing dreams and spiritual warfare. Two weeks ago, “Gary”, one of our new believers, was demon-possessed. (”Gary no longer is here. I have him now,” came out of Gary’s mouth.). Nancy and our staff Chuka prayed for Gary and the evil spirit left. All of this on top of being a full-time mother! Please pray esp. for Nancy’s time in Beijing, that it would be restful.

2. PRAY FOR ABBY. Abby will be leaving the cool Mongolian weather for hot & humid weather in Southeast Asia. Pray for peaceful traveling, her health, skin condition, and adjustment to the local weather and local surroundings. Thanks!

3. PRAY FOR TOM. Tom will doing some staff training at EARC, with about 60 staff from East Asia expected. Then after our trip to Singapore and Indonesia, Tom will be attending the Wycliffe Board Retreat in Oaxaca, Mexico on June 1-5. Pray esp. for strength as the travel from Mongolia-Singapore-Indonesia-Mexico-San Francisco-Beijing-Mongolia, will be physically taxing.

4. PRAY FOR FCS EBS SEMINAR (May 27-30). This is an end-of-the-semester retreat for those involved with EBS. For those who have not yet become believers, it is a major opportunity to make final decisions. For those who have, it is a time to build a foundation for their journey as a Christian. Pray for our staff Marta, who is the EBS Seminar Director, and for our goal of 40 students to join.

5. PRAY FOR THE FCS NATIONAL SEMINAR (June 3-6). This is an end-of-the-semester retreat for all FCS students (except for EBS members). All three chapters (FCS1, FCS2, FCS3) will participate in this camp together, with the theme being “Looking at Ourselves and a Disciple’s Life”. This seminar is also crucial for students to prepare spiritually for the summer. Pray for Chuka, who will direct this seminar, and for over 70 students to join.

Blessings,
Tom and Nancy
—–