Tom Lin

It’s seems like yesterday when we were just saying good-bye to you all during the summer. Now, it’s our turn… We’re moving back to the States in just 5 days! As you might expect, the past month has been full of “lasts” - - last meetings with friends, last time fixing broken pipes and water leaking from the ceiling, last Mongolian retreat, last FCS staff meeting under Tom’s leadership, etc. However, it also surprisingly has been full of “firsts”:

First time we’ve ever been robbed. Thieves came to our FCS administration office at night, broke open the door, and stole about $1,200 USD and 3 notebook computers. Needless to say, the entire office was ransacked.

First time we’ve run 3 simultaneous English Camps in 3 separate parts of the city, hosted by our FCS1 staff, FCS2 staff, and FCS3 staff respectively. Although not yet over, one Mongolian student has already become a believer through the camp, and many more have professed interest!

First senior staff attrition. This July, two of our “senior” Mongolian staff - Marta and Borgio - will leave FCS after 4 years of service each. It was mixed feelings for us, as we had invested so much in their leadership development. However, they will no doubt continue to impact the future Mongolian Church in different capacities.

First published resource by Nancy. After a year-long personal study in Proverbs, Nancy put together a prayer booklet which enables Mongolian prayer groups to pray through the book of Proverbs over 31 days. It will go to the printing company shortly after we leave!

Tom co-officiated his first Mongolian wedding. Tom gave the wedding sermon (homily) for Batka and Amaraa, two former students of ours who became believers through the FCS ministry. There are also the first FCS graduates to marry each other! We also had the joy and privilege of doing their pre-marital counseling.
Abby memorized her first alphabet (English)! Although only 25 letters, Abby began reciting her alphabet while on the toilet last month. She was potty-training on the toilet (learning multi-tasking quite early). You can listen to her “potty” alphabet recording on our website’s media section: http://www.tomandnancylin.com/multimedia/ .

*FOR PICTURES and more details of the above “First’s” and “Last’s”, as well as Tom’s U.K. pics, click on: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomandnancylin/.

Thanks for your many prayers for Nancy’s health. Her morning sickness did decrease substantially during Tom’s 5-day trip to the U.K, and she is now able to help Tom around the house a bit. One of our top priorities during our furlough will be physical rest and strengthening for both of us, so please continue praying!

How are we feeling about leaving? Mixed emotions. On one hand, due to Nancy’s difficult pregnancy, recent water outages (hot water or cold water turned off for days), and recent events like the robbery, part of us is really looking forward to our move back to the States and our upcoming furlough. However, part of us also grieves leaving behind all that we’ve invested during these past 4+ years and the wonderful relationships we’ve built. (Due to financial realities and visa restrictions, we know that realistically, our Mongolian friends will never be able to visit the States!).

What will we do next? Our InterVarsity policy allows us to have a furlough, which we’ll take until our next assignment. The goals for our furlough are: (1) Physical Rest, (2) Spiritual Renewal and Study, (3) Debriefing and Successful Re-entry into American Culture, and (4) Mutual Encouragement in Meeting Supporters and Partnering Churches. Although we will do our best to keep these goals, we’ll also have some official IV functions and strategic meetings to attend. Our furlough will extend through June 2007. Around that time, Tom will serve in a new capacity within InterVarsity-USA, which we will share with you in the near future. Please pray for the above goals of our furlough.

Where will we be housed? Although we’ll be traveling from time to time, we’ll spend most of the furlough in the Bay Area. Here’s a peak at our upcoming schedule:

July 9-12: Seoul, Korea
July 12-27, Aug. 1-11: Chicago, IL
July 27-31: Houston, TX
Aug. 11-20: Boston, MA
Aug. 23- : Mountain View, CA

- - - - - - MORE PRAYER REQUESTS [PLEASE PRINT & POST] - - - - - -

1. UPCOMING SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS… On July 27-31, Tom will be keynote speaker at the National Taiwanese Presbyterian Young Adults Conference (http://www.ntpyac.org/RW2006.htm) and preaching at a local Houston church. Then on Aug. 13th and 20th, we’ll speak at Chinese Bible Church of Greater Boston and Boston Chinese Evangelical Church. Please pray for that our sharing of God’s Word and work in Mongolia would be a blessing to the churches. Pray for our health as well, because traveling while pregnant and with a 1-year old in hot and humid weather will certainly be a challenge!

2. CONTINUED PRAYER & FINANCIAL SUPPORT . Often, during a furlough or sabbatical, there is a misunderstanding that less prayer and finances will be needed, when actually quite the opposite is true! Our living expenses will increase and some supporting churches may pull back support because we’re no longer overseas. Please pray for the Lord to meet all of our prayer and financial needs, and for our support team to continue growing.

*If you are interested in giving a one-time gift or begin monthly electronic giving, please click on: www.ivcf.org/donate .

With Much Love,
Tom and Nancy

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