Grace Notes

Rev. Matthew Heise  “Lutheranism comes to Mongolia” July 2010

The Khan always looms large in Mongolia

I have often written how Mikhail Gorbachev’s “glasnost” program in the late1980s, whatever his intentions, opened up the former Soviet Union to the Gospel. That new “openness”, though, also had an effect upon other communist countries that were not directly controlled by the USSR. In 1990, inspired by the changes taking place in the Soviet Union, young Mongolians pushed for a democratic revolution of their own. Step by step political reforms began to strip away the detritus of the old hated system. The Communist Party was now forced to compete in elections, the title People’s Republic was dropped in 1992, and eventually the Party itself lost power in 1996.

Those heady days saw missionaries like Pentti and Marja Marttila from Finland come to Mongolia with hopes of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. Mongolia had experienced a Christian presence in its past, but it was so long ago in history (7^th century) that no one could recall it.

(On page 64 in his book The Lost History of Christianity, Philip Jenkins writes about a Nestorian Christian cemetery in Kyrgyzstan and the gravesite of a Christian known as Tatt the Mongol- I’ve not yet seen this although I am now aware that I was only eight kilometers away while I was visiting another historical site. Definitely next time!).

In 1997 Nerguisaikhan Myadagmaa (hereafter, “Sainaa”, for obvious reasons!)

Sainaa (37 years old) often leads worship on his guitar

first heard the Gospel through his wife Hishigjargal (“Hishgee) who worked as a nanny for the children of the Marttilas. Hishgee and Sainaa began to discuss what itmeant to believe in Jesus Christ. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, they became believers and in late 1999 asked the Marttilas: “Could we start church meetings close to our home?” This request was prayed over with the missionaries and literally at the dawn of a new century, January 2000, Sunday services were started at Sain Medee (Good News) Church in western Ulaanbaatar.

Since that time, Sainaa has been looking for opportunities to learn more about that Faith. He first received some structured education from LCMS missionaries Leif Camp and Douglas Reinders in 2002 in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. After this initial exposure to Christian doctrine, Sainaa studied independently with LCMS Pastor Armand Boehme and Pastor Gennady Khonin of the Kazak Lutheran Church in Alma-Ata. Now through an agreement with Rev. John Loum, director of EIIT (Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology) based at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Sainaa is a long-distance internet student.

Buddhism still matters

center of Mongolia's Capital, Ulaanbaatar

While teaching in Mongolia this past April, Sainaa explained to me how Buddhism still casts a heavy shadow over Mongolia. Look at the building in the picture to the left, right in the center of Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaatar. Seems normal, doesn’t it? It is, but somehow a rumor was started that the building was inhabited by evil spirits. To this day, this perfectly normal building stands abandoned, already fifteen years! Such is the fear engendered by the spiritual world in Mongolia.

On the one hand, at least people there take the spiritual world seriously. But on the other hand, this inordinate fear causes problems for Christians. For instance, when a Christian dies, naturally the desire of the church is to have a Christian funeral. But it’s not that easy in a culture where Buddhism dominates. The relatives usually demand a Buddhist funeral whether they themselves are faithful practitioners or not. They fear the consequences towards themselves if they don’t hold a Buddhist funeral. There is no real concern for the wishes of the recently deceased, whether he or she happens to be a Christian or not. Held captive by their fears, they are more frightened of offending evil spirits.

So what can Christians do in such circumstances? Well it turns out to be a great opportunity for

Boris Chuprov, Ingrian Lutheran seminary student

witness. After all, we serve a God who has conquered death. As St. Paul reminds us in Romans 8, if God is for us, who can be against us? Sainaa tells me that in practice he has agreed with Buddhist priests that they can both hold the funeral at the same time. In a situation strangely akin to Elijah’s battle with the priests of Baal in the Old Testament, during a funeral Sainaa has a captive audience in which he can proclaim the certainty of Christ’s victory over death to those of a Buddhist background. He and the priests basically flip a coin as to who goes first.

Sainaa’s service to the Gospel is on the front lines in a spiritual battle with the forces of darknesswhich Buddhism represents. I remember Mende, the leader of a congregation in Zuunmod, telling me last year that his father had come to faith before his death. Although Mende hadn’t been certain as to whether his father had become a believer, he related that as he lay on his death bed with Buddhist relatives surrounding him, his face began to shine. Mende’s father said that he saw Jesus coming for him. Then he died. Naturally the Buddhist relatives were stunned and wanted to know more about this Jesus! So in parts of the world where there has been little Christian witness over many centuries, the Holy Spirit is now working overtime to penetrate hearts with the knowledge of Christ!

Update: Please pray for Sainaa. He has had a mild heart attack recently and is experiencing enough problems that he will need surgery. Please pray for his health and the doctors and nurses ministering to him. Also pray for his wife Hishgee who is expecting their fourth child in September.

are overwhelmed with grateful thanks to the Lord for his healing hand on our LCMS Eurasia accountant, Karen Roemer in Germany, and seminary student Boris Chuprov in St. Petersburg. Karen is now back to work and more importantly, completely cancer free! Boris, who suffers from HIV/AIDS, is now sufficiently healthy to return for classes at the seminary in the Fall. Thanks be to God!

Notes from the Edge of the World
Rev. Matthew Heise
June 2010
Waiting for Godot? No, Just a Visa

Above: The land of Bach has slowly been losing its Christian faith

I have been cooling my heels in Germany for the past month at the apartment of my colleagues, Brent
and Jennie Smith. I am very grateful to them for putting me up while I sent my passport to the States and waited for a Russian visa. I am especially grateful to their nine year old son, Zachary, who gave up his room for me. Thanks, Zach! I also had the chance to visit my classmate in the Eurasian Ph.D. program, Rev. Markus Fischer, of our partner church SELK (Independent Lutheran Church in Germany). Markus serves Trinity Lutheran congregation in Leipzig. I was able to assist him in his Sunday service, lending my American-accented German to the readings for the day. In light of my stay in Germany, I’m going to put off the second part of my Mongolian (more…)

As summer draws to a close, we turn our mission focus from projects in Rochester to global outreach with the Ablaze program and the special visit of Matt Heise, missionary to Russia.  Matt will be in Rochester on Wednesday, September 23.  There will be a special program and of course as is typical of Grace Hospitality, a special meal, “Grace will go Blini for Heise”.  The menu will include Russian vegetable pie, salad, bread and Blini’s for desert. What is a blini?  Why, it is a thin crepe filled with treats!  Yum!  Monies collected at the meal will go to support Matt’s ministry to areas of Georgia and Mongolia.  Matt develops programs to train local ministers especially those of Muslim ethnicity. Many of these men identify themselves as Muslim but have no faith.  They learn of Jesus and become his ministers.  Their faith is contagious and their numbers are growing.  Learn more of this ministry by planning to attend the program and dinner.

Dinner 5:30-6:30pm

Presentation and Q&A 6:30pm

Free-will offering will be received.

As is traditional for the beginning of the year, January is World Mission month.  This theme is in keeping with the visitation of the Wise Men to Jesus and the sharing of the Gospel with Gentile nations.   Our global outreach will continue with both the Ablaze! theme and Russian commitment by adding to our Russian missionary team, Missionary Matthew Heise.  Matt was born in Dearborn, MI and is a lifelong member of Guardian Lutheran Church in Dearborn.  He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, a master’s degree from Wayne St. University and a degree in divinity from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO.  He is the grandson of Russian-German immigrants and is currently working with LCMS and Lutheran Hour Ministry in Georgia, a country near the Black Sea between Caucasus Mountains of Russia and Turkey.  You may have heard about Georgia in the news when there were conflicts and invasion of one of Georgia cities by Russian troops.  Matt partners with the church of Ingria and teaches seminary courses as well as English-as-a-second- language classes. Matt is tutoring three students so that they can complete their course work for a bachelor of divinity program so that they can establish a congregation in Kutaisi, Georgia.  During January you will be learning more about Matt and his ministry in Georgia.  Look for new pictures on the mission bulletin board!  Please pray for safety for Matt and all other missionaries and for “a boldness to witness to the hope that I have in Jesus Christ, with gentleness and respect.”

The mission theme for December is New Life Family Services of Rochester. The mission of this organization is to honor the sanctity of human life by assisting clients in life-affirming decisions with the love and compassion of Christ.  Their goal is “birth for little one, rebirth for their mothers and fathers.”  In addition to adoption services, New Life offers three other branded services: First Care pregnancy center which offers confidential pregnancy testing, ultrasound, and decision making counseling; Conquerors provides post-abortion healing through Christian counseling to help those who had an abortion heal through Christ’s forgiveness; and the Ab.stin.ence resource center sex education materials.  The addition of ultrasound services, which cost about $500 per client, allows women to see the new life inside of them and helps to reduce abortion.  The mission for December will be both an ingathering of diapers (sizes 3-5), office supplies such as paper towels, manila folders, toilet paper or gift cards for Target or Office Max, baby wipes, and infant clothing. Monies will go to support the ultrasound services.  But, the #1 need is prayer. 
To learn more about New Life and the services they provide go to www.nlfs.org 
 
Want to make a special end of year Mission Offering?  You can designate a special offering to one of the following mission projects for Grace:

Reach out to Rochester
Lutheran Hour Ministry “Reaching Out Russia”                          
Lutheran Counseling Services                                                          
Bethesda Lutheran Home                                                                 
LCMS Ministry to the Armed Services                                              
Camp Coyote (outreach to children of prisoners)
New Life Family Services