We are on our way home from Mongolia to our precious family and friends in Hawaii.  Our team has experienced the wonderful splendor of God’s Grace in Mongolia.  We were privileged to witness and participate in several church events like the baptism of 5 members’ at “Father’s Love Church. I also helped Pastor Ouyunaa with an engagement ceremony. We visited and prayed for the homeless, and for the orphaned children who live outside of the city. We connected with a handful of lost people and were able to lead one of them to the Lord.  She is now connected to the church. The remaining seekers were also connected to Father’s Love Church. Our daily connections with the lost was so awesome and meaningful, our God touched the lives of everyone we connected with.

            We also hosted a beautiful women’s tea party as a women’s outreach and did a couple’s night out with Jan and Jits sharing their life together as man and wife of 47 years. Our most wonderful time was teaching on a leadership teaching called ,  “Staying Power” by Rick Warren to Pastor Oyunaa’s leaders. It was a grand time of synergy.

            God blessed us with a powerful team and each member played an important role in making this mission trip a success.  Each team member’s gifts and talents were well displayed. Our God gave us so much favor in everything we did.

            Pastor Oyuna sends her “Sain Baina uu,” Mongolian for “hello,” and her love to you all from Mongolia. We want to sincerely thank you for all of your prayers – we could feel the prayers uplifting and protecting us wherever we went.

            On behalf of Shawn Silva, Keiko Adachi, Jits and Jan Fujimura and myself, Pastor Camille, we want to express our warmest “Bayarlalaa”- thank you, and see you all soon.

     We were invited by Pastor Oyunaa to join in the water baptism of five college age believers at a camp located outside of the city.  They rented a yurt, which looks like a huge round tent.  I’ve always wanted to see inside one but not necessarily sleep in one and had an awesome opportunity to step inside and cook!  (Shawn and Keiko slept overnight with the rest of the college age members; do they have a story to tell!). 

      The heating system consisted of good ole fashioned firewood, which also was the power source for the stove.  About five women were involved with the preparation of the meal for the night.  When I asked if I could help them cook, they seemed confused as women do most/all of the cooking in Mongolia; some things never change no matter which country you’re in.  The fellowship of believers is so sweet as we share our gifts and talents and our stories.  I’m not sure what I cooked but it had the same ingredients as beef stew but without the tomatoes.  Everyone enjoyed the meal and said it was delicious!

     We couldn’t ask for a more perfect setting for the water baptism!  The scenery at the campsite was just awesome.  The sun was just setting, displaying its marvelous glow and the colors on the mountain was breathtaking beautiful.  The baptism took place in a river that was at least 40 feet across and the current was swift.    A fresh wind was blowing throughout the service.  We began singing with great enthusiasm even though we did not know the words.  Pastors Camille and Oyunaa then explained the purpose of water baptism.  Shortly afterwards, Pastor Oyunaa, with the help of 3 other church members stepped into the icy cold fast moving river.   I don’t know if I could have stepped into that icy cold water, but all five of them did! I am sure that it will be something they will remember for the rest of their lives.  I know that I will; it was an awesome privilege to be part of something so powerful.

p.s.  On the way back from the baptism, Pastor Camille, my wife Jan and I decided to walk back to camp to reflect on the moment and enjoy the view.  It was so funny to see both Pastor Camille and Jan freeze as a big black bull stood his ground and watch us right at the place where we had to turn the corner to get back to camp.  Actually, I think the bull was more afraid of PC and Jan; I wouldn’t want to cross their path!

Please pray for us as we go into Leadership training tomorrow night (Thursday, July 23).  Aloha, Jits

     So much has happened since you last heard from us; we have been busy with new and different experiences almost daily.  Many times we have deviated from what we thought were the plans for the day.  Thanks to your prayers for us, we have been flexible and have adjusted well to each stretching experience.  The one constant in our lives is our God; who is the same:  yesterday, today and tomorrow.

     We know also that our dedicated prayer times in the mornings have been a source of strength and power as we pray in the Holy Spirit for His will and direction for the day.  He not only actually determines the directions we will take every day but also equips us for the divine appointments He has prepared.  He has given us power, courage, boldness, confidence, insight, ability and authority and we know that it is He who changes people not our cleverness or persuasion.  

     Yesterday (Tuesday, July 21) we had the awesome privilege of partnering with Our Father’s Love Church to bring the message of salvation to Oyut, a beautiful intelligent woman who is an English/Japanese teacher.  She is blind in one eye due to Glaucoma and the pressure in the other eye is extremely high so that she may lose that eye also.  Oyut listened intently and asked many questions as Pastors Oyunaa and Camille shared the Good News and their own personal stories while Aruka, Oota and Jan prayed unceasingly.  We waited breathlessly—expectantly, for Oyut to receive Christ into her heart, which she did as she quietly asked for prayer!  PTL! 

     Hallelujah!  We not only partnered in Oyut’s salvation but we also participated with the Holy Spirit to perform a healing miracle through us as we laid hands on Oyut for healing.  Nothing is too hard or impossible for God; with Him, through Him everything is possible through belief, faith, power and authority in the Name of Jesus.  Last night we were able to connect Oyut with members of Our Father’s Love Church for discipleship, fellowship and service.  We are waiting for the day when Oyut will contact us and let us know that her sight has been restored!

     Keiko and Shawn are at a Youth Rally tonight at church while the 3 of us more matured members rest in the hotel and prepare for tomorrow!  Please continue to lift us all in prayer.  We love and miss you.  ~Jan

Followed by the museum, we got to meet a good friend/church member of Pastor Oyuna named “Enkhtuya” Here in Ulaanbaatar, Enkhtuya owns a business Incubator center named “Business Talant Company” She helps to start businesses running in the city, and provides skills and training to have a successful business. Along with the business flourishing with over 10 successful new start ups, Enkhtuya has a passion in politics, and holds a great voice for the people of Ulaanbaatar.  She had mentioned to us before eating lunch in her beautiful office, that she was going through some sicknesses including sore throat and fever. By Enkhtuya sharing this, it opened up a WINDOW for our team to lay hands and pray for her business and health.  We believe that with this connection between Pastor Oyuna and Enkhtuya’s political power and business influence; it going to help make an impact in the salvation for the lost, all along the land of Mongolia.

After having lunch with Enkntuya, we got an opportunity to visit an orphanage called “Children’s Development Center”. After being greeted by a few kids at the front gate, we were welcomed into the orphanage by a few workers there.  Upon entering the bottom floor we were amazed to see children at work making souvenirs for tourist from shoes, bags, pillow cases, and even oven mitts all made from wool. The entire orphanage and Team Mongolia took some time to head up stares to hear stories about the kids and also share about why we came to visit them.  Many of the children staying there come from families that live in harsh environments including poverty, violence, and lack of education.  The goal for the orphanage was to help the children overcome their hardships and recapture their lost opportunities in life, so this gave us another huge opportunity to lay hands upon the workers of the orphanage and also every single child that was there.  After words and prayers of encouragement interputed by Pastor Oyuna, we got to pass out little gifts of toys and vitamins to all the children there.  One thing that we all took away from this experience was that no matter how much suffering these children went through and is also going through right now at this moment, they were just so filled with joy, smiling, and having a great time in our presents.  To give these children a sense of hope, security, and love from the care of Jesus and the holy spirit moving through us, we know that the prosperity of these children will come to pass. These children are the next generation of Mongolia, pushing defeat aside and holding on to faith, Team Mongolia prays that Gods glory and victory will be shown and displayed in the lives of these children, and the rest of the people in Mongolia!!  

Going back into the main city of Ulaanbaatar, Pastor Oyuna had a great opportunity to minister into the life of our taxi driver of the day.  Our clean cut taxi driver was into his third year of being a surgeon and getting married this year also. Besides these great events happening in his life, he got to witness the holy spirit moving in us and through us; by showing these orphan children hope and faith in life.  Upon arriving to our hotel; through the 30 minutes of non stop ministering by Pastor Oyuna, our taxi driver was open to come check out her church on Sunday!! This brought us such great joy in our hearts because we not only got to see how the people minister in Mongolia, but we got to witness another person seeing christ in us, by simple actions of warm gestures; breaking over the language barriers that seems to be a struggle.  

Nothings impossible to accomplish with the grace and power of God! We can totally feel the prayers coming all the way from home, and we encourage you to still keep the prayer walls up high, so that we can ALL witness God moving more and more, in Mongolia!! 

Aloha,

Shawn

We just arrived in Mongolia early this morning at approximately 12:45 am.  It took a total of 17 hours to get here, but it was SUPER WORTH IT!  Thank you everyone for your prayers and support…we can definitely feel the prayers going up! Last night we met some of the members of Father’s Love Church as well as Pastor Oyuna as they came to pick us up from the airport. It was so kind of them and I know that we are going to be so blessed as we serve this church and the Mongolian people.

Anyway, we arrived at the hotel very late at night and there were a couple of complications concerning the rooms and payment which was tiring and confusing for the team and Pastor Oyuna. However, we found that it was those very complications that opened a door for us to minister to the receptionist that was working.

The receptionist whose name is Burma was actually the only worker at the hotel at the time and could not speak any English so none of our team members were even able to communicate with her.  However, she was able to speak Japanese so I was able to communicate with her!  We were able to even pray for her before we all went to bed!

This morning we were supposed to have a free breakfast in the restaurant downstairs but the cook was off so BURMA was making the breakfast for us!  We were all shocked because she was on a 24 hour shift and it was obvious she was dead tired.  We all decided to help her in the kitchen and Jits helped by making eggs and sausage.

However, it became apparent to me that she felt badly because she couldn’t prepare the breakfast all alone for us and she thought she messed up the reservations the night before and that was why we were thinking of moving to a different hotel that Pastor Oyuna was recommending.  It was then that we were able to reassure her and tell her that it was just that we wanted to HELP her cook since we knew she was exhausted.  We also told her that we knew none of the complications were her fault.  She was so relieved to hear the truth and grateful for our help and she told me that she thought Christians were so wonderful!

We ended up getting MAJOR favor from God through Burma and our hotel rooms that were originally 65 dollars a night became a mere 15 dollars a night!  Praise God!  We can now use the extra money to bless someone her and others!  I plan on inviting Burma to our Women’s Tea that we will be having next week after the camp and I am going to try to see if she can hang out before that.

Even though it has only been one day since we’ve been in Mongolia, we have already walked into some of the divine appointments God has set up for us.  He truly has already gone before us!  We have also seen how each of the 5 members of our team bring a different gift or talent to the team.  Each of us play truly play an irreplaceable role on this mission and in the body of Christ. 

And just think…this is just the beginning!  Woohoo praise God!

Mongolia time is 18 hours ahead of Hawaii

Please pray for Team Mongolia daily from this day until our return on July 26, 2009.  Please pray on each of the following daily requests, as well as anything else the Holy Spirit may prompt you to lift up in prayer.

SUNDAY – Protection for family and friends at home

*nothing happens to distract from being obedient to God

*family and friends

MONDAY – Cultural Adjustments

*adjusts well to all of the differences between Hawaii and Mongolia

*avoids being judgmental

*able to eat anything that new friends may offer

TUESDAY – Friends that are seeking

*God brings friends who are seeking the Truth and are ready to hear the Good News

*discernment to know who is seeking and who may just want to know a foreigner

*to know how to spend time each day and with whom

WEDNESDAY – Unity of Team

*the team is of one mind, united in prayer, and enjoys each others’ fellowship

*the team is sensitive to the needs of each other and is encouraging to each other

*everyone on the team seeks God and is obedient to Him

THURSDAY – Protection from Spiritual Warfare

*is equipped with the full armor of God (pray verses from Eph. 6:10-18)

*is protected from temptation

*knows the presence of God goes with him/her every step of the way

FRIDAY – Wisdom

*that this person will have the wisdom to understand what it is that God wants to teach him/her during this trip

SATURDAY - Health

*that this person stays healthy during the trip

*that this may be a trip filled with lots of laughter and joy