hosanna, hosanna, to the Lamb that was slain

i'm slightly jet-lagged, but then again i've always been fond of the early morning. i already miss mongolia. i miss the endless blue sky and the rainstorms, the streets with no gutters, the reckless driver/pedestrian combination, the Christians I met who truly embodied soldiers for Christ. the two weeks in Mongolia went by so much more quickly than i imagined. On one of the days i wrote in my journal that I wanted to meet with God on Mongolian land - not the God who i often pidgeon-holed, but a God who is beyond my simple understanding of Him. He opened my eyes and showed me what He was doing in that land, but more on that later.

My time in Mongolia consisted of serving two ministries that intertwined teaching kids english and sharing the gospel with them. The first was at the missionaries' kids school, the second the Ulaanbaatar school. By the end of the camp, many of the UB kids accepted Christ as their Savior. I miss my students! despite the language barrier, i formed relationships that i hope i won't forget anytime soon. our mission team also served at BASIC church and Icht Naran Church. As I was standing listening to the congregation at BASIC church praise God, I realized for the first time since I arrived in Mongolia that the God who was with me back in the States was with me there in that foreign country. The congregation sang in a language that i could hardly understand, but their worship was beautiful and so wonderfully sincere. Instead of singing with them, i stood there crying and praying. BASIC church continues to be persecuted by the government. The church has had to move locations 7x, which makes me wonder if i would continue to seek out god if my church went through unceasing persecution. I think i would, but then again it's a circumstance that i can only form in my mind.

One of the things God revealed to me during the duration of my stay in Mongolia was my selfish heart and pride. I realized that I wasn't serving God sincerely, but instead with ulterior motives and a desire to glorify myself and not God. Hea Bin JDSN told me that there should be no me to begin with and I agree with her. What does it mean to truly serve God? Many things..., but i think one of them is having a transparent heart. serving God with the single intention of glorifying Him. God opened my eyes to those things that I had previously deceived myself with. The holy person