Our mission director and his wife returned recently from visiting SIM workers in Asia. His comments about Mongolia are fascinating. “Mongolia is a nation emerging from the influence of Russian Marxism. This shaped the country until the end of the 20th century. As an architect [he is an architect by profession; this is what first took him to Africa], I found it a very depressing place, where the buildings are totally functional, utilitarian, and lacking in creativity—it has the feeling of a Russian Gulag in the 1970s. Genesis tells us that we are created in God’s image. At the very heart of God’s image is his ability to create. This creative energy in God is also part of our very being. When you take God out of a society you are also at risk of taking out of the people the creative energy he has placed in them—a sobering thought on Marxism. Thankfully, the new buildings that are emerging in the capital city show another side of the creative energy of this nation.” Incidentally, there were only four known Christians in Mongolia 16 years ago. Now the Mongolia Evangelical Alliance estimates that there are around 40,000. We are privileged to partner with this vigorous and creative church. (I told a story in the magazine a few months ago about a gifted Mongolian couple who create worship music for the growing Mongolian church.)

Over the weekend, I read something about staying fresh in old age, and one recommendation was to try at least one new thing every day. I almost overlooked my chance to do that on Wednesday. I needed to digitally scan a photo slide so it could be used for the magazine cover. But I couldn’t redo the settings on the scanner to make a larger image. I knew exactly what to do: call a techie for help. Just in time, I remembered about staying fresh. So I dug out the instruction manual and—Ta! Da!—I figured it out. Whew! Staleness averted for one more day!

Hope your day is great.

Blessings,
Carol