There’s a Sheep in my Bathtub!

Title: There’s a Sheep in my Bathtub!
Author: Brian Hogan
Major Themes: Missionaries, Mongolia
Synopsis: An American family followed God’s leading to Mongolia as missionaries, and experienced both joys and tragedy while there as they saw God working.

I bought There’s a Sheep in my Bathtub! a number of years ago, after a friend recommended it, but we never got around to reading it till recently. What a story! We literally laughed our way through some chapters, and others were so sad it was very hard to read them aloud through the tears.

Brian Hogan was called by God to be a missionary while he was studying at University. After he met his wife, who had also dedicated herself to be a missionary, they worked together in that direction. When they found themselves working with the Navajo Indians, they learned about Mongolia from some other missionaries who were there…and eventually went to Mongolia as some of the first foreign missionaries to enter that country after the fall of Communism!

The story of the Hogan family’s entry into Mongolia is absolutely amazing. So is the story about their first week or two there while they tried to find lodging. So is the story about their first winter there. So is the story about what God did as He built a church there. We were in awe—and sometimes in stitches with laughter—as we read this story. And then, unexpectedly, there was tragedy. Because of tragedy we have experienced ourselves, these chapters were especially hard to read, but it was very good to read about how God used this to further His kingdom in Mongolia.

There are a few things we still aren’t sure what to think about. We tend to be a little bit leery of Pentecostalism, and one chapter told about how the Mongolian church got the gift of tongues. Another chapter described how the author’s wife experienced the Toronto Blessing, which we also question. Overall, however, this is a great book, and very thought-provoking. One of the big lessons we took away from it was how essential it is to listen to God’s guidance and not try to go ahead of Him, but to do what He says to in all situations.

WARNING: Chapter 7, page 46 describes a grisly murder. Chapter 11, pages 79-80 mentions staying the night in a brothel where an orgy took place, and page 81 talks about a plane crash. Chapter 18 includes a graphic description of the Tibetan god of hell.