All in the Family

This week we enjoyed the company of a vision team from Crossroads Fellowship. They had a great week touring the field, meeting Mongolian believers, and tantalizing the taste buds with various native Mongolian milk and meat products (horse guts, anyone?)

This photo was taken at our apartment while the team was meeting our church leaders in Ulaanbaatar.

The Emperor Has no Clothes!

Our drama queen (that's Cori, for those who may not figure that out) was actually just in a real Drama! ISU just did a production of the "Emperor's New Clothes", and Cori played the scheming con-artist, Sigigeteh. She and her partner in crime tricked the Royal Family of Mongolia into going to great expense for the sake of his vanity. What he thought were royal robes, was really no clothes at all.

Cori did a great job. Here is a little film clip (not great quality) of her production.
(Click on the photo to start the video)

Play Quicktime version

The Dust Man Cometh

I went for a run yesterday morning to clear skies and a beautiful sunrise.

By the time we took our break during class, the skies had darkened, the wind picked up speed - and in came the sands of the Gobi.  We had a horrific dust storm yesterday.  When we got home from school , we realized that we had made the mistake of leaving one of our windows open.  There was a thick layer of black and yellow dust all over the window sill.  It was quite amazing to see the massive amounts of dust and dirt that was in the air.  Here are a few shots from the pedestrian walkway that is a short distance from our apartment.

   

Normally you can see the mountains behind the blue circus building quite clearly.  It was starting to clear up at this point.  Previously the mountains were completely invisible.  It's supposed to be quite warm today (70's!), and there's a possibility of snow tomorrow. 

Ahhh ... springtime in Mongolia...

Faith of a Friend

There are some days when I am put to shame. Today was one of those days. Before I explain, please let me introduce you to our friend and co-laborer, Dogi.

(Dogi with Yeruuloo and her friend Onong)

We met Dogi for the first time in 2003. Dogi translated for my friend Mark (who will be joining our team this summer!) and I while we taught the book of Galatians at ABTC in Darhan.

It was good to reconnect with Dogi again in 2006 when we moved to UB.

Dogi is now married to a great young man named Erka (Erka is also Jonathan’s guitar teacher), and a beautiful little boy named ... Jonathan! (His Mongolian name is Yeruuloo.) Dogi is one of the founders of our little student church, and has been in leadership from the beginning. However, the one thing that Dogi loves doing more than anything in service to the church is leading worship. She leads every week with great enthusiasm and spirituality. She has also become a very important part of our Thursday night leadership training class. Because of our limited language, we are in need of a good translator each week. Dogi has been a real answer to prayer and is becoming a vital member of our team.

Today during after the morning message, there was a testimony time in our church. Dogi stood up and shared how God is showing himself faithful to her. Dogi’s husband, Erka works with YWAM Mongolia - enabling them to live at the YWAM base just outside of town. Dogi is responsible for food for the entire base staff (approximately 30 people). Last week they had no money, and Dogi was worried about all of the people at the base going hungry. So she did what she knew. She prayed. “Father, you know our need. You know we have no money. And these folks need to eat.� Of course, God once again proved his faithfulness. Someone who had no idea about the needs on the base brought two large containers full of meat. She also shared how God provided for diapers for their little boy, and her bus fare back into the city for Sunday. What impresses me so much about Dogi is her obvious deep desire to learn what it means to live by faith. Her life is not necessarily an easy one. Salaries in Mongolia are not high. Life here can be difficult. I have talked to Dogi about this. Her response is humbling. She says with a cheerful heart, “It’s okay. I believe that God is teaching me to trust Him and depend on Him.�

I am humbled by Dogi’s faith. She trusts as a child. She trusts while I gripe and whine. Her childlike faith is actually what makes her mature and Christlike. I have to believe that her faith is the kind that Jesus is impressed with. I know that I am.

Of Men and Dogs

I saw this old guy sitting in front of a garage near where we go to school. 

Whenever I see older Mongolian people, I wonder what they think about all of the change that has taken place in their country during their lifetime.  This old guy has seen a few years and I am sure has his opinions.  He wasn't too eager to talk to this camera-carrying foreign guy.  Nevertheless I got a couple of good shots of him before I had to go back to language class.