Mongolia - Vol 1

Mongolian sunset...

I'm sending out this update while Chris is still at the retreat. :) I spent the day there yesterday and cried my way through most of it - the students, just like in the states, are PRECIOUS!!!

The past two weeks we have been learning how to get around UB, helping with the new church plant here as they reach out to the younger set of Mongolian's living in the city, working on the summer schedule for the school with our precious admin - Dulya (neither of us speaks the other's language so lots of time spent in translation), Chris is still working for his company in the states too - and preparing for the retreat. 

Chris and Baasandarq

The first weekend that we were here we enjoyed worshipping with the Bride at Antioch Mongolia. They meet in a new high rise hotel downtown called Blue Sky. During worship we turned around to see a fight between two young Mongolians. Choking each other - not joking - and wrestling to the ground. Mongolians are passionate/tribal people and we've seen more than one fight since we've been here. :) Chris made his way to the back of the church and I started praying and had the thought about the young man with the mohawk - "I hope he's in the training school." :) Well, guess who I saw running to meet our van as we pulled up to the retreat? Yeah - pretty crazy! Baasandarq was orphaned at the age of 4 and accepted Jesus the night of the fight and is a part of the school this summer. I believe he has the gift of evangelism and will passionately share Jesus with the world around him. We are inspired by his love for Jesus!

Thought it might be fun to see some of the differences in daily Burr life:

1. To get drinking water - take tap water - filter tap water, boil tap water, wait for tap water to cool and drink. :)

2. Laundry - didn't know laundry wasn't included in the rental price :) and we didn't know we'd be hanging laundry to dry either. LOL Lots of time doing laundry for this family of seven!

3. Getting to the grocery store - we live about an hours walk from town (everything is in the center of town) and so we  hail a "taxi" - actually, it's just a stranger driving on the road and we hold out our hand and hope they stop and agree to haul our family of 7 into town. :)

4. Getting around town - we don't have a car and we don't speak Mongolian. So...yeah, it's fun to try and explain to the "taxi" driver where you want to go (mostly we just pic a landmark and get to that destination and walk to wherever we really want to go:) and then pile into a compact car with no carseats. LOL MERCY!!!!!

5. If you go to use a public restroom...you need to grab the toilet paper from the communal roll BEFORE you head into the stall. 

6. Walking in the village we live in we carry stones to throw at the mean dogs that growl/chase/bark/terrify you. LOL

7. Mongolians LOVE children. I've never been in a culture that honors/loves/cares for children so tenderly. Been a huge blessing to this mama heart. 

At the night of prayer our church hosted for us before we left for Mongolia, one of my dearest friends told me "You will be doing a lot of the ordinary, daily things you do here - there; but don't think that it's not making a difference." And I've held onto that as we've spent a lot of time just being and doing Burr life here in Mongolia. Sometimes - a lot of times - you don't feel like you're making a difference, but we are trusting Jesus to do his work in and through our daily obediences. 

And we'll end with an exciting story. On our way to a meeting: we are tired and we are not sure that we've told the driver the correct directions? I'm in the back with the kids. Asa is in my lap. Chris is telling/pointing in the directions we need to go. Traffic is CRAZY and fast. Honestly, never seen anything like it and Chris/big kids say it's worse than India. If there's a traffic jam and on coming traffic is slow...guess what, you play chicken with the on coming traffic to get around the said jam. (For real - these people are not afraid of anything and will truly take the world for Jesus!! :):) SO - all of this is going on and Asa decides he will open the door to the car. I feel him leaning out of the car, grab him and in my peripheral vision I see a car speeding up in the lane beside us about to take the car door OFF right as I slam it shut. JESUS COME!!!!!!! Even the driver was scared - which I must say it takes a LOT to scare a Mongolian driver!!! We all made it to the meeting...praise God from whom all blessings flow! So we are having NO problem falling to sleep at night!!! :)

These people are beautiful and we are beyond humbled to be here to learn from them and cheer them on in the great calling God has for their lives!!! It's for sure an adventure and we can't imagine that we would get to play a part in loving the people of Mongolia. 

More next week!