The other while waiting for Renee to pick up groceries in a store, a young man walked up to me and motioned with his arms he wanted to talk. His gesture caught my eye because there were no hands on his arms. There was nothing below either upper arm. When asked, I understood him to say he was in some sort of accident that caused his condition.
Then he went on to say, unasked by me, that he was a Jesus person, and and elder in his church.
So I got to thinking, whatever I or you think may be holding us back from what we were meant to do, it might seem like a bit of an excuse if we told it a brother like this one.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Easter Musical Guests
These guys came to play for our Easter Service. They didn't come too far, only ten kilometers. But for them I'm sure it seemed like a different world. All four are residents of the local Prison.
My friend from church goes there regularly to give them stuff, like warm socks, candy, and the best give of all: The Promise of New Life. These four have found true freedom in Jesus Christ.
After playing and singing for us, they spoke with tender hearts about their life and faith.
Monday, April 03, 2006
Minivan and Mongolian Accent by Committee
Today Maggie and I rode an unusual Taxi. I didn't realize it was different until we were inside.
I realized the seats in this van were home-made so it seated more than the usual 20 or so people. (You might call them Minivans, like what you may have seen in the States in the early 90s. Here most of them are made by Korean companies like Hyundai)
I looked up and saw some German writing on the skylight above me. (German Language and Skylights do not come standard on Taxis) Also, I realized this thing was about a foot wider than a regular "Micro", which is what they call taxi-vans. So I'm curious about the vehicle....
Then I announce where we will be getting off. Blank stares and silence from the driver. They ask me what I said, I say the same thing louder. Then around 23 people say the word with proper again, either translating for the driver, or correcting my pronunciation. The driver helpfully points toward our destination as we get out, and walk away.
I looked at him behind the wheel of his strange van and remembered to check the front to see what make it was. There was the good old blue emblem of Detroit: Ford. It must have been made in Germany some decades ago. It was a memorable ride, that I thought you might enjoy.
I realized the seats in this van were home-made so it seated more than the usual 20 or so people. (You might call them Minivans, like what you may have seen in the States in the early 90s. Here most of them are made by Korean companies like Hyundai)
I looked up and saw some German writing on the skylight above me. (German Language and Skylights do not come standard on Taxis) Also, I realized this thing was about a foot wider than a regular "Micro", which is what they call taxi-vans. So I'm curious about the vehicle....
Then I announce where we will be getting off. Blank stares and silence from the driver. They ask me what I said, I say the same thing louder. Then around 23 people say the word with proper again, either translating for the driver, or correcting my pronunciation. The driver helpfully points toward our destination as we get out, and walk away.
I looked at him behind the wheel of his strange van and remembered to check the front to see what make it was. There was the good old blue emblem of Detroit: Ford. It must have been made in Germany some decades ago. It was a memorable ride, that I thought you might enjoy.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
The Big Picture So Far
Today a couple different people asked me how long we've been in the country. So I'll tell you too. Since we got here September 1st, today is 7 months living in Mongolia.
Six of those months has been spent studying Mongolian Language in a formal classroom setting.
We live in the City of Darhan, which has 100,000 people and is 3 hours by car from the Capital.
Ulaanbaatar is the name of the Capital. It has 1 million people and the only international airport in the country. Ulaanbaatar has at least half the churches in the country. Darhan and UB together have almost half the population of the Mongolia, which is around 2.5 million.
Six of those months has been spent studying Mongolian Language in a formal classroom setting.
We live in the City of Darhan, which has 100,000 people and is 3 hours by car from the Capital.
Ulaanbaatar is the name of the Capital. It has 1 million people and the only international airport in the country. Ulaanbaatar has at least half the churches in the country. Darhan and UB together have almost half the population of the Mongolia, which is around 2.5 million.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Russian Words
Mongolia was basically occupied/built up by Russia for about 70 years. For example, the building we live in, and all the other Apartment buildings that look exactly like it all over town, was built by Russian military. Architecture is not the only thing the Russians built here. Because of their influence there are many words that we can easily recognize as similar to english. It doesn't matter if it is Minute or Second, Machine or Taxi, Meter or Allergy (with a Ga sound). Computer or Medicine Capsule, they are all spelled and known as "Russian Words"
This week I walked into a store and was pretty sure what I was looking for had a "Russian" name. "Man Aize" I carefully said with my best Russian accent. Blank stare from the clerk. "Mai Own Aze" I said again and again, and then finally walked out of the store concluding that I must be mistaken about the word being the same as English. Walked into school and asked my teacher in frustration: "How do you say mayonaise in Mongolian?" She replied by saying with the same pronunciation you or I would in an American store: "Mayonaise". That day I ate my tuna with cheese instead, and learned that sometimes the language is simpler than it seems.
This week I walked into a store and was pretty sure what I was looking for had a "Russian" name. "Man Aize" I carefully said with my best Russian accent. Blank stare from the clerk. "Mai Own Aze" I said again and again, and then finally walked out of the store concluding that I must be mistaken about the word being the same as English. Walked into school and asked my teacher in frustration: "How do you say mayonaise in Mongolian?" She replied by saying with the same pronunciation you or I would in an American store: "Mayonaise". That day I ate my tuna with cheese instead, and learned that sometimes the language is simpler than it seems.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Friday, March 24, 2006
Our Classroom
This is the room where our lessons and tests happen. Our room can get a little cold at times, as it's on the North side of the building. Our teacher helps us keep warm by bringing in an electric heater. Plus we drink lots of hot liquids. Written on the whiteboard behind us is the date this picture was taken.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Parentspeak Decoded
The other night at dinner, I was asking Renee about the following day's activities using Mongolian so the kids wouldn't get their hopes up or start yelling their vote for the whole restaurant to hear. I finished saying my encoded message just as Maggie brightly exclaimed "I want to ride a horse tomorrow!" Foiled again. Her language at Pre-school is progressing faster than we thought. Maggie got to have pony rides at her birthday. She and Lydia are getting better at riding horses, and speaking Mongolian!
Monday, March 06, 2006
Boy Named Sue
Any fans of Johnny Cash out there? I never thought I would identify so closely the song he made popular, written by Shel Silverstein.
Last week our pastor did two things. 1/ asked me to talk in front of everybody for 15 minutes in Mongolian. 2/ Gave me a Mongolian name. Number one is behind me now. Number two may stick around a little longer.
My new name sounds like Sue Hay, but in cyrillic is spelled Cuxee. Everyone seems to like it, especially Mongolians. Probably that's because Cuxee is the name of Mongolia's national hero who freed the country from Chinese rule in 1920. The name means Ax. Since he became a hero, they call him as Cuxbataar, which means Ax Hero. There's a city up near Russia named after him.
Hearing me called Cuxee, you may think of the American name grin to the lyrics of the song: "A Boy Named Sue"
Last week our pastor did two things. 1/ asked me to talk in front of everybody for 15 minutes in Mongolian. 2/ Gave me a Mongolian name. Number one is behind me now. Number two may stick around a little longer.
My new name sounds like Sue Hay, but in cyrillic is spelled Cuxee. Everyone seems to like it, especially Mongolians. Probably that's because Cuxee is the name of Mongolia's national hero who freed the country from Chinese rule in 1920. The name means Ax. Since he became a hero, they call him as Cuxbataar, which means Ax Hero. There's a city up near Russia named after him.
Hearing me called Cuxee, you may think of the American name grin to the lyrics of the song: "A Boy Named Sue"
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
"You Guys Are Good"
Parents out there, how long has it been since you got a compliment from your children? A couple times lately, we've heard the high praise from ours: "You Guys Are Good!"
It came at dinner both times out of a universal human pleasure, satisfaction from a good meal. Now many of you know Renee is a good cook, and getting ingredients here isn't like stopping off at Giant Eagle or Safeway. So why am I still reveling in the praise? I married well. And I can relate. The hunger here is severe, maybe from the high dry air. Whatever the cause, I counted the sentiment as noteworthy and thought I better write about it. Hopefully I'll remember in those later teen years when such tender morsels of affection may not flow so freely.
The other thought is that if a child knows how praise his parents, maybe that's why Jesus advises we be like children. Instead of just passing the potatoes, we should remember to "Pass the praise Please". So I'm passing it on to you. We couldn't be here were it not for the friendship of so many who read this. And Renee couldn't put good things on the table if it weren't for those who love God enough to sacrifice financially so that we can eat, and people here can find their Father, and say to the Triune Heavenly Host: "You Guys Are Good"
Matthew 18:3
And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
It came at dinner both times out of a universal human pleasure, satisfaction from a good meal. Now many of you know Renee is a good cook, and getting ingredients here isn't like stopping off at Giant Eagle or Safeway. So why am I still reveling in the praise? I married well. And I can relate. The hunger here is severe, maybe from the high dry air. Whatever the cause, I counted the sentiment as noteworthy and thought I better write about it. Hopefully I'll remember in those later teen years when such tender morsels of affection may not flow so freely.
The other thought is that if a child knows how praise his parents, maybe that's why Jesus advises we be like children. Instead of just passing the potatoes, we should remember to "Pass the praise Please". So I'm passing it on to you. We couldn't be here were it not for the friendship of so many who read this. And Renee couldn't put good things on the table if it weren't for those who love God enough to sacrifice financially so that we can eat, and people here can find their Father, and say to the Triune Heavenly Host: "You Guys Are Good"
Matthew 18:3
And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
Friday, February 24, 2006
Getting Up To Speed
There's no feeling like success. Even if it's over something simple, like completing a simple sentence and having a Mongolian understand it. Maybe they only appear to understand it, or understand something other than what I said, but the mere appearance that they understand a simple little sentence is something to celebrate! And then I walked out of language class...
Getting up to speed on listening is another matter. I ran into a friend at the store and it seemed like he talked at least 4 times faster than I can currently understand. For a minute you try to keep up and fake a comprehensive look until you finally have to say: "I didn't understand that"
After this encounter I was reminded of an old addage one of our family's pastimes. "You have to slow down to speed up". Sometimes in order to progress toward something, you need to slow down and take one step at a time. Concentrating on quality, you are later surprised to find out how fast the task has passed. Plus if quality is high, you save the heartache and frustration of having to redo something you already did once or twice. So for us, getting up to speed in language takes the determination and discipline to take it slow and entrust the results to the quality Craftsman and Maker of languages, ears and tongues.
Sometimes you have to slow down to speed up....and be surprised later by speed and success.
Getting up to speed on listening is another matter. I ran into a friend at the store and it seemed like he talked at least 4 times faster than I can currently understand. For a minute you try to keep up and fake a comprehensive look until you finally have to say: "I didn't understand that"
After this encounter I was reminded of an old addage one of our family's pastimes. "You have to slow down to speed up". Sometimes in order to progress toward something, you need to slow down and take one step at a time. Concentrating on quality, you are later surprised to find out how fast the task has passed. Plus if quality is high, you save the heartache and frustration of having to redo something you already did once or twice. So for us, getting up to speed in language takes the determination and discipline to take it slow and entrust the results to the quality Craftsman and Maker of languages, ears and tongues.
Sometimes you have to slow down to speed up....and be surprised later by speed and success.
Monday, February 13, 2006
Builders of God's Coming Kingdom
Young people from all over the country gathered for a three day retreat in another city. We went and spent an afternoon with them. We talked about enduring persecutions with pleasure for the sake of Jesus. Since He bore more agony than we can imagine, and took our pain so we don't have to. After this picture was taken, Renee and I drove back home.The group travelled home separately. They were soone held up by police, searched, interrogated for 5 hours, and falsely accused of taking lost articles from the retreat facility.
There just an hour before we heard scriptures, one said: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (James 1:2-4)
And we read another scripture from the gospel of Mark 10:28
Peter said to him, "We have left everything to follow you!" "I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. "
Our young brothers and sisters were released by police and hour from home at 10pm without a charge and without apology.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
New Year's at the Babysitter's House
Otgon is holding Johanna. Renee is holding her neice, Zaya. Lydia is on the lap of a family member I don't know. Maggie is with Orna, the older sister of Otgon, who watched the girls for a few weeks in the Fall. They live in a house out on the edge of town by the river. They cook on a wood stove and heat the house that way.
Return of Friends from America
The girls missed their friends while they gone for three months. Zeke and Zaiah's parents had a three month tour in the States before resuming ministry back here in Mongolia.This is of one of the kids' many playtimes since their friends got back here in January.
That's a Sheep Carcas (Fat Tail - in foreground)
Sound like a party to you? It sits out on the table for all of two days so guests can come visit and carve a piece off of it. On the left
is the tratitional holiday bread. Kind of like a wreath that you eat, it's loaded with candy and yogurt products. Then the bread itself isn't too bad. It's called Bov, and in a different shape is a staple all year round. Maggie loves it almost as much as candy.
is the tratitional holiday bread. Kind of like a wreath that you eat, it's loaded with candy and yogurt products. Then the bread itself isn't too bad. It's called Bov, and in a different shape is a staple all year round. Maggie loves it almost as much as candy.
Buddhist Temple
There's a Bhuddhist temple accross the street from our school. Today I saw scores of people outside of it throwing milk to the wind. This is a custom of appeasing the spirits I'm told. It was a visual reminder of people who do not yet know the amazing grace and of Jesus, the security and promise of eternity in Heaven, and increasing tastes of that coming reality along the way.
Drunk Men
Among strangers here, it seems little kids and men who are drunk are most interested in me. Last night on the way home from a friend's house (who is Mongolian and wasn't drunk) I sat down in the taxi and an unusual thing happened. The man next to me thrust his hand toward mand started warmly talking to me. I hesitated to take his hand when I heard his words were heavily slurred and the breath that carried them smelled strong enough to peel paint.
Our converstation was short and loud. My personal particulars were revealed to the driver and other passengers. My discomfort with this faded and I realized that my unique life experiences in college and working in restaurants should help me deal with men like Bat. That was his name. They say 1/3 of Mongolians are Alcoholic. During the day, it doesn't seem so, but when night falls, it's sad to see men in pairs staggering along the road trying to hold each other up. God bless Bat. With his inhibitions dulled his English flowed, and he gave me his warmest handshake, twice. It's a comfort that with inhibitions gone, I don't receive hostility and fists.
Our converstation was short and loud. My personal particulars were revealed to the driver and other passengers. My discomfort with this faded and I realized that my unique life experiences in college and working in restaurants should help me deal with men like Bat. That was his name. They say 1/3 of Mongolians are Alcoholic. During the day, it doesn't seem so, but when night falls, it's sad to see men in pairs staggering along the road trying to hold each other up. God bless Bat. With his inhibitions dulled his English flowed, and he gave me his warmest handshake, twice. It's a comfort that with inhibitions gone, I don't receive hostility and fists.
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