IM Family Portrait

All of the CMA families serving together in Mongolia gathered over Thanksgiving weekend. Here we are after enjoying a great meal. Thanksgiving weekend wasn't all eating though. We had a lot of spiritual and mental excercize to do. Saturday and Sunday was spent dreaming and seeking a revamped mission strategy. Our Field Director arrived on the same flight as us 14 months ago. And this summer, more new and returning families came to serve Christ in Mongolia. And we are a multi-national family. We have people born all over the world: Canada, Korea, Vietnam, South Africa, and America. It takes a village. And ours is global. 

Country Girls

On a recent trip to the countryside, Maggie and Lydia try their hand at feeding some calves. 

Family Visit

Visits to Mongolian homes are usually a hit with the kids because of all the treats that come out. See Johanna's elated smile smeared with jam from bread and butter set out for us on this morning. 

Thanksgiving

It's counter intuitive, but God's gospel that their is joy in giving thanks also for the difficulties of life. I think in part it's because of the growth and character that pain can build. "Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance". Romans 5:3
The whole chapter is here....
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=52&chapter=5&version=31

Family Portrait

 

All Dressed Up and a Party Too

Since trick or treating wasn't really an option, we were happy the girls got to go to a Halloween Party. Two pinata-like items packed with candy were exploded to the cheers and grabs of everyone. Underneath the dismembered pumpkin a huge pig pile of people formed where the candy fell. Maggie and Lydia were right in there getting there fists as full as they could. 

Ayeee Halloweeny

 

All Saints Eve

Here's a picture with some local English Language students from nearby colleges who came for the lesson in Western Culture. They bobbed for apples, frosted festive-shaped cookies, drank spiced cider, and learned about the Christian roots of Halloween. 

Sun Sets On An Early November Evening - Just After 5pm

 

Winter Cold Brings Out Winter Clothes

 

"I Got a Rock"

So I'm playing with the kids before dinner. Maggie is nearby cutting out pictures from her magazine that she has a subcription and gets every month. Out of the blue she mutters the phrase, "I got a rock." It's the punchline from the It's the Charlie Brown Halloween Special that we watched a few nights ago on DVD. It was sent to us last year. I guess media makes the longest lasting gifts. "I got a rock": That's the same phrase I remember saying after watching the show every year at halloween on TV. (If you never saw the show, it's Charlie Brown looking in his treat bag to find out what he got from the previous house)