Family and Ministry Travel to Darhan

Our pastor friend Baggie invited us to train coaches and kids in their church's new gym.

We had already planned to visit Darhan with family, so we said yes.

They had snow up there.  Here's Josiah at one of his old favorite playgrounds.  It's been close to 5 years already since we lived in Darhan.

Here's the final day of training and farewell with gifts to the kids.

And a shot of our family with our good friends Dawaa and Baynaa at their place.  Notice the delacacy they brought our at the end of our dinner visit?  Roasted sheep's head!  Not too bad: "eat what they put in front of you". 

But I much preferred this American fare that the church provided in their new cafe during training.

It was a joyful time of training and fellowship at Joy Cafe and Gym.

Connecting at Christmas

Here we are enjoying our Christmas evening prime rib dinner together.

And that day connecting with Maggie and Lydia in Ohio via video.

Who are stating at Grandma's house on break from college.

Merry Christmas Morning!

What a blessing to be together!  We love our new shirts from Johanna.

Clara seems to like her new guitar.

Josiah is learning lots of new facts about the world on his talking globe.

It's like a 3-D Jeopardy geography category. 

Basketball Academy Kids Christmas Party

A lot more kids started showing up to trainings when schools let out earlier in December!

Pastor Lxavga welcomes the kids and explains the purpose of the MAC Sports Center.

IMBA kids with Coach Orgil in front...

Kids from MAC sponsored Soccer Plus club also joined with their coach Ganaa, who explained the meaning of Christmas.

All kids got a shoe bag full of goodies including a book explaining the meaning of Christmas and how Jesus and Santa and Christmas trees came to be. 

Johanna Home to Mongolia for Christmas!

Along with her three class mates, whose parents also serve with us,

Johanna arrived in the new Ulaanbaatar airport from Frankfurt via Mongolian Airlines!

Here she is with her Black Forest Academy friends before leaving.

And here we are on the way home from the airport eating Sushi at a mall and trying to keep her awake until bedtime.  There's a six hour difference between our time zones.

The kids went ice skating and to this petting zoo while Renee shopped.

They even have horse riding!  Who knew? 

Dad joke alert: (The name of the mall is Hunuu;)

Mongolian Alliance Church Leader's Christmas Party

We were on time, which meant about half hour early for the party.

They started off with worship and Christmas songs.

And this brand of team pictionary was a fun mixer game.

Then our teammate Pastor Rich preached a message on receiving God's love.

There was dinner then and a little dancing

after this final photo.

Clara Completes Basketball Regular Season

It was a short season, but a fun final game.

 Clara contributed as an 8th grader on a high school team!

They're all smiles after winning by 63. 

Which helped them forget the previous week's loss by a lot.

Looks like they're guaranteed at least 2 playoff games after Christmas. 

Evangelical In Name Only?

EINO, is a term that came to mind while reading this article, pronounced “I know”.  

https://www.wheaton.edu/magazine/winter-2022/were-still-here/

The other word I thought up years ago is A-vangelical, which is a Christian who believes in the orthodoxy of sharing the gospel, but doesn’t actually do it much in practice. Are you an EINO, an avengelical? Am I? 

Admitting it could be the road to finding fresh ways to live and share our faith freely and abundantly. People around us need and May actually want to hear and taste the gospel and love of Christ much more than we know. 

The One that was born in a barn in Bethlehem, and crucified outside Jerusalem shared the gospel around tables and many meals with disciples, rivals, and even his betrayer. 

Why should we be any different? 

Saying Goodbye to Team Members

Our teammates since 2008 Ruth and Jason are transitioning to serve Christ in Cambodia.

Here she is introducing Renee to all her plants that she gave up for adoption. 

Here we are at Oriental Treasure Taiwanese Restaurant to celebrate their service.

And sent her off with some nice Mongolian made cheesecake and dried yoghurt to go!

And saying goodbye at the airport early in the morning.  It took about 40 minutes to get there, about 2 hours to get back home; traffic! We had a nice long talk with our teammates Rich and Melody.  Jason and Ruth will be missed but we wish them well and expect great things including meeting again. 

First ASU Birthday Party for Josiah!

Since COVID broke, birthday parties have not happened much around the American School of Ulaanbaatar.

Josiah's friend Bobby had to forgo his 9th birthday without a school friend party.

But their family was glad to have us in for his 10th this week.  There's a light at the end of the tunnel. 

Decking Halls at Home Awaiting Johanna

A favorite festive felt hanging, which says Luke 2 in the traditional script.

More tree decorating...

And one more week of school for Clara and Josiah...awaiting a break from homework. 

Johanna with her small group during the BFA Christmas Banquet.

We are excited to see our princess home for the holidays next weekend!