Josiah's Happy 8th Birthday

Spider man theme streamers and new toy.

With the white chocolate cake his mom made him. 

Clara is excited as well.

Don't forget your party hat!

Excited for the end of school and soon return to America...

Made this a pretty special 8th birthday.

Welcome Back to Ohio Graduated

After graduating Friday, Maggie and her sisters made it back home the the US Saturday evening.

To a nice welcome from their grandparents, aunt and uncle.

It was a big day.  We were all tired but great and grateful to be together again.  

Sunday they were rested and ready for playing outside.

Clara trying out the newly hung swings on a beautiful spring day.

Maggie Graduates from Black Forest Academy

Though we weren't able to attend, thank God we got to watch online live.

We just barely got internet hooked up in time arriving in Ohio the night before,

Tassel on the left, our adult alumnus daughter graduates with high honors,  

With her dorm sisters.

And sisters Johanna and Lydia

Walking into the ceremony.

Taking pictures via TV screen much less embarrassing for students I'm sure.  

Josiah, Angel, and Clara

Playing while their parents talk at our departing meal at the Lee home.

MBA Coaches Training Continues

Fire In Ulaanbaatar

Sunday afternoon, black smoke colored the skyline over Peace Avenue.

A few moments later, the smoke darkened.  

Our building is the green peak-roofed one on the right in the foreground. 

But fortunately, the fire was further down the street.

It turned out to be coming from the historic State Department Store, opened in 1924!

Thank God about 30 minutes later, smoke began to dissipate.  

Police and fire crews were putting our the final smolders.  

It was the 6th floor of tourist souvenirs that burned.  

No word yet on what caused the fire, or whether fatalities occurred.

Childrens's Day in the Lock-Down

 Our friends joined us to the National Park outside Ulaanbaatar.

There were many people there, surprisingly.  Cotton candy and bubbles were for sale.

Afterward, we went for dinner at a favorite nearby restaurant.

Josiah went outside to play with his new bubble maker toy.

Clara enjoys the fun as well. 

Happy Children's Day, every June 1st in Mongolia! 

Inspiring Church Service

One of the beauties of the World Wide Web is the ability to travel (sort of) to experience places, even churches, where you've never been.  Maybe for you that means seeing and reading, perhaps praying for Mongolia from wherever you visit this journal, this web log of ours.  Thanks for dropping by!

Today I visited a church (virtually of course) in my own home state of Washington, that I had never heard of, in a town I couldn't place on a map.  I learned of it from a book that was suggested to me, which was written by the pastor of that church.  He happens to be the son of my favorite theologian, Eugene Peterson, who was born in another small town in our state: Stanwood, Washington.

Anyway I thought I would share this message of Home, the Hope of Heaven, and the need we all need for Justice and Grace.  The music and worship is what drew me to stay for the service of the proclamation of the Word of God.  I hope someone out there enjoys it as much as I did.

You can simply click here to see and hear.  Blessings!

German Mountain Sunset on School Year

The girls in Germany trekked up a nearby mountain to mark a significant event.

School is almost out and soon their dorm sisterhood will be separated by space and time zones. 

Mongolian Traditional Script Class

My friend Jonathan joined me in class last week.

He knows the vertical script quite well since he lived in Inner Mongolia.

Here we are after learning the traditional script numbers 1-9.

Here I am on the last day of class for the year, with some of the calligraphy script I had to learn to read with Tserma Teacher.  The poem behind us is like a poem of eternal blessing.  

Girls in Germany Celebrate Staff and Sisters

Birthdays are celebrated with fanfare at their dorm.

Maggie (above) celebrates their dorm mother Cheryl on her birthday.

For those with birthdays in summer, like Lydia , they celebrate a little early.

Maggie crowns her as princess of quick thinking, among other things.  

Getting Close to the End of School

Mrs B, alias Mom helps Josiah with a school project.

We're on the home stretch, and making them both stand the test. 

I think we could safely call the COVID-19 2020 school year a stress test for all!

Restarting Basketball Training

Right now kids are still not allowed to congregate.

So we're focusing on preparing coaches...

Been a long 3 months so we're getting back in shape. 

National Day of Prayer in America

No matter what your politics, a pandemic is a good time to pray to God in unity for healing.  

So many great prayers were offered for the world and country across denominations and faiths.

I especially recommend to you the two-song ensemble at the end of the prayer service.  

You can hear these songs and prayers for the pandemic by clicking here.

"Blessed  is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!"

Psalm 33:12

Quarantine Lock Down Loosens

Churches and schools are still closed, but gyms are open again!  Looking at the calendar, the last day we were able to train in the gym was February 4th.  

In late April, Mongolia canceled school until September.  I was thinking we might get into gyms in June or July if we're lucky.  Imagine my surprise when on May 1st we heard gyms were open again.  We walked in our rented gym and saw a pick-up basketball game going!  It had been a long hiatus.  

We met with the managers and agreed to reactivate our use of the gym as of May 5th.  That is almost exactly 3 months of the whole country being shut out of indoor basketball.  Can you believe it?

It caught us a little off guard, and everyone else as well.  So it was only three coaches at training.  It's still not allowed for kids to gather or be seen in public. So we have more time to prepare for when kids can start to gather, probably closer to September 1st, when school starts.  

Here we are after training for 2 hours on Thursday.  

Happy Birthday Renee!

We celebrated Renee's birthday at home last night.

Clara helped make her rhubarb pie.

Josiah made this cross out of clothes pins.

We played karaoke,

and ate pie!

She opened presents...

and cards...

We love you!

Washington State Quarantine Scene

This may not seem like a Mongolia post, but when you're stuck in a locked down country during a world wide Pandemic, and your loved one is in a Seattle area nursing home (the epicenter and hotbeds of the US outbreak of COVID-19) things can seem pretty bleak.  

Brothers Jon (and family) and Jake visit a month or so after moving Dad into a smaller facility with only 8 residents.  His previous facility had more than a hundred, and a few weeks ago had 39 cases of COVID.  So far no sickness reported here.  

We're all pretty grateful.  I think Dad is too!  God bless the USA with recovery and Jeremy's brothers for their care.  A blessing of big families is we can stand in for each other in caring for the old folks. He keeps asking when we're going to visit him.  "It's going to be a while", especially since Mongolia just extended their international flight ban through May 31st!

Here is another COVID Quarantine scene.  The kids' cousins visit their grandma outside her home in Ellensburg.  Kittitas county has had less than 20 infections and no deaths so far.  Praise the Lord!