Introducing.....

I'd want to take a chance and introduce the C&MA team here in Mongolia. The picture on the top is the team at Thanksgiving. There are six older (between 7th and 11th grade) children who are were at boarding school in Taiwan at the time of that picture. The picture on the bottom is of those six older kids plus a few of the younger ones.
I have the incredible privilege of working with some pretty amazing people. They have huge hearts for God, and for people, particularly Mongolia. I love to see them in action as they share God's love with the people surrounding them. I have learned so much about how to really serve and to love people from watching them. They have challenged my faith in the Lord--to grow, be stretched, and to KNOW the living God. I am grateful that I have had the privilege to work with them for the last four years. They have filled my life with joy. I look back and see the years filled with potlucks and movies, joy and pain, tears and laughter, business meetings and prayer gatherings, spontaneous times of worship, camp-outs and on and on. I have grown because of them. I have been pushed outside of my comfort zone because of them. I am not the same person I was four years ago, and much of that is because of them. I praise God for this blessing.

Happy New Year!

This week is Lunar New Year. People all over Asia are celebrating. Here in Mongolia it's called Tsagaan Sar--White Month. It started on Sunday and will carry on through Tuesday or Wednesday. It's amazing to see Mongolians get ready for it. This is the most important holiday of the year. It's like Christmas for them. For a couple weeks ahead of time, you can see Mongolians outside beating their rugs, crowding into the market to buy POUNDS of meat and gifts, getting out their dehls (traditional clothes), and getting ready for the general mayhem of the holiday. The first day of the holiday is mainly for the family and the next few days is for friends. You visit houses, eat tons of botz (a meat dumpling which they'll make a couple thousand of), drink gallons of salty milk tea, receive gifts (the host family gives out gifts to all visitors), and move onto the next house. It's a great time to visit and see family and friends you might not see the rest of the year.
I had the privilege of visiting the small town of Zunghara. Myself and four of my teammates went Sunday morning on the train--a three hour trip. We visited our small church and then spent the afternoon visiting the homes of the church members and then raced back for the evening train to head back home. It was a very long day but rewarding to have spent time fellowshipping with teammates and new friends. Since I had no school on Monday and Tuesday because of the holiday, I was able to visit some homes of a few friends here in Darhan. At the end of the day, I am tired but blessed to have been able to be welcomed into the homes and lives of people I have the privilege to call not only friends but family in Christ.

Snail Mail

You know there is nothing like good 'ole snail mail. It's so sad that it's going out of fashion. There's nothing like going to the post office and finding out you have a letter. That special feeling---holding on to something that somebody actually took the time to sit down and write, put in an envelope, take to the post office and spend money on to mail to you! How great is that! I love letter writing--unfortunately I along with so many other people don't keep up with it because of technology. There's just something about sitting down and writing to someone in your own little style. I love the pens, stationary, stickers, etc. that can go with it all.
This is something that I have always done with my students. Teach, or try to, the art of the letter. It started out as a language lesson, but has evolved into a life lesson. We write to friends, family, kids at boarding school, missionaries, pen pals, etc. Many of my kids (well the girls) share in the love of all things stationary, so it's not a big jump to actually use that love. It's been great to share in their joy of getting a letter back from someone, and then wanting to sit down and write right back to them. It's a fun thing that we can all get into. Something that we, for a minute, can share with the old days (it's a great lesson on the Pony Express) before text messaging, blogging, e-mailing, chatting on IM, etc.
My challenge to you is to actually take that break from technology, sit down with a pen and paper, and write some words to an old friend. Possibly you'll get a letter back and be able to share in that special feeling of getting a letter.

Bayasaa

This is Bayasaa (Buy-sa). Two of my teamates, Jeremy(shown in the picture) and Krista Fields, have been in the process of adopting her for the last year and half. It's been a long, hard process because the requirments are always changing. They are finally in the last stage--waiting for the last commitee's approval. After that they can go to the American Embassy in Seoul, Korea and get the last bit of paper work finished. The Fields hope to have the approval by the time they head to the States for the summer, so they can do the paper work in Korea on the way. Please join in our prayers that the approval will happen! Also, pray for a smooth transition for Bayasaa. It will be quite a change for the whole family, and I know they will appreciate all of our prayers in the coming months.

P.S.--Thanks to all who helped me put my first picture on the blog!