Students

We started off with just 4 official applications for this school last Wednesday. By opening day we had 19 students with another 3 joining us today (the second day). Praise God for the interest in laying a firm foundation of Biblical values and teachings in this land of Mongolia!

Titus School has started~

We started TITUS school with YWAM here in Erdenet and are so excited to see ywam staff, local pastors and teachers attend. The purpose of Titus is to equip each of us to be more effective teachers of GODS word. We will spend three weeks learning and reading and also can do outreach to put into practice the teaching methods etc that we've learned. The picture shows the staff- Bogi Jeanine and Manasa have been inspired and working on translations etc for Titus for the past 2 years. Also joining them is myself and Pascal (Bogis boyfriend from Switzerland). Manasa will be teaching and I am supporting the team by being in charge of hospitality . We look forward to the journey God has taken us on!

Diary from middle of the week

Manasa has been busy studying most of the day so I made lunch, set up the kitchen, put away our clothes into the wardrobe so we dont live out of a suitcase, dyed my hair and started a load of laundry. Am i domestic today or what? We went grocery shopping and it was so funny, down back alleys and in the basement .... little stalls of vegetables and mutton meat laid out on makeshift tables. And NO CHICKEN!  Yikes! so glad manasa has an idea of what he is doing since Im still learning. We both laughed about what if we were doing this without knowing the language. Once some more money comes in maybe I can buy some flour and make some muffins or something. But then again school will starting so might be busy.

We had a meeting this morning to finalize the schedule for Titus school starting next week. We are excited because quite a few pastors are interested in taking the lecture phase (3 weeks) to improve on their teaching methods. Titus is focused on instructing Bible teachers how to most effectively teach the Bible. Im excited to sit in on the classes. Currently we only have Mongolian students signed up which will cut down on some translating from Mongolian to English. I will be helping to prepare welcome baskets, help with daily snacks etc.... The 'behind the scenes' things that are so important but releases our main staff to focus on their teachings. We have quite an international group of staff- myself from the USA, Manasa from Fiji, Bogi from Mongolia, Jeanine from Dominican Republic and Bogi's boyfriend Pasqual from Switzerland. All united with the same goal of equipping Mongolians to lay the foundations of Christ's teachings. Inspiring! 

Please continue to pray for the team as we settle into routine, prepare teachings, fundraise the rest of the money needed to buy materials etc...

New Foods

People often ask about the food. Mongolians eat a lot of meat, and the children are often surprised if their meal does not include meat. They also use a lot of the fat from the meat which is quite an adjustment for my stomach.  Some common vegetables used are potatoes, carrots, and cabbage etc. Pickles are also common. The bread/biscuits tend to be on the harder side.
A ritual drink served to guests and at special events is horse milk. I tried by first sip last week as we were invited into our neighbors Gher tent. A band of brothers had arrived to ask for the family's daughter's hand in marriage so they had prepared traditional meal items including Buj (the pastry dough with meat in the middle, first picture with a carrot salad). They served us a large bowl of horse milk (tasted fermented) followed by a clear liquid in a smaller bowl which I found out was also from horse's milk (heated milk and collected the vapors) which is a stronger version of the first bowl. Then they follow it up with a shot of vodka. Another item , with a strong taste, was what looked like a white cookie however it was dried horse's milk. It was soft in texture but had the same bitter fermented taste. I was so thankful to try this tradition but even more thankful that my stomach was not upset after since it was so strong.
At our YWAM base we often eat noodle base dishes, and they make the noodles from scratch each day. This picture shows me eating the noodles with fried meat, and pieces of carrot.

Camels

Did you know they have camels in Mongolia? I was so surprised because Ive always had the idea that camels needed to live in the desert. While some of Mongolia is desertland, it gets very cold in the winter. The ones that I saw were drinking water surrounded by rolling green hills on the way north almost to the Russian border. When I asked what they did in the winter the reply is the same as the cows and horses, they are kept under a shelter and let out to graze on the grass that peaks through. Learn something new everyday.

Outing to the border of Russia

Outing to the border of Russia, only about 1 and half hour drive from Darhan.
First picture is of Manasa and I , with Russia in the background
Second picture is a common monument ( called ovoo) constructed to pay tribute to the gods, in high places (blue bands are even placed on tall trees)...donations of money and empty vodka bottles were made at this one (Shamanism).

Made it to Mongolia Safely

We've made it safely to Mongolia. Spent the first week at the YWAM base in Darhan (pic of a group outing) and today traveled to Erdenet where we will be staffing the TItus school with the YWAM here. They are accommodating us at a guest apartment off base so it is nice as a newly wed couple to have our time away from everyone, and our own kitchen! We are still trying to nail down an apartment in Darhan for our return so that is one major prayer requests as well as finances to cover our rent, staff fees, and school fees when we begin Mongolian language class next month. Adjusting to new culture, food, language etc. Was blessed with a YWAM outing last saturday that included a trip to the Russian border! Its COOOOOOLD :)