The broken...the homeless

As Manasa and I continue to pray about how to serve the people here in Mongolia, our hearts and more and more stirred for the homeless population. Because the winters get so cold here, there are often hungry, frost bitten (and sometimes passed out drunk) men and women (sometimes children) finding their warmth in apartment corridors, or even underground (as picture shows). Just the other night Manasa passed by a man who was in the drainage pipe, passed out. He was worried enough that he later went back out to see if this man was okay (he was already gone by that time). This youtube video was taken by an organization in the main capital city, we have not yet heard of a homeless shelter in our town. We do know a church that provides a meal once a week...we hope to be a part of increasing the resources for those who are poor, or without a home. Feel free to check out this link.....

"Being homeless in Mongolia"
http://youtu.be/PXqON2dDnd0

Back to schoooooool

Taking classes to learn Mongolian isn't easy. I am however thankful for such patient and supportive teachers as we've found at our Mongolian language school. I am now starting to learn common phrases and the brain feels so tired after a three hour class. I attend class Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Manasa is more advanced so he attends just two times a week, Tuesday and Thursday. The positive of having one on one time with a teacher is being able to review the 'hard' parts and practice practice practice. Our last session included asking and responding to family member's names (what is your husband's name, what is your sister's name), as well as asking "will you go _____?" , do you want to eat ____?, do you want to drink ____? and do you speak (and study) followed by the different languages. Sometimes the question is easy but forming the answer isn't hahaha. Looking forward to continuing to learn phrases and words that I often hear amongst my friends.

Reading ~

We are always on the lookout for new and truthful ways of introducing people to the story of Jesus. When all you've heard about it is either from word of mouth or a small four minute clip on television, you don't really get the joy of understanding the full story and the power of who God is. This last weekend a friend showed us this Mongolian comic book that they are using and we were so excited!  Looking forward to sharing the Jesus story in a new way!

Put this up on facebook earlier and thought Id share

 

Highlights from my day so far
Me: "I feel like a stuffed potato"
island husband: "gooooood"

Went to school only to find door locked, called teacher and apparently it's Chinggis Khan's birthday so NO SCHOOL!

On way home from school
husband: "im going to watch a movie when i get home"
me: "oh I thought of maybe exercising"
husband : *pause* "we are not on the same page"

Fun day!

Birthday of Genghis Khan

Today is Genghis Khan's birthday. I did not know this until Manasa and I arrived at my school for Mongolia classes and the door was locked. After calling the teacher we found out it was a national holiday to celebrate this respected leader's birthday. When we got in the taxi, we decided to stop at the store on the way home, and the taxi driver was saying how Mongolians are crazy because they celebrate this birthday today even though no one knows for sure what date is Genghis Khan's day of birth. He described that it's a day when families get together. When we got home we turned on the television to hear the very wise President ( Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj) of Mongolia discuss Genghis Khan's victories but more importantly used it to promote decisions to unify and strengthen the country today.  Genghis Khan was known as a warrior, fearless and smart. He was only 20 when he began building a large army and started destroying the armies of the rest of Asia. He was successful – the Mongol Empire was the largest empire in the world before the British Empire.

The words  "Genghis Khan," mean "universal ruler". All this rich history makes me think of the lineage of Christ. Ask any Mongolian to tell you some stories about this warrior (also known as Chingis Khan or Jingis) and they will be able to tell you folklore stories, historical facts, maybe something about a family member or the town where he was born. I asked myself what would I say about my 'Lord', and ruler- Jesus Christ. Would I be able to tell you stories of His victories, great speeches and legacy? More importantly would I be bold enough to share what He is doing in my life today? Good challenges and thoughts on a day where Ive been blessed learning more about the culture I live in, and also thankful for the 'leader' that I will always follow ~
*Me in front of Genghis Khan's monument in Sükhbaatar Square, UlaanBaatar Mongolia

Highs and Lows

I found this table interesting, found at World Weather website (for Mongolia).... ah something to look forward to...

Climatological Information

Month Mean Temperature oC Mean Total Precipitation (mm) Mean Number of Precipitation Days Daily Minimum Daily Maximum Jan -30.8 -16.4 4.3 6 Feb -26.5 -9.6 2.8 5 Mar -14.5 1.1 3.2 4 Apr -4.8 12.1 8.9 6 May 2.4 20.4 19.9 8 Jun 8.8 24.6 57.0 14 Jul 12.6 26.0 86.6 16 Aug 10.5 24.1 82.0 14 Sep 2.5 17.8 40.8 10 Oct -5.8 9.6 14.4 7 Nov -17.4 -3.3 5.6 7 Dec -25.8 -12.2 5.2 8

Let it snow , let it snow....

We were met with a delightful snow today. Delightful only because I could stay in my warm house today while Manasa ventured out to attend Mongolian class. I watched as people slipped a bit then noticed a man sitting on the ground. A few passerbys helped him up and I realized he was drunk (not unusual for this area). As I watched him stumble and slip I thought about how this moment, possibly entertaining and funny, only made my heart hurt. I wondered how far away he lived. When he got home would there be someone there to take care of him? Did he have heat? If he has coal burning stove, is he too impaired to know how to warm it? I prayed for all those who are cold, sick , or like this man struggling with substances. God can keep them warm and safe and ultimately reveal Himself in a personalized way. For now Ill enjoy my warm apartment, venturing out tomorrow in my new (second hand) coat bought yesterday and thank God for His provisions.

Faith Hope and Love

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.

But the greatest of these is love (2 Corinthians 13:13)

Taken from Stuart Briscoe's book "Living Love God's Way"

Something that becomes evident without much meditation is that these three qualities- faith, hope and love- go together. You can't pick and choose among them. The Bible draws a picture of these three graces as inextricably related and bound up in each other.

Faith is at the root of human experience. When you have faith in a valid object of faith, it produces hope. Hope becomes a branch that grows out of the root of faith. When you become a person of faith and hope, you develop a faith and hope in other people and in God, and that leads you to love God and love people. Love is the ultimate fruit.

Of these three superb Christian graces-absolutly interrelated, absolutely indispensable- love is still the greatest. We don't need to diminish faith or diminish hope in order to glorify love. Instead, we need to upgrade both faith and hope; and that allows love to flourish. Without hope, we become pessimistic and lethargic. Why do anything, since everything is such a mess anyway? That certainly isn't conducive to love. And faith is the ability to see what God sees- the divine potential He's planted in people. Faith keeps us from giving up on one another. Faith sees ahead, and love energizes growth toward that vision. Without faith, we could be sentimental and wish that things might work out, cry over another person's struggles, without the confidence that the struggles won't have the last word.

And what do we have if love is missing? Love is our ability to act in such a way that we build up others and ourselves. Love is action that springs from the very goodness and holiness of God. Love is what makes is all happen. That's why its the greatest of the three. Love is actually God's very character translated into something tangible for us to know.