Flies Can Run, But They Can't Hide

Sorry it has been so long since I have blogged. I caught a nasty stomach virus and since my body hasn't had any exposure to Mongolian viruses, it apparently hit me harder than it should have. I'm finally getting better though. Not much has happened in the last week. Tonight the Jaquiths get in, so all the kids are very excited. I have always been under the assumption that flies only live for 24 hours. I think I got that from A Bug's Life so it is not exactly trustworthy information, but still... Well, last Wednesday or so, a fly got into our room and thoroughly annoyed us. He would fly all around our faces and by our ears and was just a huge annoyance. We decided to just wait it out and let him run his natural course of 24 hours, but he kept coming back day by day. By the time Saturday rolled around, it had become John vs. Fly. I cannot tell you how many pairs of jeans I saw flying through the air at a small, black, buzzing object. John tried smashing it with a book, stepping on it, staring him down, verbally abusing it, and anything else he could think of, but to no avail. Finally, Sunday night came and we were in our beds reading. All of a sudden, I saw a blur of movement as John swung his book at the fly. He missed, but this time, giving up was not an option. He jumped out of bed and picked up a pair of jeans. He began chasing the fly throughout the apartment swing wildly. At one point in time, the fly land on our shelf/clothes rack. John swung so hard that he bent the metal bar on it. But yet again, the fly eluded John's grasp. The fly had to have been tired by that time, so it landed on the ceiling, thinking that little John couldn't reach that high. That was the last mistake he ever made. With a leap and gigantic swing of his pants, John smashed the fly. He began yelling his greatness and triumph, not really concerned about any neighbors. They would have understood though if they knew what John went through to get that fly. So anyway, their is now one less fly in Mongolia. John wins.

American stomach viruses... they got nothin' on Mongolian stomach viruses.

Turtle Rock

This last Friday, the Deans, John and I went to a Mongolian national park. The scenery was amazing and I was yet again amazed at how beautiful Mongolia can be. It was about a half hour drive to the park and then another half hour to get to a large rock called turtle rock. The park is gigantic! We got to the rock and John immediately raced Charissa, Emily, and Caleb to the top. I was on my way to try to catch them when I saw a camel. Pastor Dean asked the man standing by how much it was to ride him. It was 3,000 tugrugs which is a little less than 3 dollars. It was awesome! Unlike horses, camels lay down so one can get on them. I got on without difficulty, but when he stood up I first felt like I was going to fall right off his front. Then it felt like I was going to fall right off his back. By the time he got up though, I was comfortable. It was a two humped camel, so I rested my back on his back hump, and held on to his front. It felt like nothing could throw me off that camel. The man who owned him walked us down about a hundred yards then back. It was great. His fir was so soft that John and I went out and bought camel fir sweaters today. After the camel ride, John and I proceeded to climb the rock as high as we could. There were some close calls, but it really wouldn’t have been any fun if there weren’t. I hit my head on the roof way too many times on the bumpy roads, but even that was pretty fun. On the way home we stopped at a Chinese restaurant. So far I’ve eaten Chinese food prepared by a man from Singapore in Mongolia, American food prepared by a Cuban in Mongolia, and Korean BBQ chicken in Mongolia. And I thought America was the melting pot.

The Church Picnic

This past Saturday, the Mongolians of Faith Baptist Church, the Deans, the Pattersons, John, and I went on a church picnic. There were 39 in all who went and we rode up in three SUVs and a taxi. Four of us went in the taxi. That leaves 35 people in 3 cars... yeah. The Patterson's Nissan Pathfinder had 17 people in it. It was an incredible day! We went about 10 kilometers past the city limits to a beautiful spot alongside a river. When we got there, just about everyone starting eating their packed lunches, but John and I set out to set up a small tent for people to change after being baptized. Well, we were two Americans setting up a Polish tent in Mongolia without any instructions. That could have gone better. We almost had it standing up when two of the church members came and informed us that it was inside out. Who puts a tent away inside out?!?! I refuse to accept responsibility for the futile attempt. IT WASN'T MY FAULT! Okay, maybe a little. But we finally got that figured out and ate our lunch. After that, Pastor Dean preached a message right by the river. I obviously didn't get a whole lot from it since it was in Mongolian, but he told me that it was about baptism. I took his word for it. Following that came the baptisms. It was encouraging to see the progress being made with the church. After the baptisms we played soccer in a pot hole filled field. We had a lot of fun and just about everyone walked away unscathed. The ride home was pretty quiet since everyone was wiped out. That Sunday, attendance was up again which was another great encouragement. Pray that the people keep coming and that God will speak to their hearts.

Welcome to Mongolia

I am continually amazed at the amount of traffic in this city. Most roads are painted so that there are two lanes in each direction. Well, the lines are very faded, but even if they were freshly painted bright yellow that glowed in the dark, the Mongolians still wouldn’t care. On a most days the make three lanes out of two lane roads, but occasionally, they’ll try for four. One particular instance stands out in my mind that I don’t think I will forget for a long time. All six of the Deans, John, and I were crammed into the Dean’s small SUV, driving to a restaurant. We were in the third lane, closest to oncoming traffic, on a two lane road. Traffic was moving very slowly, and the person in front of us apparently didn’t want to wait. So, all of sudden, he pulled into oncoming traffic, drove about ten yards, then stopped. So now cars are coming right at him, honking at him, and driving so close to him I was sure he was going to get hit. Then, after about five seconds, he just pulled in front of the car that was previously in front of him. Welcome to Mongolia.

Day 7

Sunday, September 7 was our first Sunday in two weeks. If you just did a double take and are wondering if I have lost it, I'll explain my last statement. We left Portland, Oregon on a Saturday afternoon, and because of the international date line, we flew right past Sunday. Any way, I had an excellent Sunday! The morning service was all in Mongolian, so I didn't really have any idea what was going on. A Mongolian preached on of the messages and I didn't want to offend him by just staring into space, so I just tried to keep eye contact even though I didn't understand a word of it. We all went over to a Mongolian family's house for lunch. It wasn't terrible, but I had an interesting tea. It tasted like hot, liquid cheese. And if any of you are thinking that that sounds good... no, not really, no. Every Sunday they hold a service in English. Some Mongolians go to that to practice their English, but there were also Americans coming out of the wood works. It was great! The message was excellent and the fellowship in English was encouraging. Sunday nights will be a great weekly encouragement.

Ec, Xoep, TaB, ApaB, TaBb, Ep

Love the country. Love the people. Despise the language. Plain and simple. John and I have been attending language school since this Tuesday. It is from 9 to 12:20 in the morning and if it were any longer, my brain would melt. I struggled a little in Spanish 1, but I never imagined a language so difficult. Spanish contains many words that are very similar to English, and even in America, we are somewhat exposed to the language. But MAN! Mongolian!?!?! Most Americans I talked to didn't even know where Mongolia was. So needless to say, the first day of language school was pretty rough. But God is good! He has helped a lot, and even though it's still pretty tough, I know that He is helping me and will continue to help.

Americans Take Man-Hole Covers For Granted

After way too many hours of flying, and countless people kicking my feet as they hung out in the aisle, we are finally here! I was told that Mongolian people drive crazy, but no one truly understand the extent of how crazy it is until they experience it first hand. Although there were a few frightening moments on the road, it really wasn't too terrible. I don't think that I could drive over here, but Pastor Dean has it all under control. In America, we are used to all different races of people walking by. But in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, we stick out like a sore thumb. It is a little disconcerting having everyone looking at us, but we'll get used to it. Or maybe they'll get used to us. There is a store in downtown Ulan Bator called the "American Store." They have cream soda, microwave popcorn, salsa, and many other food items that are are common to the U.S., but found nowhere else in Mongolia. That store is wonderful! Today, we registered at the Bridge International School and let the Mongolian government know that we're here. We had to make three trips to the government office, but Pastor Dean only went with us the first time. Needless to say, the second and third trip were interesting. They laughed at us alot, but it wasn't too bad. All in all, today was pretty exciting, and I'm looking forward to the next ten months!