First of all I want to apologize for how late this is. We have been busy here and now have lots to share. We have been continuing with our language studies for the past four weeks and are surprised with the ground we have traversed so far.
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| (Adele and I with our Language Teacher) |
Who knew that by this time we would be able to:
Speak in 4 different tenses (Present-Simple, Present-Continuous, Past, and Future),
Talk about 50+ food items (if stores have them, how much they are, how we prepared it/ate it)
Talk about meals (who cooked, what was made, when it was made)
As well as many different verbs like praying, sitting, walking, waiting, dancing, wrestling, playing, etc...
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| Khuushuur (This is not my picture, I will replace it shortly) |
I still can't believe it. Today at lunch we went to a Mongolian Guanz today(small Mongolian Restaurant) to try and find some
Khuushuur (deep fired, dough wrapped, meat things... [on right ->] ). This was the second place we went to and we were able to go in, ask if they had Khuushuur, order some (along with some Mantuun Buuz — big buns with meat inside [below] — and some cokes), get them, ask for napkins, and pay all in Mongolian. We were even able to ask the guy sitting at the table next to us what he was eating so that we might try it next time. Being able to slightly communicate with the language has been an amazing part of this experience so far.
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| Mantuun Buuz (This is not my picture, I will replace it shortly) |
The last time I was here I started some friendships without being able to converse with them. We shared a common relationship with Christ and we communicated with the love that he shares with each of us. This was so powerful. To be able to look back and see that we had a friendship that had no roots in conversation but in action and primarily God. Then to come back and study the language, to actually be able to communicate with them verbally, has been an amazing experience. The smiles that we receive from the kids are a huge motivation factor in learning that language. It is not a burden for us, but a joy because we are seeing the fruits of our labors.
I know this is a pretty quick post, but I wanted to make sure you guys knew I was alive. I am going to try and have a post being worked on constantly so that these will be posted more frequently; smaller but more frequent blog updates. So for now, here are some prayer requests.
Pray for:
The teens that we are hanging out with on Monday afternoons. Some of them know Christ as their saviour, but the majority of them have not made a decision yet. Pray that we would be an example of the love of God to them.
The Bible Study and Youth Group that we are starting up in January. We are still unsure of what the logistics of these will be and are working hard to get things moving on them. Pray that God would use us to reach some college aged students with the Bible Study and the Missionary Kids and Expats who live in the city with the Youth Group.
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| (Some of the Kids at the Kids Club) |
The kids in Hani Material who are coming to our Kids Camp on Saturday mornings. We have two more camps until they break for the coldest month of the year. Pray that God would continue to reach out to them and draw them close to him. Pray against the spiritual forces and cultural influences that are constantly bombarding them.
The Baergs and their Ministries. They are in a transition phase right now and are waiting for somethings to happen for the next stage in their Ministry. Pray that they will not lose motivation as they volunteer with a few different projects, and Pray for the Land acquisition they are working on.
And for our team. We are experiencing some sickness during these winter months and are finding it difficult to find full restoration in health. Pray that we would be healed so that we can continue to be instruments of the Most High God in this land that is filled with darkness.
Have a Merry Christmas
from our team to you and your families
Blessings!
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| (The team hanging out with our great friend Tomoko) |
