Wednesday, May 31

Wednesday, May 31We took Erika to the Airport this morning. Her flight left at about 7:30am. We are really going to miss her around here. It was already getting quiet enough with the Waller family gone.We went to MIU this morning and taught on Responsibility. I think a lot of the students are really starting to get the concepts that we are teaching, and not just to get a good grade in school, but realizing that we are trying to help them. Dorjbat put up curtain rods today in our apartment. The only thing that we had before were some wires that were holding some curtains, and it really did not look that good.

Tuesday, May 30

Tuesday, May 30It was our last day teaching at Oyunii Tov today, for the school year at least. The girl that Erin gave a Bible too was not in class today. We saw her on another floor, and maybe she was busy with something else and could not come, or maybe an authority found out about the gift and she was not allowed to attend, or maybe she did not want to. Who knows, but please be praying for her. I don’t know if we are going to be able to see her again or not, but at least she has God’s word. We were able to get Erika’s replacement passport today. There was a meeting at the Embassy at 1am. But at that time their computers where not working and so they had to go again at around 4 to 5pm. And PTL, they had it all ready for her. This means that her passport, if we find it, is no good anymore. But I think it would be nice for her to have as proof of her trips overseas.

Mongolia, May 29

Monday, May 29Dear Family and Friends,Happy Memorial Day!today has been quite a day for us here at CTI. Erika is due to leaveWednesday morning, and so she has been getting all ready and packedtoday. This afternoon Erika and I went to the "Mini Delger" where webuy most of our food. It is just about a 5 min walk from ourapartment. Well, on our way back Erika's wallet was stolen right outof her bag! We did not realize it until we were back, and then Erikarecalled a time that she thought she felt her bag move. This is not acrowded area, and it seems they knew what they were after, because herwallet was not right at the top of her bag and it was zippered shut.It would not be that bad, there was only a little money and herdrivers licence. But her Passport was in her wallet, and she is due toleave Mongolia in about 33 hours!We have already contacted the American Embassy, and she is going for a1oclock meeting there tomorrow to try and get either a replacement, ortemporary passport, not sure which. The Embassy requested a policereport, and that was interesting to get. Our Mongolian staff reallyhelped us out alot with that, as well as in helping look in a bunch oftrash cans and under cars where they might have disposed of the walletwith (hopefully) the passport still in it. There is going to be anannouncement made where the thieves can get a reward if they give thepassport back, because it is not much use to them other wise.We watched a documentary today in honor of Memorial Day, called "Aleague of Grateful Sons", it was done very recently, and it was verygood. One interesting thing about our Memorial Day today was that itsnowed! And it even stuck to the ground. I will attach pictures thatwe took this evening.Please pray that we will be able to get Erika a new passport soon, orthat we will find or that the "pickpocket" will return Erika'spassport.

Monday, May 29

Monday, May 29Happy Memorial Day! We got a lot of snow this evening just in time for Memorial Day! J Erika, Erin and I were invited to Tim and Angie’s to have a dinner of hamburgers, potato salad and baked beans, and then brownies and ice cream for dissert! Afterwards we watched a video called “A league of Grateful Sons? a Christian documentary on the War on Iwo Jima. It was very good and I would recommend it to those who love American history! This afternoon Erika and I went to the "Mini Delger" where we buy most of our food. It is just about a 5 min walk from our apartment. On our way back, Erika's wallet was stolen right out of her bag! We did not realize it until we were back home, and then Erikarecalled a time that she thought she felt her bag move. It was not a crowded area, but it seems that they knew what they were after, because her wallet was not right at the top of her bag and it was zippered shut. It would not be that bad, but her Passport was in her wallet, and Erika leaves Mongolia May 31st!

Saturday, May 27

Saturday, May 27Happy Birthday Mom! Today we had a nice morning catching up with some of our personal things. In the afternoon Angie took Erika and I to Ticsicktov (not sure of the spelling, sounds a bit like Tic-tack-toe to me:-) to get some souvenirs for friends and family. It was so hot today, in the 60’s! The contrast from what it has been, to today, is big. We had some snow flurries the beginning of this week!One praise for us today, is that our water seems to be getting warm! I have been learning to take bathes with water heated from the stove, and it is quite the technique. Even washing the dishes in cold water is very hard. When you have hot water it helps cut the grease more than I knew. And after awhile of washing the dishes my hands would get so numb that they almost felt hot! Any way, it was quite strange. Thank you all so much for your prayers for us right now. There is so much that happens in a day, just little things here and there that I don’t always write down for you all. I wish I could remember everything. But for some things it seems that you just have to be here to understand. :-) God bless you all!

Friday, May 26

Friday, May 26This morning I woke up with a cold, and was not feeling the best, so I did not go to MIU this morning. I was feeling much better after about 3ish, and so Erika, Erin and I walked to the Taylor’s so that Erika could try on her unfinished deel, and they could make last minuet adjustments before they made it all the way. A traditional deel is really quite thick and bulky because of all the cold weather that they have here. Erika is getting one that is a lot thinner and can be warn in her warm Georgia climate. :-) I am also getting something made, but it does not have to be rushed since I will be here for another 2 months after Erika leaves. This evening, Angie and Tim took us three girls out to dinner at a Ukrainian restaurant. It was very good, and more Mongolian than I thought. I got dumplings in cream and onion sauce, and they served my food in a clay pot. :-)

Thursday, May 25

Thursday, May 25This morning we finished grading the Journals and Quizzes and entering the scores into the computer. Erika and I have a great system going for getting them done well and fast. I think we really work well as a team. We got them all done by about noon. One of our motivations for getting them done was we were going to Narantuulzakh today to get fabric, lining and buttons for our deel’s. Narantuulzakh is an outside market where they sell just about everything! Tserendulam, and Chingis (one of our Mongolian staff), came with us. They told us not to bring our cameras, passports or keys, because this place has a lot of pickpockets, and supposedly this is the place that a lot of the “professional? pickpockets go.

Wednesday, May 24

Wednesday, May 24We went to MIU today and gave the quiz on Patience. I think there were not as many cheaters, but then again, they could just be getting better at cheating. J Most of the classes they take, it seems that the teachers don’t care as much about cheating. So for us it makes it worse when we are one of the only exceptions. Though I think they are starting to realize that we are consistent. We spent hours today grading the quizzes and Journals. We are done with the quizzes, and the journals are more than halfway done. We have to go through, read and grade about 220 journals. It is fun to do, but a lot of work. There are many Christians in the School and it is neat to see from the journal entries how they are applying Gods character in their lives.

Monday, May 22

Monday, May 22This morning we got up real early to say goodbye to the Waller family. Their flight left at about 7:30 this morning. Erika and I did a lot of work in the Waller’s apartments. They had 3 apts. For their whole family. We took a lot of CTI stuff down to the main apartment. We are going to organize the stuff and figure out what needs to be where. I think we are going to have some guests stay in the apartments that we now have open. This afternoon we had a meeting with some MIU directors to go over next years schedule. The school is run by Korean Christians, and that is one of the reasons why they want God’s character taught in the school. This school is like a mission field to them, and they want Christian teachers teaching the student’s. And even though we can’t teach about God, we can talk to the students personally about it.

Sunday, May 21

Sunday, May 21At church today a Mongolian girl came up to Sarah to say goodbye, since it is the Waller’s last Sunday before they leave (they leave tomorrow). She told Sarah that about a year ago she was a student and she started learning Character with CTI. She said that she did not know why she even had to learn character in the first place. But now she is a Christian! She told Sarah that now she knows why character is so good, and how it helped her to “see? the truth. Sarah shared with her a verse that says… “ The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.? God gave us the law to show us clearly that we are sinners, but also the law is to guide us. It was neat to see how God used the character training in her life.

Saturday, May 20

Saturday, May 20Today at noon prayer, I specifically asked for prayer for us to have more opportunity to share the gospel with our students, and the different “non-Christian? groups that we teach. And this afternoon, on the same day, Erin saw one of our MIU students passing by, and was able to share the gospel with her! She did not know hardly anything about Christianity, and was very curious. Erin even shared her own testimony with her too. She invited her to come to our church tomorrow; though it sounds like her mom is coming to visit her tomorrow and she said that tomorrow she might not be able to. But she seemed really interested. Please pray that she will come, and even feel free to bring her mom with her, and that we will have more opportunities to talk with her.

Friday, May 19

Friday, May 19MIU teaching went really well today! Other than the regular teaching that I did, I shared one of my own experiences that went with one of the “I will’s? that we are teaching on, Patience. The “I will? was, “I will keep trying until I succeed.? I shared about some of my struggles of being dyslexic, and how my Mom encouraged me, and we did not give up. 2 Chinese girls in one of our MIU classes today, asked us if we would like to come to their Chinese church! I meet one of them the other day, and she invited us then too. Tim would really like to start reaching out to the Chinese and Russian people that are in Mongolia, and so this is a great opportunity for us. I think we are going to try and go on Sunday the 28th.

Thursday, May 18

Thursday, May 18Happy 18th Birthday Ben! Today I did the most training that I have done so far. I was allotted about 35 min of speaking time training the World Vision district leaders how to teach these Character qualities to others. Really we are just teaching the character qualities to them and then we provide some materials that they can purchase to aid in them passing on what they learned. One of the ladies, a social worker, said that the Government knows what we are doing and is very thankful to us and so she gave us a gift from them. They provided lunch for us after the training. It was something that looked a lot like the Chinese dumplings but bigger and not as good (to me). J They were full of mutton. Usually the meat that they use in their dishes has a lot of fat and chewy parts of the meat still in it. So it was a little difficult to eat. We were also serve what they call milk tea. Now, when I was in Taiwan they had some really good milk tea, nice and sweet, but the Mongolian version of milk tea is a little salty, not sweet. It tasted like salty chalk water. But I hear that some of the milk tea they have here can be good, but I have yet to try it. JWe have also been able to go to meetings with Christian groups from MIU, other churches, as well as the one we go to now, and help to disciple them. One of the blessings with teaching Character to the Schools, government, and businesses, (and even though we are not allowed to teach about God in the actual classes) is that we are able to have contacts and friends with groups that we would not normally be able to have contact with. We are sharing about what the Bible teaches though, and then as we get to know more and more of these different groups and the people in them, we share with them the gospel. Different people in CTI have been able to lead many to Christ. (Romans 2:12-16). “They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing…? and when you start sharing with them the Character and principles that are from Scripture. People say, “Yes, this is true!? And then they come to us and ask questions about it. Please pray that we will be open and take the opportunities that the Lord gives us to share the gospel. Please pray for the Waller family, they leave on the 22nd, Monday morning. There will be a big gap in our team here in Mongolia, and we will have to cut back on some of the things we can do. Pray that I will be able to see what needs there may be that I can help fill. Thank you all for your prayers!

Wednesday, May 17

Wednesday, May 17Today we went to MIU and taught on the Character quality of Patience. So many times the Character that we are supposed to teach on that day is one that is very helpful for us to remember at the time. Like this morning we felt a bit rushed out the door, and we were all waiting on others at different times. J Today Erika got the opportunity to help watch some orphans that came by, and to play with them outside in the stadium that is next to our apartments. This orphanage is run by a Christian family with the last name of Morrly (not sure of the spelling). Just recently the Morrly’s house, in Mongolia, burned down. Please pray for them. We did a bunch of collating this afternoon and evening. The pages were hot off the press, and the 5 booklets that we collated are needed for tomorrow’s training of the World Vision district leaders.

Monday, May 15

Monday, May 15Yay! We finished grading the journals today. And also we are celebrating Erin’s 23ed birthday this evening. Her real birthday is tomorrow. Erin invited some Mongolian young ladies to our apartment to celebrate her birthday. We played a game, ate ice cream, and sang some hymns. It is really neat, especially, to hear both the English and Mongolian languages at the same time when we sing. I think that all of the Mongolian girls that came are new Christians, they have mostly come to know Christ through someone in our team, and it is neat the relationships that we have as a team with them. I think one of the major things that we have been able to do here in Mongolia is to disciple the Christians here. There are a lot of new Christians and they do not always know how/or what it looks like to apply what God says in the Bible to their lives. And for those of us who have grown up in Christian family’s I think it gives them more of a vision of how a Christian family can work. Not that we are perfect. J One of the girls that came this evening, asked me to share my testimony of when I became a Christian. It was neat to share with her, and then she shared her testimony with me. I have been surprised at how many Mongolians ask me if I am a Christian. They are very direct and say things that in America we might think are rude. One girl told me that my lips where chapped and I should probably use some chap stick, and licking your lips is not good for your chapped lips. J They really try and help out and say what they think on a lot of matters.

Saturday, May 13th

Saturday, May 13thToday the CTI group had their last Character English class on Saturdays at MIU, until they try and start up again in the fall. I helped Erin Randall and Sarah Waller with their class this morning. They were teaching English words in the category of Traveling and Directions. Some of the students want to learn more about the way we do things in America, because they all seem to want to go to America, and I think are planning on it. It was interesting watching their faces and talking about how people in the cities of America usually use the sidewalks and do not walk on the road like they do here in Mongolia (you would have to see it to know what I mean:-). And how what we call "Jay Walking", is against the rules in America. Those things where only touched on in class but they thought that they were weird and funny in a way. :-)

Friday, May 12th

Friday, May 12thThis morning at MIU we had 3 classes, an hour each, from 9:30 to 12:30. Tim usually teaches, but he will be gone for about 3 days and so David is teaching in his place.We got a lot of the Journals graded today. In total we have about 120?ish?journals to grade. In the evening we went to a Christian Mongolian “Opera?, though it was not only Opera. I think mostly the Korean Missionaries ran it. The Mongolian orcastra played mostly on the “Horse Fiddles? I don’t know the Mongolian term for the instrument. The fiddle has 2 strings with a bow and a box shaped body with the carving of the head of a horse on the handle. It was really neat to hear the Mongolian orcastra play some American songs like “Hoe Down? and “Serenade? by Mozart. There was a Solo played by one of the Mongolian “Horse Fiddlers? of “Ave Maria?. It was really beautiful! Then a Korean American choir (from New Jersey USA J) sang some Christian songs in Mongolian, I think. Anyway, it was not English. Then one of the highlights of the evening was about 6 or 7 selections from the Opera by Jerome Hines “I am the Way?! It is the only Opera on the life of Christ. One of the really funny parts at the end was when they closed the evening with the Hallelujah chorus. All the Americans that were there stood up for it, and the Mongolians were very confused as to what we were doing and why we all stood up. I have a feeling that a lot of them asked their American friends what that was all about. J

Thursday, May 11th

Thursday, May 11thThis morning we went to Vitsamo, a juice factory that is run by a Christian man. We teach his staff about character, and how to apply it. Today we talked about gratefulness. And how to not just think, “I am so thankful for such, and such?, but to express your thankfulness in words as well as with your actions. Ex: you tell your Mom how grateful you are for cooking a meal and how good it is, and then when you are done you start helping with clean up. That is expressing your thanks by your words and your actions. We where able to get a tour of the factory. It was neat to see how they used even the old bottles and the process of cleaning them before they are used again. This evening our group went to a church and taught Mongolian Pastors and Sunday school teachers how to teach character, and since it is a church group we are able to talk about some of the commands of God, and how these character qualities are related to obeying them.

Wednesday, May 10th

Wednesday, May 10thToday Erika and I helped with teaching at MIU. We helped by passing out a quiz and then once the quiz started we walked around and pulled people out that we would catch or even think might be cheating, then we would give them the quiz orally, tomake sure and see if they were cheating or not, cheating is a big problem in the schools. We then spent the rest of the morning and awhile in the afternoon grading the quizzes and the student’s journals that they are supposed to turn in. In their journals they are to give personal examples of the 5 "I will's" of the character quality that we areteaching at the time. The one for today was Initiative. And the “I will’s? are;1. I will do what is right before being told2. I will not put off until tomorrow the things I can do today3. I will contribute to the success of the whole team4. I will be part of the solution rather than the problem5. I will look for ways to help othersIt was neat to read some of the journals and see into some of the lives of thestudents.

Tuesday, May 9th

Tuesday, May 9thI went to the school called Oyunii Tov today, with Erika, Erin and Sarah. We had two groups, the 1st to 6th graders, and then the 7th to high school group. We taught on the character quality of Gratefulness. It was one of the first times I was able to help teach. We have been observing the first few days, so that we can get a better idea of what we are to do. Sarah gave her testimony about her brother Isaac that just died in November, and how out of a love for Mongolia, he was buried here. Sarah (15) talked about how you can be grateful in any circumstance and how to find the good in everything. It really moved a lot of the students, and the translator, who was not expecting this, was having a hard time translating and when it was over, rushed out of the room. I am not sure if she is a Christian, but sometimes it is easier to become close to the translators and share the reason for the peace that we have in Christ. Please pray for her.

Mongolia, May 8

This morning when we got up it was snowing outside! And it continued to snow all day! We were going to take a trip to the countryside this afternoon, but since there was so much snow, it was not safe to travel out side the city. But I really did not mind, it was just so cool to see all the snow, and in May too! We went to a character class for teachers, teaching them how to teach their students in the schools different character qualities. In some ways it is really hard in those certain classes not to be able to tell them about God, the reason behind the character and why we even need to strive and be people of character. Sure, it does make peace with others and a better quality of life, and there are blessings to fallowing these things. But the motivation, a lot of times, is not on Glorifying God, as much as it is learning how to better them selves. We (CTI) have been learning new ways to get to know our students, and have personal relationships with them so that we can share the good news with them. It is interesting, the students who are already Christians very quickly realize that we are Christians by the things that we teach and the way that we live, and we have been able to disciple them and encourage them. This afternoon Erika and I had to go and get “Registered? all we needed was a picture and a letter from CTI, and they stamped our passport as registered. I guess it is a precaution in case they have to get a hold of all the American’s in Mongolia for some reason.

Mongolia, May 7, 06

Sunday, May 7thThe church that we are going to is a Mongolian church. Its English name is "Holy Way". All the foreigners that don't speak Mongolian sit in the back, while a translator sits with us and translates the sermon. It was difficult to even understand the translator, but I did get some points from the service. Since it is hard to get much from the service in the morning, CTI gets together at about 6:30pm and we watch a message on video. This Sunday we watched "Sermon on the Mount - Virtue" A man that gives lessons from God's word using illustrations with horses.

Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia May 6, 06

Hello to all from Ulaan Baatar Mongolia! Erika and I arrived here safe and sound early on the morning of May 6th. The Lord has been working in many ways in the lives of the people of Mongolia.My first impression is that the people of Mongolia look a lot like Chinese people. But I have been told that it seems they act more like Russians in their culture. As I have been here though, I think both the Chinese and Russians have some of the same types of cultures, because of being communist countries. Supposedly, in Mongolia, communism has fallen, but in some ways it is still here, because it has not been long since it was gone, and there is still a lot of influences of the way things were.Since Mongolia is on the border of China and Russia it does have a lot of Chinese and Russian people as well. Mongolians though tend to look up to the Russians and seem to like them better in a lot of ways, and that is why, I guess, they live more like the Russians. They do have some of there “own? culture too J. They really look up to Chingas Khan, and some even worship him. The time of Chingas Khan is looked upon, as probably the best time for Mongolia, they seem to always look back on that time. I hope that they will learn to look forward.

First we went to MIU (Mongolian International University), and observed the Character and English classes. There will only be one more class with this group next Saturday, but it is nice to see the types of things we are going to be teaching and how it is being taught. Every weekday, whoever is at CTI, gets together at about 12:30 to share praises and prayer requests and then we pray together. It is a nice time to get to know what all the different parts of the team are doing. On May 22nd the Waller family, all 11 of them, are leaving Mongolia. We don't know if they are coming back or not, but they have been such a help to the team. When they leave, CTI is going to have to cut back on the teaching and different ministries that they have, because there just won't be enough people to do everything.