While Kevin Has Been Away

Kevin left three weeks ago to have some medical attention in the U.S.  I didn't feel that I should go at this time since he was able to travel alone, and I wanted to stay in UB to continue the work we have here.  I will get my 3-month U.S. trip starting in mid-May.  Until then, I want to stay faithful to opportunities here.

Here are just a few things I've been involved in the past three weeks (and Kevin comes home in 30 hours!):



Our neighbor who has three little girls, was having overnight house guests.  Their apartment is one bedroom, so I took the girls overnight.  They even had their baths here.  It was like having my own three little girls back in my life...only these girls are bilingual!  They jabber away in Mongolian and then quickly switch over to speaking English with me (they call me "Sister Pam"). 

 

Here the girls are, hair wet from baths, smelling beautiful, and reading their Mongolian bedtime story which I had purchased from a bookstore here.  This book is about the Easter story.



The girls enjoyed another bedtime story told by "Brother Kevin" on skype.  What a fun treat!



I began a 9-hour per week job with a small "experimental" school here in town.  It's a public school with the goal of teaching all of their classes in English.  Here I am, seated in the front row, far left, with the teachers of the school.  Matt on the very far left is also with our organization, and he and another man have also been hired.  The three of us are responsible to meet with all of these teachers throughout the week to converse with them in English for their practice.  We are also giving them methods to integrate into their classrooms so their students can speak more English in class.  We have already been developing some wonderful relationships with these very sweet teachers.  I'm sure we'll have many opportunities to share about the light of life which gives much hope!  Behind the teachers, you can see the students of the school.  The school presently only has 40 9th grade students, and they plan to add one grade each year. 



Last week was an exciting ceremony for the school.  The media came to cover the event.



The Prime Minister of Mongolia, the Director of the Ministry of Education, and officials from Cambridge in England were all on hand to sign documents to forge a partnership of English learning at this school in Mongolia.  It was quite an exciting event for the Mongolian school. 



Afterwards, we enjoyed some finger foods.  The woman in the back has spent time with me practicing her English.



Later that week, I enjoyed some leftover Indian food (from an Indian restaurant), with some sauteed chicken and peppers.  The tortilla was made by a neighbor who has a small tortilla-making business to help pay for family expenses. 

  In all of the activities of the day, I keep my eyes open for opportunities to speak of the Light...the one who came that we might have life...and have it abundantly.  There are opportunities almost daily.  I am thankful to be here at this time of our lives.  I don't know how long it will last, but for now, it's one step at a time.

A Mild Frazzle Fixed

I had a little "frazzle" of my nerves this afternoon. 

Our phones were both very low on "negch" (the Mongolian word for prepaid minutes), so I went over to the market to not only purchase some negch, but also buy some butter and kumquats.  Butter to make cookies...kumquats to just eat!



Butter is not purchased in neat little quarter pound sticks at the market.  No. There's a large hunk of butter sitting out in the wide open space, and one must tell the lady behind the counter what quantity one wants to purchase.  Sometimes I get "hagus kilo" (a half kilo) and sometimes "nick kilo" (one kilo)...today it was a full kilo because I'm making cookies for a Good Friday evening later this week.

 So, I'm writing this post to tell you my nerve-wracking experience.  When I'm walking to an errand, I often picture the words I will be using in my head...sort of practice what I'll need and think about the pronunciation.  That's so much more work than when I go on errands in the U.S., using English.  Do I practice how I'll ask for "two ice cream cones"?  No!  I just do it.  Well, not here!

Anyway, I was reviewing the number of thousands of tugricks which I was about to ask for.  And, I needed it for BOTH phones, so making sure I made that clear.  After saying what I wanted the lady punched in numbers and seemingly both phones were loaded.  I stepped down the hall and checked my phone.  Perfect!  I now had a chunk of change loaded on my phone to text away!  Now, I checked Kevin's phone.  After requesting to see how many tugricks he had, I received a message on the screen in Mongolian.  And, unfortunately, in words I didn't recognize.  What could this mean?  I requested the balance three more times, and three more times received the same message.  I gathered up the courage to go back to the woman at the Mobicom counter.  I held up my phone and she smiled and looked relieved.  She started explaining some long story, all in Mongolian.  I could discern she was telling me that she needed to try again because the amount didn't load like she thought it had.  She talked on and on and then looked at me like I was supposed to respond.  I looked at her apologetically and said in Mongolian, "I'm sorry, I only understand a small amount of Mongolian language."  She smiled and laughed, and responded, "I only understand a small amount of English language" (in Mongolian); I replied, "We are the same" in Mongolian.  She smiled and repeated the phrase, agreeing.  It is always such a relief when someone is understanding and kind when there's a language barrier.  Whew! 

I walked away with the designated amount of money loaded onto Kevin's phone, too, and gratefulness for the kindness of this woman.

Now, I'm going to go make cookies to throw in the freezer for Friday night!

Mongolian Culture Applied

My purse's strap has slowly been tearing away from the purse and I haven't taken time to sew it back on.  I wasn't even sure how to do it and make it look nice. My teammate, Kathryn, suggested I take it into a seamstress or shoe repair place (they're all over here). She and I were shopping together this afternoon, so we walked into a seamstress shop where three women and one man were sitting at sewing machines. In Mongolian businesses, a customer is rarely acknowledged. No "Hello, May I help you." No eye contact.  No nod of the head.  There were several customers standing around and jobs were being done by all the people at the sewing machines. But, in true Mongolian fashion, I walked up to the man and presented my torn purse, pointed at the strap and asked if he could fix it. He stopped the project he was on, and immediately started dis-attaching the strap.  I thought, "Hey, wait a minute!  I didn't say you could do it yet!"  I quickly asked "Yamar onte vey?" (How much cost?). He said it would be 1,500T....a little over a dollar! I said "Teem" (yes), and back to work he went. I was feeling very embarrassed that he stopped the other man's zipper replacement for my job, but after I observed him open up the lining of the purse to get to the strap from the inside and then sew it neatly down and re-sew the lining, all in about 3 minutes, I didn't feel so guilty for seemingly "pushing" into line. In fact, it is the Mongolian way and it was totally acceptable. The man doing the repair knew it wouldn't take him long, and he knew he could take a quick break from the zipper repair to do my project. Wow! So nice! It looks perfect.

I was thinking about how this man started tackling the job before I gave him the "okay" and how he also worked from the inside out.  He dug into the lining, opened it up, and got to the strap from the inside, to do a really good job. 

Doesn't that sound like a really good heart surgeon?  And I'm talking about spiritual heart surgery.  Sometimes, we go to Him, ask Him to fix something, and He starts right in.  We hesitate.  Hey!  Wait a minute!  How much will this cost me?  Will it hurt?  He opens us up from the inside out, right?  He digs in and helps us to see where the frayed edges are.  Where are things tearing away?  Then, he gently tugs our purse strings and settles everything into place.  He tightens it into place and makes the sewing machine whir.  Next he closes up the lining that has been opened up.  He gives us peace that passes understanding.  When I saw my fixed purse, I had renewed peace (ah! I won't have to go buy another purse, after all!), I chastise myself for not fully trusting in the seamster (male seamstress), and I am delighted with the results.  As I walked away from the shop today, I was very satisfied with my newly fixed purse. 

He satisfies us in this same way...sometimes in surprising ways. 

My Parents Have Been Married 50 Years!

April 16, 1961...the day my parents were married.  Congratulations on 50 Years of Marriage!