Thursday, October 27, 2011

This Week in Pictures

I  love to be with people. I love to take photos, if you haven't noticed already.. haha. I love to communicate what is going on in my life with any who are interested. Sometimes I don't know what to title my blog post. So I have chosen the obvious... This Week in Pictures. As you know, "a picture speaks a thousand words." So it is :) Take a look at the photos of this week, with my short description of each group.

These first are of the LEI office I am in. Things are running pretty smoothly these days. As I have said too many times, it is great to be working at Mongolian International University.



Nasim the Afghan, who calls me dad, sitting at my desk with 2 students :)

... and Amy from Korea who calls me dad ... :)

I got some more photos recently from a student who took photos at the MIU basketbaal competition a few weeks ago. So I thought I would post a few .....

Sulide, from Inner Mongolia, China, and me .....

Yea... I made a few points :)



The Bible study we have at our home has become a special thing for all of us. God is blessing our friendships and pursuit of Him! Some of us went into the center of the city, to Sukhbaatar Square a few weeks ago. In the background you can see the main government building with the revered statue of Genghis Khan (spelled Chinggis Khan in Mongolia).

What a great group!! :)


Javzanpagma and me :)

We took a bike ride around the square...

Sainaa, Javzanpagma's sister

Hulan and her Aunt Nergui

Many weddings and special occasions are held in the square...


Zolboo and the others in our home.

This last Sunday Kathy and I visited a church where our friend Bogi goes. Bogi is a dear sister in the Lord who works at Papa Cafe, the cafe next door to us. We met her there some months ago. Kathy and I have gotten together with her several times recently.

The place where the church meets; photo taken from our apartment window.



Bogi loves to sing and play guitar.



This week I met a brother named Tom. He is here from Michigan, spending a year to learn Mongolian and then plans to head out to the countryside to minister the Lord in spiritual and practical ways. He left his career in dentistry to come to Mongolia. I am constantly amazed by the caliber of men and women who have left so much to give their lives for other people. 

This past Tuesday I introduced him to my friend Amar who is head of Dentistry at Health Sciences University of Mongolia. It was an excellent opportunity for Tom and Amar to make a connection for working together in the future. Amar has trusted the Lord Jesus to provide the building and the equipment for the university. His desire is not for money, but to provide dental help for many of the poor of Mongolia. Great work!

Tom in front of the university building.

Tom got the privilege of sitting in Amar's chair at his desk in the head office... :)


Tom has opportunity to speak to the staff at the univesity.

Here is some of the state-of-the-art equipment at the university.



And this week we had a great time with one of the LEI students, Tseko, and her mother at Papa Cafe where Bogi works. Interestingly, Papa Cafe is also where I met Tom recently.



Friday, October 21, 2011

More happening at MIU / LEI . . . . .

The days have been full at LEI these days for me. I continue to enjoy the whirlwind of activity going on. But as one man of God once said as he passed through some crazy days of riots and frenzied mobs, "I saw that God was in the whirlwind." When I used to work in civil engineering back in southern California, things were more or less predictable from day to day. Here in the hustle and bustle of city and university life, and in our Bible study and contact with churches, Kathy and I seem to be meeting new people almost daily. Great!! And what quality people we often meet. 

Recently there was a contest called Golden Bell put on by a Korean organization. Mongolian students from seven universities competed in competition in Korean to test their skills and knowledge in the language. The setting was like a TV game show. MIU students did well. 

One day I took a taxi with Nasim my friend. There was a little girl in the back seat, no doubt the daughter of the woman taxi driver. Poor girl seemed so bored back there, and must have been sitting for so long while her mom tried to eek out an existence as a driver. We couldn't talk much with her, but with the language of kindness and love the little one warmed up and seemed to have a good time.

Also MIU had a basketball competition a few weeks ago. Wow.. lasted about 10 hours. I went in the morning to cheer the teams, and ended up playing for one of the teams that only had 4 guys. Thinking I only had to wait a few games, we ended up waiting 4 hours. It was great to play though, and worth the wait, and the students watching were kind enough to cheer when I made points, even though we lost. I trust there will be more opportunities.

I have also posted some photos of the walk from our apartment to MIU. I try to walk to the university each morning, since it is not too cold yet. It takes 30 minutes, and even though the street is the busiest in the city, between our apartment and MIU there is a walkway in the middle of the street, so it is quite nice.

We also spent time with friends, and you can see some photos of us with them, along with a few random pictures of the city.


The Golden Bell competition . . . .




Jung Eun and Tseko from LEI :)


Our friend Zolboo...

Bishrelt :)

Bishrelt and Zolboo with me at our home.

The taxi driver's daughter and I make a connection .... :)


Lots of teams competed at the MIU basketball competition.

Girls and guys' teams played. So many Mongolians love basketball.


Our friend Nasim :)

Kathy and I had lunch with Ganaa, our friend at MIU.

Ganaa and Kathy

One of the buildings in the military district near MIU.

The walkway in the center of Peace Avenue, the main street in UB.







Our apartment is a bit left of the center of the photo.



. . . on the balcony of our apartment . . .

Non-traffic Day, when Peace Avenue was closed to cars and buses.