Saturday, July 9, 2011

My dear Kathy is a Friend, a Champion, a Teacher

It is Kathy's birthday tomorrow. It is time to reflect on her life, and my life with her. Yesterday we went to a Russian restaurant not too far from our apartment. It is not expensive, but of such excellent quality. And Kathy loved it!! Whenever a guy takes a girl to a place she loves, the guy feels like a hero... :) Anyway, it was a nice escape from the busy days we have had lately and the noise of the city. Take a look at the photos... :)

Kathy is my super friend! We have been married 31 years... and each year gets better! Life is often not easy. But we have walked through all our problems and difficulties together. In our lives together, we have done many exciting things, had many adventures, and seen many amazing places in the U.S. and in other countries (mainly as we have visited friends and churches to share the life of Jesus). We have opened our home to many people who have had problems with drugs, with spouses, with finances, with health, and so on. It has not been easy for Kathy, as we consider that on top of all that, she was at home with our kids all day when they were growing up, while I was at work.

Kathy is a Champion! Among many things that attracted me to her in our early days, I saw in her the love of the cross of Jesus. In other words, I knew she was prepared to do what God told her to do, even if it hurt or went against her natural desires. Many people are ready to do difficult things because those things are exciting to them. But there are not many people who will do things that are simply unappealing, hurtful, boring, lonely, etc. She has shown how brave she is, how determined she is to do right, how much she loves the Lord Jesus, how faithful she is to the Lord, to me and to her friends, and how she is ready to do things that are difficult but need to be done.

Kathy is a teacher! We home-schooled our two dear girls Christy and Kim from kindergarten throuth their high school years. Kathy did a fabulous job! She also taught the children in Sunday school at our church for many years. And now she has the opportunity to teach in the high school here in Mongolia that is part of MIU. She just finished teaching an advanced writing class. Way to go, Kathy!!!!

I can say of Kathy, as the Bible says: "Many daughters have done well, but you excel them all." ~ Proverbs 31:29

"Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised." ~ Proverbs 31:30

Happy Birthday, Kathy!! With love from Richie... :)

Kathy at the Russian restaurant where we had dinner

At the restaurant...



A bit of dessert afterward? :)

The bell tower of the Russian Orthodox church building next to the restaurant


The Russian decor, and a beautiful white piano there



And finally, here are some more views from our apartment, and a photo of our landlord, who visited us the other day...


The bus stop below our window, the bank next door, and the city center


The wrestling palace not far from our home...

Our landlord G. Erkhembayar, who is on the police force

One of the most well-build, cleanest buildings in the city

Monday, July 4, 2011

3 Months in Mongolia! A Week with Friends and a visit to a Church

3 months in Mongolia! Raining today, weather is warm, Kathy and I worked at MIU, then got our hair cut near the Wrestling Palace and went shopping for food at Bayanzurkh Zak. Yesterday I put screens on some of the windows to keep out the bugs at night. Two days ago the hot water came back on, after about 2 weeks off for city maintenance.... "the ordinary stuff of life," said one great man! In another week the Naadam summer celebration takes place for 3 days. Great! More photos on that later... :)

But 3 months is good. And this past week we saw a couple of movies with friends and visited friends up in the hills north of the center of the city on Saturday. Later we had our Bible study in our home again, which has been very worthwhile. We have Mongolian and Afghan friends over for a meal, spend some time singing, studying a bit of English and looking into the Bible at some of the wonderful truth there.

Life seems to be made up of ordinary and extraordinary things. Having friends and knowing God in truth through Jesus are 2 of those extraordinary things of life!!

Kathy pauses to reflect as dusk approaches...

Our friend Ishe and Kathy and I saw Pirates 4 in 3D

Ishe and me... :)

Jake also was with us

Cool or uncool, there I am with the 3D glasses on :)

A week ago Sunday Kathy and I attended the church Munguu is part of



Saturday Kathy and I visited my colleague Bayarmaa's home... :)

Kathy, Bayarmaa and her daughter Tume in front of their home

Kathy and Tume. The gate at the top is the entrance to their home

Tume in their kitchen

Bayarmaa, Kathy and Tume with the view from their home




A neighbor child gazes at us ....






One of the industrial districts of Ulaanbaatar



Friday, July 1, 2011

MIU Tae Kwon Do competition

Recently a Tae Kwon Do competition was held between Mongolia International University and Ulaanbaatar University. I am certainly no expert in the sport, but it was really good to see the competition and see MIU win.. :)

Mongolian sports include ancient traditions as well as the embracing of many modern international sports. Traditionally, Mongolia has loved sports such as wrestling, archery, weightlifting and horse racing. In recent years basketball, soccer, and other sports including Tae Kwon Do have caught on like fire. As far as I can see, basketball is at the top of the list. Anywhere you go you can see kids playing basketball. They love it!

Here is a definition of Tae Kwon Do loosely taken from Wikipedia:

Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, tae (태, 跆) means "to strike or break with foot"; kwon (권, 拳) means "to strike or break with fist"; and do (도, 道) means "way", "method", or "art". Thus, taekwondo may be loosely translated as "the art of the foot and fist" or "the art of kicking and punching." As many other arts, it combines combat techniques, self-defense, sport, exercise, and in some cases meditation and philosophy. In 1989, Taekwondo was claimed as the world's most popular martial art in terms of number of practitioners. Gyeorugi, a type of sparring, has been an Olympic event since 2000.

Anyway, here are a few photos of my time at the competion with some of my friends and coworkers from MIU.

The teams from MIU and Ulaanbaatar University. The MIU coach did an excellent job of organizing the competition.



Sons of MIU staff got some experience in completion


The MIU team