Three Christmas Parties :)

Three more parties!! All were really nice. Friday Dec 20 was the party of the MIU staff and faculty. Saturday Dec 21 was our Christmas party in our apartment with our Bible group and friends. And Sunday Dec 22 we had our Torch Church party after our worship time in the morning.

First, here are photos of our MIU faculty and staff party:

Some of our LEI teachers and staff :)

MG, one of the MIU staff, and me.

No, these ladies are not models... they are two of our LEI teachers :)

Second, here are photos of our home Bible group photos with friends and family:

Our Afghan friends taught us one of their dances :)

Me with two of my Afghan friends. They say I look good in one of their traditional hats, but I don't know!

And third, our Torch Church party. Great time with them all. In the last 6 months our church has grown in strength and size. And our times since starting to meet at the Full Cup have been so good. We have been blessed with the Lord Jesus' goodness to us. We have wonderful, serious times with God, and fun together, too :)

Some of the Torch Church people on the Sunday morning.

Jonathan and Kathy, along with many others, did much work to make the party so nice!

Ariuka, Moloroo and some of the other girls did a dance :)

Carey Ko played some songs.

Lunch was great :)

All the cell groups did performances.

Kathy did her presentation.. with dear Moloroo interpreting.

One of the little Mongolian girls teaching her friends :)

One of our games included dress-up. Great game!

Christmas at LEI

The Christmas season is a busy season in Ulanbaatar. For each person it has a different meaning. For me, the month was so busy but great. Christmas is all about people... friends, family, church, and of course about the true reason for it, the birth of our Lord Jesus so many years ago.

For many it is the time of preparation for the New Year celebration. Gifts are given, parties are enjoyed, and so on. For others it is simply a lovely time of year to enter into the fun and excitement and gift giving that they have observed and loved in American and other cultures.

For Kathy and me, and for many westerners living in Mongolia, it signifies the time of year when Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem. We celebrate Christmas on December 25th, though no one knows the exact day of the year when he was born. Nevertheless, it is a good day of the year to observe the day Jesus came into this world of heartache and sin.... "You shall call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins." What a wonderful day it was when the little child, who would 33 years later give His life for us on a painful and lonely cross, was born. For me personally, I am so thankful, and since I became a believer in Jesus at the age of 23, have worshiped Him who washed away my sin and filled me with His life.. by the Holy Spirit.

We had several parties: one with our LEI students on Dec 13; one with our MIU faculty on Dec 20; one with our home group on Dec 21; and finally, one with our church on Dec 22. It was all great. Here are some from the LEI party. I will post photos of the other parties in a few days.