Take a Steppe - Mongolia

Changes.

2011-08-25T03:21:00.000+08:00

What a surprise. I haven't added anything to this blog for the last eighteen months or so. Well, things have changed, and with the extra time I'm going to have for the next ten months or so, I hope to blog more.

We finally! are on home assignment for a year after 22 years on the field. We've spend the first four months of it in South Africa where we mostly spend time with Anri and Sonja. We had a Theron family reunion, and it was good to also see some of my family again. We drove on the left side of the road, we ate boerewors and pap, droee wors and biltong. Pieter and Sonja went for a walk with lions (pictures will follow), and we applied for visas for America. Those two went together in one sentence on purpose, Pieter will tell you that walking with the lions was not half as much stress as applying for the visas. We're just not made for "embassy stuff", and I don't like talking and explaining through a thick glass.

After a 34 hour trip from Johannesburg through Dubai, flying over the North Pole and then back down over the west coast of America, we are now in Redding, Calfornia. This is where we'll be until next year May. It is a new culture for us, our first time in the US. So far it goes really well, everything is quite easy, Redding is not too big, and we have a wonderful and comfortable home to live in. I'm just waiting for the winter to arrive.

Camels and yaks

2010-01-21T21:17:00.001+08:00

Have you ever seen such a handsome camel. And he enjoyed the attention thoroughly, waiting for us to get as many pictures as we wanted. The yaks were not very far from the camels.

Back to work

2010-01-21T21:13:00.002+08:00

It’s back to a busy schedule again. We all know that things happen with a reason. Pieter’s accident has changed our lives, and now that we’re back, we realize that it has changed other people too. Prayer has taken up it’s rightful place again. Pieter and I pray that this will continue. Nikidovnigon Church shows signs of maturing, young people come to ask to get involved in ministry. Even asking to get involved in prison ministry. Attendance is up every Sunday, our very young, all female worship team always there to lead the praise and worship.

Bangkok

2010-01-21T21:04:00.001+08:00

We left for Bangkok at the end of October to attend a conference for all the Field Directors of Asia. We were halfway through the conference when while visiting the elephant park, one of the elephants picked Pieter and Richard up and threw them through the air. Both were rushed to hospital, Pieter with a scull fracture, multiple fractures in his neck and both shoulder bones, as well as his wrist. He was in the Bumrungrad hospital for almost 3 weeks, during which he had surgery to remove some of the bone in his neck which was pressing against the bone marrow. For five days before the operation Pieter could not move his arms, but soon after the operation, he could stand up and even walk. The hospital was quite amazing, felt like a five star hotel.

Sign

2010-01-21T21:00:00.002+08:00

We have a sign up above our front door. Anri has designed our logo, which has a traditional mongolian pattern as well as the cross.

Playground

2010-01-21T20:42:00.003+08:00

The playground behind CLTC looks much better now that it has some equipment for children to play on. The basketball hoops got moved so we have more space. The animal drawings on the fence will be completed once the weather allows going outside for longer than the ten minutes allowed now. We still have much work to do there, but it already looks so much better.

Nikdovnigon Church

2010-01-21T17:12:00.002+08:00

One of our church members died last year and the family asked Pieter to help them with a true Christian burial. It took a lot of planning and explaining, but it was all worthwhile. The family was so moved with how peaceful and comforting a christian burial can be.

Christian Leadership Training Centre

2010-01-21T17:06:00.002+08:00

In September classes started at the Leadership Training Center. Only evening classes because most of the students have full time jobs. Our days got longer, starting at 9 in the morning, and ending at 8 in the evening. Regular meals can be a challenge when you spend most of your time away from home.

Darhan and UB

2010-01-21T17:02:00.001+08:00

Wow, I’m not sure I can write any more. We have been too busy the last six months.

I’ll go back a little and start my story halfway through 2009. Our lives got a little more exciting with living in two different places. Darhan and Ulaan Baatar. In UB we had to get used to traffic, pollution and living on the 15th floor. But I won’t complain about that, because Pieter can come home for lunch before he takes off again with a flask extra strong coffee for the afternoon session in the office. The other advantage is that my pantry looks a lot more interesting with the variety I can find here in UB.

Grandmother and grandson

2009-06-09T15:01:00.003+08:00

Marta is one of our most faithful employees here at CLTC. She has served the center and the church for many years and already. She is also caring for her grandson while his parents are away working in Ulaan Baatar.

Nikdovnigon members graduating

2009-06-09T14:25:00.005+08:00

This year, seven of our young people from church graduated from Darhan University here in Old Darhan. Some of these young people are attending church now for quite some time, but some are young Christians who came to Christ in the last year or two.

Ano and Zaya (picture with 2 older ladies) were employed at CLTC as part-time workers to help pay for their schoolfees throughout their four years of studies. Tolga (picture with two other young men from the church) has been helping out at the Youth Centre for the last eighteen months.

Congratulations to them. We are very proud of them.

Nikdovnigon church

2009-05-13T11:52:00.003+08:00

Pieter with some of the leaders of Nikdovnigon church in Darhan. With him is Soggi, Norjoo, Mughi (our translator), Dolgormaa and Enktuya. In the background Naraa and Ali. Pieter is part-time pastoring this church of about 70 members.

Gers and cars

2009-05-13T11:45:00.001+08:00

It's interesting to see how small gers are actually. And to think that a whole family live in a small space like this especially during winter months. It probably makes for good relationships between family members.

An-Hoa

2009-05-13T11:10:00.002+08:00

An-Hoa and I

This is a blessing I receive wherever I go, I have friends whom I really appreciate for what they are and what they mean to me. One such friend is An-Hoa. I have more good friends here in Mongolia, but good pictures like these are hard to come by. An-Hoa has also studied Home Economics (we can cook up a storm together), we both have children who do not live with us anymore (we can cry together), and we are the same age (we laugh together, quite often).

CAMA Mongolia

2009-03-19T10:01:00.002+08:00

Oops, touched a button, and title went in without the picture.

THe CAMA Mongolia team met this year at the Nukht Hotel outside of Ulaan Baatar for prayer retreat on March 6 - 8. Jack and Diana Stimmel, with Homer and Diana Madison from Menomonie Alliance Church visited us again and led the prayer retreat and fellowship.

CAMA Mongolia

2009-03-19T09:54:00.001+08:00

First class

2009-03-19T09:35:00.003+08:00

Enrollment and orientation for the first group of students were held on March 13 and 14. The students are from 2 different churches, Nikdovnigon here in Darhan and Suxh Baatar on the border with Russia. The students have enrolled for the Certificate in Christian Ministry, and they will continue with the next series of learning circles. Pieter will visit the group in Sugh Baatar every Saturday and the Nikdovnigon students here in Darhan during the week. Mughee (on the left) is our translator at CLTC.

Happy New Year

2009-03-16T17:00:00.002+08:00

Saeghan Chinleree!

Wishing you a Happy New Year! It’s the beginning of spring here in Mongolia, with the temperatures well below freezing. But, the sun is shining, and if you can find a spot in the sun with no wind, you might just think that spring is really here.

The picture of us is with our neighbors, Batbold and Gerlee and his parents in a small town a little away from Darhan. The New Year in Mongolia is called Tsagaan Sar, which translates as White Month or White Moon. Some say tsagaan sar comes from the word Tsagaa (milk foods) as it is customary for Mongolians to eat a lot of milk products during this time. Others think it is because of the color white which is a symbol of all that is beneficial, of happiness, purity and frankness. In 1206, Temujin was proclaimed Great Khaan of all the Mongols. To celebrate, he arranged a great feast at the beginning of spring, and so creating a tradition.

Families start preparing for the holiday at least a month in advance, beginning with the preparation of plenty of gifts and foods. Homes must be cleaned out. Every family makes hundreds of buuz and makes or buys new clothes. The fattest sheep is killed and the lower back and tail are steamed to become the centerpiece of the table for the holiday.

The table are set with sheep’s back, ul boov (pastry), berees (rice cooked with butter and raisins) and traditional milk products. Ul boov are put in tiers on a big plate, with three, five or nine layers. The number nine for Mongolians is very symbolic, so nine layers of ul boov are served for very important state ceremonies. Elders usually make seven layers of ul boov (as in our picture). A family in which the grandfather is alive makes five layers. Young newlyweds make a three-layer ul boov, as the number three is associated with the beginning of everything. The top of the ul boov heap has to be decorated with sweets, pieces of sugar, cream and Mongolian butter.

This year tsagaan sar fell on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday then became also a public holiday, Sunday turned into a normal working day. Schools, government offices, and banks were all open. There were not many people in church on that Sunday morning.

Tsagan Sar - getting ready.

2009-02-21T14:34:00.003+08:00

Tsagan Sar has come early for the students at the language school. Tuya (our language teacher) will be with her mother this year during the holidays, and therefor had the school’s tsagan sar party already two weeks ago. Tuya always arrange something cultural for these occasions, and all the students have to practice how to greet and learn about the different foods served during this very important celebration.

Picture on the left: Mark getting "wrapped-around".

The things we do!

2009-02-21T14:25:00.004+08:00

The Darhan University asked us a few weeks ago if they could use the hall at CLTC for their Annual English Contest. The next request, could Cinda, Kirsten and I do the judging at this event. Not something I thought I will ever do, but living and working overseas make you do things you never thought would be possible. Here we are, really concentrating hard to look important.

Delayed in Bangkok - November 2008

2009-02-21T14:18:00.003+08:00

We're somewhere in this crowd.

Delayed in Bankok.

This is a long story, but I’ll try to make it short. We were suppose to leave Bangkok on the evening of the 28th, but because of the protest at the airport which started on the 26th, we could only leave on the 2nd of December. We soon realized the airport will not open soon, and decided to follow the instructions on the Thai goverment website. On Sunday morning we went to the first location where foreigners could sign up, just to be told to go to Thai Airways. When we got there, we were number 558. We never reached the front of the line on that day. Monday morning early out of bed, and ready for another long line, we were number 10 (we were very proud of ourselves). We did get to the front, and walked out with a ticket from Thai Air to Seoul on the 3rd of December in the evening. From there, we were on our own, which means we had to buy an extra ticket to get us to South Africa. The next morning, the 2nd, we decided to try again, maybe we can get a ticket closer to home. We were number 14 this time. By nine o’clock, we had a new air ticket to Hong Kong. We rushed back to the guesthouse, packed the last stuff, while Pieter had to make bookings for us with Cathay Pacific to Johannesburg. By ten we arrived at the hotel in Bangkok where all passengers had to check in, and soon after that we were on one of the many busses on our way to U-Tapao, a military base 2 hours away from Bangkok. And then came the chaos. No one knew where to go, the intercom system did not work, announcements were made on A4 papers. We were standing outside in the sun for almost two hours, it was hot!!! Another four hours inside, with no space to move. The lines got wider and wider, more people were let in, but not many people were getting out to the planes waiting. By that time we were so thirsty, but the stress of getting on the plane made us forget about all other things. We were suppose to leave at four o’clock, we only left at six. We worried about being late for our flight the same night from Hong Kong to Johannesburg. We were so grateful when the plane finally started moving. In Hong Kong we had very little time, and we first had to go through immigration and customs (to get our bags), and then back through check-in, immigration. In between there, we ran into Diners Club lounge, jumped in the showers, and ran to the next boarding gate. We were the last ones to board. We arrived in SA the following morning at six o’clock. We were so glad to see Anri and Sonja.

2009-02-21T14:12:00.003+08:00

Teaching in Bangkok

On our way to South Africa, we had a stopover in Bangkok, where Pieter was teaching “Educational Leadership”, for students enrolled at the “Asia Graduate School of Theology”. The students were from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and India. We stayed at the Bangkok Bible College, and had time during the weekend to visit some markets and malls. Thought I will never want to see a mall again after living in Manila, but it was nice to do some window shopping (you can't buy much if you have only twenty kilo's when flying). I actually missed Starbucks and Food Courts. All went well until we had to leave for South Africa.

2009-02-21T12:59:00.003+08:00

Teaching in Korea

This is always one of the highlights on the calender. Pieter is teaching two times a year at the Onnuri World Mission Centre south of Seoul in Yongi City. Pieter taught Theology of Mission and Mission Strategies. I had the opportunity to travel with him to Korea last year in October. I helped a little in the nursery school where the students' children go every morning, and helped with the English classes at the Centre. We both enjoyed the great hospitality of the Korean people. We also visited a park on the East Coast of Korea, and had a wonderful lunch at one of the many restaurants on the beach. These are the pictures taken during our trip. Autumn is one of the most spectacular times in Korea.

2009-02-21T12:31:00.001+08:00

Catching-up to do!

I have some catching-up to do. Many years ago while living in the Philippines, I thought I would be able to live without a cellphone, well, not for very long. With the Manila traffic, a husband and two daughters to keep track off, I gave in. Then came the internet, and once again I thought I’ll be just fine without it. Didn’t take long before I gave in. The next thing was to think I can live without a computer of my own, again, I’m wrong. We have only one computer at this stage, and if you know Pieter, you will understand why I’m not having a chance to even post news on our blog site. Well, he is busy today, and I have a chance.

Life goes too fast.

2009-02-07T17:50:00.002+08:00

Every time I blink, it's a week later. We're back now for almost a month from our holiday in South-Africa, and we just never touched ground (or snow) during this time. We arrived back in Mongolia on January 10th, and the whole way up to Darhan was just white. Absolutely beautiful. This is our third winter in Darhan, and I think it's getting colder every year. Minus 41 Celsius is cold!!!

Our time in South-Africa was good, visited most of the family, and spend quite some time with Anri and Sonja. We first had a little bit of a problem getting out of Bangkok at the end of November last year, after 4 days we could get a flight out from the naval base in Utapao. Not a very good experience, but we were happy to get out so soon.

Now we're back doing the things we enjoy doing. Pieter is busy with leadership training, mentoring a men's group, helping the youth group getting off the ground again, and helping the preaching team of Nikdovnigon Church with their sermons. The administration work at CLTC (Christian Leadership Training Centre) is moving forward, and will get even better when the new translator starts working in March.

The Youth Centre gives us much hope. Some of the young students from the University close to CLTC started coming to church on Sundays. We have more students coming in to use the classrooms for group work, such as play practice or just to have time off meeting with friends. I had twenty students for the cooking class last week, I think word got out that it's going to be Spaghetti Bolognaise.

It's almost time again for Tsagaan Tsar. We already had our first taste of Buuz today. The Mongolian Language School had their Tsagaan Tsar party at CLTC today. Will post some interesting pictures soon.

I will leave you with this quote:
WE NEVER CAN TELL HOW  FAR WE CAN GO...Until we try!

Haniki

And more from our window

2008-08-13T19:28:00.003+08:00

From our window.

2008-08-13T19:22:00.003+08:00

Naadam - 2008. Darhan.

2008-07-13T14:28:00.002+08:00

Naadam, just outside Darhan. Waiting for the horses to arrive. 1 - Pieter, 2 - Pieter and Haniki, 3 - Ali and Arioka, 4 - Arioka (in charge of the Youth Centre at ABTC) and 5 - Ulzee-Erdene (our translator, to name one, at ABTC). Ali arrived 4 weeks ago, from Australia, and is currently busy with language study. She will be working at ABTC, teaching English as her main ministry.

Naadam 2008 - Horses and Wrestling

2008-07-13T14:17:00.002+08:00

Naadam

Naadam (meaning ‘holiday’ or ‘festival’) has its roots in the nomad assemblies and hunting extravaganzas of the Mongol armies. Even today, Chinggis Khaan’s nine yak tails, representing the nine tribes of the Mongols, are part of the celebrations.

Naadam is known for the three manly sports of wrestling, archery and horse racing (though women participate in the first two events). Winning at Naadam carries great prestige and financial reward.

Wrestlers wear heavy boots, tight pants and a small vest across the shoulders. The open-fronted vest was allegedly introduced after one Amazonian-sized female wrestler floored all the male wrestlers. The vest was introduced to ensure that women would no longer take part in wrestling.

There are normally six categories of horse racing, depending on the age of horses. There are no tracks or courses; it is just open countryside, which leaves great scope for cheating. The jockeys, boys or girls, must be between the ages 5 to 13.

These pictures are taken during Naadam in Darhan in July 2008.

Naadam - 2008. Costumes

2008-07-13T14:11:00.001+08:00

Naadam - 2008. Costumes

2008-07-13T14:06:00.001+08:00

Naadam 2008 - Children

2008-07-13T13:58:00.002+08:00

English Classes for Young Children

2008-07-13T12:28:00.002+08:00

The schools are closed for the summer here in Mongolia. For 3 months. I’ve started with a new group of students, at least 2 times a week, ages 7 to 12. The students especially like playing games such as “Old Maid”, Memory games and Word games.

More from Western Mongolia

2008-07-13T12:10:00.004+08:00

Dawaa - coffee break, Busy morning in town, Luxury - hotel (turned out, no power, now water, no shower!), Road - what happened to the sign, and "Will you please wait, we're trying to get somewhere".

Exploring Western Mongolia

2008-07-13T11:47:00.003+08:00

Snow on the mountain tops in the middle of the desert? Yes, truly! Dozens of camels alongside and on the road. Dry, arid land, sometimes with stones as far as the eye can see without any sign of vegetation causing you to think that may be you are on a different planet. Crawling over bad roads, sometimes at 10 km/h, fording rivers and slip-a-sliding through mud pools! Getting lost in the vastness of Mongolia. These and meeting some very interesting people were our experiences during the ten days from June 16-26.

The Field Leadership Team undertook a journey to Western Mongolia to explore opportunities for extending our ministry and training to this region. We visited three provinces, called aimag in Mongolia, namely Hovd, Bayan Ulgi, and Uvs. Traveling over very bad roads was slow and sometimes painful, both for the vehicle and us. We met many interesting people and were overwhelmed with the needs, opportunities and challenges for ministry in the West. Especially relevant for me is to learn about the needs for leadership development for the church leaders already serving in these areas. As soon as our training program is up and running in Darhan, we will begin to think about how to extend the training to the West. Most likely we will do this in partnership with other organizations and training programs.

Monthly Church Leaders Training

2008-04-27T17:28:00.006+08:00

Pieter and Jeremy Fields are facilitating training for the local CAMA church leaders. This is part of a larger strategy to develop a biblical understanding of church and reorganize the local churches so that they are sustainable and multiplying. Once a month we meet for two days of very intensive and interactive learning experiences. The church leaders then go back to their churches with Bible studies and a variety of activities and projects they must do with their church members.

Here are some photos of our sessions together.

ABTC Program Development Updates

2008-04-27T17:23:00.002+08:00

We’re making progress! Slow, but we see changes. The administration and program development take up most of our time. Contracts, by-laws, letters, and training materials, everything needs to be written in English and Mongolian. We’re very fortunate to have found Uulzi who can help us with the translation and administration at ABTC. She has many new ideas and a lot of energy to go with it. Pieter is busy with the training for the CAMA church leaders. It is part of a larger strategy to develop a biblical understanding of church and reorganize the local churches so that they are sustainable and multiplying.

The program development team held two workshops during March and April to plan and work on the theological educational and leadership development program (TELD as we call it). In April the workshop involved all the local CAMA church leaders and church leaders from the other Darhan churches. We were able to gather much input and ideas that will help with the program development. A smaller team is now meeting weekly to work on the program development. We aim to launch the training program in September 2008. Please pray for that!

Thank You!!!

2008-04-27T17:17:00.003+08:00

We have a car!!
With the contributions we received from you so far, we managed to raise over half of the money needed to buy a car. We borrowed the rest from the mission office. We want to thank you for your support in helping us to buy this car, but we would like to ask you to pray and contribute more to this fund if you can. We still need to raise US$15,000! Vehicles are very expensive here. Used cars are imported from the US, Japan and Korea. We still use public transport in and around Darhan (effective and cheap), but a car does make life much easier when you have to prepare food for 50 or 60 people, and when traveling outside of Darhan. We are thankful for this car which is sturdy and able to handle the road conditions in Mongolia very well.
Thank you to all of you who have contributed to our car fund. Praise the Lord!

English Speaking Coffee Club Begins!!

2008-02-26T20:32:00.003+08:00

Today Haniki and Kirsten started with the English Speaking Coffee Club ("shop"). This is part of our plans for a Youth Community Outreach Center at ABTC. Haniki will write later more about what they are doing and their goals. Here are some pictures in the mean time.

Sukhbaatar Square

2007-12-30T08:11:00.000+08:00

And -20C.

In July 1921 in the centre of Ulaan Baatar, the "hero of the revolution", Damdiny Sukhbaatar, declared Mongolia's final independence from the Chinese. In the middle of the Square is a statue of him on his horse. As you face north, the large grey and blue building is State Parliament House, which, like every ger, was built to face south. A statue of Chinggis Khaan is in the middle at the front.

We braved the cold to get these pictures for you.

Christmas 2007

2007-12-29T14:26:00.000+08:00

We started off with a birthday party on the 20th for one of Larry and Susan’s Mongolian “adopted” children. A family of three children whose parents died a few years ago. The daughter (also the oldest) in the family is looking after the two boys. The eldest boy had his 15th birthday, and with Larry and Susan visiting their children in Canada, we spent some time with Mandal-Sogt and Monkh-Erdene. We needed some help with the conversation, and Bodyo, our translator at ABTC came to help us for the evening.

On the 21st we had our annual Language School Christmas Party. This is the time when you have to introduce yourself - in Mongolian- and tell people about yourself with your teacher watching you. Well, what else can you do but just laugh at yourself making silly mistakes.

On the 22nd we had our CAMA Christmas party, for the workers and delegates from the different churches. Dennis and Marilyn’s told the group about how they celebrate the four weeks of advent. Gifts were exchanged, and we had lunch together. Pieter and I worked through twelve kilos of beef the previous night to make the biggest pot of stew which you would probably only see in an army kitchen.

Christmas day was a quiet day here. Well, Mongolia goes on like every other day during the year. We talked to family and friends in South-Africa (and one of my sisters in Kansas). What would we have done without Skype!!!

We had our Christmas dinner with our neighbours and friends. Batbold, Gerlee and their family. This was their first time they had a Christmas dinner. All six of them came in with a Christmas decoration which they hanged on our Christmas tree. We became friends a few months ago through their daughter whom I’ve always greeted outside the building. She came to our door one day and asked if she could come and introduce her mother to me. From there on, we became good friends and we especially appreciate their help with some problems we encountered so far. Gerlee speaks no English, but that does not keep us from having long conversations. Pieter and Batbold has conversations about fishing, mining (Batbold is in the gold mining business) and books.

Today, the 27th, we finally have some real snow. It actually starts to cover the brown hills behind our apartment. And I get the time to write. Finally!

Long Silence

2007-12-21T05:19:00.000+08:00

You might have wondered what happened to us. We have been silent for so long because we have been traveling, and after returning to Mongolia we had to adjust to new schedules, routines and ministries.

Pieter was in South Korea for two weeks teaching at the Onnuri World Mission Center. He goes there once every six months to participate in the training of missionary candidates and missionaries on home assignment. As always this was again a wonderful time of fellowship and learning.

Haniki was in South Africa for about five weeks visiting our daughters and attending to some personal business. She also visited some of our other family.

Since returning to Mongolia, Pieter continues with part-time language study. Haniki will continue with part-time language study in January 2008. Since November we have started with our ministry at the training center. So far our time is spent mostly in getting some administrative things in order and set up. Pieter has started with the necessary research for the training program. He has also started with some small study groups for leadership development and ministry training. He meets weekly with our local church's worship team for training. He meets every second week with our church's cell group leaders for training in leading house churches, conducting Bible studies, and how to evangelize. Once a month Pieter and Dr. Nghia Pham are meeting with all the local Alliance Church leaders for leadership training.

Haniki has been helping Pieter at ABTC, especially with the financial management and organizing the support staff and maintenance. She is also helping Anhoa Pham with the CAMA Projects which is going through a transitioning period. We are handing over the current projects to local Mongolian leadership and management and plan to begin with new projects in 2008.

We are very happy that Sonja, our youngest daughter, has finished her first year of university very well. We are especially happy that she is able to visit with us now during the Christmas holidays, which is the summer holidays for South Africa. Unfortunately our eldest, Anri, could not come to visit. She is finishing up her course work to graduate from her program. She will continue next year with graduate studies. Please pray especially for her as she is finishing up her course requirements, and as she will be alone during this Christmas.

Now that things are being sorted out and our lives are getting into a new routine, we hope to keep you updated more regularly.

Painting and a Surprise.

2007-09-08T17:49:00.000+08:00

I’ll have to explain this first. Green, gray and light blue are the “in” colors when it comes to wall paint. If you prefer anything else, you better mix it yourself. The light green and white walls of ABTC were in desperate need of a few layers of paint. Another color!! To help some of the college students attending Nikdovnixon Church at ABTC, we got five young men to paint most of the building inside. And here is the story I have to tell. We started on the Friday two weeks ago, and for that day all I could do was to try to remember the names of the guys. That Sunday, one of the guys, Baatraa was preaching. When we left, I told Pieter I thought he did it quite well. He looked confident, not that I understood much of it. A friend of ours told us later he did quite well with the content of the sermon. The following Monday, I felt I need to find out more about their backgrounds and what they are studying. Baatraa is eighteen, graduated from high school three months ago, and is starting his studies at the local college in September. His dream is to be a pastor one day. Can you imagine an eighteen year old student, with not much training at all, having to give the sermon on Sunday in the church you attend?

So, in future, whenever we would doubt our coming here, I will think of Baatraa. The church has many young people who need training and hopefully we’ll be able to help them a little.

In the second photo is Pieter. He worked during the summer with the same group of young people to clear ABTC's yard from tons of rubbish and stuff that collected there over the years. ABTC begins to look more and more like a training center and a nice place to be, learn and fellowship together. Our next project is to transform the back yard into a nice place where the MK School's children can play and students and staff can relax and have fellowships (during summer time of course!). (Note - the Missionary Kid's school for Darxan is located in the ABTC building.)

Suu avaaree!!!

2007-09-08T17:43:00.000+08:00

“Suu (milk) av (to buy) aaree (please)”!!! Mongolians have pretty impressive voices, you can hear them announcing the arrival of milk even with the windows closed. Mongolians buy milk every morning, just enough to make some suutae tsae (boiled milk with some tea leaves and salt). The salt in the tea is probably the equivalent of a strong cup of coffee. They were quite surprised in the beginning when I bought up to 8 liters of milk at a time (one or two times a week), enough to also make yoghurt and cottage cheese. We strain the milk through several layers of cloth, and then boil it for 10 – 20 minutes. Quite an operation to boil 8 liters of milk. We’re just glad to again have “real” milk and not like in the Philippines where we had to make do with powdered milk. The prices range from $0,25 per liter during summer, up to $0.80 during winter.

High School Students

2007-09-08T17:36:00.000+08:00

We were a little confused in the beginning to see so many girls with these black and white dresses, until we found out that they’re actually high school students. A good example of the fashion left behind by the Russians. They actually don’t call it dresses, but shirts, and all the while I was thinking they just want to see who can get away with the shortest dress. Just before the summer holidays, during graduation and the many end-of-school-year activities, they usually wear black stockings instead of jeans.

A Disciple's Heart

2007-08-20T20:57:00.000+08:00

During July Pieter with Bernie Anderson, one of our team members, facilitated workshops and seminars at the local C&MA churches' annual church leadership camp. The theme for the camp was "A Disciple's Heart". Pieter's section focused on Servant Leadership - A Disciple's Heart, A Servant's Heart. He presented the seminars with the help of an interpreter, Bodyo (see the photo where she is participating in one of the group discussions), who is also helping with translation work at ABTC.

It was a wonderful opportunity to get to know the Mongolian church leaders and fellowship with them. Also, a great time for language practice and learning. The camp was situation in a beautiful area in the countryside between the mountains. We woke up every morning to a beautiful view. However, it was very hot during the camp. We did not believe that Mongolia could be so hot. Fortunately, it cools down during the night. Actually quite much. During that hot spell the temperature in Darhan was 40 Celsius on one day but the same night cooled down to 18 C!!!

As we were talking about discipleship and servanthood, we studied John 13 and one afternoon walked down to the river to have a feetwashing ceremony. See the second photo. We washed each other feet, and committed ourselves to serve God and each other. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and bonding.

On the last afternoon we had a special treat - five-organ soup (see the 3rd photo). A soup made from the organs of the goats which they slaugthered that day for the evening's special treat - an authentic Mongolian meal: goat meat and vegetables cooked with hot stones in a large milk (metal) container. The hot stones actually cooks or "barabeques" the meat. The fourth photo show some of the camp participants enjyoing the 5-organ soup!

The camp is reached the easiest by train. So after the camp it was back to Darhan with the train which was like a sauna since it had no air conditioning. During this trip Pieter shared a bench with a Kazakh. The youth which were with Pieter tried to explain the gospel to him but he became very aggressive. However, we continue to converse with him, sharing our lives with him and hearing about his work and life. It was a very interesting experience. I just wish I could understand and speak the language. Please pray with us that the language learning will go quickly and well, and that we will soon be able to become more effective in our ministry.

Apologies and Thank You!

2007-08-20T13:14:00.000+08:00

First of all our sincere apologies to all our family, friends, supporters and prayer partners. We are sorry that we have been so quiet for so long on our blogspot. Although we can think of many reasons they are not really valid. This summer was busier and more confused than we anticipated. First Pieter went on a journey to the West of Mongolia with our Field Director and Jeremy Bergevin. The renovations at ABTC (Alliance Bible Training Center) involved much more than expected. Then Pieter was asked to teach at the annual church leaders camp. In between we had to prepare for and assist the new families that joined our team. Pieter planned and began also with the research project for the Theological Education and Leadership Development Program. More about each of these events and projects in the blogs following this one.

Secondly, we would like to thank our partners who have given towards the fund for the training program's vehicle. We have already received about US$1,600. We still have $28,400 to go. Thank you again for joining us in this. This is a real need and is becoming more urgent as we begin to develop the training program. Please pray with us.

Please come back and see the next blogs which will appear over the next few days sharing about the above mentioned events.

Desperately Needed

2007-05-13T17:19:00.000+08:00

No joking! If we are not able to raise enough funds we may have to make use of the same kind of transport as our neighbor’s friend who visits our apartment building on his horse (see the photo on the right ). Not too bad an option, but very slow and extremely cold in winter! And no place to keep it in the apartment! Another option may be a horse cart (see the photo above). Same problem though!

In this post we would like to share with you an urgent and real need. We need to raise funds to acquire a vehicle. In September we will finish with our full-time language study and begin with our ministry. The training program will require much traveling as we will visit churches in other towns and districts to conduct training there. Many of these can only be reached by motor vehicle traveling over dirt roads. The roads here are very bad, and especially during the winter the situation is even worse when you have to deal with snow and ice. Much of the training will be conducted also during the winter months. Mongolia has only about 1,250 km of tarred or paved roads. The rest are dirt roads or just tracks. During winter even the main, tarred road between Ulaan Baatar and Darhan is at places and times only accessible to 4 x 4 vehicles due to ice and snow on the road.

So, to do our ministry effectively we really need a vehicle that is reliable and able to handle the road and traveling conditions in Mongolia. Unfortunately vehicles are very expensive here because they are all imported. We need around US$ 30,000 to acquire such a vehicle. Please pray with us for this need, and share it with your friends and churches. If you want to help us you can send contributions to one of the following addresses:

North American friends can send it to International Ministries, C&MA, P.O. Box 35000, Colorado Springs, CO 80935-3500, USA. Please designate your contributions for our vehicle fund as for Mongolian Field Vehicle. USA friends will receive a tax deductible receipt. South African friends can send their contributions to Ned. Geref. Church Zeerust Noord, P.O. Box 21 , Zeerust, 2865, South Africa. Any other friends can send it to either of the two addresses or if you would prefer to pay it directly into our bank account let us know, and we can send you the necessary details.

Thank you for your support. With your contributions you will be partnering with us in this very exciting ministry.

For the rest we are doing fine. Spring is now really here. We still have to deal with a few dust storms now and then but overall our days are very nice and mostly warm. Last week we even had rain here in Darhan although Ulaan Baatar had snow! The hills are slowly turning green and a few wild flowers are beginning to bloom. We are continuing with language study. This is really like eating an elephant, bite by bite everyday; step by step, and sometimes not seeing, feeling or hearing any progress. But we are keeping at it.

Take a Break

2007-04-14T17:54:00.000+08:00

Looking out of my window at a very windy, dusty, snowy day. The last few days have been very nice - cool (very cold by South African standards), sunny and not too much wind. But today we have wind, rain and snow and before the rain and snow could wet the ground, dust.
We have a one-week spring holiday and are very happy to have this short break from language classes every day. We have finished the first book in our two-volume book series for Mongolian. We just started the second book, a much thicker book than the first one. Language study is going well but slow. We try to keep at it every day, learning new words and new grammar, and practicing to use these, hoping that one day we will get it under the knee as we say in South Africa. That is, knowing it well and being able to use it.
During our spring break we plan to do some work at ABTC (the Alliance Bible Training Center) to get the school ready for later this year when we will begin with our ministry there. There is much work to do. Some repairs, paint work, planning and buying some new furniture, rearranging and so on to make the school a nice looking place with a warm and welcoming atmosphere. We hope that some of the short-term missions groups coming here during this summer will help us with this project. Next week will be mostly planning the work and doing what we can do in the mean time.
In the photo: Haniki with some church members and workers in front of ABTC. The church we attend, Nikdovnihon, meets at ABTC on Sundays.

Introducing the Theron Family

2007-03-25T16:00:00.000+08:00

This is our family. From left to right: Haniki, Sonja, Anri, and Pieter.

Anri and Sonja are studying in South Africa at the University of Pretoria. Anri is in her final year studying Information Design, and Sonja has just started her first year in Journalism. Haniki and I, Pieter, are living in Darhan, Mongolia, and currently studying Mongolian full-time before we will begin with our ministry here. Before Mongolia we lived and worked in the Philippines for 9 years, and before that we were in Zambia for eight and a half years.

After language study Pieter will develop a leadership development and theological training program for the local church. Haniki will be involved with some community development projects and youth ministry.