Grandmother and grandson

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

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

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

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

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

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

First class

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

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.

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!

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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