Mongoliawood’s Weblog

by Mark

There have been many prayers over the past few weeks for our visas to come through.  The doorbell rang this morning around 10 AM with these answers to prayer (see photo above!).  We are working on getting our bags packed.  (Originally we thought the limit was 44 lbs. per bag, but we found out because we are flying direct to Seoul our limit is 50 lbs per bag!  That is 48 extra pounds, which is a big help!  Our flight takes off next Sunday from O’hare – please pray for a safe flight with everything connecting well.  We only have a 3-hour lay-over in Seoul, which works well for us as it means we’ll arrive in Ulaanbaatar at 9:40 p.m.

by Mark

I just read that a rig in eastern Mongolia has hit oil.  There is not any word on the size of the strike or quality of oil.  Is it a good thing?  It could be a double- edged sword.  A potential greatly needed upswing for the economy here or it could greatly complicate the delicate waltz of statesmanship.    This is a recent article (Aug. 2) from Reuters on what to watch in Mongolia  Political risks to watch in Mongolia.  Its a good “nutshell” summary of what Mongolia is facing. 

by Mark

Thank you all for fasting and praying for us.  Our prayers have been answered and it looks like we will be heading back to Mongolia on a language school visa on September 5th!  We are excited about this and grateful to the efforts of our Field and friends in Mongolia, and to our friends and family who have prayed for us.

by Mark

We invite you to pray and fast with us during the day this Sunday (meal or length of your choosing) concerning our visas.  Please specifically pray that the local church in Mongolia would be approved this week by the government and pave the way for the provision of our visas.  Although originally we were to go back on July 24th, we have been delayed until September 5th because we are awaiting our visa.  If it continues to be delayed, we may need to postpone our return even longer.  The later return affects our work there and schooling for our children, making this an important situation for our family.  So again, this Sunday we ask that you would join with us in fasting and prayer for the provision of our visas.  Thank you so much for your prayers on our behalves. 

To the praise of His glorious Grace,

Mark and Cinda

by Mark

This was a really interesting article on Naadam horse racing and how the jockeys prepare.  The journalist really took some fantastic shots, he’s the same one that wrote about the devastation of the winter.

Child Jockeys of Naadam

by Mark

Urban Migration due to winter devastation

This is an interesting article that describes the ongoing impact of the harsh winter on Mongolia as a whole.  Its like a ripple effect that will continue to impact Mongolia for many years to come. 

by Mark

In early June we got to take a long plane ride.  Although the ride was pleasant and it was cool to watch videos …

Jet lag soon catches up with you.  (Toby and Annika both did a much better job of adjusting to the time than their mom and dad did!)

Seeing Grandpa and Granna

and  Grandma and Grandpa

We are back in the United States for a few weeks.  Many people have asked “What are you doing here?”   We are currently back in the United States because our visas are being changed over from “student” status to “worker” status.  The Mongolian government enacted a new law which requires individuals to leave the country while this change is being made.  When we added up the costs of being outside of Mongolia for at least 6 weeks, coming back to the United States was the logical place (not to mention the desires of grandparents to see the kids!).  It was encouraging to have everyone greet us (maybe we can leave the flags an banners behind next time?), especially my Mom who is undergoing chemotherapy.

Fishing! 

It’s been a bit strange being back in the States- the culture shock comes and goes.  For instance, Toby didn’t know what ketchup packets were at McDonalds.  Annika remembered them, but Toby didn’t!  During the first several weeks we worked on getting all our check-ups and visits to the dentist done.  It’s been great to see how quickly Annika took to learning how to ride a bike!

Way to go Annika! 

We have recently learned that our visas are going to take a while longer than what we expected.  When living overseas you learn to expect that things don’t always go as planned.  Our tickets with Korean Air are changeable for this very reason.  Unfortunately, we learned that we cannot be guaranteed to get back to Mongolia until early September.  (We don’t want to get caught on standby in Seoul for 2 weeks).  July – August is tourist season in Mongolia and there is only one flight a day to Ulaanbaatar, all of which are full.  But we’re looking forward to going back and are fully intending to go back.

Thank you to all the churches who have generously allowed us to share about Mongolia.  We greatly appreciate your support and openness.  It also has been wonderful to re-connect with many friends and the many who follow this blog! (we will be trying to post more). 

Because we will be in the States longer than we expected, we are currently working on connecting with other churches.  If you are interested in hearing about the work in Mongolia, please email us or leave us a comment about how we might be able to connect with your church in August. 

by Mark

After arriving this past Wednesday to things that are greener than I ever could have imagined its hard to think about the devastating toll that this past winter has taken in Mongolia.  Many of the number of animals killed are just now coming to light.  There were two interesting articles that came across the news wires about the current situation.  I pass them on to you below.  The difficulty is the amount of people that will seek to go to the capital, Ulaanbataar, seeking jobs but not finding any or services.  Please pray for Mongolia.

Seattle Times Story

Boston Story

The Lucky Ones- not all of Mongolia has been impacted by the past harsh winter

by Mark

Cinda and I are starting to teach some outdoor skills at Annika’s school.  Today we learned how to put up a tent.  Great job, everyone!

Putting up the tent

Job Complete-Great work!

Something green besides the tent.

Shaking out the tent to put it away.

Toby and Annika dyed Easter Eggs today!