Category Archive

Please pray for Pieter Theron, our Field Director.  He is in Thailand for a conference and was posing for a picture with an elephant outside of Bangkok.  The elephant spooked (I do not know exactly what happened) and Pieter suffered a fractured skull and Richard Herring, our regional director, suffered a fractured hip.  Pieter did not lose consciousness and is in the hospital.  Tomorrow they will consult with a neurologist in Bangkok.  Haniki is with Pieter.  We will update more as soon as we know but please be praying for his recovery and how to proceed.

Pieter is from South Africa and a veteran of many safaris into the bush but he had to go to Thailand to have this encounter with an elephant.  Yana. 

By Mark

There are times when I think my Mongolian is coming along pretty good.  I understand what someone is saying, they understand me- we joke, I explain quantum physics with my new found vocabulary (ok I’m pushing it).  I feel good, I think I’ve got it all together.  (I imagine myself in my alternate persona of  “Grammar Man”! and yes I do picture a flowing cape) Then comes language school.  The same sentence that I used so easily at the store isn’t making it past my teacher- it’s full of mistakes.  My pronunciation is wrong.  It begins to dawn on me that my grammar and pronunciation never were right when I was speaking before.  The problem was that I had no means of knowing how off I was.  There was nothing by which to measure it.

This is why I need the law.

In my life as Christian I have those times when things are going good.  I’m reading, I’m praying, I’ve got it together- I feel good about how I stand spiritually; a little too good.  Even unconsciously I begin subtle comparisons with others and think I’m doing alright. God must really like me- He made a good decision to save me.  I’m just a bit off- but that’s all it takes for heresy, a bit of self-righteousness.  I’m half-way right, God does really like me- in fact he loves me, but not for the reason I think.  He loves me because of His son, Jesus the Christ who died in my place and bore the brunt of God’s punishment that I deserved for my rebellion.  The only person that I can compare myself with is Christ.

But God has given us a means to measure ourselves by-this is what the law is.  The law is God’s standards- the expectations for how people are to meet with Him.  To put it another way they are God’s terms.  (In light of this it’s little wonder that Leviticus was the most quoted book by Jesus.)  The law shows me that I am lacking and that no matter how good I may feel, or think I am that is not enough to be accepted by God.  It’s not that I’m wrong by just a little bit- but by miles and miles.  The more I read of the law I realize there is no hope of keeping it.  The law is like a gigantic arrow and it points to the cross.  The law shows me my failure but points me to the truth that it is only because of Jesus who is in my place that I am accepted. The law reminds me of how far I will always be because of who I am but how accepted I can be because of who Jesus is for me. In light of the law I can only fail.  In light of Jesus who stands in my place- my Christ I am accepted.  The law increases my failure and separation from God.  Jesus secures my acceptance.

Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

(Rom 5:20-1 ESV)

Language class is the law-I need it, it brings me back to reality.  It reminds me of where I really stand.  And it also reminds me of who stands in my place and called me to do His work.

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant,
equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.

Amen.

By Mark

I like airports.  The ability to watch  planes take off and land, seeing people from literally every nation on earth make airports are amazing places.  For instance Toby was playing with a little British boy who asked Toby if he spoke English.  Toby’s reply “No, I speak American.”  This summer our family spent some time waiting and watching in several different airports.  (When I add up the layovers its more like days spent in airports).  Of course we spent a lot of time in Seoul which is one of the top-rated in the world.  (I might feel differently speaking about LAX an armpit or the Gary, Indiana of airports of the world in my opinion.)  

It’s rather odd to watch the ebb and flow of the airport.  In a matter of moments it goes from deserted to waves of people rushing back and forth and then to deserted again.The strange thing  is that for all the people that move through an airport- for all its activity- no one lives there; airports are a wholly transient place.  Someone living in an airport is an oddity (consider Spielberg’s dud Terminal).  Think about sitting at a gate when you overhear someone talking about where they are going to put the living room and the furniture and you see them pointing to the waiting area that you are sitting in.  It would be absurd, why?  Because airports are places that we move through, they are not permanent places to live.  For as wonderful as an airport is I don’t want to stay there, I want to get to where I am traveling to. 

Here is where the gospel comes in.  The gospel tells us that the present world is real and true but its not fully what God has for us, there is something greater he has prepared for us.  

13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.  For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
(Heb 11:13-16 ESV)

I find it interesting that every day people step onto planes going to places they have never seen or experienced before but trust in others to get them there and yet resist the reality of heaven because they cannot see it. 

As I think about lessons of the this past year I see more clearly that our time on earth is like time in an airport- brief, transient, waiting for that better destination, a heavenly one.  When I bring the gospel to bear that promise is hope and also is a challenge to how I live now.  My possessions are like the seat in the waiting area- I can’t take it with me, nor would I want to because there is something great to come.  I fear to many people who call themselves followers of Jesus live their lives as if they are trying to build a house in an airport, forgetting that their hope and what they truly seek lays ahead. 

By Mark

Yesterday was a beautiful day so we decided to head out and enjoy some of the Indian Summer.  We went for a walk around the camel park- here are some shots with the Nikon(D-5000 with 200 mm lens). 

Toby at 5                                                                Annika posing

Still some green leaves around

Coal getting stockpiled for the winter ahead

Autumn is upon us

by Cinda

Pictured above:  Annika and Toby relaxing after school.  Annika playing computer games, Toby playing with his Hot Wheels track.

Starting today, Annika and her classmates have a new school schedule and a new teacher.  Mrs. Elizabeth Cutler and husband arrived a little over a week ago and have been settling in and learning the ropes of the Darhan school up until today — now she’s the teacher-in-charge.  Mary Ellen is going to be with her in the classroom each day this week to help with the adjustments for everyone.  We are incredibly grateful to Mary Ellen for all of her hard work and dedication to the kids over this past month +.  Now we are very happy to have the Cutlers here for a few months to teach as we continue to await the arrival of Karen, the teacher-to-be.  The kids all go to school at 9:00 a.m. together on a bus, but now the older kids will be staying until 3:00 each day (we had a shortened school day the past month to make things easier for Mary Ellen as our long-term substitute teacher).  Today Annika is working on choosing, writing, and memorizing a Bible verse for a school presentation.

Toby, Levi, and Eli are still going to school in the mornings with the bigger children on the bus, but now they return home at 1:00 via taxi accompanied by one of the Mongolian workers from CLTC.  Today was the first day for these little guys to come home in a taxi!  Toby seems rather nonchalant about it, so hopefully that means it was a good experience for all concerned!  He learned about rivers in school today.  I asked him what lives in rivers and he answered “sharks and whales”. . .  Next week he says they will learn about snowy mountains.

By Mark

Well we weathered the storm and its turning rather nice out (I would not call it Indian Summer yet) but the par heat came on today!  It was starting to get rather chilly.   We are very thankful the heat is now on. 

by Mark

Its hard to translate the word YANA.  It has a rather fluid definition which makes so versatile. For example it can serve as an exclamation such as.  “It’s September 19th, did you see the snow outside?  Yana.” or “It dropped from 23 C (73 F) yesterday to 0 C (32 F) , Yana, when will the heat be on?” In this instance it could be translated roughly as “are you kidding me?” Yana has become a personal favorite word. (The other favorite is BISH which means not.  “Going to snow?  Bish” ) 

This was the first time we got text messages on our phones warning us of a storm.  We were about half convinced it would come.  Usually we get some dustings first, nothing like this.  Yana.

I sit looking out with a mug full of steaming tea by my side.  I watch smokey sitting on his fat haunches, listen as he growls eating his piece of meat.  In his mind he is a lion on the savannah defending his latest kill.  I think of the words of my city’s native son.  He used the word fog- I think snow, there are no harbors here.

The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

He forgot one word- Yana.

by Mark

Ah, the heat is on. It came on Tuesday the 15th of September.  We are still waiting on snow but I have a feeling its not to far behind.  In order to get ready we had to do a few repairs to the pars (radiators).  Its been a very cool and wet summer.  We are thinking that this winter could be a cold one.

Each par is actually make up of several sections and each section is connected by a coupling.  We had to replace several gaskets.  (I say we but it was the CAMA handyman Olan Bayer who did it- I just helped carry the things and believe me, they are heavy!) We took them outside and drained the sludge (rust) out.  We used a piece of re-bar with a pry bar (see below) to un-screw the couplings from the inside. 

Here you can see the new section.  The frayed stuff in between is called- rope but is either hemp or oakum.  They wrap it around the threads and then the build up of deposits will eventually seal the leaks.  It actually works much better than Teflon here.  The pars will probably leak for the first week or so until the leaks self-seal.  Most pars need to be changed, cleaned every two years.  Occasionally when they fix pipe bursts sand and tiny rocks can get washed into the line- you have to flush it out.  

There are two kinds of pars, Russian and Chinese.  You only want to get the Russian ones- they are designed and built to last.

The pipes in the kitchen had to be cut through and then new couplings were put on.  Notice there are not shut of valves.  The pars are connected in series.  If there is a problem the whole apartment is shut off.  The water will be warm for several weeks and then turn HOT.  We had a bit of a scare when several people said the water was coming on today.  This would not have been good.  We actually reduced the number sections in the living room because our apartment is just way to hot in the winter (around 80-85 F No, I’m not kidding but am certainly glad for the heat when it hits -30 F)

The system is not perfect but I have to say, it is great to have heat that isn’t dependent on electricity and overall is a dependable system.  You have a hot shower available and serious water pressure! Best shower I have had.   

by Mark

I’m experimenting with the new camera a lot and wanted to share a few of the shots- different views of Darhan

Coming Rain

I borrowed Lain’s tripod to try to get some moon shots.  I thought the moon, which was full, would show up about 15 minutes later than the night before but it was late. Had some nice time with Toby during the golden hour- but it got cold quick.  Still learning the camera but was pleased with the light it captured.  This pic focused to much on the foreground- should have been on manual.

The sculpture is of a Mongolian rider playing the horse head fiddle

My personal favorite

twilight

I rushed outside to get this shot but missed the most brilliant colors.  Unfortunately there was a guy sitting on a bench who thought I was taking a picture of him and yelled at me.  I’m learning.