Sunday, August 10, 2008

The Weekend

Hey all!
So, it's Sunday night, after a full (yet great) weekend.
On Saturday morning, we had our American breakfast for the adult class. The adults seemed to like the pancakes more than the highschoolers did; a fact that we have yet to understand. Again, the breakfast was a huge success. Most of the students stayed til after twelve, talking and learning songs from Mrs. Aspinwall, or playing Uno with a few of the rest of us. I was helping with flipping pancakes and cleaning dishes with Rach, Joe, and Grace til near the end, but joined in on the game for a few minutes. I have to say, it was the most competitive game of Uno that I've ever played. =P

After the breakfast, Peter took the team on a quick walking tour of Sukhbaatar. We had two of the students from the adult class; one of which, Otgoo, is actually training to become a tour guide. He told us a bit about the history of Sukhbaatar. (It means, literally, "Axe Hero". He was a leader of Mongolia in the late 19th/early 20th centuries.
At the end of the walking tour, we walked to Sharon's apartment for lunch. Sharon is the short-term member of the Mongolia Team. She's halfway through her two-year stay here in Sukhbataar. We ate lunch, hung out, and watched a bit of the Olympics (in Russian).
After leaving Sharon's, we stopped by home to drop the kids and Becca off, then Peter took us to the "Mother Tree". The majority of Mongolians are animistic, and leave offerings, scarves, and incense at this imposing tree in order to elicit it's help. The tree was completely loaded down with scarves; red, for health, blue, for peace, white, for education, and so forth. It really is an important culture point, but it was quite sad to see all these people fruitlessly worshiping creation. Before leaving the place, we paused to pray for the people and beliefs of Mongolia.

Today (Sunday) we walked over to the Kenworthy's for a goodbye breakfast for Julie, a Peace Corps employee (and also a strong believer) who has been here for the past two years. The long-term team here has gotten to know here over the past couple years, and it really was a bittersweet morning for everyone, as our team has had the oppurtunity to spend some time with her in the last week. Be praying for Julie, as she's leaving tonight.

After breakfast, the team, the Bunnell's, the Kenworthy's, and Sharon all met up with the Mongolian believers at the In-Motion center. There were also a few non-believers, two of which, Tsenguu and Munkuu, are from Mr. Cragoe's and my class. We all headed out to a lake about half an hour outside of Sukhbaatar, and spent the afternoon swimming, talking, and eating *true* Mongolian barbeque. A few of us (Mr. Cragoe, Rachel, Joe, and Mr. Aspinwall) joined Magnai, Tsenguu, and others to learn a new "Mongolian" way to play Uno. It's quite fun, and much faster paced than regular Uno. We'll have to teach ya'll when we get home.
This whole afternoon was a great time, getting to spend time with the Mongolian believers. Also, continue praying for Tsenguu and Munkuu. They both seemed to have a great time today, and I'm hoping and praying the love of God was shown to them.

Mr. and Mrs. Aspinwall should be posting more (and more detailed) about this weekend! For now, I'm a bit pressed for time. We're having breakfast for dinner tonight, and my waffle's up. ;-)

Go with God,

Brooklin

P.s. we'll get pictures up from this weekend either tonight or tomorrow at the school! We still have those other pictures we've been promising on a computer at the school, so we'll try and get those up tomorrow as well.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good to hear from you. I'm pleased to hear that the kids are so helpful and involved. How did Rachel react to the mutton - her worst fear! The high schoolers here leave for Hume today (it's about 7:45 am)so keep them in your prayers for a spiritually meaningful week, not just fun with friends. God is moving in Mongolia so we know Satan is on the prowl therefore we will pray as you fight spiritual battles and ask that God would give you glimpses of hope and encouragement in each day!
Go with God!
Ruthi
Rachel - are you able to practice piano?

Anonymous said...

Hey Brooklin,
Great to hear from you. Sounds amazing and we can't wait to see the pictures. Take care and we will see you soom. We are on our way to Washington. We drove 10+ hours today pretty much non-stop. Matthew only threw up 5 times! We are staying in Medford, Oregon. (thank you house flood marriot bonus points) all is well.
I am looking forward to the whole family being together again. And I am really looking forward to all that you will have to share from this trip.

Stay strong and keep giving!

MOM