Where's the Beef?

Mark here. OK, it's Friday, 4:00 in the afternoon. Dave and Brook are teaching their class. Marla and I will be starting up in an hour. We've had a busy day already. We had invited Dave & Brook's teenagers' class for an American breakfast @ 9:00 this morning. So we had to pack up early, drive to the Community Center and fix blueberry pancakes, bacon, watermelon, OJ and coffee for the folks. Logistically, it was little bit of a challenge since we had only two small pans and the stove heated very unevenly. But, Becca and Marla were utterly indominable (what would you expect?) and put together a yummy breakfast. Just about all of the students showed up. They seemed to enjoy the food just fine - though a lot of the bacon went uneaten. After eating, we showed some film clips from American movies. The clips (from "Stand by Me", "Dumb & Dumber" and "Forrest Gump") were all about friendship. I was hoping that it would generate some discussion from the kids, but it sort of flopped. Dave and I ended up soliloquizing (if that's not a word, it should be) on the topic.

But all was not lost. After the meal and the film clips, we invited the students to hang around for informal conversation. A couple left; but almost all of them stayed. The Mongolian girls really wanted to talk to Rachel and Grace and find out more about teenage life in America. We had Terry (one of the long termers) and Becca and Peter there. (After all, our primary purpose is to form the connection between the locals and the long termers).

I turns out that Nomuun's brother is in Marla and my class - so we'll be looking for an open door with him.

Finally, after a half-hour or so of informal chatting, we had to leave for a previously scheduled tour of a felt "factory". Two of the students accompanied us on the tour, and had lunch with us later. Dave invited one of them - a very bright 17 year old named Munkuu - to come to the Mongolian Bible study on Friday afternoon. He seemed very interested. (Interesting note, his name means "eternal hero").

Also, when we toured the felt "factory" (which was more like a small, basement apartment in a soviet era apartment building) it turned out that the lady who owned the business was a friend of the lady who had us over for dinner (one of the first believers in town). The apartment had hand painted artwork hanging - a nativity scene, a Buddhist god, Jesus - an eclectic collection. Sharon, one of the English teachers, asked the owner if she believed in Jesus. Her response was: "I would like to..." So, we invited her to the Bible study as well.

Hence, the title of this post: "Where's the Beef?" On trips like this, there is a ton of activity. But, sometimes you wonder whether it is really accomplishing the purpose. Today, we began to see some of the fruit. It's sort of funny, but the real "action" is in the schmoozing - the informal chats.

We have another "American Breakfast" scheduled for Saturday morning for the adult class. We'll let you know how that goes.

Love you all,

Keep up the prayers.

See you in a couple weeks.

Mark

Seeds planted!

Hey all! Mr. Cragoe and I just got out of our highschool class. Today was really exciting, for several reasons! The first is, the students were much more open and talkative today. We didn't have to call on them as much; they volunteered answers. We had a bit of extra time at the end, so we played "Hangman". Munkuu, one of the more fluent students, got up and put "Vendetta" as his word. We were quite impressed. =) Also, Mr. Cragoe had an exciting experience today with one of the students. Our main mission here, obviously, is to reach the Mongolians for Christ. Teaching English is just a means to the end. Also, we're trying to build the credibility of the "In-Motion" school that we're at (with the Bunnell's and Kenworthy's), so that they can form relationships with these people. Well, today was a little glimpse that God is really working through the efforts.
I'll let Mr. Cragoe tell you about it.
Go with God,

Brooklin

.....................

Today during a break in class, Nomuun (as in, what happens on a cloudy night: There's...) flagged me down and asked if I had a religion. I said, "Yes" and she asked which one. I told her I was a Christian and that Christianity is more than a set of rules to keep, but that it is a relationship with God, just like a wife or husband. She said, "I like Christian." We talked some more and I am looking forward to seeing her interest develop. Please pray that the Seed is not snatched away from her, but that it would develop into abundant fruit. We have related to our class the past couple of days that some of these stories and even the idioms (like the Golden Rule) are from the Bible. Please pray that this would spark their interest and that they would want to know more and we would have open doors to share the Gospel.

Dave

P.S. I'm feeling much better today. Thanks for praying!

p.p.s. so the internet is being odd...wont' let us put the rest of the pictures up. we'll get 'em up sooner or later. patience is a virtue. =P

Mongolian Food

Hey folks, Mark here. It's Thursday afternoon. Dave & Brook are teaching their "teenagers" class. Marla and I will start our adult class in about 90 minutes. We're all feeling a little funny in the intestinal tract - Marla in particular. But, we'll survive. It's just part of the whole experience.

It's rainy today, so we had a cozy and lazy morning at the Bunnell's house.

Last night we had dinner at the home of the very first Mongolian believers in this city. They were extremely gracious - serving us a traditional Mongolian feast. Mongolian food seems to major in fermented milk products. We started with Mongolian "candy" consisting of a strong, salty, slightly sour cheese. The little kids loved it and gobbled it up. Brook, lacking in missionary experience, took a big piece (maybe a 1/4 lb). I noticed he hid part of it under the edge of his dish. (Remember, always start with a small piece; you can always take more later). Then we had bread topped with sour cream "tsutski" and sugar. It was truly yummy. The main dish were a sort of jumbo won-tons -- filled with lamb. It was followed by a mild alcoholic beverage made from the whey or water skimmed off the top of milk (when making cheese, I think). It smelled and tasted about as you would expect.

But, the coolest thing, was to sit there with this family and realize that this was the seed that God has planted in this community for the purpose of building His church. It gave me a sort of tingle as I thought about it.

So far, my persoal favorite Mongolian custom is belly rubbing. (Sorry I don't have a photo to post): when they're warm Mongolian men will lift the front of their shirts, allowing it to rest atop their ample bellies. Then they will rub their belly in a circular motion. It allows the belly to breathe. Dave & I tried it last night after dinner - following the lead of our host. It is comfortable, cooling and soothing. I'm hoping it will catch on in America.

The team is doing great! Everyone is pitching in. The youngsters are helping with the Bunnell kids. The Bunnell's are wonderful hosts - unflappable, gracious, & kind (and Becca is a terrific cook). We did have a little scare a couple of days ago. Sierra - the littlest Bunnell - got into a bottle of allergy medicine and took a bunch of pills. But, no harm done. It was sort of funny (after the fact), because all of us were worried and rattled, but the whole thing didn't bother Sierra one bit. She cooed and laughed the whole time.

Friday and Saturday morning, we're hosting an "American Breakfast" of pancakes for our two classes. The goal is to make more personal relationships and get a better sense for where our students are in their thinking and beliefs. Pray that God will give us wisdom and boldness to initiate the right conversations with the right people.

Love you all,

Mark

Of bad aliens, charcoal, watermelon seeds, snoring, and lotsa "now now"s (aka More pictures)

Hey all! Rachel, Brook and Grace here for the rest of the team. Mr. and Mrs. Aspinwall are teaching the adult english class right now. A lot has happened in the last couple days!
First, electricity came back on Monday night! (thank you all for the prayer!) This made life a bit easier around the Bunnell home.
Then, we had a scare with little Sierra Bunnell. While we were all either at school or helping Becca cook, she got into Brook's allergy medicine. We counted 25 missing pills, but we're not sure exactly how many she swallowed. She's fine now, after the Bunnell's fed her three bowl fulls of charcoal. She's as happy as ever. =)
Today, Mr. Cragoe is feeling more than a bit under the weather. If ya'll could keep him in prayer, twould be much appreciated (and needed). We're not sure exactly what caused it, but it's kept him pretty low for most the day. Also, pray that the rest of us will stay healthy while over here.

Other than that, classes have been going just swimmingly! Grace, Rachel, and Joe are all taking turns coming to the school and helping with skits and such, and staying back with Becca to help with food, chores, and Sierra and Weston. (Who we have a picture of). The first school day, we all came to the school just to get an idea of what it's like. Yesterday was Grace and Rache's turn to stay home with Becca, and today it's Joe's.

The highschool kids started to warm up the second day, and were even more open and talkative today. The fact that we starting offering prizes for participation might of helped. =P Today we also played a game with them, which they thought was hilarious.
Mr. Cragoe did get talked to after class though by Munkuu, one of the students. Apparently, it's considered rude to throw things here in Mongolia. When we passed out cards for one of the activities, we just sort of threw them onto the table in front of the student. Tomorrow we're going to apologize if we did anything to offend the students, and be more careful in the future.
Mr. and Mrs. Aspinwall are teaching the adult class right now. The adults seem to be much more talkative and open to participation! Yesterday when we had them do the skits, they were practically jumping over each other to get up to the middle. It was a good start to the week. =)
Peter made a suggestion that we invite some of the more interested students to the weekly bible study that they hold here at the school on Fridays. We'll see who can/will show up to that!
We're also planning on having an American style breakfast on Friday morning just for the teenaged kids.
This week is definitely looking up! =)

So, we're putting up some more pictures that we weren't able to before. Most of these are from Rachel's and Brook's camera, with a couple new ones from Mr. Cragoe's.
A couple are from the trip here.. a few from our first couple of days.. a few of us practicing skits for the classes.. and a few of the Bunnell's kids..us fixing the fences..etc. =) The one of us with the gal in the blue is us with an Olympic athlete. There were a bunch from them on our plane to China.

Hope all is well back in the States!
Go with God,
G, R, B

p.s. okaaaay...so, we weren't able to load *all* the pictures that we wanted to right now, cuz the second class got out and it's time for us to leave the school. But we got a few up, and we'll post more of them later.




Grace helping Becca in the kitchen
Joe and Mr. Cragoe doing our "morph" faces
Sharon, Weston, Gracie, Rach, and Sierra
The fence that needed fixing
Mr. Cragoe and Peter fixin' away

Rach and Sierra
Sierra and Weston Bunnell
ummm.... yea
Sierra getting into Mac n' cheese.
Us with a U.S. Olympic Team member!!

In the plane
Brook trying on Gracie's sweater in the plane
Grace and Rach on the car ride to Sukhbataar

First few Days

Well, we done got here. We's all set to teech Englidge. No, the flight didn't affect us at all. Actually, we were pretty tired after about 30 hours of travel. When we reached Mongolia, Peter Bunnell, the missionary we're staying with, met us at the airport in the capital of Ulaanbaatar where we spent the night. The next day we had another 9 hour train ride to get to Sukhbaater. The boys took the train and the girls rode with Peter since there wasn't enough room in the car. As the day progressed it got hotter and hotter until Mark melted into a puddle in his seat. Just before he evaporated, we noticed a huge cloud ahead, soon a stiff wind arose and before we knew it, we were in the midst of a raging storm. We arrived in Sukhbaatar in a downpour and were practically blown away. The next day, Sunday, we got up to sunny weather and set about fixing all the fences that had blown down. Joe, Rachel and Grace became instant babysitters of Sierra, 1 1/2 and Weston, 4, and Becca Bunnell (Peter's wife) treated us to some great home-cooked meals (even with no electricity). Today was our first day of teaching. Brook and I had 17 teenagers in our class and Mark and Marla had 20 adults. The teenagers are mostly beginners and the adults have a pretty good grasp of the language. The teens range from 14 to 18 and there's only one guy, so Brook pretty much has his pick. The community center here is quite modern in this city of 20-some thousand people (4th largest in Mongolia). Mongolia's population is about 3 million with half of that in Ulaanbaatar. The kids in our class are pretty shy, so pray we will be able to have some meaningful conversations. We'll keep you posted.

Love, Dave C.

P.s. (Brook here) - Below are some pictures from our travel here, and our first couple of days. Fence fixing, babysitting, teaching, and a couple of the country side and the storm that came up.
Another thing to keep in prayer is the electricity in Sukhbaatar. Becca is cooking for pretty much three times as many people, and being able to use the stove and oven would be an enormous blessing to her.
Go with God,

Brooklin

What is this trip about?

Hey everyone! This is Brooklin, for the team. Just thought I'd make a first post explaining what we'll be doing on the trip and where we're at in preparation.

We'll be teaching English in a small town in Mongolia. The missionaries
we're working with have been there for about 15 years. That makes them some
of the longest-term missionaries in Mongolia. When they arrived there were
zero known believers in Mongolia. Now, there is a little church of about 15
people in this town. (There are, of course, other believers in other parts
of Mongolia).

We'll be teaching two classes: one consisting of doctors and nurses from the
local hospital; one consisting of High School students.

The "Common Ground" English curriculum we're using is designed (by a
missionary in Kazakhstan) to raise spiritual questions, without being
overtly evangelistic. Our goals are:
1) to enhance the reputation of the church and the missionaries in the
community as a whole.
2) to build friendships with our students.
3) to identify those who seem most interested in spiritual issues - so that
we, or the local missionaries can follow up.
4) if the opportunity presents itself, to share the Gospel.

We have just under a month until our departure. The team had their first meeting the other night to discuss teaching approaches, cultural tips, etc. We each received a copy of the "Common Ground" teaching materials we will be using, so that we can look it over and familiarize ourselves with the lessons. The curriculum is great for our purposes: it raises some tough, personal questions, and at the same time teaches conversational English in a fun way.

As we all continue to prepare for the trip, please be praying! Most of us are still working on raising enough funds to be able to go. We just need to trust in God that He will provide, if it is in His will.
Thank you all for your prayer and support!

Go with God,

The Team