Wow, it’s hard to believe I am halfway through my first month of the World Race. I figured now that I’ve settled into a routine here, I’d share what my day to day looks like here in Mongolia.
This month my team is partnered with one of the churches under the Transformation Mongolia umbrella, the pastor that founded this ministry was a missionary from Germany and there are currently 13 churches in Mongolia, 3 of them being in the province we’re in.
After the 48 + hour travel from Atlanta to the capital city of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar we stayed with another Transformation Mongolia church for the night and hopped on the bus at 8 AM the next hour for our 11 hour bus ride to the town of Baruun – Urt in the Sükhbaatar Province.
Many hours of traditional Mongolian music and grassy hills later we arrived at our ministry for the month. They greeted us with a hot meal and the was to all of our hearts….coffee. Our hosts this month are Joy and Enkhbayar (Inkbar) the pastors of the church. We’re told we would be working in the church Coffee Shop/ Cafe, Enjoy Cafe, as well as doing 2 weeks on English classes. So here’s how most of my days go:
7:30 AM – 9:30 AM : Quiet time….and coffee
9:30 AM – 10:00 AM : Team worship
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM : English. I teach the kindest man named Soquata (or little man as my team calls him)
12:00 PM – 2:00 PM : Lunch break
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM : Afternoon english session / serving in the Cafe and kitchen
3:00 PM – 6:00 PM : This is our “free time” that we use to work on fundraising, blogs, or take a quick walk around town or to the market. We are currently planning a women’s event next week for the church called “Beauty for Ashes” were we encourage women to share their testimony and that their story matters.
6:00 PM – 6:30 PM : Dinner
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM : Laundry, showers, and Team Time.
Wednesday: On Wednesdays we go to one of the church’s 10 cell groups (small groups) around town. It’s so cool to see so many people come out and want to have community and fellowship over the Word.
Saturdays: Saturdays are our “adventure days” where we take the day to explore the culture of the country we’re living in. This past Saturday, the pastors and some of the church leaders took us for a day in the countryside. **PICTURES BELOW**
One thing this month has taught me more than anything (this is cheesy okay) is that love and relationship goes beyond language. To be boldly honest before this month I would never have thought that I could genuinely love and have a friendship with people when we quite literally do not speak the same language. It’s cool that Kingdom is such a deep and close connection with people. We’ve bonded through many days of teaching the other phrases in their language (translation via Google translate, God bless) but also the exaggerated hand motions to describe what were saying that sometimes work and at times end with laughter that we still don’t know what exactly is going on.God is so good and I’ve gained such precious relationships this month with the people in this ministry and I’d love to introduce you to them….below! Welcome to my world!
My little man CukhBaatar (Soquata), when we started english class last week we were learning the ABC’s, now he sings the song to and from class and he’s writing, saying, and sounding out words! He’s a blessing and a wild one for Jesus.
Meet Esther, she birthed the sweetest little baby Titinga (translates to Wisdom) and has the sweetest voice I’ve ever heard. She is one of the two cooks in the cafe kitchen. We send a lot of time with her, chopping her veggies, and scooping rice for her. Esther hears from the Lord and isn’t afraid to tell you when He has something to say to you. I’ve also recently taught her to say “tater”.
This is Enkhtor, he’s Esther’s husband and the other genetic half of Titinga. When he picked us up from the bus station the first thing he said was “Welcome, I am not your translator. I don’t speak good english.” Here we are 2 weeks later…he’s basically our second translator. He makes everyone feel welcome and goes above and beyond to bless us (he brought the water cooler in from the cafe to our room so we’d had filtered water and drives us to get water whenever we need it and bought us ice cream). He’s also got a great sense of humor and will always tell us after a joke or sarcastic remark, “It’s a joke, haha”.
My girl Torocco. She radiates kindness, love and is a master selfie taker. She is the other cook at the cafe. The first day of ministry I spend a couple hours with her helping out in the kitchen. She taught me the way to day some vegetables in Mongolian and I taught her the english word. We laughed a lot trying to communicate with each other but she has the best personality and truly loves people. I love her.
Joy and Enkhbayar, Pastors of the church and Enjoy Cafe (get it EnJoy). Just seeing them work and pastor on a daily basis has been inspiring, the spend countless hours a day discipling church members and in church meetings. You can see by their way of life that they are passionate about Jesus, discipleship and their role as pastors. They’re amazing and full of kindness, and hospitality. I can’t being to describe how much I respect them.
BUCA AND HAPPY. Wow, I love these two SO much. They are the baristas/managers at Enjoy Cafe and not to mention the cutest couple. They fill our days with joy, coffee, and laughter. It’s so fun each day to go in a teach them little snippets of english each day. Happy falls nothing short of his name, this dude is happy, asking us how we’re doing and is always down for a good laugh. He’s also super talented in building things, he was in charge of laying the bricks for the building of the cafe and he also build the white picket fence surrounding the porch (and who knows what else). Buca is fun, funny, kind, hardworking, genuine and also no funny business when it comes to the way the cafe is run. She’s truly a treasure and it’s been so fun to hang out with her, hear her jokes and what she find funny about us!
This is “T”, he’s wild let me tell you. Probably the sassi-est 10 year old I’ve met, he also loves just sitting and spending time with us. Although most of the time he is encouraging us to play cards, chess or checkers with him, he’s truly a joy. He also loves to take pictures with my camera and it’s so awesome to see the little things he captures. God has a lot in store for this little man.
Last but certainly not least, my team…team Wild + Nico (our squad leader that was with us for our first week). I love these ladies, it’s really been a journey with (still) learning to live in healthy community with each other, getting to know each other, and getting accustomed to a new country and culture we’ve all never been to. Nonetheless there’s no other team I’d rather do it with. Their hearts are so willings to do (and eat) anything for the Kingdom and are determined to love each other our ministry well. Love you guys, you wild.
COUNTRY SIDE:
more photos available on my FB!
UB City
View from the church we stayed at in Ulaanbaatar.
Transformation Church / Enjoy Cafe
Front doors to the church
Church sanctuary
Enjoy Cafe
Cell Group
Walking back to the church with some of the ladies in the cell group
