For 5 days and 4 nights we got to live like nomads in a Yurt. We got to experience their life of visiting neighbors and having tea with them, riding horses, hiking to the top of the mountains to touch the snow, getting water from the river and carrying it up the hills, using an outhouse in the field, washing the dishes by hand, eating yummy food and drinking Chai Tea everyday, and lots of wonderful quiet time with the Lord.
A place to be still with the Lord and a place we got to love the family we were staying with. Language barriers can be hard some times but God’s love can still cross those barriers though a smile, serving them by washing the dishes, sitting in the same room with them having tea, showing them pictures, eating lots of the food they cook for you or using whatever you can to talk with each other (aka google translate app).
It did not take long to fall in love with this family and their neighbors so when it came time to say goodbye it was sad. They knew we were Christian because they saw us reading our bible and praying everyday. We left them the gospel in their language to tell them about God. This was also the first time I got to use my photography as a ministry to take pictures for the family to update their AirBnB post to help them promote more business.
It has been one of my favorite experiences of the race so far. Getting to live with the locals and live how they live. Also found myself smiling because sometimes its hard to believe this is my life, looking at the beautiful sunsets, mountains and nature in the middle of nowhere while getting to sharing the love of Jesus.
The following is a photo journal of my time there. Hope you enjoy it.
Our Yurt home up in the mountains with nothing around but other Yurts.
Our window in the Yurt.
There was a stream right now to our Yurt site where we got water from for cooking and other stuff.
Horse milk is a very popular drink in Kyrgyzstan but not one of my favorites. It was really cool to watch them milk the horses though.
We had chai tea 3 times a day. It was normal to go to the neighbor’s house and they offer you tea and bread.
We got fresh milk every day.
A beautiful place to hike and have quiet time with the Lord. We hiked to the top of this mountain to touch the snow.
Snow from on top of the mountain.
There were fields and fields full of these flowers everywhere, so beautiful!
The Yurt started to feel like home, with your shoes at the door and you clothes hanging on the wall. I loved looking out the door and seeing the beautiful view.
The sunsets were beautiful.
Our friend that came to hangout with us and to learn English.
We ate some of the best soups and stews during this week. All cooked outside on the fire.
One of my favorite meals of the whole week!
If you want to go horse back riding you just go to the neighbors house and ask. They will take you for a ride though the mountains which is so beautiful.This was my horse for riding and it decided at the last part it was going to sprint away and did not want to stop. Our new friends came to save me and stop the horse. Quote from Kristin rating her horse back riding experience, “I rate it a 10 just because of the ending where I got to see Anna riding off into the sunset.”
Playing soccer in the fields around us.
They fed us so well!
The sunset every night was so beautiful.
The flowers glowed at sunset.
When you sit and enjoy the silence by the river you can’t help but think of the verse in Psalms 23:2
They were the cutest couple and quickly became our Kyrgyzstan dad and mom. I miss them already. My prayer is the seed we planted will bloom into them knowing God as their Lord and Savior.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures I took. I have not taken a lot of pictures with my camera on this trip, or really posted any of them anywhere. I am hoping to capture a lot more of what we are doing and experiencing so you can see it and feel more apart of it.
Also if you ever go to Kyrgyzstan you need to go Yurt camping, it is quite the experience!
