Mongolia.
Let’s admit it….when you think of doing missions or traveling the world, this country isn’t the first to pop into our heads. The best recollection we might have are the Huns from Mulan or hearing about that one famous conqueror, Ghengis Khan was it?–at some point during 7th hour history in high school.
But seriously, it is truly a gem. After traveling by train for over 30 some hours, we arrived to the city of UlaanBaatar. It’s the developing heart of the country, filled with all social classes, both of wealth and poverty. The country is beautiful, a place of yurts nestled right next to apartment complexes. It’s a place of traditions and honor. Where horse milk is popular, camels wander the countryside and cows may be seen going through the trash.
During this month, my team joined with another team to serve at a local soup kitchen and to prepare a small school for street kids. We also helped join together with a pastor currently building 3 churches by hand himself. He was absolutely crazy awesome. We had an incredible contact who took such good care of us, God was shone through him and his family.
It was a month of many happenings.
For those of you following Oralias story, she went back home to the states, ending this crazy trip early due to her ankle. But she ran the race. She was one of the good friends I’ve made on this adventure, and saying goodbye was nothing short of easy–but I’m excited to see what plans God has for her in the future to come. She’s a fighter with big dreams. Keep her in your prayers.
I was reminded this month, that persistence is part of the Kingdom. The women that we worked with in the soup kitchen was from San Francisco. Her name was Kathy, a 60 year old with the heart of someone 30, who left America because God said, ‘go.’ She’s been faithfully running a soup kitchen in the middle of UlaanBaatar for the past 20 years, making soup early every morning. And she hasn’t stopped. She see’s the world in a way that I can’t get my mind around.
‘Sometimes the most impossible and terrifying thing, is to hand over all of your dreams and wishes to God—for in turn, reality might not be as you expect….’
but as we saw in Kathy…. it could be soooo much more.
Mongolia, you are missed.
