About a month ago we were in the middle of the mountains of Kyrgyzstan debriefing as a squad. A few of the guys were playing in a friendly football game when three guys went up for a pass and collided. One of them slid backwards and hit his head on a soccer post. Luckily we had two nurses with us that were able to run concussion tests on him, and we had brought some basic medical supplies. We were a hundred miles from nowhere and had no transportation, so we cleaned up his head as well as we could, and used a small sewing kit to close the wound.
(We continued to check on him and keep his head clean, and you will be glad to hear that the wound healed nicely and he is doing great!)
Anyway, a few Sundays later it was time to remove the stitches, so I headed over to his teams apartment that morning. They invited me to visit a local church with them, and although I had not planned on it, I agreed. After the service there was a presentation by the Mongolian Union Bible Society. The speaker explained that a full Mongolian translation of the Bible had only been completed since 2013. After the presentation I approached the speaker to ask how we would be able to obtain a few of the Bibles to take with us on the trek. We were able to get our hands on 30 Mongolian translation New Testament Bibles. This may not seem like a big deal to some, but God was at work already without us even knowing.
We had worked out a plan to trek into the Dukhad Valley in northern Mongolia. One of my coleaders, Emily Cook had a desire to find the Tsaatan tribe and find a way to share the Gospel with them. She has written a detailed blog about the process leading up to the trek that is really good. You can read it at https://emilycook.theworldrace.org/post/trekking-to-the-last-reindeer-herders .
Initially we thought we would be spending 3 to 4 days with the Tsaatan tribe, however as we were riding it became clear that many things were different than anticipated. Some things were weather dependent, and the trek was made up of long days on horseback. When we arrived at the Tsaatan village on the 8th day, we met the people and prepared to spend time with them. The next morning we were informed that there was not enough room for us and that we would be leaving later that day. This meant limited interaction with the people, and 6 more days of riding back to civilization. Also, the majority of the people had taken the reindeer and left the village that morning to go graze.
God already knew what we did not. We had brought with us gifts of tea, candy, and toothpaste. We also had the Bibles, in a language they understand. So we split up and went to the tea-peas of those who remained in the village. We had EXACTLY the number of gifts and EXACTLY the number of Bibles to give to each of the people that remained. Unable to use our own words, God used Eli’s busted head and a chance visit to a small community church to place HIS WORD into the hands of people who have never before had it available.
Isaiah 55:11“so is my word that goes out from mt mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and Earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
God also provided for this trek in undeniable other ways. Shea Hendry was able to work out a deal with a group of Mongolians to get to the Dukhad region for one forth of the normal price. The church that our coaches pastor in Wichita Kansas donated a significant amount of money, that combined with our world race budget provided exactly the amount necessary to pay our guides and to buy food for two weeks. Emily Spencer planned all of our meals and we had EXACTLY the amount of food we needed to survive the two weeks in the wilderness. We met a couple on the side of the road before the trek who heard what we were doing and asked if their 17 year old daughter (a great English speaker) could come with us to help translate. We had 6 locals that accompanied us and guided our 23 horses, helped set up camp, and packed all of our stuff every day onto the 8 pack horses.
This was the experience of a lifetime. I have so many other stories that hopefully I can share with all of you in person! In the mean time here are some pictures from the trip!
This was my horse. Catherine Read named him “Obed.” He was pretty ornery the first few days, so she said I should call him Obed, short for obedient, so maybe he would start living up to his name…which eventually HE DID!
Our first night was one of the coldest! I do not think anyone got any sleep due to frozen extremities…but it sure was beautiful!
Kuvsghul Lake was still partially frozen.
This is a shrine that we circled and our guides left some horse hair as a sort of offering.
We rode for 14 days and only saw two towns… and they looked like they were built with Lincoln Logs!
On day 8 we finally arrived at the Tsaatan village, and we stayed in some of the families’ tea-peas for the night. (We also got to see the reindeer)
Most of the time that was not spent on the horses, was spent like this..
What a great team we were traveling with. Good times, good people.
This was when we finally arrived back at our guide’s home on the fourteenth day.
From left to right: Kumba, me, Emily Cook, Poutaway, Shea
We are about to head to China where we will not be able to use much social media or post blogs due to government regulations, so this may be my last blog of the trip, but I will try to post more stories when I get home on JUNE 24th!!
Also, one last announcement… I have agreed to go to South America and lead a team in Chile and Peru this coming August and September. I am excited about this opportunity to work with more young people and to reach more parts of the world! This also means that I need to start fundraising again. If you would like to contribute to my next journey you can click the Donate tab above! Altogether I need to raise $2500 for the two month trip. I would also appreciate prayers for this next chapter of my life, and prayers for the Tsaatan community. Most of them live on the equivalent of $100 USD per year. Their livelihood is centered around the reindeer population, which is quickly deteriorating due to climate change. Their belief is that once the reindeer are gone, their people with disappear. Pray that they will read the Bibles and discover that there is hope beyond the reindeer. Hope that lies in Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He made for EVERY nation.
Other blog worth reading:
https://sheahendry.theworldrace.org/post/eleven-things-i-learned-in-month-ten
Preview video by Emily Spencer:
