Trip Summary

The trip is over. God brought the whole team back safely from Mongolia.

While planning the trip and traveling to Mongolia, we had no direction from God about the nature of the work we were to be doing there. Because we were remaining flexible about our role, God was able to give the whole team valuable opportunities. As a team, we were able to see our work centered in three areas: encouraging Timothy and his family, learning the culture, characters, needs, and opportunities unique to Mongolia, and catalyzing the work Timothy wishes to start in the city of Darkhan. God was able to line up contacts, events, and circumstances which advanced these three areas of work during the trip.

Encouraging Timothy. As a group of American, english-speaking Christians, having time to fellowship together encouraged Timothy and his family. We were able to join them in prayer, discussion, and physical labor, and play. This fellowship we were able to share was valuable to both Timothy’s family and our team. For example, we were able to give Timothy, in his words, “vocational therapy”, the opportunity to do stonework. This work was very relaxing and helped Timothy think through many aspects of the ministry.

Learning culture. We set out to go into Mongolia with open eyes and blank notebooks, seeking to learn of the needs and opportunities in that nation. We had the opportunity of briefly visiting the countryside and seeing a little of the nomadic lifestyle. We explored markets, biked and walked through the city, ate and talked with the neighbors, met business owners, and developed relationships with some of the local children. All these interactions provided more linguistic and cultural context for us to remember for future trips and plans. Through talking with various people, we learned about the 75% unemployment rate among men, the cultural apathy toward work and property, and the struggles as Mongolia strives to grow more capitalistic from its socialist heritage. Hearing the stories of these people is a huge part of why we came.

Catalyzing the work. As a group of college students, we were eager to dive into some sort of work. This enthusiasm lead to the starting of an urban gardening project Timothy had been wishing to start, as well as lead to a variety of meetings outside of Timothy’s normal sphere of contact. We were able to bring the activation energy to Timothy’s vision for Darkhan. We met with several people who had worked in Christian programs with street children, doing ministry very similar to the work Timothy wishes to begin. One especially powerful meeting was with seven former street boys, who were mentored by a prior ministry, and are now strong Christian men. These seven men are very interested in helping with the work which Timothy wishes to do with the boys now living in basements and on the streets of Darkhan. One of these seven, Heggii, worked with us for the whole trip as a translator and local helper. My friendship with him is something I look forward to cultivating in the coming years.

God was able to provide the meetings and opportunities to come away from this trip with a solid base of experiential knowledge about the needs of Mongolia, as well as opportunities for ministry and work there. He provided safety and relative good health for the whole team. We are now seeking what should be done with this trips information. There are several potential engineering projects which could be done in Mongolia, as well as many other ministries. We are seeking God about the nature of a possible next trip. I am praying for the opportunity to return to Mongolia soon. God has provided every step along the path for this trip, and he will surely continue to do so.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support through this. It is wonderful to have such a large team on this trip, even if only four were physically traveling. I will do my best to keep you informed about the work that is being done in Mongolia by Timothy. Thank you.

In Christ,

David

Blogging fail...

This didn't quite go according to plan.  You see, the internet cafes in Mongolia are not conducive to writing, especially for unpacking the quite dense events of this month.  I hope to post stories on here as they are remembered in the coming days and weeks.

Currently, I am sitting in the Inchon aiport, Seoul Korea. The time warp of this past month is nearly over. These experiences are hard to recall, they come so close on each other. 

Sorry for the blog silence this month! With a reliable internet connection and a little time to reflect, I expect more stories to come soon.

Ullanbattaar, Darkhan

Well, the adventuring toward Mongolia has come to a close for now.  We made it!

We were able to meet up with Timothy easily in the airport at Ullanbattaar, the capital of Mongolia.We stayed in Ullanbattaar for another day, visiting the local markets and seeing what was avalible for future reference.  After a long day of begining to get acclimated to the food and culture, we set out for Darkhan by bus today. 

Darkhan is a medium sized town, mostly built up during the Soviet control.  We have an apartment in one of the many Soviet-style buildings.  The opportunites here are very exciting. 

Please pray that God now reveals to us the purpose for our being in Mongolia.  At dinner we all looked at each other and said, "We made it!  ...now what?"  There is so much need here, but there is no clear leading at this point about which project or relationship to follow in Darkhan.  Pray that God now makes it clear why we came and how we can serve best. 

That is all I have for now.  There are lots of great stories to tell, but I am writing them all down to do them justice when I get back. 'Till next time, then.

David

Seoul

In the process of buying tickets for is trip, God lead us to stay in Seoul for a day before heading to Mongolia. The time here in Seoul has been a great way to connect with pastors and leaders in faith, as well as let our bodies adjust to the 13 hour time zone difference.

The idea of "adventuring towards" was put to the test last night, when, after two crazy days in Seoul, our plane was delayed for 22 hours. So here we are, in Korea for another day. God has been coordinating so many meetings with various people.

These days in Seoul have been wonderful, and I now love the Korean culture, but I look forward to setting eyes on Mongolia soon.

A Little About Mongolia

The primary religions of Mongolia have been Shamanism and Buddhism. Shamanism is the practice of worship of ancestors, often including sacrifices to appease spirits who live in different regions.

The spiritual climate of Mongolia has been greatly shaped by the Soviet Union's influence.  Mongolia aligned itself with the Soviet Union in 1924.  Through the following years, all religious influences were destroyed, including the killing of thousands of Shaman priests and monks and the destruction of hundreds of temples. The cultural suppression of religion began to subside in the early '90s, when Mongolia adopted a capitalist economy.

Because of its history of Buddhism and Shamanism, followed by over 50 years of atheism, Mongolian culture is searching for truth.  The void of religion from which Mongolia is emerging provides for many opportunities to present truth to the Mongolian people. However, darkness has reigned for many years and still maintains a strong grip on the culture.

So, that is a little about the spiritual state of the country.  Add any other info you have in comments!

Why Mongolia?

Well, that takes a very long time to explain.  Fortunately, that is exactly what blogs are for!

It all started with Dr. French.  Dr. French taught my first Intro to Engineering course at LeTourneau University.  Early in the class, he invited anyone who was interested to come to the Senior Design project he lead, in order to see what real engineering was like. I found that intriguing and volunteered with the senior design team through much of the Fall and Spring semesters. Through this extra-curricular interaction with Dr. French,  I was given several opportunities for extra projects to work on.

In October of 2010, God called Timothy to move himself and his family from a mission site elsewhere in Asia to Darkhan, Mongolia.  For many years, Timothy has had a burden for orphan work. His vision is to bring a few orphans into a family environment in order to raise them in Christian values as well as equip them with agriculture skills which would allow them to operate independent farms. When old enough, these young men and women would be able to move onto an independent farm and train up orphans of their own.

This is the vision of Timothy in Darkhan.  He is currently attending language school and working to develop the connections necessary to solidify this vision.

Timothy and Dr. French have worked together in several mission ventures, often bringing in teams of students to help the project site.  It was in early December, 2010, that Dr. French began to pray about taking a team to visit Timothy.  Colton, a graduate student at LeTourneau, and I were asked to pray about our potential involvement in this trip.  In early January, I felt lead to pursue this trip.  Upon return to school in mid January, a small team of Colton, Dr. French, and I met weekly to discuss trip details.

So, why are we going?  I currently see two primary goals in this trip. The goal upon which the trip was initially based was to scout out a new Engineering Senior Design project.  Scouting in this manner includes observing the needs and resources of the local culture, in order to return to America and design something which would be feasible and useful in that country. The second goal of this trip, which has grown in priority as the planning has proceeded, is to support Timothy in his ministry in Darkhan.  Our team will be doing anything that would help Timothy move toward his desired ministry. We hope to be able to help mentor several of the boys who Timothy has already developed relationships with.

Because this is an exploratory trip, the specific activities our team will be engaged in will be highly dynamic and unpredictable.   I am highly excited about the opportunities this sort of trip will afford.

The team currently consists of Dr. French, Austin, a recent graduate of LeTourneau, Colton, a LeTourneau graduate student, and myself.  We are flying to Seoul, South Korea, on the 21st of May, staying one day in Seoul with missionaries there, after which we will proceed to Mongolia. We will be staying in the city of Darkhan, which is north of the capital, Ullanbataar. We plan to return on the 16th of June, affording 3 full weeks to work in Mongolia.

Gods provision and guidance has been very evident through the planning of this trip.   God as arraigned the members of the team, provided for easy flights, and has set up connections in South Korea and Mongolia which we could not have imagined. I know that he will continue to show himself faithful through this trip just as he has in the planning of it.

Well, I told you it was a long story.  The sum is, God has been good, and we are simply trying to follow in His will.  That is the real answer to the question, "Why Mongolia?".  Simply that it is Gods will.

'Till next time.

Welcome to the Blog!

Well, I have started blogging.

This blog has been started first to be able to publish reports from an upcoming trip to Mongolia.  I have not had a strong publishing presence on Facebook or Twitter, so the frequency of subsequent publications is questionable.

I hope to be able to update this rather frequently while overseas.  We shall see what the internet connectivity status is like.

Well, I suggest you do something valuable with your time until I actually write something meaningful. Having a blog could be very interesting...