Shepherd field trip

In June, when the first American team was here, we did something very special with our girls. Inspired by my friend Nita DeBorde and Psalm 23, we visited a Mongolian herdsman, or shepherd, with his flock of 250 sheep and goats. The idea was to do some practical teaching about God as our shepherd by learning about the role of a real shepherd. Although Mongolia's livestock-to-people ratio is about 13 to 1, most of our girls are from the city and are not that familiar with countryside life.

Our herdsman was named Batchulan, and he was like a sweet old grandpa. He told the girls many things about his work, and they asked a lot of questions. A couple of them even got to practice herding his nearby flock. One of my favorite things that Batchulan said was that he knew every single one of the animals, even from behind them, so that if one was missing he would immediately know it. What a beautiful picture of how intimately God knows each one of us!

After Batchulan finished speaking, the Americans in the group briefly taught through Psalm 23, and then we ate lunch on the grass. It was a perfect day - sunny, but not too hot. The girls had a great time, and we all learned a lot about a shepherd's daily life. Thanks to Nita for inspiring something so valuable, even though you didn't realize it!

Gig 'em and Sic 'em

Is this a beautiful sight or what? Last week we had 3 American teams here: the Edwards praise team, Texas Baptist Men, and Baylor University. Nearly everyone from the teams claimed either Texas A&M or Baylor as its alma mater. We took the opportunity to do some group photos on our Hongor property. I also enjoyed seeing my Aggie flag raised on our flag pole! The girl in between the two flags did her undergrad at A&M and postgrad at Baylor (shoutout to Joel and Steven!). The buildings behind me in the last photo are dorm-type buildings where our staff and teams can stay in Hongor.

Elders Banquet

I often describe our ministry here as including serving the needs of the poor and elderly in the community. A specific example is the annual elders banquet that we host for approximately 75 elders in the Darkhan area. Many of these men and women, the mothers and fathers of Mongolia, have few visitors and live in desperate conditions. We love honoring them with a meal and some live music provided by a team from America. They all get dressed up in their best attire, most of whom wear the traditional Mongolian "dell" outfit.

This year I was so blessed to attend the banquet, especially when I ran into a 72-year-old lady named Dolgorjav (pictured). Two years ago, I visited her home to deliver some food and check on her needs (also pictured). Our little team probably spent no more than 20 minutes in her one-room cardboard shack. Amazingly, when I saw her this week at the banquet, two years later, she remembered me. And because that visit made such an impact on me in 2005, I remembered her too.

All the elders at the banquet were so thrilled to be there, and several of the women left singing! What a privelege to serve those in need and be blessed in return.

Mongolian beverages

In case you're interested to know what the average Mongolian eats and drinks, I thought I'd start out with the drinks. At most restaurants, you have your choice of various "multivitamin" juices (bottled mixed fruit juices), sodas (no diet!), water, beer, and hot teas. In the homes, people also drink raisin juice, milk tea (see recipe below), and airag (fermented mares' milk).

I'm not a big fan of milk tea, but I've learned to make it anyway because I host Mongolians in my apartment each week. They love it, and it's a very hospitable thing to serve. Personally, I love tea. But I learned to love tea in England, where I drank English breakfast tea with a little milk. Mongolian milk tea has basically the opposite tea and milk proportions, plus salt. (blech!) Try it for yourself!

Milk tea:
Bring the following to a boil on the stove: 1 liter water (about a quart), 1 Tablespoon loose black tea, 6-8 ounces milk (use 2% or more), pinch of salt to taste. When serving, pour through strainer to catch tea pieces. Serves about 10-15.

Note that in the countryside, some people will also add pan grease fat and other questionable items. I'd rather drink raisin juice!!