We are here and you are there...welcome to some thoughts from "our world"

Newest and most exciting news of the day - They have dutch blitz in Mongolia!!! Except here it's called 'Ligretto', which isn't Mongolian at all! But they are good at it and speed/numbers/competition are universal so it works! "Go!" Is an easy word to learn too. Mongolian words are not so easy to learn we've discovered. Tonight we learned a common Mongolian worship song. Does learning languages ever take time! (Mind you this was just one song!) In their language there are sounds that you can't really explain or write down. They're just airy type sounds, that make a difference in the words. It's difficult. "No" isn't a word. It is just a sound like "ko". Trying to make the right sounds makes them laugh, at least someone gets amusement out of it! People that have learned Mongolian as well as others say this was the hardest to learn.
In our English class we are continuing to have good conversations. The way we go about our class now is by writing themes on pieces of paper, picking them at random and talking. We decided to switch things up and play a game the other day. To help them learn directional words (left, right, forward, backward, etc) we set up a "minefield" in the cafeteria. One person was blindfolded and the others had to lead the blindfolded person through the tables and chairs to the ping pong paddle. (There is no hidden meaning attached with this item, it was chosen at random.) They really had a lot of fun and we enjoyed watching them walk into walls and stuff.
Today we spent some time at the boxing club. It's an after school program funded by YWAM. It's quite the geto place situated in the basement of an apartment. Playing games with these kids wasn't quite the same as previous in the week at the youth event. I didn't know 'duck, duck, goose' could be such a wrestling, shirt grabbing, sweaty event! But when in a boxing ring, apparently anything goes! Some of those kids were small, but boy were they feisty! All you could do was sit there crossing your fingers hoping not to get picked, for then your doom was sealed. Yes, we were no match for the boxing club. Wimpy little Canadians! They introduced us to the first game which included protecting your ball and trying to get the other teams ball. That pretty much sums it up, besides the statement "anything goes." The losers punishment was push ups. Yep, get down and give me 20. We walked out of that building...glad for the memories.
Latest Discovery! So, we weren't sure exactly what kind of meat we were eating everyday. But we knew it fell under the animal selection of horse, sheep, goat, or cow. Apparently we were wrong. We've been eating Yak. (What they call a cow with a furry skirt!) Straight up cooked Yak, Yak fried rice, Yak-e-noodle soup, yikes, yak-e-dee yak please don't come back! We won't go into detail about foods reappearing. It is getting better. Although I've noticed at the speed of which we eat these days. Rice can go down pretty fast! Anyways, with food aside. (We have not allowed ourselves to talk about the food during meal times, it's a good challenge for us!)
We are speaking at 2 church services tomorrow. We didn't know when we came to Mongolia that we would be preachers! It's a little different mindset I guess. We were told to bring a message from the Word of God, therefore we are preaching. I pray that we will share with the people what God would like them to hear. We have prepared this time. "Winging it" in front of a congregation during Sunday service is a bit scary! We have been encouraged by the verses in 1 Timothy 4. "Command and teach these things. Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching." We are young, but we are able. May God empower and use us! Our wonderful translator Otgo is getting to know us quite well. It is fun having her along with us. She will be with us tomorrow again for both services.
Well, I hope you have a Splendid Sunday! (Or whatever day you find yourself living as you let your eyes gaze upon this lovely page!)
From the current and tentative 'Mongolian preacher'/blogger
~Anika