Changes

Many changes have taken place since the last time I've written - September 2012.  We finished our semester and went home at Christmas to spend with our lovely daughters and their family and extended church family.  It was wonderful and refreshing and now we are back in Mongolia for the 2nd semester of this year.  It is noteworthy to say that we have found a church home after being in Mongolia for 1 1/2 years and we are so happy.  It has made all the difference in our hearts to be connected with a church family and to feel as if we can call the church, home.  We should be able to call our church - home!  So we feel much more settled here as a result.  The church family is made up mostly of MIU graduates who all received the Lord together at MIU and then graduated and stayed together and after sometime began this church.  They had been praying for someone to come who could help and when we came they were all delighted as we were.  Richard has been able to advise the leadership and help with speaking which has been a great blessing to them and a great blessing to us also.

Richard was also asked to direct the Open Fellowship here at MIU this year and this also has been a wonderful opportunity to share the life we have found to be so enriching and enlivening with these students.  So life continues to be fuller for him in particular with the added responsibilities but more satisfying as well.

We were asked to move from our apartment as the owners wanted to move back in.  It came as a bit of a shock to us at first even though we were contemplating a move ourselves. The apartment where we had lived since arrival to Mongolia was on a very busy street corner and the noise level was huge.  The bus horns (which sound like ship horns!), the policeman blowing his whistle for hours upon hours, the noise from the people going by, the car horns, the 1 crazy woman who would scream as if her life was being taken from her - well, it was all getting to be too much!  I was unable to get a sound sleep at night and was beginning to feel edgy in my spirit because of it.  I think the Lord must have known and made it so we had to move out.  We found a beautiful apartment after looking at about 5 apartments - all of which were too small, to ugly, to far from the bus, etc. etc.  This apartment is lovely and feels more like a home.  However, it is smaller than our previous apartment only having 1 bedroom, but the layout is such that it feels larger.  AND...it has an automatic washing machine!  Can life get any better?   I will send pictures next week. 

Already I feel as if I've calmed down in my spirit and am able to sleep well at night - what a difference this makes to daily life!  The living room is larger so we can house more people for our bible study and cell group meetings. This was one reason we felt we should move so we could have more room for people!

God has been good to us and we are delighted in the changes that have come about.  Isn't it true - He knows our needs and provides them before we ask!  

Until next week....pictures are forthcoming!