The Gobi Desert

The Gobi Desert....vast endless sea of sand stretching to the horizon....

The only movement are the clouds as they silently pass by.  The stillness championing the voiceless spectrum.

Nothing can be seen for miles and then suddenly a clump of trees and a smattering of horses and goats feeding on the spiky tufts of grass.

Far away on a hill, standing as a sentinel, is a ger home; the lonely herders kingdom. They are the Desert Kings; counting wealth by sheep, horse, goats and camels.  We enter the threshold of another world as we step into the realm of the desert dwellers. The Desert dweller lives by the silence gleaning from the voiceless prairie which speaks the wisdom of the ages. He is a man of few words yet in his eyes is a sea of kindness. 

The backside of the ger    

                       

The law of hospitality extends through his vast kingdom.  A cup of milk tea, a place to sit out of the burning sun, the exchange of information, a few good laughs and we are on our way.  The simplicity of his circular home, which houses all of his worldly goods, can be packed up in a matter of hours and moved to the next feeding ground.

He takes us to see his herd; a panoply of horses, goats and camels.  Out of the desert floor he produces water where no water is.  Modern day conveniences - a pump, a rubber lengthy trough easily movable, and his animals.

He leads us to his camels - strange looking scaly-skinned mammoths snorting and screeching as the Desert King pulls the rope in his snout to let down the camels back for us foreigners to get on.  Unwillingness prevails, yet as the pain in his snout continues, he yields and sits on his haunches.  

Timidly we climb between the humps feeling the heat of his body.  

 Laughter erupts from the herders as they watch the stupid foreigners scream and gasp as the camels lift up and begin their lumbering movement into the grips of the desert.  We were expecting a 2 hour ride but were led around the perimeter of the camp instead!

Look at the rope through his nostrils!

The horses look so skinny - you can see their bones!

Female herders resting while their flock are watered.

The Mongolian horse is smaller yet strong and fast.

We are enamored by the beauty of this barren land; the stillness which speaks louder than any voice could ever resound; the endless beauty of the sky - the light and shadows which color the contours of the land.  I am reminded of the words in Psalm 139:7-10 - "where shall I go from Thy Spirit, or where shall I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there.  If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me."

God is in this barren land and His voice speaks of His faithfulness, His omnipotence, His glory....and we are humbled by the vast magnanimity of His glorious person.  And so we move on again in Him who holds the world in His Hands, allowing us to see another portion of His great creation.

Spring is Coming to Mongolia!  The snows are melting and the weather is changing.  There is still promise of snow through June, however, we are fluctuating between winter and summer every week with a few days of each.  The trees are even sprouting their leaves and now there is a bit of color in UB.

Spring in the City!

On our way to visit the Chingas Khan Monument

The Chingas Khan Monument - made out of stainless steel!

 Richard and I and a few others took a Saturday and went to visit the Chingas Khan Monument which is about 1 hour outside of UB city.  This was designed and created by one person who works for the government in UB.  There are plans for it to be a huge park with camping resorts (Mongolian style - gers) and several shops.  We visited it 3 years ago and not much has been done since then.

This is literally out in the middle of nowhere!  The roads to get here are treacherous!

School is out in a mere 3 weeks and so we are winding down now with our classes and getting ready for finals.  This is the last semester for most of our teachers - they will be heading home to their various countries and beginning a new life.  MIS will be a brand new school in the sense of new teachers, a new Director, and even new students.  I am contemplating what I should do next year - stay at MIS or change to another job.  There are several opportunities and I am seeking the Lord as to where He will lead me.

To Cleave Unto

“But take diligent heed  to do the commandment  and the law, which Moses  the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, and to cleave  unto him, and to serve  him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Joshua 22:5

The thing that stood out to me in this verse is “to cleave unto Him.”

Cleave -

1. to adhere closely; stick; cling (usually followed by to ).

2. to remain faithful (usually followed by to ): to cleave to one's principles in spite of persecution.

“To cleave unto Him and to serve Him with all of your heart and with all of your soul.”  Love has greater meaning when we sit at the foot of Jesus and contemplate these words in His presence.  To cleave…have I cleaved to Him the past few months when I’ve felt that things here are difficult, depressing, and discouraging?  Have I looked into His face and with my heart and soul clung to the hope that He will never fail me?  Have I seen that these difficulties are His purpose too?  Or have I not hoped in God but allowed sorrow and joylessness to pervade my heart?

The scripture says to take “diligent heed” to do His commandments and to love Him and cleave to Him and serve Him with all of our heart and soul.  When I look into His face, I see that He is faithful to me, that He wants that love and faithfulness returned to Him.  I see that He loves me and desires a love like that of a marriage – commitment, longing to please and serve Him, looking to Him for all things, remaining faithful in my heart and soul; not a wanderer, so that I may know His Love and remain in it.

To cleave....I am humbled today by this word and feel afresh His drawings to me and His desire for me.  I am thankful that His love is as real as this.  He calls for me.....just as the scripture says, "The Master has come and is calling for you."(John 11:28)

His Purpose Not Mine

John 6:38 – “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.”

Jesus was very clear on this very important matter.  He knew why He was there and He knew what He should do.  For in the very next verse it says, “And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up on the last day.”

Are we still mixing our purpose on this earth between His will and our will?  The world screams out to us on every level to “live in luxury”, “enjoy life”, “be happy”, “pamper yourself”, “be good to yourself”…self…self…self.  There is even a magazine entitled, “SELF” that you can buy and indulge in.

Are we as clear as Jesus was on the matter of our purpose here?  Are we devoted to that purpose?  To the person of Jesus Christ and the Father’s will for us here? 

I confess that sometimes this issue becomes clouded and I am caught between the two.  To live a dedicated life to Jesus Christ requires our all – all the time.  Sometimes we get weary, tired, troubled, and the world’s view looks a lot more inviting – “enjoy life,” “pamper yourself,” etc.  And you may find that you are suddenly there in your thought and desire and then just as swiftly, in comes confusion and you find yourself on the wrong track.  The track to self – the once clear pathway to God is clouded, misted by wandering thoughts, distractions, desires, etc.  And then in comes trouble to encourage us in a downward spiral, like a ram caught in a thicket while the enemy approaches; the enemy’s intent to kill and to destroy.  It is always the enemy’s intent to kill and to destroy – he has no other purpose and he does it with stealth, with craft, and deliberation.

I was looking at a picture of our granddaughter recently and my exact thoughts were, “How precious she is.”  Immediately a scripture came to my mind, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.”  Psalm 116:15 

How precious it is to the Lord when we are clearly walking in His will – dying to self, set apart to Himself, clear in our purpose – never wavering.  Paul was that way – doggedly pursuing that purpose with vigor.

It is always good to reevaluate.  The Lord Himself taught us to pray, “Our Father, who art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy Name, Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…” Amen.

“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done...”

Let this be our hearts charge and pursuit throughout our lives.  Engage in this purpose and in doing so, “be strong and of good courage” knowing that this is precious in the sight of the Lord and will also bring clarity, joy, and true enrichment for our souls.  For this purpose we were created.

Tsaargan sar

 This week has been a holiday week here in Mongolia.  Its the celebration of the Lunar New Year and lasts for 5 days.  Basically every Mongolian family spends time with their other family members going from house to house and eating the traditional foods. 

We enjoyed Tsaargan Sar at our friends Nergui & Munguu's family home

As you can see from the picture there is a sheep meat in the middle of the table.  They have to purchase a whole sheep and then boil it down in a huge cauldron in their home.  The tower of bread and milk products are a picture of the typical foods which Mongolians eat.  The other traditional foods are Bouutz, Milk tea, Ariq, Potato salad and Ham(which is sausage to us).

As we enter into the home we are visiting the elder parents who are dressed in their Dell's(traditional clothing) greet us with a special greeting and then extend a blue scarf in a kind of handshake then kissing each side of our faces.  We are then escorted into their living room where we feast on the traditional foods.  It is a time to get acquainted for us but for family members it is a family time - a joyful time together.  Many of the families make over 2000 Boutz to be prepared for all their visitors.  In the 5 days of the holiday people are going from house to house to celebrate the Lunar New Year. 

The traditional greeting

Look at the sheep!

The Table laden with Traditional Mongolian Foods

We were blessed to visit two families of our dear friends.  Anu and her Mother and Grandfather also invited us to their home.  They live in the center of the city in an apartment.

This is Anu's home with her Mom and Grandfather

A lovely meal of Veal Cutlet

Didi and Anu

Anu's Mom who prepared all the food

Didi also comes to our Bible study - she lives next door to Anu

Newport Beach California

Just a few days left in California and the weather has been so lovely I've decided to spend some time at the beach and capture some of the beauty of this place.  Here are some pictures!

Newport Beach

The little shops

My beach buddy, Noel

Newport Pier

Tim and Carolyn took me out for Ice Cream at Baskin N'Robbins! Yumm

Tim treated me!

Raspberry Chocolate Swirl