Sorry everyone that I have not posted in over a week. Things are been busy, but so much fun. Last week Teresa & the kids were with a team of middle school & high school students from Hong Kong. Teresa & our community centre staff had a great time, leading, teaching, sharing, showing & building relationships with these students & their leader. Our kids love spending time with teams. It was so encouraging when one of the male students during their debrief time (last evening in Mongolia) shared that Kiel was the one that impacted him the most. He shared that Kiel had an amazing attitude & loved all of the orphanage kids & poor community kids as if they were all his friends. He is not fearful or apprehensive of them at all & how it really challenged/blessed him to see.
We also have Jenna's mum here living with us too. She is experiencing Mongolia for the 1st time & seeing what we all do here to serve Mongolians & foreigners. She is so amazed by what we (Jenna & us) are doing here. She is also struggling with culture shock & how vastly different life here is, but is amazed how we have embraced life here & can live.Please pray for us. This Friday Jenna & her mum will leave to return to the US & not return to Mongolia. Jenna has lived with us for over a year & the previous 1.5 years visited our home a minimum of 3 hours each day. She is the little sister I never had & has become our family. All of us will really cry when we see her go & especially Kiel & Esme as she is the only adopted Aunt they have here. Next week is going to be every difficult with her bedroom empty & knowing that she will not be coming home to us any longer.
I am still programming computers at the community centre & know why I like Linux more than Windows when it comes to a community centre computer room where adults/children come that don't really know what they are doing. Now that I have changed back to Windows (Mongolians asked me to do) I am fixing 1-2 computers a week where with Linux it was 1 computer a month. I am still visiting the Teem Challenge here in the city (directed by a great Russian man) once a week. Now that I have visited them (Andre & the 9 Mongolian men in their alcohol recovery program) for a month they have asked if I would lead a Bible Study (30 min) each week.
I also had the joy of getting to know a couple (friends) here in Mongolia. Last night they asked if I could counsel them in relationships & marriage. They are very serious & see marriage in their near future. Teresa & the kids were away in the countryside with Jenna & her mum. I thought that the boyfriend was just coming over to do his laundry because the machine at his apartment is broken. Little did I know what God's plan was & that he came with his girlfriend & asked for some counsel. They said that Teresa & I are very honest & real about our relationship, not hiding difficult things or embarrassing things that has happened to us. We talk about how God has/is working in & through our personal lives, our lives as a couple, our lives as a family & our childrens lives. They said that it is such a blessing to know that we are not prideful of our relationship & are humble to share our mess ups & how we worked through things with God's help. Last night was a real gift to me & they wish to continue talking with Teresa & I as their relationship continues.