Mongolian Adventure

Dear Friends,

Cecil had a great adventure in Mongolia. The trip was a success! First of all, he received a one-year, multi-entry visa. This is the best possible. Secondly he got to see a bunch of his former students from the year he taught at the Bible School in Ulaan Bataar. Third, he got to spend time with an old friend of his who now lives in Mongolia.

Chris and Cecil met at Camron Boys' Camp in North Carolina back in 1990. They worked there for three years (even slept in the same tent for six months). Then Chris felt called to Mongolia and later Cecil to Russia. But the Lord saw fit to have Cecil spend a school year teaching in Ulaan Bataar, Mongolia during '95-'96. Cecil has long desired to visit Mongolia once again. He needed to leave Russia this spring to get a new visa and Chris invited him to Mongolia. The cost was as good as anywhere else and now Americans don't even need visas to Mongolia, so Cecil's dream came true.

Chris and his family live in a village about a 16 hour ride from Ulan Bataar. About an hour's worth is paved. The mode of transportation is to put 15 people and their luggage in an old Russian van. Somehow we survived the ride. Chris's heart is to share the love of Christ with the herdsmen (a large portion of Mongolia's population is nomadic). Batsahin is a Mongolian who came to know the Lord a few years ago. After God healed his wife so that she can have children again he felt called to minister among the herdsmen.

Here are some kids Cecil managed to make friends with.

Batsahin, Chris and Cecil went out and stayed in a ger (round white tent) and visited with some of the nomadic folk. Mongols have many traditions, so after all the rituals involved with visiting a family (where they got to drink lots of salt tea and eat from the flock) Batsahin would share about what God has done for him and Chris would share about the God (most Mongols are idol worshippers) and Cecil would sit quietly and pray. It was a great time.

Here is Cecil and Batsahin by the ger where they slept.

The Bible compares the Kingdom of God to seed that has been sown, and though the farmer doesn't know how it sprouts and grows it becomes ripe. Cecil felt this way as he visited with some of his former students. The Bible School in Ulaan Bataar was started in 1994, so Cecil taught during the second year of it's existence. Of the students he saw this trip one has become a pastor, three work on the faculty of the school, one works with the Bible Translation Society, one coordinates the correspondence courses and one is preparing to live in North Korea and start a "center" there (Mongolians are welcome to North Korea). Cecil was so encouraged to see how his students have continued on in the Lord.

Batsahin's wife decided to make Vera a del (the traditional Mongolian outfit) when she saw her photo. Cecil was very humbled when this lady gave gifts to take to his children.

There is mostly good news about Cecil's driver's license. He completed the classroom time and driving practice with an instructor. Some of the driving theory in Russia is different than in the States, so it was helpful (although mostly it helped him learn new Russian words). The hardest part of driving practice was changing gears with the left hand using standard transmission, and not using the windshield wipers when he wanted to use the turn signal (Russians drive on the same side of the road as Americans, but the driving school uses Japanese cars).

On Thursday just before he went to Mongolia he went to take the driving test. After standing in line almost an hour, he got to take the written test. The written driving test has some interesting questions. For example: For what length of time should a tourniquet be applied? A. one-half hour. B. one hour in summer and one-half hour in winter. C. one hour D. one and a half hours. The correct answer is B. And another: What is the minimum tread depth for a tire on a city bus? A. 0.8 cm B. 1.6 cm C. 1.0 cm D. 2.0 cm The correct answer is C. There are twenty questions, if you miss more than two you fail the test. If you fail the test you go back to school for another week. Tonya translated. Cecil missed one question.

So the next day he went to take the driving test. No need to bring your own car, you will use the school's Japanese cars with the steering wheel on the wrong side. There are two parts to the driving test. The first part is to navigate an arrangement of cones set up to simulate backing into a garage and parallel parking. If you touch a cone your test is over. Also you must start a manual transmission car going up a hill (in this case on a snowy day, and controlling the parking brake with the left hand). If you stall the car or roll backward your test is over. After waiting in line for a couple hours (there is only one examiner) Cecil passed this part of the test. The second part of the driving test is the road test. All the school cars get lined up and the first person being tested starts driving on a route through the city with an instructor and the examiner. The school instructors drive the school cars behind them, loaded with people who will take the test. If the person driving makes a mistake the test is over, and another person starts driving. If the person does well the examiner has the driver pull over and another driver gets tested. Cecil noticed that the examiner had a habit of telling the driver to pull over where it is illegal to stop, and a fair percentage were failing the test because of it. When it was Cecil's turn he drove for a minute and the examiner said, "O.K., go ahead and pull over." Tonya translated. Cecil drove on to a spot where it was legal to stop and pulled over. The examiner signed the documents so that Cecil could receive his license.

So after Cecil returned from Mongolia we both went to the police office, stood in line for over an hour, and had the documents approved. Then we stood in line for another hour and had the documents received and Cecil got photographed. "Come back at six o'clock and your license will be ready." That's when we discovered that a Russian driver's license, which is normally good for ten years, is only given for one year to foreigners.

Tonya has continued with the lessons at the orphanage. The kids there have become quite familiar with us and the meetings are becoming less and less formal. The kids are beginning to share more with us and don't put up as much of a front for us. Please pray that we will be able to share with them about the most important issues of life and that their hearts will be open.

Some of you may remember Zenia, a young lady we wrote about in our fall newsletter. She had entered a Christian rehab center. We want to thank you for your prayers for her, as they have brought about good fruit in her life. She has completed the program and is now working in ministry there. She is now engaged to marry a young man she met there. They are making plans to spend their lives in ministry.

In our last email update we asked for prayer for a young mother whose child was sick. The child is doing better, but they continue to have some difficulties since they have no permanent place to live.

Also, there is a young American lady by the name of Elf Potter who is planning to come at the beginning of September to minister among the students. It looks like our team will be growing. Please pray for Elf and the others that financial support will be forthcoming and that all obstacles will be moved out of their way. The fields here are white unto harvest.

In Him,

Cecil, Tonya, Timothy and Vera