Ch-ch-ch-changes...

Written by Jim Manchester

Changing Direction

These past months have been a time of major transition for me, and for our family. For some time now, I have been questioning if and when it would be the right time for me to transition out of the business that I have co-owned for the past 17 years.

Over the past five years or so, as I have been involved with ministry in our church back in Evanston, I have been sensing that God wanted me to pursue a more active roll in the church. When I first sensed this call, I didn't feel like I was in a position to do so. My business depended on me significantly, and I didn't want to leave the business in such a way that caused its collapse, and the livelihood of my business partner and employees with it. So, over the past five years I have been working to train employees to be able to take over those things that I had sole responsibility for, while I worked on continuing my education in international business. I was also fortunate that God provided the opportunity for me to become the new Worship Director at our church during this time, working on a part-time basis.

Last year, when the opportunity came up to be able to come to Mongolia as the bookkeeper for CAMA Services, I was able to arrange for the business to continue in my absence, with me providing financial oversight and programming support remotely over the Internet. With Skype, I could check in as often as necessary, either over the phone or attending meetings over Skype video conference calls. As the year has gone on, I have been able to continue to work at the business less and less each week. As spring came around, I knew it was time for our family to make some decisions on what the next step would be when we returned to the States in the summer.

Although this time in Mongolia has been a blessing to us in many ways, there are a number of factors for our family personally that do not make full-time service overseas possible, at least not at this point in our lives. We decided that whether we are to do this type of work overseas in the future or not, that we wanted to be involved in making a difference in other people's lives.

Based on my desire to make this transition, and with the support of my family, I began discussing my transition out of the business with my business partner back in March. I also began the process of applying for provisional licensing with our church denomination at that time. Over these past two months, I also did some searching for opportunities in ministry within our church denomination. Of the positions that were open, one in particular stood out in Iowa that would put us a lot closer to Denise's family in Minnesota and Illinois. It meant huge changes for us, with a lot of uncertainty, but we really felt like this was the time for our family to make this transition.

Since March, a lot has happened. At the end of April, I signed the share transfer agreement for my half of the business. Last week I was able to complete the provisional licensing process with our denomination when I was interviewed before a board here in Mongolia. With the provisional licensing in place, at the end of this week we were extended a call from that church in Iowa to become their new associate pastor for youths and young adults, with responsibilities in tech and worship. There are a number of reasons we feel like this opportunity is a really good fit for us, and are excited to start this next adventure.

So, we will be returning to Evanston in two months, on the evening of July 13^th, but we will be beginning the process of moving to Iowa so that we can be there in time for Elise to start school at the end of August. We are sad to be leaving our home and friends in Evanston, but we are excited about this new direction in our lives. And we are also hopeful that the lower altitude will be beneficial for my Mom's health, since she will also be relocating with us.

Much like this time last year, we are on the precipice of another major change in our lives. Our experience this past year in Mongolia, and in the time leading up to our coming here last year, has taught us that we can count on God to provide for us in these weeks and months ahead. We're excited about what comes next, but apprehensive about our transitions as we say goodbye to friends both here in Mongolia, and back in Evanston. We have formed some very close relationships

here in Mongolia, and we know it will be really hard for us when it is time to leave here. We'll have about a month to reunite with our friends when we get back to Evanston, and then unfortunately we'll have another series of difficult goodbyes.

Some very busy days are ahead, and big changes and adjustments are coming as we re-integrate into American culture, and as we get settled in a new community. We would sincerely appreciate your prayers over the coming weeks, and we are looking forward to sharing with all of you the details of our continuing adventure!

A Shoe Box In Mongolia

Written by Denise:

It is May in Mongolia, but lately we've been celebrating Christmas.    Wait....did she just type Christmas?   Yep! Christmas!  

Let me give you a bit of back history first ~

Every fall at my church in Wyoming, Evanston Alliance Church, we filled empty shoeboxes and plastic tupperware containers with school supplies, tooth brushes, t-shirts, socks, matchbox cars, chap stick, stickers, baby dolls, combs, and other items that children between the ages of 5-14 would enjoy receiving. Each gift shoe box was unique and created with love, carefully and thoughtfully put together for an unknown boy or girl.

After all the boxes were gathered, wrapped and labeled, we would pray for the journey it was about to go on, and for the child who would receive it.  These small shoe boxes demonstrate God's love in a tangible way to needy children all around the world.

Together with the local church worldwide, these boxes share the Good News of Jesus Christ, and that is the mission of Operation Christmas Child.

Listening to the Good News story.

Steve, After-School Sports Coord.

Learning new games

This spring I was personally blessed with the opportunity to go to a school in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and help distribute Christmas shoe boxes.

After many years of making shoe boxes, I never imagined
getting to see the end result with my own eyes!  I invited my friends Zaya and Zolo to come with me, and together we joined along with an after-school sports program to teach the school children new games and laugh with silly clowns.  The children even sang for us and performed dances.  It was a wonderful time for everyone.

Going on this box distribution made me realize just how loving and amazing God truly is.  I use to make one box each year.  My church use to collect and donate around 100 - 200 boxes each year.  This year I learned that 70,000 boxes were being distributed in Mongolia alone!  That's just one country!  My head begins to swim thinking about all the boxes that people worldwide donate annually!  And then realized.....that is ALOT of LOVE!!!!

Operation Christmas Child Distribution Center

Here are some statistics from Operation Christmas Child:

I hope you will take 3 minutes to watch the video my friend Zolo edited for me showing our day with the school kids.

Major Tom to Ground Control

I have commented to friends that somedays I feel like I followed Alice down the rabbit hole, somedays I've felt like I'm in the middle of an old Twilight Zone episode, and lately I've begun to feel like "Major Tom," the fictional "Space Oddity" astronaut drifting farther and farther into space, as we continue to live here in Mongolia. 

For some reason, lately, it has been particularly surreal. We've been here over seven months now, and in some ways it feels like as time passes, we drift farther and farther away from life as we knew it before we left for Mongolia last June. It's hard to explain - life continues on back home, people are changing there, and we know we are changing as we experience life here and adjust to the home we have made here.

We are so thankful that we live in a day when it is possible for us to so easily stay in touch with our friends and family who are so far away. I can remember as a child, thinking that the concept of video phone calls was something that was science fiction, in the far off distant future. Yet, here we are, thousands of miles from home, able to video chat with people back home - for free, no less. We are thankful that I am able to stay in contact with my business back in Utah, and even work on accounting at the office, and make programming changes to customer's homes from across the world. I've always been a bit of a tech-geek who loves a good science project, so I am taking the opportunity to test the limits of what I can do remotely. When the Internet is working here, which has been more reliable lately, it's actually pretty cool what we can do remotely.

While we have been able to keep up with all that goes on, there have been some interesting oddities that we have experienced. In these days of social networking, we learn of all of the latest "goings on" of close family members, friends, old acquaintances, and even some new friends whom we barely know, from Facebook and the Internet, long before we are personally contacted about the news. Over the past few months, we've learned of new engagements, pregnancies, births, deaths, and several friends moving away. It's a bit of an odd experience, sort of like watching a reality show about your friends and family from some alternate reality.

A few months after we got here, I shared with a friend here about the difficulties we anticipate when we have to leave this July. We are building relationships with the people we work with and with others that we have met since being here, knowing that we will have to leave this summer. In some ways, it might seem easier to not let relationships grow too deep, because of the pain we may experience when life takes us somewhere new. But when we do that, we may avoid that future pain, but we miss out on what God had for us in those relationships.

We said a lot of good-byes before we left last June, which wasn't easy, and now we recognize we will be facing it again this summer. We've already had to say a number of good-byes here, as many people have left Mongolia since we've arrived here. Yet, the time that we shared with those who have left Mongolia has left us better for having shared life experiences with them - and the time we continue to share with our teammates and friends who are here continues to enrich us.

I am truly grateful that my attitude towards relationships with others has changed so dramatically over the past several years. I've always tended to be a bit of a loner, preferring to do things on my own. I can honestly say that I feel like God did a major work in my heart to make me want to experience a greater depth of relationship with others. And while more relationships and deeper relationships will likely mean a lot more difficult good-byes in our future, we are grateful for how our time spent with others has changed us and opened our eyes to the myriad of blessings we have taken for granted in life. Perhaps the greatest blessing we can take for granted - the opportunity to live life together with those around us: to rejoice together, mourn together, and bear one another's burdens.

UBean Staff Christmas Holiday Get Together at the Apartment

Hope is Beautiful.

Ponder this question:  Would you go to a church on Sunday morning if it meant spending two hours in a small cramped room with no electricity, no heat, and it was -30 F below zero temperature? 

I won't even add the other conditions such as no child care, no sunday school teachers, no praise & worship team,  and the bathroom is located outside.

Our family spent thanksgiving in the northern Mongolian city of Darkhan with some of our team mates who live and work there.  It was nice to get away from the big city of Ulaanbaatar, and enjoy the peaceful quietness of a smaller town, and visit with friends.

Road Headed To Russian Siberian Border

Sunday of that weekend, we were invited by our friends, the Bergevins, to drive up to the Russian border to attend church with a small group of believers who lived there.  It was an hour long car ride on roads that were freshly covered with snow.   The scenery on the trip was breathtakingly beautiful.  We passed by herds of two humped camels showing off their thick winter coats.  The four young Bergevin girls admired the pine trees along the way and each picked out the one they thought would make the nicest Christmas tree.

We arrived in the small border town of Sukbaatar just before noon.  The city is so small you can see the entire town when driving in from the distance.  We pulled up in front of a small white building that was adorned with a cross.  It was good to get out of the car and stretch our legs, but we soon realized how cold it was.  The still cold air took your breath away and we were all thankful for the warm layers of clothes we had brought. 

Sukbaatar Church

Teaching

Several ladies were standing outside waiting to greet us.  We soon learned the electricity was out and there was no heat in the building.  Inside the church there was a large room with wooden benches and a pulpit, but we passed through it and all gathered into a small room in the back so we could use our bodies to help heat up a much smaller space.  Eleven of us squeezed together in the freezing cold to spend time with God, worshiping, sharing testimonies, hearing God's Word taught, and fellowship.  One lady who had been a Christian for 10 years preached and shared from the bible, while the other five ladies who attended church that day all got out their notebooks and pens to write down as much they could.  They were so eager to learn from the bible.  They joyfully sang songs of praise to God, and we even sang Amazing Grace in both English and Mongolian at the same time.   

Singing

Writing in notebooks

We were happy to get to spend time with other Christian believers that day, in a place that was far from home, even if it was in a language we could barely understand.  We knew what passage we were studying, and we read our bibles while they studied theirs.  We prayed for one another and spent time with our Lord.  Even though we didn't have electricity, the light shining in thru the window provided enough to read and write.  

It was encouraging that despite the cold conditions, they still faithfully gathered in a small group to hear God's word and pray together every sunday.  It is difficult to put into words, but the ability to freely read and learn about God is still a relatively new concept for Mongolia.  They will all tell you it has given them hope again.  And hope is a good thing in a place that is tough to live each day.  Hope is beautiful.    

More Than A Coffee Shop

I am blessed.

I want to share with you about how incredibly cool my daily job is at UBean Coffee House & Roasterie.

UBean Coffee House/Grain of Wheat Community Center

It's 12:05 pm, and I just walked 2 miles across the city streets of Ulaanbataar, Mongolia to arrive at the Grain of Wheat Community Center, where the UBean Coffee House rents space on the first floor.  I pass by the white board propped up against the handrail outside listing the soup of the day.  As I open the door, I hear the bell ring.  The sound of the small brass bell that rings when the front door opens and hits it and has become a pleasant and familiar sound.  Each time I hear it ring, it means someone is coming into the building to either visit the cafe or use the community center.

I hear the muffled sound of electric guitars and drums coming from the basement stairwell, which means students are downstairs using the new music room.  Today I go down and listen to their latest song their learning and give them an encouraging smile.

Inside UBean Coffee Shop & Roasterie

I walk back up the stairs and enter the cafe.  The cafe is buzzing with people and the usual sounds & smells of a coffee shop.  I can hear the beeping sounds of the cash register as the barista rings up an order.  I say hello in Mongolian to the two young female students sitting on the first couch drinking hot Lipton tea.   I pass by two men drinking cappuccinos who are deep in conversation with one another, discussing a passage from the bible.  I recognize one of the men.  He's a pastor who is discipling the other man who is a new believer in Jesus.  The whirring sound of the coffee grinder comes on, and the barista is filling up the portafilter with fresh ground coffee.  The coffee house is filled with the smell of coffee.  I love the smell of fresh roasted coffee, and it is even more amazing when mixed with the delicious smells that are coming from the bakery case.  The baker is filling it with a fresh batch of cinnamon rolls just out of the oven, covered in white icing that is melting on the tops of each warm roll.

Barista, Ariuka

The baker and baristas faces light up with huge smiles, and they greet me with Mongolian greetings of hello, how was your rest?  I smile back and bravely answer them that I rested well, trying my best to speak and pronounce my newly learned foreign language correctly.   They are so encouraging, patient, and helpful giving me opportunities to practice.   The barista tamps the coffee and attaches the portafilter onto the espresso machine to pull a shot.  She starts the timer.

I pass by one of my American co-workers having coffee and chatting with a large group of Americans from YWAM Idaho visiting Mongolia.   Steam shoots out the steam wand nozzle of the espresso machine and begins to make the milk sing in the cold silver pitcher.  The Weepies are playing on the ipod shuffle, giving the coffee house that hipster background music vibe that adds to the peaceful serene ambiance.

Garid, Head Roast

Ganna, Assistant Roaster

As I walk closer to the kitchen the hum of the coffee roaster motor grows louder.   The roaster drops green coffee beans into the roasting drum and starts the timer.  He carries over the lastest batch of coffee from the roaster so I can smell and see the quality of coffee he roasted.  He does his job with such joy and pride because he knows he's the best roaster in all of Mongolia.  I put my nose near the coffee and inhale the scents of butter, warm nuts, and dark chocolate.  I set my backpack down and hang up my jacket.  After tying on an apron, I grab a spoon and sample the soup of the day, mmmm White Chicken Chili.

Ethan, MaryBeth, and Zach from YWAM Idaho

I walk back out into the cafe and say hello to the group visiting from Idaho and ask if I can take their picture to put on UBean's facebook page.  I tell them that I live in Wyoming, and learned that one of the young men in the group, Ethan, had stayed overnight at my church in Evanston.  I told the group a story about one time when a group of teen YWAM'ers from Idaho stayed over night in our church and someone had lost a wallet down the couch and I had returned it to his mother this past spring.  Ethan tells me that it was his wallet, and we both laugh in amazement realizing this little story has come full circle and we are now reconnecting with each other on the other side of this small planet.

I know I am truly blessed getting to serve my amazing God this year overseeing the UBean Coffee House and Roasterie.  I sometimes still have to pinch myself to know that it is a reality.

I can see God at work everywhere in the building, using his faithful followers to invest in and disciple the people who come into the community center and cafe.

Anu

If you don't mind reading just a little bit more, I'd like to share with you a more personal story on how God uses a small coffee shop in the middle of Mongolia to further his kingdom.  A young college medical student named Anu began coming to Open Mic Night on saturday nights.  She sings like an angel!  We encourage her to sing every time she comes.  Anu is a Christian, and got involved in leading a Campus Crusade group at her college.  This fall Anu asked if she could use UBean Coffee House as a place where her CC group could meet on friday nights in the cafe.  Anu's group came and met at UBean every friday night for 4 weeks where she shared with other medical students the good news of Jesus Christ.   Because of Anu's heart for God's lost people, there are now seven new believers in Jesus.

Campus Crusade Mongolia

Please continue to pray for God's blessing upon UBean and the Grain of Wheat Community Center, that we can continue to reach out and make an impact in this community.  That this new business would continue to grow and prosper and become known for having the best fresh roasted coffee in all of Mongolia.  Pray for Erik & Christina Wahlen and their family during their year in America.


~ God's Coffee Servant

God Is Not Finished With Us Yet

Written by Denise:

It's been nearly a month since the car accident and I've been wanting to write this blog post for some time to share what happened with everyone.  Writing about it means re-living it, which we all have been individually.... processing the events of that day & week over and over in our minds.

Jim, Bernie, Cori, Ellie, Jonathan, and Denise

August 4th, 2012 The Manchesters were all packed and ready to travel with our friend Bernie Anderson and his two children Cori & Jonathan in their Land Cruiser to the Mongolian Secret History Camp, which is about 2 hours away from the city of Ulaanbataar (UB). I sent a quick facebook message to Renee' Anderson telling her the "Manchester Family is packed and ready to roll!" I had no way of knowing that 2 hours later I would literally be rolling!  We were going to spend a week in the country side with all of the other CAMA families from around Mongolia at the annual Field Forum.  A week of rest, prayer, reflection, worship, business meetings & planning, and fun with one another.

We were almost there, only 10 miles away from the camp,  when the rear passenger tire exploded and sent our vehicle into a series of skids.  When the back tire dropped off the asphalt and onto the dirt we all knew what was going to happen next.  We were going to roll and the passenger side was going to take the first impact.   Except Ellie who was sitting in the very back of the vehicle and couldn't see what was coming because of all the luggage packed in around her.  Bernie was driving with Jim riding shotgun in the front seat.  I was sitting behind Bernie, his daughter Cori was in the middle and son Jonathan was sitting behind Jim.

As the land cruiser began to tumble Jim said he felt a strong sense to go limp and relax his body.  I put my hands up near my face and silently asked God, "Is this it?"   I felt the thud of the first impact.  I was still alive, and we were still tumbling and I could see Cori's body in front of me on the ceiling.  I asked God again, "Is this it Lord?", seriously questioning whether or not today would be the day I met my maker.  The second impact was harder than the first because we had caught air and landed hard on the drivers side.  My shoulder stung a bit and the top of my head was now sore where my sunglasses had been resting.  The car came to a sudden stop and the dust quickly settled.   Bernie was crouched over and  lifted his head from between a small space where the roof had caved in above him and met the steering wheel.  He rose up stuck his head out the wide open moon roof and turned around  to look back at all of us at the same time Jim did.  Almost in unison they both asked if everyone was alright.  Everyone answered they were okay, but no one heard Ellie way in the back.  Jim panicked for a second and then she shouted, "I'm alive!" and we all exhaled a breath relieved because EVERYONE was still alive!

Considering the airbags never deployed, things could have been so much worse and overall the injuries were minor.  We all sustained some minor bruises & rashes, small cuts, and general soreness from being in a car accident.  Six people walked away from the crash without any broken bones or major injuries.  I am still amazed that our friend Bernie was not more seriously injured.

People who saw the vehicle after the accident were asking, "how many died?".  We were able to say, none!  God didn't take our lives that day.  He wasn't finished with us yet, and for that I am thankful.

But there is more to the story than just telling about the crash itself.  It was fortunate that no other vehicle was following closely behind us or oncoming at the time the tire blew.  But there was an oncoming car further up the road who saw the whole accident happen from start to finish.  The driver was the Head of the Mongolian Secret Police.  His position would be equivalent to whomever is in charge of the US Secret Service in the United States.   He was traveling back to UB with his family and they stopped to help us after our accident.  The officer helped flag down a vehicle to take Bernie, Cori, and Jonathan to the camp we were headed to.  The top of Bernie's head was bleeding and our field doctor, Dr. Nia Pham, was there and could assess their injuries.  After ensuring everyone else was okay, the officer and his family left to continue driving back to UB.  Jim, Ellie, and I stayed with the vehicle and began picking up all of the items that had been thrown out of the vehicle during the crash.

Luggage Rack & Front Windshield

The first impact of the crash tore off the luggage rack and blew out all of the windows.  Anything small and loose inside of the vehicle went flying out the windows.  Cash, receipts, ipods, ipads, stuffed animals, backpacks, shoes, marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers.....it was all scattered several hundred feet in the ditch.

As we were picking up debris, another vehicle stopped to help us.  We quickly realized we knew these good Samaritans!  Our next door neighbor Tony, who lives in our apartment building with us on the 15th floor!  What are the chances that your next door neighbor would be driving two hours outside of the city on the same day as you and stop to lend you a hand?  God sent him and his co-worker Mark to help us on that day.  God knew we would be comforted by having someone who spoke English in our time of need, and they helped us unload the packed land cruiser and put all of the luggage into the back of their SUV.  They even helped pull our vehicle off the road so it was no longer blocking traffic.

Mark, Tony, and Bernie at the Mongolian Secret History Camp

An on duty Mongolian police officer showed up at about the same time as some of our team mates who had driven from the camp to help us.  It was a blessing to have team mates who spoke Mongolian to help Jim answer the police officers questions.  The officer let Tony and his co-worker take Ellie and I onto the camp with all of the luggage while Jim stayed with our team mates and the officer.  It is not uncommon for people to be fined money or lose their drivers license for a period of time following an accident here in Mongolia.

Dr. Pham

The next morning, we heard this police officer had showed up at the camp around midnight wanting to question some of us about the accident.  We were all asleep and he left angry.  The next morning our team mate Esther Yim received a phone call from the head of the secret police, the gentlemen who first stopped to help us.  He was driving back thru our way again and asked if she would meet him at the police station near the accident sight in an hour.  Esther and Dennis Maves, our Field Director, went to the police station.  The secret police gentleman instructed the other police officer to close the police report & investigation and write the driver was not at fault for the accident.  This was wonderful news for Bernie!  And an affirmation that God was at work in every aspect of this accident.

At the end of the week we all had to get back into a car and drive back to UB.  Everyone was a little bit anxious, especially when we passed by the area where the accident had occurred.

The day after we got back from Field Forum, I had to go into work at UBean.

Ayuna & her daughter.

The staff and I were busy cleaning all morning around the cafe, and around 11 o'clock I said, it's time for tea!  Four of us ladies were sitting around a table taking a break and I started to tell the story of what happened in the accident.  Ariuka, UBean's coffee barista was translating to Ayuna (the cleaner) and her daughter.  I told them how I had asked God if this was it.  If this was my time to die?  And I told them that if God had decided to end my life that day I would have been okay with dying and at peace because I know where I am going after this life.   I asked Ayuna a question.  I asked her if she wanted that same kind of peace that I had and to know she would be in heaven if her life were to end unexpectedly.  She and her daughter both said yes they wanted this same peace and to know more about Jesus.  After much discussion, we all prayed with Ayuna and her daughter and they made a decision to become followers of Jesus.

I have so much to be thankful and grateful for.  The accident "could have" been so much worse but it wasn't, and I refuse to mull over the "what if's".  I still have my family here with me, and that God's not finished with us yet.

 2 Corinthians 4:8-12    But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

2012 CAMA Mongolia Field Forum (missing 5 families).

Rain Drops, Traffic Cops, and Convenience Stops

Mongolian Countryside - Photo by Bernie Anderson

This has been one of the wettest summers in Mongolia in a long time.  Or at least that is what the locals tell us.  It has rained nearly every day since we arrived.  There have only been a handful of days that it hasn't rained, and the storm drain systems in the big city aren't keeping up with it all.  On the plus side, the weather is cooler and every thing is lush and green.  I've never seen grass in the city of Ulaanbaatar, until this year.  Landscaping and grass & flower planting is happening everywhere.  We actually saw a man with a lawn mower, which is a first.

The Water Line Outside the Garage Door

When the rain comes down, it just pours from the heavens. The street outside the Grain of Wheat Community Center/UBean Coffee House & Roasterie turns into a river, and all that water flows down the driveway and into the basement of the building thru the garage door. This has happened twice this summer, and despite the mess left to clean up, God has shown us through the staff at GOW/UBean how to be thankful even in tough circumstances. When Denise and the staff saw the water running down the driveway towards the garage they jumped into immediate action.

They ran for the basement, and when they opened the basement door, water began spilling out into the hallway. This was bad, because under the stairs there is a large 220v electrical panel very close to the floor. Denise, Mashka, and two teenage boys dove into the basement room, closing the door quickly behind them. In constant prayer, they were on a mission to save the green coffee beans. The water inside the garage was now quickly rising and time was running out. The burlap bags of coffee beans are extremely heavy, weighing over 100 lbs each. Using some left over pallets in the back of the garage, empty window sills, and pop bottle crates and a ladder, they got the beans up higher than the water and saved all the beans. The water got up to 7-8 inches deep inside the garage by the time the rain stopped.




When the garage door could finally be opened, all the staff at GOW/UBean, 4 teens who are regulars at the community center, and three other Mongolian friends all pitched in to scoop out the water, by hand, into buckets and garbage cans, which had to be hauled up to the street and dumped.


When the initial clean up was finished and Denise finally stopped, she burst into tears. Her friend Bayarmaa asked why she was crying? Bayarmaa had been so cheerful and smiling during the entire clean up, as were all the other workers. Denise explained that she just needed a good cry after something traumatic like they had just been through, to release the bad feelings. She was scared about the electrical panel and everyone standing in water, and nearly losing all the coffee beans to the rising waters. Bayarmaa pointed out how much there was to be thankful for and told her not to worry.

She was right, there was a lot to be thankful for. It was good to be thankful that no one got electrocuted, or hurt moving the heavy bags of coffee beans. It was good to be thankful the large bag of flour got put up higher, to be thankful for the extra pallets in the basement, to be thankful for all the help in cleaning up, and to be thankful "Cookie," the cat at the center, survived another near death experience. Denise was most of all thankful to God for hearing her prayers, and for others around the world who stopped and prayed when she sent out an urgent message on Facebook.

By the way, in case you're wondering, this was Cookie's third "near death experience." Her first one was when she got stranded on top of a telephone pole when she got out of the center. She'd been missing for a few days when they found her on top of the pole. But after some skillful cat wrangling with a makeshift Mongolian lasso using some pipe and a computer network cable, Gary and Erik got her down from her lofty perch. Her second NDE was in the first flood, when she was rescued from the rising waters in the basement, and now again yesterday in this latest flood. The crew that showed up yesterday helped to fill some sandbags at the top of the driveway, so hopefully this is Cookie's last run-in with the flood waters.

During the great flood, Jim was across town working at the CAMA offices. It was an interesting day of phone calls with people who did not speak English, auditing records, and playing "international charades" with a Mongolian lady who came to the office to get some funds for an upcoming building project. We're going to be taking a crash course in Mongolian in a couple of weeks, but we have a feeling "international charades" will still be a regular part of life in Mongolia, when the language barriers invariably arise. 

There have been a lot of things that are different we have had to get used to here in Mongolia, and there are a lot of things we have learned that we have taken for granted. One big adjustment has happened as we have been unable to secure driver's licenses so far. Up until now, it has always been easy for workers here to get a Mongolian Driver's License simply by providing their existing license along with the necessary paperwork. 

When we first applied, it was delayed because the traffic police office wanted a letter from CAMA stating why it was necessary for us to drive. It seemed odd, but we quickly had the necessary letter drafted and returned with it to the traffic police office again. Unfortunately, this time we were told that they have decided to stop issuing driver's licenses to foreigners for the rest of the year, they had met their quota. This is the first time anyone here has heard of such a thing, but that's the situation for now. Next month, we will try to submit the paperwork again to see if it is possible to get the driver's license request to go through. After driving about 40,000 miles a year for the past 16 years, it has been truly strange for Jim to not be able to drive. At home, we just took for granted that we can have a driver's license. There's nothing like losing something you took for granted, to help you better appreciate how you have been blessed. And whether we are able to get licenses or not in the end, we will manage, and we will make do. One silver lining is we haven't had to drive in traffic like we're showing in this video here! 

Other than our driving situation, we've had to learn to make a few other adjustments, primarily in regards to convenience. Our meals are changing because we aren't able to find many of the things we used to have at home here, or when we do, it's just too expensive. There's no sandwich meat like we're used to, and we can't get much in the way of affordable packaged food items, so most everything needs to be made from scratch. It's been a bit of adjustment, but we're finding that we're really enjoying the meals put together from scratch. One of our new family favorites is curry chicken - something we never used to have at home. We also have been making Mexican food a lot. We make up our own salsa with fresh tomatoes, chopped green chile peppers, onion, and garlic that we've really been enjoying. If we had had the choice we wouldn't have ever ventured into cooking from scratch, but in the end we've found that the food tends to be a lot more enjoyable, and we're sure it has got to be healthier without all the extra preservatives.

With all of the rain, we've had a little bit of leaking from the ceiling to contend with too. It's just a side effect of living on the top floor, and really it hasn't been that bad - nothing that some towels and buckets can't manage. Besides, the views of the city from the top floor are really great! This picture was at the end of a fairly recent rainy day here. It really turned into a beautiful sunset!




The hardest thing for us to get used to so far was when our hot water was out for ten days. Because the heat and hot water in Ulaanbaatar are supplied by large central heating plants, periodic maintenance has to be done each year to the pipes. The hot water was shutoff here in the Golomt complex (5 buildings) for repairs at the end of June into the first part of July. It wasn't fun, but it wasn't the end of the world either. We heated water in our electric hot water pot and on the stove for doing dishes and for washing ourselves. We still had clean, running water, which is a blessing that most of us take for granted. There are many places in the world where that is not the case. We also experienced something that wouldn't have ever happened at home - genuine joy when the hot water came out of the tap after 10 days! 

So, through the raindrops, the traffic cops, and when the conveniences stopped, we learned something about ourselves. We really take a number of the blessings in our life for granted. We have a lot to be thankful for each day, if we'll choose to take the time to notice. 

One big blessing for us coming here has been how friendly and helpful our Mongolian co-workers have been to us. Two weeks ago was the big national Naadam Festival here in Mongolia. We got to enjoy the first day of Naadam going around UB with one of the staff members from UBean Coffee House, named Ariuka. We went down to the wrestling stadium but were unable to go in as seating had already sold out days before. 

Outside the stadium was a lot like a state fair with a little bit of Rendezvous mixed in (our Wyoming friends will understand). Lots of vendors, food, drinks, and even cotton candy!

Ariuka took us around and we got some huushur and airag (traditional Mongolian food and drink), and then in the afternoon we walked over to Suukhbaatar Square for a free concert. Ariuka proved to be a very hospitable guide for us, and we really appreciated her taking the time to help us experience our first Naadam!