Archive for May, 2007
It was language class as usual. New grammar, new vocabulary, difficult pronunciation exercises and a lot of laughter at our elementary school level language mistakes. It was actually one of those rare days where I felt like some small progress was being made in Mongolian language study. I understood the grammar. I was actually remembering the vocabulary. Pronunciation was coming through somewhat understandably. It was a rare moment when our laughter wasn’t one of my errors. With only 20 minutes left in class, I was confident this was going to end up being a very good day.
Then the phone call came.
My teacher doesn’t typically answer her cell phone when it rings in class. For some reason she did today. She stepped out of the room to take the call, stepping back in a few minutes later. She quietly sat at her desk and told us that she had received bad news. Her 24 year old cousin had died rather suddenly of kidney failure. She was clearly upset and not sure where what to do for the rest of class.
At this point I began to be at somewhat of a loss. I wanted to express sympathy and I knew enough to know that in Mongolian you don’t say “I’m sorry” the same way we would in English. You do not say “I’m sorry” for something of which you are not personally at fault. I had nothing to do with the death of her cousin, therefore wrong phrase. The problem being that I couldn’t remember the word to use in this situation. However, I did have that word written in my notebook. So in the silence (that was growing more and more uncomfortable for all four students that were in the room with her), I discreetly looked up the appropriate phrase and with genuine compassion expressed my sympathy. I am not exactly sure what happened at that point, other than the fact that things got more uncomfortable. My teacher completely broke down and wept. The class was completely silent save her weeping. After several very long minutes like this, she said she couldn’t finish class and left the room.
Now, if this had happened a year ago in the States - I would have known exactly how to handle it. I knew the appropriate way to put my hand on her shoulder and weep with her and pray for her. I could have expressed biblical sympathy for her in a way that would have been culturally and socially appropriate. It would have been comfortable and natural and something that I had done 10’s maybe 100’s of times.
But not this day.
On this day I just sat there and stared, utterly helpless and at a loss for what to do or say. I had no idea what would have been culturally or socially appropriate at that point. I had no idea what to do. I just sat there and silently prayed, because I didn’t know how to appropriately respond.
Language learning is a thousand times more than verbs and nouns and pronunciation and listening and speaking and reading. Language learning is understanding the heartbeat of a culture. It’s knowing what makes a people group tick; what makes them laugh and what makes them cry and how to walk with truth in the middle of it all. I wanted comfort my teacher that day. I knew the right words to say. I know the God of comfort who can meet every need of her heart. But it wasn’t enough to know these things. I didn’t know how to put the two together in a way that would help my teacher. I couldn’t really help her. Not yet. I need to study more and learn more and understand more about this very strange place. Language is so much more than verb forms and noun cases. That’s the easy part. Language is people and how they think and how they live and how they express themselves. It’s all still very foreign to me. I learned a valuable lesson that uncomfortable day. I still have a long way to go. But I am all the more determined to go the distance, and with God’s gracious help to do what it takes to go deep into this culture in order to know and love and understand the people God has sent us serve.
May 28th, 2007
Three generations on the Great Wall of China. A Classic Yak Polo moment.
Cori TOTALLY enjoying a McDonald’s hamburger.
At last … a Wal-Mart.
May 24th, 2007
When Jonathan was one year old, Bernie and I started a Christmas tradition that has been a part of every Christmas Eve, no matter where we were or with whom we were celebrating. Every year we pull out the book “A Tale of Three Trees� and Bernie reads it to the children. If you have been with us on Christmas Eve, you have heard the story. It is a favorite because it is a beautiful link between the manger and the cross, reminding us always that Jesus was “Born to Die.�
This past November as Cori and I were shopping for a birthday present for Bernie, we heard about a little “Bible store.� We went off in search of it – search being the very literal word as is often the case when you are trying to find something new. They don’t use addresses here in Mongolia. This time we were successful relatively quickly. Almost as soon as we walked in, Cori found the perfect gift. It was our Christmas story translated in Mongolian. It was even the same version with the identical pictures that we had always used. This was a small miracle in and of itself. The number of Christian books that have been published in Mongolian would fit in any pastor’s library with room left on the shelves. We were able to share it with our teachers at our Christmas Open House for our classmates and teachers.
You may be wondering what that has to do with verbs. I’m getting there. Our language study is divided into cycles and at the end of each cycle we are tested on what we have learned. One part of that testing is we have to speak on 2-3 topics with the school principal for about 5-10 minutes each. This previous cycle we studied a verb tense that is used in story telling. Interestingly enough, it is also a special past tense form used to indicate “I just found out� or “I just heard.� Key words to indicate this tense should be used are media words: television, radio and newspaper. I’m not sure why a story that begins with “Once upon a time…� needs the same tense as “Breaking news from Western Mongolia� but it does.
When I was choosing from a list of topics, I immediately knew that I was supposed to choose the topic that required us to tell “a short story.� And the story of the “Three Trees� met every criteria, so there wasn’t any real doubt in my mind I was supposed to do that. It wasn’t easy, but with Undraa’s help I was able to pronounce most of the words. There were several difficult new vocabulary words, some of which my teachers didn’t even agree on which word should be used. However, I knew this was the right choice when I pulled out the book to show it to my teacher, Tuul, because as soon as she saw it her face lit up. “I’m so glad you are doing that. I love that story.� My other teacher, Oyuna, was pleased as well.
This story has always been something God has used to allow us to share the gospel in a non-threatening way. The day before the test I realized I would be sharing the gospel for the first time in Mongolian, and doing it in a way that is culturally relevant. They love a good folk tale, especially those involving nature. I often think of the tower of Babel when I’m studying Mongolian and think what a good job God did of total confusion among languages. He didn’t just change a few words. He rearranged everything. But from that incident there came a language where I would one day share the Best News ever with three Mongolian women because the verb tense about news and the verb tense for story telling are one and the same. To quote the story “She knew in that moment that God’s love changes everything.�
May 13th, 2007
We are going to China! For a week! Grammy and Pop are coming too! I can’t wait. It will be so much fun. I have never been to China before (not counting the airport).
I have been learning Chinese at school, so now I am going to get to translate. I know how to order Chocolate Cake and cookies in Chinese. I also know how to order steamed fish and milk, but I probably won’t use that. You can look at the hotel we will be staying at here.
We will go to Mc Donald’s and Starbucks and Hard Rock Café! We are going to the Great Wall and the Chinese zoo to see the pandas too! I hope they have monkeys! FUN FUN FUN!! It will be awesome!
After we go to China we are coming back to Mongolia with my grandparents! They will be here for a week. YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!!
May 13th, 2007
Last week’s team dinner had us at our Field Director’s apartment at sunset. I had my camera and the lighting was perfect for high altitude shots of UB. Thought they would be perfect for Friday’s Photos. My kids look like teenagers. Oh .. wait a minute… my kids are teenagers …
If you look carefully in the first photo, you can see the ger communities (a ger is round felt tent - the common form of shelter in the Mongolian countryside. The Russians call them “yurts”, but that’s not what they’re known as here) running up the mountainside.
The bottom picture shows some of the traffic. Clogged streets are typical here. It’s a lot better to look at it all from the 15th floor!
May 4th, 2007