Remember Mongolia» photos

Cheesecake 2009

bernie — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:43:47 +0000

Every year around the time of Renee’s Birthday, my (Bernie’s) challenge is to make a Cheesecake of the Birthday Girl’s choice. I must say that this year’s choice was superb. Renee’ picked a Dulce De Leche Cheesecake with a Caramel topping. While it probably isn’t the prettiest looking cheesecake, I’ve ever made … it may very well have been the best tasting.

Good ingredients and good help are the key …

And of course we know the essential ingredient is Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese. Nothing else will do. We imported this for just this occasion.

My first assistant was Cori’s Puppy who made sure that nothing edible was left on the floor.

Cori makes a lovely server.

And it was a delicious final product that we all enjoyed immensely.

Closing Down the House

bernie — Fri, 01 May 2009 05:06:05 +0000

This week I (Bernie) traveled to our team-mates Jeremy and Renee’ Bergevin‘s home in Bulgan, Mongolia. Jeremy and Renee’, along with their four little girls will be going to the States for a one year home assignment. They live in a beautiful home located in the serene pastoral setting of central Mongolia. Myself and two other team-mates helped to board up and shut down the house. Here are a couple of shots of our time there…

So there is actually a word in Mongolian that would describe “creative jerry-rigging when you lack the proper tools and supplies to do a job the way a real carpenter (mechanic, plumber, et al) would do it”. It’s ” to Mongolize”. That’s what you’re seeing in this particular window. Bob the builder or Tim the tool-guy or whoever the latest carpenter-star happens to be on HGTV would have a fit. We were actually quite pleased…

… so we took a break on the front porch…

… with Mongolian take-out …

… seriously. That’s two bags of stir fry and 25 fried meat pies. Hold the fries.

You just can’t get good help anymore.

All of that to say, blessings on the Bergevin family! Have a great time in reconnecting with family and friends. We will miss you while you’re gone … and I don’t think anyone will be able to open your windows.

Grand Opening

bernie — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:00:19 +0000

We are officially open! After what has seemed like a really long wait, we are grateful to God for a successful grand opening. We just wanted to share a few photos for you from today. There will be more to come, plus a bit of video. This event has been fairly well publicized around town. The local news station was here, as well as our own C&MA video team. We heard from a representative from the Ulaanbaatar police department, a representative from the teaching community (one of our old language school teachers who has started her own business), as well as our own CAMA Mongolia director, Dennis Maves.

We’re excited and grateful to God for His help, direction and wisdom. Pray for us as the real work of making disciples moves ahead. We’re so grateful for all of the support, prayers and gifts that we have received from our partners!

To Korea Then To Cold

bernie — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:57:10 +0000

Today we will actually have Friday Photos on Friday!

We have several pictures to share with you today. First, on our way back from the US we had to spend the night in Incheon, Korea (town near the Seoul airport). When we arrived at the airport to catch our flight back to Ulaanbaatar, we ran into a couple of families who are friends and whose kids go to school with our kids. Jonathan and Cori had a good time in the airport reuniting with friends.

Here are the MacBook twins …

After arriving in Mongolia, the temps have dropped pretty drastically. This thermometer is right outside our window and is in reality about 15-20 degrees warmer than the actual outside temperature. This was in reality about what yesterday’s high was! I am personally happy that I have a new coat and hat…

Anderson Stateside Holidays

bernie — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 15:05:31 +0000

Here are a few pictures from our Christmas and New Year holidays. We have spent the majority of our time so far in Tennessee with Mom and Dad Majors. We were at their home in Adamsville, TN for Christmas. Here are a few pictures taken during our gathering with them:

We all enjoyed time with parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, with good American Christmas cooking!

We spent New Years in Gatlinburg, TN. We were able to watch the fireworks and festivities from the balcony of our room. Here’s a shot a few minutes before mid-night.

And the fun just keeps right on rolling…

After a stop in Chattanooga, TN (speaking in a church there), we head to Atlanta for our final couple of weeks with Mom and Dad Anderson (AKA, Grammy and Pop). We are looking forward to spending time relaxing and reacquainting with them before shipping back to Ulaanbaatar.

We appreciate your partnership with us!

We wish all of you a blessed 2009.

Happy Reunions, Joyous Fellowship

bernie — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 16:06:59 +0000

Last Sunday we had the opportunity to spend some time with new and old friends at Faith Community Church, our church home. It was a blessing to see so many friends. We reminisced and had the privilege to share our current life and ministry in Mongolia.

Below is the original group of folks that we joined with in 1993 to “restart” the Franklin church.

Of course, at the time Jonathan was only a year old and our friends John and Darlena Fox’s son Jarod was about 6 or 7 and their daughter Emily was a newborn. None of the other folks in the picture above had children. Of course that’s changed somewhat since then.

Finally, here is a shot of our family with David and Natanya Yoder and their family. David has taken on the job I used to have, pastoring the church in Franklin. We’re happy to be in joyous fellowship with Pastor Yoder, and look forward to years of working together – although on different continents, we serve the same purpose.