Zaison (the Russian-Mongolian monument)

Today has followed the Colorado weather patterns: we started out with sun, had a bit of rain in the early afternoon, and then that cleared up for some more sun in the evening. After enjoying a really yummy meal at an Indian restaurant, we had a few hours to relax (most of the team napped or attempted to ... I blogged). ;) When the sun came out, Mike decided we'd try to make it to Zaison while the weather was good.


Zaison ... what is there to say about this monument that was erected while the Soviets were still in power. It is a mural-history of the relationship between the Russians and the Mongolians ... the battles they fought together against the Chinese, the Japanese, WWI and WWII. It ends with an image of the Russians and Mongolians standing together in peace ... holding hands, wearing astronaut uniforms, releasing doves. You know.


Despite the fall of communism and Mongolia's independence, the monument has remained and, ironically, has began to double as a religious site. It sits on top of one of the foothills south of UlaanBaatar and because of its height is a natural spot for signs of religious devotion in the form of blue scarves and piles of rocks.

A day in the life of our team ...

I thought it might be neat to give you a picture tour of what one of our typical days might look like here in Mongolia. Enjoy!

8am: Team Devotions

(guess I should take a picture of this before the trip is over)


sometime in the morning: we all manage to scrounge up some breakfast somewhere


10am: Work Projects at the Bubbling Springs building


noonish: Lunch with the Root of Blessing worship team


1pm-4pm: While Scott is teaching the worship team ...


the rest of us either hang out with the Sprengers or spend some more time on work projects


6pm-ish: We sit down to one of CB's amazing meals (you should all be very, very jealous)


post-dinner: Site-seeing or some shopping if the weather participates, hanging out with the Sprengers if it doesn't (OR BOTH)

night: and then we sleep

"It's like we're in a different country." -- Ardi

This was a keen observation by Ardi early on in our trip. ;) She was commenting on the vans that kept driving by blasting political advertisements. They can be heard throughout the day, but are most prevalent in the evening hours.

You see, we've arrived in the midst of elections. Today (Sunday) is the big day. Until today, there were political posters plastered all over the city. The big question is if the democratically-elected Socialist party will stay in power or if it will pass to the Democratic party.

As elections are today, we'll find out soon enough.

Scott speaks

In the past two days, Scott has had the opportunity to teach members of the Mongolian church in two different settings. On Saturday, he was asked to conduct a seminar on worship. He spent three hours with the worship team, other leaders in the church, and anyone else who was interested in learning more about worship and what it means in the context of community as well as in individual lives. Then, this morning during Sunday worship, they asked if Scott would give a sermon on worship. He did a great job of communicating truth in spite of some hiccups (like the fact that the Mongolians do not yet have a complete Bible translation ... they only have the New Testament right now). Many members of the church have expressed their thankfulness at having the opportunity to learn more about worship -- much of what they heard was being said (to them) for the first time. We are hoping that God's truth about worship takes root in their lives and in their church and that it will grow to become a deep aspect of their faith.