Monday- Ministry highlights

Ministry- a) the act of ministering or service (Webster's)

Sometimes I don't know how to describe our "ministry." I feel as though our whole life is service and that the lines of division are not as cut and dry as they were for us in America.

It is hard to put a face on ministry when I write about it. Sometimes when writing and more formal "update" I feel that it needs to be a business like kind of letter because it is our business/job. Therefore it seems that it should be formal, grammatically correct and be something that someone else wants to read. It also needs to be short, so it is not the place to really describe life. It is just what it is, "an update."

So I will take this opportunity to share in a more blabbery way here. I want to give more shape to my blog be more thorough for you. It is so much easier to write a recipe or a daily experiment but I want to also log ministry thoughts so I will do this on Mondays. Hope you enjoy.

The ministry we do here has less shape and is more like a changing and moving blob. It is because the culture here is organized differently from America. The culture here is event based and not time based, so that effects each part of our lives and ministry. There is no church calendar and there probably will never be. There is really not much planned far in advance.

Peter has grown so much through this process. He is much more organized and methodical than this culture allows. He has truly had to change the core of who he is to be able to live and work in these circumstances. He does a great job.

He is working on discipleship with Munkbold. It is not formal or planned and moves in the blob like way through conversations and last minute planning via cell phone. But it happens and it is going well. He is available to meet with him and really discuss things, to listen in a foreign language and try to work through what is being said.

It is so much more than that. He has to understand, but also work to direct Munkbold towards Christ and the Bible. Communicating these ideas in Mongolian is a challenge and he is really working to do that. He comes home so tired and says, "How can I be this tired? All I was doing was sitting and listening and talking." But we both know doing that in Mongolian is actually work for the mind and it is exhausting.

Peter also works at the school and teaches English as a service. A blessing that has come through this service is really knowing how much he enjoys teaching. It is a joy to see him really love his work in this area.

Peter is also working on learning songs on the guitar and plays them at the Mongolian service. He really enjoys this as well and it is a BIG need. We've been singing the same 12 songs with a CD for YEARS! ;)

Peter always ministers to me and he is truly a servant in our home. He takes care of the children in the mornings and does the breakfast hour so that I can run and read my Bible. If it has been a tough night for me with Sierra, he does the breakfast hour so that I can sleep in and catch up on my rest. He is really an amazing husband. He is a man full of integrity and I am so blessed.

I, however was born to be in an event based culture. I LOVE NOT worrying about time! I really enjoy only thinking about events and not the clock.

I have actually had to grow into a more organized person in this place- isn't that strange? Why is that? Because American culture keeps me organized. American culture, friendships, family and church all worked to give me accountability and motivation. With the lack these things I was set adrift and not able to function very well.

Also I had to be more organized because I only leave my house twice a week. There is no one to know if I am slug. I have to MAKE myself do the things that need to be done. I have to MAKE myself minister to my family. I have to MAKE myself study Mongolian and get out to my more so that I don't hole up and hide from this world I don't understand. I have to MAKE myself exercise.

But these are all good things. Peter is more laid back and I am more organized. God has used this place and our ministry to grow us.