Tom Lin

…AND TOP 5 MOMENTS OF CULTURE SHOCK:

1. Riding in a taxi, experiencing a tire blowout, and continuing on to our destination with a flat tire

2. Riding a bus to the countryside, experiencing a tire blowout, and watching the bus driver change tires using just some rocks and a wrench

3. Seeing homeless street children diving into garbage dumpsters everywhere, scraping for food

4. Opening 3 short e-mails at an internet center, at a connection rate of 1 e-mail per 10 mins.

5. Crossing a street downtown, only to be nearly trampled by beautiful Mongolian horses which also wanted to cross. They have right-of-way! (see attached pic)

HELLO PRAYER PARTNERS,

We miss you all! We arrived in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia near midnight on July 2nd. Praise Dad for our learning “experiences” during our first 2 weeks! We’re soaking in the Mongolian culture everyday, and there is so much more to learn. Thank you for thinking of us during this transition time.

THANK HIM for our community with our Korean teammates. Our permanent apartment, which we move to in August, is just a few blocks from them.
We’ve been esp. overwhelmed with the Park family’s hospitality. They’ve brought over bread, rice, a rice cooker, kimchi, etc. on several occasions!

THANK HIM for relationships built between Mongolian non-believers and the InterVarsity short-term team through the English Camp (see attached pic) which ended July 7. We joined all the students in intensive Mark study on July 8-10. Please hope that Mongolian sophomores like Odko and Aza come to know the truth and join the believers’ fellowship here.

WHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO? Besides assisting the InterVarsity short-termers, we’ve been getting to know Mongolian students and our surroundings by various trips to the countryside, incl. a scenic ride on Mongolian horses. We’ve spent our days walking around the city, learning Mongolian phrases, shopping for things like a toilet seat (our toilet was bare ceramic), and meeting other workers like us. Our nights are full of journaling and rest!

We also set up a PO Box, so please start sending those letters! Our NEW MAILING ADDRESS:

Ulaanbaatar