Mongolia Happened

Spending 12 days in the East Central Asian country was an experience I am very grateful for. Though the stay got of to a sleepy start I was still impressed at the ruggedness of Mongolia. I travelled by myself to the north west of Ulaan Bataar to visit a group of people running a soccer program to expose young people to the Gospel. It was very enlightening sleeping, eating, and living with two young Mongolian guys in their apartment. We spend most of our nights talking about the normal things young guys talk about; mainly girls, school, and sports. I came away from the experience challenged from looking at my life through a Asian Christians eyes. My 12 hour train ride back to the city and my GlobeTREK team was not short of meaningful reflection.

It is here I heard a very funny phrase from my friend Gunzo. He spoke English only a little, and used our time together to learn every new word he could. One day after we had gone on a beautiful hike and where talking most of the time he said to me, "Speaking English hurts my arm."  I thought he must have been confused and asked him to try again. He assured me with animated gestures that English was definitely the cause of his arm pain, and I was still confused. After a moment I realized what he meant. All day he had been trying to speak with me and most times used hand signals to fill in the blanks. His head wasn't the only thing to get tired, but his hands as well.

I realize now I should have taken at least one picture of me in Mongolia