Dear Friends,

We have finished two full weeks in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - the capital city where the Bible school is located. Everett is teaching Pastoral Ministries. I am teaching Intro to Christian Education and Teaching Techniques - rolled into one course. This is our first time here, and we are enjoying it very much. Everett has preached in a small church pastored by his interpreter and the big city church pastored by the General Superintendent.

There is a lot more to this city than we expected. Mongolia is on the far north of China. It was dominated by China for many years, then Russia took over in 1920 and ruled until 1990. It is a very poor country. The roads are bad. The sidewalks are worse, when there are any. There is very little green, but LOTS of dust. The wind blows in from the Gobi Desert, so lots of times we get into little dust-storms. When we walk, we come back in with our shoes brown with dust rather than black. But there is progress, and a lot of building is going on. A lot of products come in from China and Russia. We have been able to get a good variety of vegetables, both for salads and stir-fries. That makes me very happy! They say we are here at the right time of year as veggies get scarce in the winter months.

The missionary here was at APTS a couple of years ago and tasted our tacos. So they knew we were coming here, and brought a bag of masa harina back from furlough. We have had tacos twice!

Last Saturday we went on a trip south of town to see some of the countryside. They are building a HUGE statue of Genghis Khan (pronounced Ching-gis Han!) who is their greatest hero, of course. It is several miles from Ulaanbaatar, but worth the bumpy ride to get there. Then we went further to a very large national park, where there are many opportunities to see native animals like camels, yaks, and eagles. Everett and I rode camels, and Everett rode a yak. We went into a ger (pronounced gare) like many of the people live in, even in the city. The furnishings are placed around the edges and it's one big room with a stove in the middle and a pipe out the top. They are "winterized" so they are cozy warm in winter - which can get to 30 below zero! The Mongols are traditionally nomadic, although that does not mean they roam all over. Most of those who do move just move one place in the summer, and another in the winter. This is so their animals can find grazing.

The scenery is beautiful. The city is a mile high, and there are other higher mountains all around. Gorgeous rock formations here and there.

The weather is warmer than we expected right now. We came prepared for 50s and 60s, and it is mostly 70s and 80s. They think it may cool down this week - hope so. Could go down to 30s at night.

Everett also taught a pastors' seminar on Signs and Wonders last week on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons. I took one session. It was a heavy schedule teaching each day 8:30-12:30 at the Bible school, and then 2:15-5:15 in the seminar. But God gave strength and it was worth it!

Just want to follow up about our scary experience in Beijing China on the way to Mongolia on September 1. I think the message got through to most of you. Email was so iffy in Mongolia that I was not always sure.

Anyway, we had the experience where we were being set up by a couple of taxi drivers working together to "do us in" on the expressway from airport to hotel. Everett was alerted by the Holy Spirit, watched carefully as we also prayed for protection and wisdom. The taxi drivers were amazed when we did not fall into their scam and allow our luggage to be changed into the 2nd taxi - for which there would have been no record by the dispatchers at the airport.

Instead, we pulled all our luggage back down the expressway about 500 yards to the tollbooth, where 2 policemen helped us get another taxi.

We asked you to pray for protection as we had to come back through Beijing on the way back to Singapore. Your prayers were answered. We met someone in Mongolia who had a contact in Beijing, and they got someone to meet us. That was very comforting! We were able to have a couple days in Beijing - did a bit of the Great Wall. What a climb - many hundreds of steps, but it was worth it.

Again, thanks to ALL of you for your prayers. Our God Reigns!

Everett and Evelyn