The Epic Adventure

Here are some photos to wet your appetite of our adventure. I will try to put pictures up with internet and time willing. I didn't edit any of these photos but there are a few photos that I will be editing and posting (as soon as I figure out Photoshop!)

Here we are, Team Mongolia at in front of a small church in Tairilin Mongolia preparing to embark on our journey into the valley!

Our two valiant steads, Castor (left) and Pollux (right), named after the twin gods on the helm of Paul's ship in Acts 28

Hyra was a Hotn boy whose family asked us to tell them about Jesus before we had even officially met them. This young boy was trying to find role models in us guys considering his father was never seen sober while we were with them. I pray our love and outreach as a group of guys blessed this young boy. Hyra is my prayer project. I have no way of contacting him, but I am trusting that the prayers I give on his behalf will be heard by the Lord. He was the only boy in a family of 5 girls, so I pray that the he will will be able to define masculinity according to the Bible and not according to the example of his father.

This is how traditional yack hair rope is made. This rope is the most common rope found in Mongolia which is used for camel lead ropes and even ropes to tie the felt onto their gers. It is a fascinating and articulate skill to watch.

This was our dream camp spot. This picture has no photo editing and it gives you a glimpse of this pristine campsite. Perfectly smooth green grass with a giant tree who's twisted branches told a story of a life well lived calmed by a the whispering river just over the rocks. My adjectives don't do this any justice, its truly a place you would have to be there to appreciate its unscalable beauty.

We made it to the local Nadam in Tarialan and watched the young boy from the first family we stayed with place fourth in the 3 year old division for his horse. Nadam is the annual festival that all Mongolians celebrate for their country and heritage and includes horse racing, wrestling, and archery, traditionally.

I found one event to compete in at Nadam, Archery. Having some Archery experience from the States I figured I would give it a whirl. Not to make excuses, but those bows were quite light in string tension, I'm pretty sure I couldn't have killed a cat with the arrow I shot. If the bow wasn't at a 45 degree angle, it didn't even get close to the target. It was fun to try though! I got three shots and the final shot landed within an arms length of the targest, so think what I coulda done with just an hour of practice with that thing!