John and I received a postcard in the mail last week inviting us to dinner at the New York Pizzeria in the Westgreen Gardens Shopping Center. CTW LifeQuest Mongolia was inviting us to attend an evening of food, fellowship and fun with some Mongolian guests, Norjin, Davaasuren, and Chimgee. CTW LifeQuest Mongolia is the organization that Jerry and Susan Smith operate in Mongolia ministering to the Mongolian people. They run an orphanage in the country that is well recognized by the Mongolian government. The children in the orphanage have been thriving both physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The reason we were invited is because John, Jennifer, and Jimmy went to Mongolia on a mission trip about 6 years ago! It was a very interesting evening and I want to share some pictures from our evening and about Mongolia. Enjoy.
So, just in case I have sparked your interest in Mongolia, I am posting an overview about the country from ABC CLIO World Geography below!
The north-central Asian nation of Mongolia (sometimes called Outer Mongolia) lies landlocked between Russia to the north and China to the south, east, and west (Inner Mongolia is part of China). Mongolia's semi-arid southeastern plain, which extends into the Gobi Desert, sweeps upward into vast steppes where extremely severe winters (known locally as zud) frequently kill livestock, the Mongolian people's most important resource. The nation has what is called a "continental climate"—wide temperature ranges in a single day, very cold winters, cool to hot summers, and little rainfall (Mongolia averages about 250 sunny days per year). Parts of the country can get as hot as 107°F in the desert, though in general temperatures range between about 20°F and 71°F nationwide. More than 90% of Mongolians are Khalkh Mongols, but this majority has no grievance with the country's indigenous ethnic groups, which mainly include a small Turkic (mostly Kazakh) minority. The Mongols, who are mostly Tibetan Buddhists, speak Khalkha Mongol, while the Muslim Kazakhs speak a Turkic-based language. (Atheism was the official state policy toward religion under the communist regimes that ruled from the 1930s to the 1980s.) Mongolia's population of almost 3 million people only sparsely inhabits its vast rural stretches. Less than 50% of the people live in the country's few cities. The capital and largest city, Ulan Bator, is located in the northeastern section of Mongolia's harsh, rugged terrain.
Chat later.
Patti
Pictures come from Patti's IPhone or ABC-CLIO World Geography
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