WELL, that was quite a trip!

Team Christmas Party, Ulaanbaatar

Monday at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow, I presented my request for a free meal at the airline Transit Desk. An hour or so later, I was enjoying one of the finest Chicken Kievs I think I've ever tasted! Was it just the cuisine, or was it because the airline was paying for it (to which I had also added bread for chip butties and a cappucino) that made it taste so good? The midday onward flight from Moscow to London had been cancelled. As it happened, I wouldn't have caught it anyway, because our early morning flight from Mongolia was so late coming in. A late take-off from Ulaanbaatar was followed by an unplanned, and somewhat difficult, landing in Irkutsk, in our ageing Tupolev. Our descent was a somewhat unnerving experience, of which the Mongolian lady sitting next to me, and to whom I was attempting to give an English lesson, seemed blissfully unaware! In counselling terms, you could say that I was not 'fully present in the moment:' sitting next to the window, our rapid descent was all too obvious to me. There on the runway we were met by a fire engine and a fuel tanker! The logic for that combination was lost on me, until I was told that when a plane needs an unplanned drink, a fire engine has to be in attendance in case something goes wrong. And that's without mentioning the cancellation of my outward flights a week earlier.

Micro-Enterprise

It would not be truthful to present a uniformly glowing picture of what has happened as a result of the micro-enterprise training in the Gobi in May this year. That's partly because not all the information is available, with many of the churches represented not even having phones. Also, some church planters are not yet confident in the skills they obtained to strike out in this way. This is not surprising, especially if you're used to subistence living, and your cultural heritage has been shaped by decades of Communism. Also, in the current economic climate, Mongolia's banks have been less than willing to lend start-up finance. Among the businesses that have started, there is a preponderance of ones making and selling crafts. I pointed out that this could leave them more exposed to the world economic downturn next year. But any church community-based business enables mission to become less dependent on outside help and therefore more self-sustaining. And we can rejoice that some businesses have started, including one making the all-important stoves for heating, cooking and cleaning in the Gobi gers, as well as the craft businesses. I also understand one church in the mountains close to the Chinese border has started a market garden, to help diversify a local diet which is heavily meat-dependent. Taken altogether, the interim results seem a bit like a 'Parable of the Sower' situation.

There is a growing interest in MED among churches in Mongolia, including in Ulaanbaatar, the capital.