Steve and Luke... English Tutors?

Welcome back to Luke's portion of this blog! We have been out of Canada for 11 days total, and have had some interesting, yet challenging experiences. The day after we arrived here in the city of Bayankhongor, (mongolian spelling) - we were able to travel out to the countryside in a very old russion van. We stayed in a Ger, along with a mongolian family and some of the Ywam students. For those of you who do not know what a Ger is, we would see it as a large, round-shaped tent. (google for pictures) It has a fireplace in the center, and usually 2-3 beds/couches. It is very warm when the fire is going, yet not engineered efficiently, in terms of keeping the heat in. The chimney is not sealed tight with the roof, so heat can escape very easily through the open space. While there, we, as well as the students, hiked up the nearby mountainside for a beautiful view of vast mountain scenery. The next day we traveled back in the van, with a whopping 17 people crammed in tightly. (this is amazing considering it is only made for 11 max. She was a bit squishy!

Back to present day, we have now begun our "official work" at the Ywam base. Until friday, we will be doing various activities throughout the day, as well as teaching scheduled classes in the evening. The afternoons will consist of visitation to families experiencing losses or hardships, and prayer walks throughout the city. At 5 every evening we teach an english class for beginners, (which Steve and I usually spearhead). Then at 7 we do a more advanced class, which usually consists of visiting in small groups, practicing more of the conversation and grammer side of the language.
Emily and Melanie have given a Drama/Small skit seminar, which the students found very helpful, and I will be teaching guitar lessons throughout the week to three intermediate level students.
We all contribute in the planning stages, and then teach as our interests and gifts qualify us to do so.

The first beginner class Steve and I made great headway with the students. Most students come from outside the center, yet a handful from Ywam also attend the class. We started by teaching the Alphabet, and furthermore, the vowels and consanents. Many of them know most of the Alphabet, yet they do not know the correct pronounciation. We do not use a translator for the class which strongly encourages them to participate in the excersises. We are looking forward to seeing them learn over the week.

Thank you for your interest and Prayers, God Bless

Luke H