Recent Travels

Hello!

  It has been a long time since I updated.  Life has been incredibly full the last few months.  In the last 4 weeks, I have covered a lot of air miles crossing half the earth twice times.  My cousin Meg, who was finishing up her 7 weeks in Mongolia, and I went to Seoul.  We had 1.5 days to conquer as much as we could.  We visited a palace, went to a tea house, shopping, a museum, food market, and Seoul Tower.  What a special time it was!  Now she is back to California and applying for university.
  Then I joined a team doing open heart surgeries in South East Asia.  It was a great opportunity to see lives forever changed through life giving heart surgery.  Following this trip, I headed to the States one of my dearest friend's wedding.  Sarah and I went to Tanzania together and have been friends since high school.  Also while in St. Louis, I helped host a baby shower for my other best friend, had an early Thanksgiving with my family, spend time with family and friends, and was even able to go to the Friends of Kids with Cancer Fashion Show and Fellowship of Christian Athletes fundraisers.  I concluded my trip to see my coworker Lora, who is going to central Asia, commissioning celebration in North Carolina.  Following that, I visited with the director of Children's Heart Project.  And back to Mongolia I went.  I was so thankful to be a part of so many wonderful things in such a short period of time.  Here are some pictures from the recent adventures. 

Meg and I in Seoul, visiting a palace

I cared for this child with a great national nurse.  I was very impressed with the local nurses.  This child recovered and did well.   

PICU Doctors and Nursing Team

A child recovering from open heart surgery.

Dan and Sarah Bugbee

With my parents at the reception

Mary and Kelly

Kelly and Rusty are expecting Baby Warner in January. 

Brady has such a sweet personality.

Love these little guys!



 

 

CHP Family Staff Retreat

Every year, I try to have a day where our staff and their family gather together.  This year, we were able to go to the countryside to stay the night in gers (although it got a bit cold as we did not stoke the fire often enough).  It was so wonderful for enjoy my staff's families and the time away from the city.  My cousin Meg is visiting during her gap year, so she was able to join as well.  Here are some pictures. 

I thought this blonde camel was beautiful, but they warned me not to get to close.  Camels can spit. 

Meg and I riding camels.

They put this eagle on my shoulder.  I don't think he was as thrilled as I was. 

Me, Lora, and Meg

Meg was pretty impressed to hold an eagle and ride a camel.

Tulga holding a vulture. 

They convinced me to hold the vulture.  It was so heavy. 

Camels, eagles, and a ger with the beautiful blue sky of Mongolia

Turtle Rock

Meg with Turtle Rock

Nasa with her 4 boys (her daughter is not pictured)

Tuya with her two children

Best friends Gany and Anya, with Anya's niece

Namjilsuren with Buynaa and her son

The Children's Heart Project Mongolia team

Khorhok, a sheep cooked with hot rocks that Mongolians love!

We went on some hikes and enjoyed the views.

Meg and I

Me with some grazing yaks and camels

I was able to get up close to some yaks.  I am thankful for all their fur as it makes the best socks. 

My nephew Brady is really growing.  I bought him an outfit at Disney World.

David and Johnny got glasses and now they can see much better. 

My Sheep

Hello!
  It has been a wonderful summer.  But our warm summer days are now winding down.  After I returned from my home leave, we had our in country retreat and it was powerful.  Our speaker Liz Dickson has an organization called Love Unveiled and she spoke an incredible message to help myself and our staff to realize our beauty in Christ.  It was a powerful time and really got me thinking.  I returned to Mongolia a bit concerned about my future with two close friends soon leaving (who I work with and who mentors me), but through the retreat I came to realize I need to be fully filled and content in Jesus Christ alone.  He will provide all I need.  Then I made a quick trip to Seoul with a friend who needed medical attention.  We had no medical issues on the plane and were able to get her to a cardiologist in Seoul right away.  Her health is better now.  We had our third and final heart camp of the summer.  Almost 50 children attended.  I will have to do another blog to share some life changing stories from camp.  I was blessed to attend a retreat in Cambodia for SP's Asia workers.  We had several fabulous speakers and time for rest and reflection.  I was most moved by a speaker preaching on the Holy Spirit and I am really working on knowing, trusting, and leaning on God's Holy Spirit living inside of me.  I have always enjoyed 2 Peter 1:3 "His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness."   
  This week a family gave me a sheep.  Their son had surgery in Toronto this year and out of thanksgiving for how our project helped them, they gave me a sheep.  But it is not anything I did, but how God is working through us.  To Him be the glory!  So the pictures below chronicle the sheep's end.  If you are squeamish, do not look to far down on these pictures.  This family has 1000 animals.  I shared a lot of the meat, the head, the fat, organs, and stomach contents, but what is left (meat only) is in my freezer.  Pretty crazy that mid afternoon he was running around and 6  hours later in my freezer.  Wow!
  September has been a good month.  We have had several visitors and my cousin arrived last week to stay with me until late October.  She is taking a gap year and is here to help with different projects including spending time at a community center in the ger district, an orphanage, and teaching English.  We have one child in Canada now who will have surgery later this month and are preparing several groups. 
  Thanks for tuning in and remember Mongolia and its people in your prayers.   
Blessings,
Emily

At Angkor Wat in Cambodia

These temples were built in the 12th centuries, but only rediscovered in the 19th century, but totally overgrown.

The trees had taken over the buildings.

Feeding an elephant a pineapple

Isn't she cute!

I rode the elephant with my friends Lora and Lori

 

Herding up the sheep in the countryside of Mongolia

Trying to catch one for me.

Here he is.

Skinning it

Taking out the abdominal contents.