Early in the morning, before church service, all of us dressed up nicely for church and then went to the top of this mountain to pray for Ulaanbaatar. It was a very long walk up and the wind blew cold and strong. We prayed for a while and then came back down, only to find that Leedah and Tony were missing; they were still on the other side of the mountain wasting the remainder of Wayne's camcorder battery on goats' butts and poop. Another interesting thing that I was informed of involved those birds flying around in the sky. Shirley was right. They ARE vultures.

There was still time left before the church service started, so we just hung around with each other. The actual service was very nice and the worship was good. Our team also sang "Knocking on the Door of Heaven," and Dembee told us at lunch that he cried when we sang this song because his non-Christian younger brother was drunk the night before, and he never wanted to go to church or become saved, but he came that day. When the service finished, we made plans with Nyambaa and Dembee to play some basketball at 4:00. But for now, it was time for lunch.

Finding the most ridiculously expensive restaurant in the city (or possibly the country), we took our team, the Mandarin team, and the church leaders and staff to a Korean buffet, where all I really ate was the spaghetti and Fantas. We had two long (I mean LONG) tables, and we ate and talked to each other for a long time. The restaurant had this stage with a grand piano, microphones, guitars, amps, the whole bit. Dosho and that other lady that played keyboard asked me to do some stuff up there, but I was too bashful. Eventually, though, they won, so I played "Shout to the Lord" with them, and that was fun. Later, when we finished eating, everyone gathered around the stage to listen to Dosho, Tulga, and this other guy sing. They all sing very nicely (Dosho has this very pop-star-like voice, and Tulga is all-out opera).

By this time it was nearly 4:00 and we were stuffed like bloated toys. Nevertheless, we had an appointment to keep. So we all jogged off to a local school, went into the gym, and played some basketball for a few hours. My team lost the first round but won the second. At the end of our games we were fairly thrashed around and tired, but we walked back and Dembee and friends were squirting water on each other from refilled water bottles.

Pastors Liu and Batbold stand near the top of this large mountain-top monument, which was built at the end of World War II. It is early in the morning, and very cold.

Here you can see Jean, Jonny, Pastor Richard Smith, and me nearly at the top of the monument. By the way, everyone is dressed fairly nicely because we will go straight to church afterward.

Cindy, Jean, me, and Pastor Ricky looking over Ulaanbaatar. This and the previous photo are both timer shots.

This is the very top of the structure. There is a cirucular mural designed all the way around portraying the war. Interesting.

The crowd gathers 'round as Pastor Batbold explains to us what this whole thing actually is. It is so cold!

Timer shot of Leon, Helen, Gloria, me, Tony, and Vincent relaxing on the roof before church service.

What a neat photo! Tuul and Dosho lead worship here. Pastor Liu is right in front, and Tuya is also singing on the right but is not completely in the picture.

Here we are conversing after church in front of the building. The sign says "bar" because there are a few bars inside that share the same building. They will come down someday, though!

Me, Tuya, and Tuul at the buffet, with the rest of the church leaders and staff. We had a great time there!

Time for some hoops! This is a timer shot of the gym in one of the local schools. The paint job in this place (not the gym, but the rest of the school) is crazy and nifty.

Bench-warming time! Here we are resting after the game: Gloria, me, Helen, Selenge, Bulgan, and Vincent. Somebody jiggled the camera here.

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