Lead by game master (no this is not the Hunger Games) Steve BU. of Colorado we broke into 8 teams. The teams are a mix of the Mongolian clubs, the Inner Mongolia team from China, and our AIA team. Each team had a captain or two from our team and guys and girls from the other clubs. The girls are very competitive here, they want to win and enjoy competing. We played a number of different games and activities. The first day we taught everyone how to play ultimate Frisbee. We did however forget to tell them which side is up on the Frisbee. The first time we played the Frisbee was thrown upside down with varying results. We also played soccer, had push-up, pull-up, sit-up contests, and a tug of war. It was fun to see the coaches of the other clubs jump in and play a few of the games. Often times the coaches are fairly reserved and they sit at the coaches table(or the adult table like at our holidays) for all the meals. It was fun to see them loosen up and enjoy themselves with the athletes. The games have really seem to draw the teams together. We have been mostly injury free. Steve BA. our staff in Mongolia was attacked by a gopher hole and sprained his back and ankle. He fought through it and did the tug of war. Steve BA. is a very active guy and enjoys the fun. he has really bridged the gap for us between Mongolia/China and our AIA team. One of the girls did get kneed in the face by accident by one of our guys but she is fine and continued to play for the most part.
Today we headed out early to the Olympic Center, picked up 110 wrestlers and coaches from China and Mongolia and started driving 8 hours north through Eredent towards the border of Russia.
We stopped for lunch about half way at a roadside cafe. Used the "restroom" and then headed back into the van. We later found out that many of the kids did not eat lunch as they had no money and we basically stopped for the "Americans". This bothered us a bit, we never want to seem like the typical "rich American" and had we known I am sure the guys would have either pitched in to help with meals or we would have not eaten ourselves. Especially wanting to minister to these guys we really want to show them love. On the bus we sang a few songs..."wheels on the bus" and "if your happy and ya know it". The Mongolians love to sing and as a group are very good it! Our Young Life staff and Hadda who works for Steve B. are doing a great job with the wrestlers so far.
As we arrived at camp we checked out our new home for the week. It was a very pretty drive. The countryside is beautiful here reminds me of Eastern Oregon or the Dakotas/Wyoming. We saw goats, horses, yak, sheep, and many Ger's as we drove up. We had a coaches meeting to set the schedule for the camp, as well as some Mare's milk tea and some really good cookies and short bread!
Daily Camp Schedule
7:30 Wake-Up and Line-Up
7:45 Morning Run(2-3 miles), wrestling drills, pull-ups
8:30 Breakfast
10:30 Wrestling Practice
12:30 Lunch
2:00 AIA Team Bible Study
4:30 Mixed Team Competiton
6:30 Dinner
8:00 YL Club
On the second day of the tournament things were run pretty much the same except this time it was our college aged guys competing. We did very well ending up in second place as a team out of around 25 different clubs! We had two gold medals and two bronze medals.
Nathan B. from University of Iowa and Shamus O. of St. Cloud State University won their divisions in dominating style. Shamus only gave up 1 point the entire tournament and Nathan had to wrestle in a division that combined his weight class of 211 and heavyweight! Jesse S. and Chris C. battled back from losses to earn bronze medals. John I. of Missouri had a tough day losing to the guy who beat Chris C. and then having to wrestle Chris in the repeche. The Mongolian who beat John had also beaten Chris and then had to face Shamus in the finals. He later became one of the guys that we sat with often at meals and we all developed a good friendship with.
We had some great ministry again giving the Gospel before the finals, and handing out our brochures, dvd's, and the Gospel of John in Mongolian. Hope to add videos here in the next few days once I get them uploaded. In the meantime some photos!
The first day of the John Peterson Tournament featured our Cadet (17 and under) wrestlers. Not only is John Peterson a former Olympic Gold and Silver Medalist, he is also AIA staff and the coach of our team. It is not everyday you get to go to an international tournament named after your coach. The tournament is a great opportunity for us to share our faith with not only the wrestlers, coaches, and the crowd but with the people of Mongolia. Many of the guys were interviewed on T.V. and by newspapers. Our Cadets did well, many of them this was the first time wrestling freestyle. Wrestling has a special place in Mongolian culture and is their national
sport. The tournament featured 25 clubs from 4 different countries: China, Mongolia, Russia, and the United States. Before the finals each day we were able to give a Gospel presentation, hand out the Gospel of John in Mongolian and our Unfading Glory DVD in Mongolian with a special bonus feature of Sukh our staff member in Mongolia giving his testimony.
We woke up this morning and went on a run into the Ger(Yurt) district near our hotel. We saw many kids going about their day carrying carts with jugs to get water. There is no electricity or running water in the Gers. Mongolia is a very shamanistic culture, as we ran the two miles or so to the top of the hill we kept seeing piles of rocks, and sticks coming out of them with prayer flags tied to them. At the top of the hill was a Buddhist statue overlooking the city. Steve and Jesse explained about the Mongolian beliefs and the high places. The flags are tied to the stick coming out of the rocks and they worship the place or the area god(road god, sky god, river god). It was a great way to start out the trip to see where many of the people are spiritually and how all of us need to hear the good news of the Gospel. We ran back to the hotel after our brief talk, and stopped to do some buddy carries at one of the hills that shoots off the main road on the way back. Our hotel is right near Steve B. house so this is a run they do often.
Today's team study was on abiding in Christ from John 15:5 "the vine and the branches" . It was good to remember that to abide means: "an intimate relationship, commitment to know, grow, spend time with, and being in fellowship with" and that for a vine to grow it must be pruned. Old growth does not produce fruit only new growth. Ian did a great job of relating it not only to our relationship with Christ, but to our upcoming competition. Often times in international competition the referring can be "questionable" if you are not from the home country. Ian reminded us that when things go against us it is a great time for us to able to reflects God's love by not over reacting, calming down, refocus on God, and take things in strides. Hopefully it is not a situation we will encounter as Mongolia has a rich wrestling history and tradition. But it is always good to be ready.
Yes you read that right. Our first day in Mongolia we went to a Juvenal Prison to play basketball. Most of us were a little apprehensive about going into a prison...and playing basketball. Steve B. our AIA Staff in Mongolia, Jesse S. from the Air Force Academy, and Sukh our AIA national staff in Mongolia had been there earlier in the week to talk with the guards and lay down the foundation for us coming.
As we arrived at the prison we heard some good news, we had an MBA champion and leading scorer was coming to play on our team! Our first question was "what is the MBA?" we soon found out it was the Mongolian Basketball Association. We meet our new teammate, were lead into the prison, warmed up, and then the kids were brought out. We split our group into two teams, and they created two teams.
As the game began a few things were obvious. Number 1 the kids were good at basketball! Number 2 they were very friendly and really enjoying themselves. Number 3 wrestlers are really not good at basketball. After 2 defeats (even with a pro basketball player) we decided to switch things up and teach the kids ultimate football. They seemed to enjoy the new game, we did much better, and we left them with the football at the end of the day!!
After the game we meet with the kids inside a classroom, where we told them about AIA Wrestling and what we were doing. We handed out our brochures with the Gospel in Mongolian. Chris C. did an amazing job of sharing his testimony. It was one that the kids could easily relate to and he has a knack for drawing in a crowd with his personality. Ian then presented the Gospel as Sukh translated. It was a great experience and a wonderful way to kick off the trip! I had been nervous about going into a prison but looking back realized it was just fear of the unknown. God taught me a big lesson through this, one I should have learned long ago, but He has things planned out and is in control! Here is a little video of the game and our time here the first day. Brought to you by Chris C.
Starting a recap of our trip to Mongolia. Here is a video of Steve Barrett and Sukhbaatar Sengendorj talk about AIA in Mongolia and the influence wrestling can have there! More to come in the next few days. Was an amazing trip, still recovering :)
