Bones

This week last year Erik and I were at Woodleaf with our Young Life kids from Fowler and Sanger when we got the call. Jane had gotten word from Mongolia that the staff team had been in a tragic car accident that claimed the lives of three of our brothers and sisters, including Jacki, the national director.

That is why we are here.

Today, we landed in the rainy city of Ulan Bator, in the heart of Mongolia, at the end of the earth. We were greeted by Taivan and Magnei at the airport, and treated to an authentic Mongolian lunch. We discussed plans for camp. Taivan, who is now heading up Young Life in Mongolia, will be giving the club talks and is very excited to practice them with Erik and me. Magnei will be in charge of program, and so we will also spend a lot of time together planning and practicing.

After lunch Erik and I had planned on heading back to the Young Life office and resting after another long day of travel. But Taivan had other plans. He took us to meet the director of Campus Crusade for Christ of Mongolia, Bataa. Then the four of us got in the car. I fell asleep before we were told where we were going. When I woke up, we were in the middle of somewhere. But I still don't know where. Still in Ulan Bator. We entered a house and were greeted by a young man and an older woman who was supported by crutches.

This was Nara, who had been in the accident with Jacki, whose husband had been driving the van. Nara suffered several broken bones in the accident. She showed us x-rays of the fourteen screws in her right femur. She showed us the first copy and how the bones had started to knit back together. Then she showed us the second set of x-rays. That knitting was gone. Where there had been healing, there was a big black void. I couldn't believe my eyes.

I myself have six screws in my hips from surgeries I had four years ago. I had watched as my own x-rays marked the growth of new bone. I had seen how one of the joints never fully healed. But I had never heard of the healing process reversing. I began to feel sympathetic pains in my hips and legs as I watched Nara rubbing her thigh, knowing the discomfort she described. I knew the feeling of waking up in the night with the pain from rolling over, the shot that rings through the body. I know how the cold and rain aggravate the discomfort. I know the helpless feeling, knowing I can't do a thing for myself, let alone serve or support a family. I still can't see what God is doing in this woman's life, but she is certain that the Lord has a plan, and that His plan is good.

We had the privilege of praying with and for Nara, and for Puche, her husband who is now serving time in prison because of the accident. We prayed that the Lord would bring healing to them both, that he would give Puche a boldness in the faith that would spread throughout the inmates, and that his sentence would be reduced so that they would be reunited.

We then had the honor of informing Nara that Young Life planned to support her family during the next few years, until her husband is released.

After sharing a very modest meal, but incredibly generous meal with Nara and her son, we headed back to the apartment. It's a wet, quiet night in the city called Red Hero. But the apartment is warm, and so are the people we are with.