China: Mongolian Country

Our train pulled up in the morning, which allowed us plenty of time to go to my brother's apartment and get cleaned up.

I really wanted to get an idea of what his everyday life is like, so we first went to a nearby school where many people know my brother. We wound up having lunch with a student that had been a "secret" Christian. For about a year, she wouldn't share her faith because she wanted to join the Communist Party. This would have ensured her a good job after graduation. But, Christians aren't allowed to join the Communist Party. After considering it for a couple of months, she decided that sharing her faith was more important than having a good job!

In this area, some aspects of the Mongolian culture has been adopted by many residents, even though only 5% of them are Mongolian. To give me a taste of the Mongolian cuisine, me and my brother took two of his friends out to eat at a restaurant where you actually sit inside a tent, called a "yurt".

While the four of us dug into the piles of cooked lamb, my brother asked our friends to sing a song. It was, of course, in Chinese, and they explained that it was about the beauty of the area with the blue skies and green grass. In response, my brother and I decided to sing a similar song about our country, so we piped up with God Bless America. After hearing it, they wanted to hear another song that we were passionate about, so we sang the Auburn University Fight Song, "War Eagle!".

Our traditionally-dressed waitress guides us into our yurt for dinner.

Tomorrow: The Growing Church