Monday, October 01, 2007

Jean Claude Vs Hermeneutics

The elevator broke down today and as I have been in and out of the apartment 3-4 times, I figure I have climbed a total of 36 floors. I am hoping it will be fixed by at least Saturday so I don’t have to drag my big suitcase down the steps. Not that I am complaining because Mongolian food sits heavy in the stomach so walking a few extra flights is definitely what is needed!

As I have mentioned in my previous blogs, driving in UB is absolutely horrendous and to continue this theme, I will give you what might be labeled as a “serious example of road rage”. I was taking my walk along a main street and I turned around and saw a white car parked in the third lane closest to the middle of the road with a bus stopped only about a foot behind. The man, who was probably in his 50’s, got out of his car and went up to the bus and broke the driver’s side mirror. This not only upset the driver but the guy who collects the money for the driver as they both got out and just started thumping the man from the white car. Actually they started to kick the car and then they went after the man. A short elderly man appeared from the white car and got out to try to stop the fighting but he was unsuccessful. These two young men continued to lay a sound beating on the man, kicking and punching. The older driver landed a number of good punches as well and would not give up even when the driver walked away. All of this took around 5-7 minutes so the traffic was being held up behind them. It was quite a sight to see and I hope a good lesson for me. When I get back to Canada and somebody honks because I cut in front of them, I will be able to say, “Is that all you can give me? Just don’t touch the mirror” and let it all go. Amazing the things you learn in Mongolia!

Today I began to teach Hermeneutics to the students. I have titled this day: Hermeneutics vs Jean Claude Van Dam (or however you spell his name) and if you were to score the bout, it would be Jean 1 – Herme 0. I’ll explain: at lunch I was talking with some of the men and I told them that some appeared tired. He explained that he stayed up until 2:00 a.m. and watched Jean Claude punch other guys out (actually in telling this story, I am seeing a theme in my rather violent day). Well, I thought to myself, can Hermeneutics even stand a chance against Jean Claude and his moves? Apparently not! I had a few extra breaks in the afternoon as I knew this would probably be one of the heaviest days of class. We looked at what Hermeneutics means, how God communicated to His people throughout history and the importance and qualities of the Word of God. So tomorrow when we meet again, we will begin with the practice of Hermeneutics. I just hope Jean Claude has a night off of defending the universe and mangling faces.

I may not be able to blog for the next two days. Andrew has to go out to a conference until Thursday and that means I will be in a hotel for the next two nights. The hotel costs a whopping $22.00 a night so I am thinking that high speed internet is not an option.

Please pray for these men. One of the men came up to me after and thanked me for teaching because the material is very helpful to him. As I was talking with Andrew and Liz tonight at supper, they mentioned how many of these pastors may be very young in the faith and called to lead churches. That is why a course like Hermeneutics is so important to them as they are learning God’s Word. So please pray for the pastors as they learn the principles of interpretation over the next few days.

3 comments:

Paul said...

DRob -
I pledge from this day forward to never mess with your mirrors!

Anonymous said...

Awww man... sounds like your lost in Hamilton... lol Praise God however he has kept YOU safe...
I will make sure that me and Vicki pray for continued Saftey!!!

Great Blogs...
Keep em coming, you have a fairly large audience here in Canada!

Anonymous said...

David,

Have a safe and great trip home. The Robinson kids are coming over this Saturday. Any advice!!!???? Stay away from the "Irish" coffee.
Keeping you in prayer.

God Bless,

Nick.