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Dear Friends and Families,
 We woke up this morning to snow blanketing the hills around the city and we felt it was such a privilege to see
Mongolia in its true color without having to come in January. By afternoon the sun was shining again (and that was fine with us). We are just wrapping up our third full day in
Ulaanbaatar, having arrived safely Monday evening. The entire World Vision CEDC staff was at the airport to greet us and has been very kind this week to make sure our visit is
everything we hoped for. Oyunchimeg,current director of the CEDC programm, is a wise and creative leader. We feel we are developing a wonderful
relationship with her and the staff and are so impressed with their hearts for the children. They have developed many new programs to meet the needs of the children in need here. We will be excited to
tell you all about them.
 I will save the detailed report for when we come home but
would like to share some highlights. First of all, Kathie Williams, grab your kleenex box -- I wish you had been here this morning. We were invited to the dedication and
celebration of the new Community Center for Children with Disabilities. SIXTY people gathered in a ger outside the mental hospital -- 23 of these were children from Manit (the
mental institution that was closed recently after the international community intervened because of inhuman treatment of patients). We recognized the children from our last visit, but they look so wonderful now.
Their emaciated forms have filled out and they were smiling and singing -- these were children who were dying at the rate of almost 40% per year and not one has died since leaving Manit. World Vision
is helping those who are able to learn life skills while living in several new gers. Eventually they will transition into the community. Others may remain in the UB hospital but conditions there have
improved dramatically as well. Yesterday afternoon we visited another new World Vision program, a Farm Center, where a group of children are living with a foster "grandfather" to learn the country way
of life. One of the boys living there is a former Manit patient -- you would recognize him as the emaciated boy we have shown in many of our powerpoint presentations! He wasn't speaking when he
left Manit, but now he is filled out and thriving. He also wanted to sing a song for us.
 At the dedication ceremony this morning Women of Vision received special recognition for making this work possible.
Our speaker asked us to please convey his deep gratitude to all the Women of Vision donors for their hearts for children and their willingness to make a difference. You (we)
are changing lives! You were all there with us today to share in this very happy time.
I can't close this letter without telling you that we saw Shagai
yesterday and the other children at the Light Houses. Shagai asked about all of you. She still has photos from Colorado that we looked at and reminisced. She is
still a beautiful girl and was even willing to sing a song for us. She is 15 years old now and doing very well in school. She still occasionally helps with the children's television show.
 The other children at the Light Houses look wonderful as
well. We spent all yesterday visiting with them and were encouraged with the hope and happiness that were so obvious. The children are in school and pursuing their
special interests. One boy recently went to Russia to take part in a model airplane competition after winning a local contest. Another boy is a champion wrestler (very big in
Mongolia). Still another boy, who is in the World Vision boy's prison program, won third place in a national writing
contest! World Vision is helping make the dreams of children come true and they have thanked us many times for the support of Women of Vision. They acknowledge they could not do this work
without our support. We are supplying almost 25% of the total budget!
We have seen progress everywhere we go. UB is filled with building projects and more traffic (I'm not
sure that's progress). The Children's Address Identification Center has been very much improved to be more child-friendly. The Light Houses have been relocated to be cleaner and nicer. The girls asked
us to take off our shoes before coming into their home! We have also been happy to learn of a growing partnership between the Mongolian government and the work of World Vision. The
government is now supplying nearly half the teacher salaries for the non-formal education program. This is very good news as it allows more children to be helped. There is a healthy openness to change
in Mongolia. The government listens and is open to new, better ways of approaching problems.
Our group is having a wonderful time together. We are enjoying the company of Dwight, KC, and
Maureen from the Oasis Fellowship Church. We have bonded as we bump along the roads of Mongolia together. Dwight and KC have received many children into their arms as they are certainly
wonderful "daddy" figures. Jeff has been fishing the past two days with Warren and I have wondered how it is fishing in the snow. We will find out tomorrow when they return to UB. We appreciate all
your prayers. We want to represent you well and continue to build good relationships here. We try every day to learn all that we can. We think of all of you often and look forward to a day you can
come and see these wonderful sights for yourselves. You would love it here!
Blessings and love,
Sandy
"Our vision for every child, life in all its fullness; Our prayer for every heart, the will to make it so."
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