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In 1997 Dr. Bill first learned about Tyva and felt God's leading to go there after talking to a man from a nearby region. Then he lost touch with him. But, several years later, in another remote part of Siberia, he unexpectedly met up with this man again, whose first question to Dr. Bill was: "When are you coming to Tyva?" |
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We flew four hours to the East and crossed four times zones. When we left Moscow, it was freezing. When we arrived at our destination, it was about 80 degrees, and inside the bus, it must have been 100 degrees! Then we boarded a very slow moving bus (you could run faster than this bus was going) for the next 10 hours and traveled across the desert and over the first set of mountains. |
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All along the road, on top of every mountain there were special places where the spirits are supposed to live. Here the people tied pieces of cloth onto tree branches to take their prayers to heaven. There were also rocks that were stacked up into piles and a teepee made of sticks with prayer clothes tied on them. The people throw bread in the air, (our driver did this), and leave money for the spirits—who will supposedly use it to buy cigarettes, playing cards, and many other things. |
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Tyva was a wonderland for us. Wonderful temperatures around 60 F, summer flowers, and snow—all at the same time! |
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Although Tyva is a part of the Russian Federation, everything here differs greatly from what is usually associated with Russia. Eighty percent of the Tyvian population do not speak Russian. Tyvians are cattle/sheep-breeding nomads. For millennia they have tended to their herds of camels, reindeers, yaks, sheep and goats. |
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Even the tea is different here. It is about 1/2 goat's milk, a little tea, and some salt. |
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Tyvian believers traveled with us everywhere and were excellent in sharing Jesus with their own people. These ladies never missed a single opportunity to share Christ. They would be sharing in Mongolian, or Tyvenian, while Dr. Bill was explaining to Christine what he wanted to say medically to the next patient. Translation thru 3 languages, what an experience! |
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| To go to the 2nd page click HERE |
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It was in 1997 that Dr. Bill first felt God's leading to go there. More Photos
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Every day we traveled from our base camp to different villages. More Photos
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Even nearby families from other villages were sending their children to our clinic by horseback, trucks, and tractors. More Photos
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A small team of six people traveled across seven mountain passes to set up our medical clinic which helped treat many local shepherds ... More Photos
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Riding this jeep on a dirt road was like being inside a washing machine. You were tossed, slammed, jerked, squeezed, and jolted. Unfortunately, we never got clean. More Photos...
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For many sick people in this remote region, our medical clinics are the only chance for them to be examined by a doctor and receive advice and medicine. More Photos...
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A LOT of people, who knew nothing or very little about God were very interested in knowing and learning more about Him. More Photos...
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