Sabbath, March 29, 2008

Missionary Report from Mongolia

“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matthews 24:14.

Greetings to all the brethren around the world in the loving name of our Lord.

Here are statistics about Mongolia and a report about our pioneering work there.

Mongolia has 2.8 million inhabitants; most of the land is covered with desert and plains. The relatively small population makes one think it is a little country, but in fact it covers 604,209 square miles of land. The country looks small on the world map because it is located between Russia and China.

The descendants of Genghis Khan, who once conquered Asia and parts of Europe, now inhabit Mongolia. Its main religion is Lamaist Buddhism of the Tibetan variety. Until the 20th century, the country was a land of Gentiles since there was no contact with Christianity. When Communism fell in 1990, however, missionaries were sent from Christian countries to preach the gospel.

Christianity has spread around the capital city, Ulaanbaatar, where there are around 24,000 Christians - about 3 percent of the registered population of the city. The interest in Christianity is relatively high and, as freedom increases, there is a high probability for Mongolia to become another Christian country in Asia.

The country’s economy depends mainly on underground resources such as copper, coal, tin, and gold, and primitive stock farming.

Most of the people, except for some in the capital city, eat mainly mutton (sheep meat) and drink milk. Bread is not common. Vegetables and fruits, imported from other countries, are considered food for the wealthy. Rural families live in small, round tents called yurts, made of leather and cloth. The economic standard is still very low.

Dear brothers and sisters, should not the message of the angel who will enlighten the whole world be preached in Mongolia also? On October 14, 2004, I arrived in that country without knowing anybody. I prayed that the Lord would open the way to preach the message there.

With the help of the Lord, I met a sister who speaks Korean. Through her, we started working to gain more interested souls. I met her relatives and the principal of a government nursery school. When I explained that the purpose of my visit was to preach the gospel, the principal gave me the opportunity to preach to her and the other teachers who worked at the school.

Then we started Bible studies with people who had never heard about Jesus or even seen a Bible. They were quite interested in the gospel. At first, only five to six people joined in the study; but later on, ten to twelve people did. They were all very interested and decided to believe in God.

In a short period of time, they heard about creation, the fall of man, and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God. I could see that their hearts were touched. The gospel changed their hearts, and twelve souls decided to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour.

Several Protestants are now interested in the message and are studying about the Sabbath. This is just the beginning. The foundation is laid for a church in Mongolia. We could not baptize these people because they still have to study our principles of faith, but the seed of the gospel was sown, has germinated, and will continue to grow.

Now they need a place to gather. It is not possible to continue missionary activities without having a meeting place. Neither can the Mongolian brethren afford to build a church.

Therefore, I appeal to all brothers and sisters around the world. Thousands of years have passed since this earth was created, but Mongolia had never heard about creation and the Creator until a few years ago. We cannot expect Christ to come until the gospel of heaven has been preached to all nations and tongues. Shouldn’t we continue to preach the gospel in Mongolia? We need a church building for this purpose. I appeal to you: pray for Mongolia and show your interest by supporting the work there. The resources that we have now surely have been given to us for times like this.

May God bless your willing offerings.
Thank you for your support.

Dai Chun Kang
Regional Representative