Category: Mission Mongolia

Mission Mongolia: Two Cities, One Mission

Mission: Mongolia - Two Cities, One Mission

We are promised in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  And when God sets those plans in motion, the enemy strikes, attempting to thwart the good intended.

Mongolia has a population of about three million people, most of which live in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar. Only about two to three percent of Mongolians are Christian, and most have never heard the name of Jesus.

That’s where our current mission trip to Mongolia comes in. Through March 25, 17 It Is Written volunteers and I are conducting medical clinics and evening seminars in two cities in Mongolia. In past trips, we have always worked in the capital city, but we wanted to share Jesus with some of the other cities as well. The original plan was to work primarily in Bulgan, hosting a medical clinic at a local church there, along with an evening “Jesus Talk” plus a children’s story and health feature. We were informed the Monday before we left that the plan had changed: a virulent livestock disease had broken out, and Bulgan was under quarantine!  

“No problem,” according to our fearless local leader, Enkhe! Plans were quickly made to work in two different cities, Erdenet and Darkhan, to conduct our clinics and evening Jesus Talks.

Please pray that people come to these evening meetings. It is illegal here to advertise this sort of a meeting so personal invitation and word of mouth are our only sources of advertising.

Below are updates and pictures from the first few days of our mission trip. 

Wednesday, March 14

We were 20 minutes from an uneventful landing in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar when the captain informed us that due to high winds (common in March-April), we would have to circle the city for 20-30 minutes longer and hope that the winds would subside long enough for a safe landing. The winds didn’t let up, however, so instead we had to fly to the Russian city of Irkutsk. After a three-hour layover in Irkutsk, we finally reboarded the plane and got into Ulaanbaatar about 7 pm local time. Thursday will be an orientation and sightseeing day as we acclimate to a new culture, temperatures, and time zone.

God is good! And He is on His throne, directing this mission trip.  We thank you for your prayers.

Thursday-Friday, March 15–16

Our group of 18 volunteers all safely arrived into Ulaanbaatar, and we’re slowly acclimating to the local time zone. Initially, it had been quite cold with a daytime high of 20°F and lows in the night of -1°F.  However, it is warming up (spring is almost here, too!), and yesterday it reached 40°F!

Following are pictures that show and tell more about the mission work here.

Saturday, March 17

On Saturday, we split into our two teams and headed to Darkhan and Erdenet to preach and interact some more with our local leaders and community members. I am leading the Darkhan team, and the Erdenet team is led by Dr. Gordon. Our local leader, Enkhe, helped plan and organize the mission trip with It Is Written Evangelism Director Yves Monnier. She has been a tremendous asset in providing translation and organization for this trip. We would not be here without her work and support!

Our meetings will be held Sunday-Friday, at 6 pm local time. Please pray that God will impress the hearts of those who need to hear His word. We cannot advertise the meetings, so it is only through personal invitation that people hear about them. Our meetings will include song service by the church (in Mongolian), then a translated health talk, and finally a translated Jesus talk.

Sunday, March 18

Isaiah 1:17 says, “Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.”

On Sunday, March, 18, we went to a local orphanage here in Darkhan to provide medical services. It is one of two orphanages in this city. This one is privately owned and operated and has been in existence since 2001. It currently has 40 children ranging in ages from 3-17. The orphanage runs solely on funds given by donors, primarily Japanese donors. They run a bakery, car wash, and tailor shop, and the kids all work in these industries as well.

We also learned that it is not possible to adopt children from this orphanage, and the director told us that she considers all of the children her own, even after they grow up and leave. They stay in touch when they go on to college and have families of their own. Many children go on to college in Japan, China, Germany, and elsewhere. We sense a lot of love on this campus from all the children and the staff. It was actually a very happy place; not sad or depressing at all. It was very evident that these children were very well loved and cared for. In addition to the medical work we provided, our team presented a financial gift to the director at the end of our day to help continue the great work that is being done in this orphanage.

At the end of our visit, we were treated to a 40-minute acrobatic performance from the children. These kids are so talented!

Monday, March 19

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8.

There has been a lot of praying going on in our team here in Mongolia, both in Darkhan and Erdenet. And we feel the results of your prayers for us as well. Please don’t stop!

The day here in Darkhan started out with eager anticipation because it was our first day doing medical work at a local healthcare clinic. It is illegal to do healthcare outreach at the churches here in Mongolia so we are grateful for this invitation and opportunity to serve the Mongolian people.

As the morning progressed, one of our team members saw two policeman enter the clinic. They didn’t say much but observed what we were doing. About an hour later, a gentleman from the local health authority showed up. He requested to see all of our professional medical volunteers’ licenses, and then he entered our pharmacy area to examine our medication bottles for expiration dates. We had to shut down for about an hour. After he left our pharmacy room, we sent up a prayer to God, asking that He would move on this man’s heart and allow us to continue our work.

Enkhe, our local leader, worked and negotiated with him and he gave us permission to continue through that afternoon. He told Enkhe that she needed to go to his office on Tuesday with copies of all of our licenses and to do additional paperwork. She did, and we are now cleared here in Darkhan to continue our medical work through the end of the week. Praise the Lord!

The situation is not as positive with our sister team in Erdenet. They were doing medical work in the morning and got word from the authorities to shut down. Sadly, for the rest of Monday, they could not administer care to the people of that city. They were able to hold the evening Jesus Talks at the church in Erdenet. On Tuesday morning, Dr. Gordon (our medical director for this trip) visited the health authority with a local church member. They were told that they could do medical work in a nearby town, just not Erdenet.

The enemy hates our good God and will always try to disrupt or stop anything good that He wants for us. Our mission trip here is no exception, as evidenced by the last 24-48 hours. But, God is still on His throne, and He is in control!

It was a long, busy, eventful day. But it ended well. We are all safe and patients have been ministered to, by the grace of God.