Original article posted November 15th, 2023
Have you ever been on a mission trip? Have you ever gone “two by two”, house by house, proclaiming the good news like the disciples did?
Paul did… and he learned something. Thanks to you, hundreds of trained and mobilized volunteers in Mongolia are experiencing what Paul did:
“I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ ” (Philippians 3:7-8)
What Paul is saying here is that he learned something as a result of doing mission. He learned that everything that he used to hold dear was worthless when compared to bringing the light of the Gospel to a people living in darkness.
Our church volunteers in Mongolia have experienced the same thing. Your financial support and dedication in prayer provided this gift for them. Here are some of their invigorating stories:
Overcoming Fear
Amartuvshin was nervous about doing this. Answering calls, emails and posts of those piling in from the media campaign was something he had never done before. Here is some of what he experienced:
Amartuvshin is a volunteer director at the Campaign Call Centre
“The training that I received really helped. I was amazed at how many calls and messages came in. It was overwhelming. One thing that surprised me was how much this campaign would help people with disabilities. Some of the most memorable stories were messages from deaf people (one of our book’s ‘heroes’ has a hearing problem). Also, there were three calls from paralyzed people. They used a voice helper to help them to call and ask for a book.
Yesterday I had a very interesting conversation with a drunk old man who called in. As you know, our campaign books and ads all declare that “You can experience the power to change”. Well, this caller asked: “What are you going to change?”
He thought that it was another political campaign with empty promises. I told him that we weren’t looking to make political or global changes. Their goal is for people, like you, to change. He admitted to me that he wanted to change, so I shared some stories from the book. After that conversation, he asked for his own copy of the book. I arranged for him to get one right away!
I am so grateful for this project. I am honoured to be able to serve my own people and give them hope… because most of us in Mongolia have none.”
Never too old
Would you take a volunteer shift, answering calls from total strangers on your 60th birthday? Well… this volunteer did! Here is some of what she had to say:
“I could hardly wait to volunteer with this campaign. I answer calls and I go door-to-door, participating in the campaign book distribution.
This volunteer turned 60 while answering a call from the campaign
I didn’t know very many other people volunteering from all these other churches. But we have become a family. When they heard that I was turning 60 on one of my shifts, they made sure I didn’t miss out on a birthday cake! We all celebrated together.
I spoke to one woman over the phone that I will never forget. She was drunk when she called, and she pleaded for a copy of the book. As soon as we hung up, she called in again and begged for a copy of the book. Even though I told her that she would be getting a copy, she kept calling in all evening. I don’t think she was safe to herself that night. I was happy to keep taking her call.
We brought her a book the very next day. She was overjoyed.
Distributing the campaign books door-to-door are the most moving moments for me. What I have found out through this is that everybody wants to change… but they don’t know how to change. This book shows them the stories of people who have been changed by Jesus, giving them hope for the future.
Many of the older people that I visit are extremely upset and crying about the trouble that their children are in. They are desperate to discover the power to change and share it with their children.”
Give an orphan the chance to hear the Gospel today
Sometimes, you just need to open your mouth and speak
Every day since the beginning of the campaign, Erdenbaat comes to the centre at 5 pm, after his day at work. From his bicycle, he helps deliver books to people who have requested one. When we asked him why he decided to participate in the project, he said:
Erdenbaat (to the left) gave his life to Christ in 2018
“I used to be a heavy drinker, however, in 2018 I met God, and God changed my life. When I heard about this book, I realized that it could bring help to other people… if God could change me, then He can change anybody! So, I decided to take part in the project.”
Every day he puts up posters about the project in different places and delivers the books to people who ordered it, including his own brother who is a shaman. His prayer is that God touches the heart of his brother.
There are two other women, who are also book carriers in the centre of the biggest district in Ulaanbaatar. Their names are Davaasuren and Dashaa. Both of them deliver 5-10 books every day.
“It can be intimidating sometimes,” they said. “We deliver books to the Ger district where there are a lot of drunk people, street dogs and no light in the evening. It’s scary. But we keep going… because we want to bring God’s light and hope to the people in those districts”.
They went on to share with us some stories from the field:
“One of the afternoons when we were picking up our books for delivery, a man walked right in. He had spent 25 years of his life in prison and was inspired by pastor Tsogtbayar’s story, which he had seen on a campaign poster. He wanted the book so that he could discover the power to change his own life.
Another story happened on the bus. The media campaign had rented ad space on the buses, and three teenagers who saw the advertisement began to mock it…
“These slogans were unreal and such stories are impossible in real life,” they had said.
We couldn’t resist the opportunity. We spoke together for the rest of the bus ride and found out that they were orphans, currently living in an orphanage. We gave them each a copy of the campaign book, arranged to go and visit them at the orphanage, hosted an event for them, and shared the campaign books with them all.”
Provide more copies of the campaign book to orphans
Thank you for the role that you have played in sending these church volunteers out into the mission field through your prayers and your gifts. You have participated in the mobilizing of hundreds of Mongolians into mission.
Partnering churches are contributing an average of 10 volunteers from each of their congregations during our Mega City Media Campaigns. Over 80 churches in Mongolia are actively involved with the campaign. Because of the level of interest in the Gospel being so high from this campaign, we know there are many months ahead of follow-up for the teams in Mongolia.
This is why they need your help once again. If you are in a position to give again to the Mongolia campaign, please do. Each book costs $2.50 to print.
The Holy Spirit has blessed this campaign with an unusually high response rate. We can hardly wait to respond! Tens of thousands of Mongolians have requested their copy of the book.
Here is my gift to keep the Mongolia campaign goingRead More Stories