Last Sunday, we got to attend a local church here in Ulaanbaatar. It is the church of some of the people we got to work with at the tent revival from our first week in Mongolia. We reached out to them once we made it to UB, and asked about their church. Thankfully it is very close to where we are staying, so we were able to go. I was so excited to get to see them again!
We took a taxi and were following our map to get to the church building. As we were about to cross a street, we saw one of our friends from the tent ministry on the other side of the street. As we crossed we said we were coming to his church, and he quickly informed us that we were going the wrong way. Thank you Jesus for us running into him! We might not have found it if we hadn’t seen our friend. But praise for divine encounters, we made it to church!
Everyone was incredibly hospitable and welcoming from the moment we walked in the doors. They showed us to our seats, and worship began shortly after. All of their songs are sung in Mongolian, so we had no idea what the words were, but it is so sweet to witness the people of Mongolia worship. It was a joy to get to worship along side them, me singing in English, them in Mongolian, but all to the same God. SO COOL.
After worship, two girls came to sit with our team to translate for us during the sermon. One of them sat right next to me, her name is Bubara. She translated the sermon for us, and afterward we got to talk with her for a little bit. I told her that we knew of their church because our friends from the tent ministry. She then asked what we were doing in Mongolia, and we told her we were on the World Race and what the race is. A lot of times when you tell someone that you are traveling to 11 countries in 11 months to share the gospel, their eyes get wide and they say something like “Wow” or “That’s awesome” or the occasional “You are kinda crazy”. But Bubara had a different reaction. Hearing that we were traveling the world for the sake of the gospel, she was brought to tears.
Bubara went on to say that she was not expecting to have to translate this morning, and didn’t really want to when the pastor asked her to. She didn’t feel like her English was good enough. But she came over to translate for us anyway. And through her teary eyes, she said that she has felt the Lord telling her to go into missions, but has been fearful. And now sitting in front of her is a group of crazy Americans traveling the world for Jesus. Because of hearing our story and seeing us live as missionaries, she felt encouraged to look into missions more, and knew that this was the reason she was picked to translate for us. For this moment of encouragement to follow Jesus wherever He calls you. So then of course, seeing her tear up, I was brought to tears. (Get that from my mother, shout out to you, Stace!)
Seeing that Jesus used me and my team to show Bubara that the call He put on her heart for missions is there for a purpose was one of the sweetest moments. We are called to find the lost ones who don’t know Jesus, but we are also called to encourage our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, walk alongside them, and disciple them.
Bubara is more than a translator. She is the daughter of a King. She is my sister in Christ. And she is an encouraging example of how to walk boldly into situations where you might not feel ready or equipped. Her decision to translate for us, was her walking in obedience to what the Lord is telling her. And out of walking in obedience, Jesus fully equipped her to translate for us. Out of her obedience, we got to share a sweet moment of reassurance to what the Lord is going to do in her life. He has so much more!
