When you’re traveling to 11 different countries, it’s pretty obvious you’ll experience at least 11 cultures unlike your own. Even separate areas within a country can have cultural differences from each other. That’s why at the beginning of each month we have a little bit of cultural sensitivity training for the new country we’ll be living in. It’s important for tourists to be sensitive of cultural differences, but it’s even more important for missionaries. The more you blend in and embrace the culture, the more likely the people will respect you and be open to why you’re there.
Z Squad was the first group of World Racers to spend a month in Mongolia. We were the pioneers! No one had any idea of what we could expect from Mongolia. It also meant that the Mongolians we were going to partner with had no idea what to expect from us. While pioneering was super exciting, it also put a lot of pressure on us to set a great example and start our partnerships off strong.
The majority of our 6 teams were located in and around Ulaan Baatar, the capital. My team headed out on a 7 hour bus ride through the countrysides of Mongolia to Kharkhorin, the ancient capital and home of the largest Buddhist temple in Mongolia, which we lived across from. We worked with a family who ran a foster home and a lot of gardens which we would be working in. We got to live in a traditional Mongolian home called a ger or a yurt. Our timing in arriving at Mongolia was perfect. Naadam Festival began a few days into our stay, which is a huge annual festival that the entire country shuts down for.
Unfortunately the timing was less than perfect for ministry’s sake. Due to miscommunication, misunderstandings, cultural differences and poor translations, we were asked to leave Kharkorin about 10 days after our arrival. We were heartbroken. We were frustrated. Our intentions were to serve our contacts to the best of our abilities, but with poor communication it was difficult to do that well. We felt like we had failed as pioneers.
We were determined not to let this experience put a stain on Mongolia which had quickly became one of our favorite countries on the race so far. We had already experienced so much amazing culture in those 10 days.
Leaving Kharkhorin and going back to Ulaan Baatar ended up being the biggest blessing this month. Our main contacts hooked us up with a pastor they knew of who needed help building 3 separate churches. We were to live with him and his family in his Ulaan Baatar church and help with whatever they needed.
Meet Bogi and his beautiful family. His English isn’t the greatest, but he picked up a lot of golden phrases from us like “Oh my gosh!” and “Thank you so much!” spoken like a teenage girl. Bogi is straight up hilarious. He likes to randomly put on a wig and wear blue sunglasses. He can probably play any instrument he picks up. Bogi went to Bible School in Korea and speaks Korean fluently. He looooves Korean food. We had kimchi just about every day for multiple meals. He was a huge advocate of our coffee addiction and made sure to keep us nice and caffeinated. He’s also an acupuncturist which many of us experienced first hand. Why not?
But beyond that, Bogi is one of the biggest hearted men around. He preaches on Sundays in a church that his mom lives in back in the countryside he grew up in. Then he goes and preaches at another church in the countryside right after that. He’s also building a church in the countryside in addition to finishing his church in UB and also helping another friend build a church in another countryside. His passion and drive to spread the gospel and plant churches is so inspiring. He works tirelessly to take care of his community and the people around him.
We were only with Bogi for 10 days helping him build the churches, but we felt like family almost immediately. They’re the best! I would absolutely love to come back and visit the finished churches one day. I’m so glad God redeemed our month and we got to meet one of the best guys around!
I heart Mongolia!
