Hours ago I arrived back to my “base” in Bayankhangor, Mongolia from a short trip to a heavily Buddhist village, where we encouraged the lone church here, who face persecution daily. This church consists of no more than 12 members and are led by a very faithful Mongolian man who came to Christ 10 years ago, after hearing from two friends about how Christ had loosed the bonds of alcoholism in their lives after accepting Christ. He had been an alcoholic since he was 19, and he too was broken free of that addiction after nearly 40 years of alcoholism. Half of the church members, we were told by this man, have still not destroyed idols and keep them in their houses, even though they are professing Christians. These Mongolians explained to us at a prayer meeting last night that some of their idols have been passed down from 10 generations past and dont want the responsibility of being the ones over the last hundreds of years in their family that destroys them.
I was reminded of the period of Kings and Judges when king after king would rise up, some of them doing righteous things but still refusing to destroy the temples and idols in the high places. In the Bible, just like we saw in this village and have seen across the world, the “high places” survived for many generations. The Bible records how various kings of Israel did not remove them—whether they were “dedicated” to the God of Israel or to other foreign gods of the land. King Hezekiah was an exception to the list of kings who neglected their duty before God (2 Kings 18:1-7). Unfortunately, his son returned to the evil traditions of the past. Today, we may not have physical shrines or idols to various gods, but we do have “high places” in our lives. You can “follow” God and strive to be a good person, but harboring traces of sin in your life can prevent you from becoming great. King Hezekiah was a great king in God’s service. His example is one to follow by eradicating those things from your life that go against God’s way. Let’s commit to tearing down our own high places!
This morning, I taught English at the local school and spoke with one student during lunch (pretty good at English) about a man named Jesus. She had never heard of him. There is still so much work to be done across the world – it’s sad meeting so many people across the world who have never told that there is a God who created them and loves them.
When we first arrived at our base in Mongolia, myself and two of my teammates, Hannah and Kirsten, and I, joined a local gym. Last week there, I met a Mongolian man who goes by “Auggie,” and he spoke surprisingly good English (rare where we are). Auggie is a Christian man and when I discovered this I immediately felt led to share my story with him and he shared a similar story; one of a radical pursuit of the Lord including an abandonment of the collection of money and things. Turns out he is the Head of Economic Development and Trade for all of Mongolia. He has invited me to work at his office, engaging with him in discussions about income generation plans for the country, and proofreading government plans for the growth of Mongolia’s economy. Although I wish Auggie and I had more time together, I am thankful for this man. It is my belief that he has a big role to play in reaching this area of Mongolia with Christ. I look forward to continue communicating with him long after I leave this country.
On April 27th I will fly to Beijing. From Beijing we will travel 20 hours by train to Lanzhou City, a very large, polluted city (consistently one of the most polluted in the world!) that is home to hundreds of thousands of Chinese Muslims. Many of the students on the college campuses are from a variety of unreached minority groups including the Hui, Dongxiang, Bonan, Amdo Tibetan, Zhouqu Tibetan and more. There are also hundreds of international students in Lanzhou including many Christians from North America and South Korea and many nominal Muslims from Central Asia and the Middle East (Kazahkstan, Pakistan, Iran, etc.). We will engage in relational friendship evangelism (in English) on and around university campuses, and pass along any new believers or seekers to our local Chinese missionary contacts to follow up with and disciple. We will also prayer walk and hopefully be meeting English speakers that will also provide other friendship evangelism opportunities or introductions. In 2007 I participated in a short-term trip to China and prayed for opportunities to return. There was something about China that drew me in. In a few days I will be returning and that’s a big answer to prayer!
In my prayers I thank God for each and every one of you. And I look forward to perhaps soon in person, thanking you for the support you have offered me this year!
Matt
