“For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.” –Colossians 2:1-5
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Mongolia was a complete mystery to me. I had this picture of Mongolia as a mountainous, rugged, snowy terrain that was nearly impossible to travel amidst. Picture where Bruce Wayne goes to get trained under the illusive Ra’s Al Ghul in Nolan’s Batman Begins and that describes the image of Mongolia in my head. I once said this to one of my close friends before the race and he just stared at me puzzled and said, “you do realize that Mongolia is a desert, right…?” Cue a quick debate about the terrain of Mongolia but as it turns out, he was absolutely right. Clearly I knew nothing of the country except that it bordered China to the north. The rest was unknown. And within the first few days, our drive from Ulaanbaatar to Bayanxongor exposed me to the most expansive, awe-inspiring amounts of nothingness I have ever and probably will ever see.
Let it be known that this is no exaggeration! There were many a moments where we saw nothing as far as the eye could see. No house nor road nor animal nor plant was sighted. There was no life around us. Just dust. In fact, the day we left Bayanxongor to go to a remote village hours away with barely a translator, I thought to myself, “if we die or disappear, how long would it take to get word back to my family…? Days? Weeks? Months? Years?” Not that it was a serious concern but it did cross my mind once or twice. Yet here I am, clearly God’s angels have been with me all year. Regardless, that describes the overwhelming desolation of Mongolia. No wonder it’s a mystery to most people in the world.
And yet, the spirit of mystery has always ignited a co-existing spirit of discovery in me. So as the culture, analogous to the terrain, was unknown to me, I was inspired to connect with the local people to discover all that Mongolia was and is. So let me tell you about Pujee.
I have to credit my connection to Pujee to my dear friend and last team leader Erica. As there were three teams together in Bayanxonger, the team leaders had the glorified job of assigning us to various ministry roles based on our preferences. And Erica, understanding my heart for tutoring and one-on-one relational connections, assigned me to tutor Pujee in English on a daily basis. Naturally, I was thrilled by this assignment and felt honored that she delegated it to me. And so began my daily meetings with Puujee.
Puujee and her husband co-pastor the church we were working with in Mongolia, a church that is immensely spirit-filled and excited by the truth of the Gospel. Even through the language barrier, I couldn’t help but exclaim a few “HALLELUJAH!” shouts during worship or breath out several soft “amens” during the many, many prayers of the congregation. My point is this; the church is on fire! And it is very apparent that Puujee and her husband are so dedicated to shepherding their congregation to raise up people to proclaim and teach truth not just within the church but also in their communities. With this said, I was honored to be given daily time to connect with a lady whose time is preciously spent between caring for her family and her congregation. And her primary reason for wanting to improve her English was so that she could better communicate within international mission purposes.
So we met every day, most days in the coffee shop at the YWAM base. Already, she had a good foundation of the English language as she studied it for some time several years ago so we primarily focused on improving her vocabulary. Since the greatest thing we had in common was our faith, we used biblical passages as outlines for our tutoring sessions. And whenever we stumbled across a verse that was difficult to explain in simplistic terms, we found the same reference in her Mongolian bible expressing the idea in her native language. After some time, we no longer focused intensely on new vocabulary but spent our time together just chatting and letting new words or phrases come about through our conversation. Towards the end of the month, she even invited me into her home to meet her family which brought me great honor.
It was hard to say goodbye to Pujee because our connection was like none other. To the outside viewer, a young American traveler may not have a lot in common with a middle-aged Mongolian mother and pastor. And yet, it was special in that we learned a lot from each other. I taught her new English words and spoke of what I had seen in so many different regions of the world, and she taught me lasting truth through the passages we read and told me of her inspiring testimony in what the Lord has brought her and her family through. It was a set-up in which I was expected to teach her and yet I feel like I learned the most in our friendship.
Puujee was just one of the many Mongols who welcomed and invited me into their lives. And even after nine months of travels prior, it was Mongolia that taught me how a smile and a humble heart go a long way to break down cultural barriers to connect with people. I learned this by the acceptance I received from our cook Unclah (whose name was hard enough to pronounce let alone know how to spell in English letters) who taught me how to roll dumplings and improve my domestic ability (for better or for worse). I felt this from my friend Chkay (again, taking a risk on that spelling…) who befriended my just by my willingness to talk to her for her English to improve. And there are many other examples I could continue with.
From these people, I came to know the Mongolian culture as one that is rich with life and joy. I wish that the rest of the world could experience it the way I was fortunate enough to. But the country will remain unknown to most of the people in this world. And that’s okay. Because it has never been unknown to God, who cherishes it as He does the rest of the countries and cultures. That’s what I was continually reminded of all month long… Lord, this place is such a mystery, but it’s not a mystery to you. And I’m inspired by the church’s desire to make the mystery of Christ known to all the people who have been a mystery to myself up until now.
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To my surprise, I learned that the Mongolian summer is vibrant with delightfully green grass and piercing blue skies. So although the whole country exhibits desert terrain when the winter comes to a close, it is full of life and color in the warmer months. Quite the bizarre yet poignant climate and terrain to say the least.
