 
It was a great time to be with the Ulaanbaator Church of Christ for their 10th Anniversary Jubilee last week. Jane and I were invited to be their main speakers for the celebration that took place the second weekend of July.
Besides riding Mongolian horses on the vast grassland outside the city and drinking fermented horse milk, we were inspired by the friendliness of the people and the warmth of the disciples in Ulaanbaator, a city that boasts over one million people.
The Ulaanbaator church was planted by the Hong Kong Church of Christ in 1995. A few years later, sensing the on-going hostility the Mongolians had for Chinese in general, the discipling responsibility was given over to the Russian disciples. Two years ago, this same responsibility was handed to the Korean disciples. At that time, the Seoul Church of Christ sent over about 10 Korean brothers and sisters, but more than a year later, due to the needs of jobs or schools, there is only one Korean brother remaining in Ulaanbaator. Needless to say, the church went through quite a few leadership changes.
Bayantur, who leads the Ulaanbaator church now, was invited to church in 1996, by his best friend, Bayaraa, who was baptized by the Hong Kong brothers. Bayaraa and Bayantur used to get drunk and get into many fights. After they became disciples, they grew in spirit and maturity. Bayaraa then went on to study in St. Petersburg and met his wife at the church there. They have since moved back to Mongolia. However, due to his work contract, Bayaraa has to remain in a city that is 400 km east of Ulaanbaator for at least 4 more years. Since their return from St. Petersburg, Bayaraa has already baptized his father! Please pray for him, as he works out ways to get out of the contract and move to Ulaanbaator to be with the church. I am sure the church will benefit greatly from their faith.
Bayantur and his wife, Sina, are some of the most humble and serving leaders I have met. Under their leadership, the church has grown from 17 to 23 in the last year! Although they are small in number, but they are already praying about either sending a mission team to the second largest city in Mongolia, or a joint-mission team to China𠏋 Inner Mongolia𠏋 Hohhot.
I can㦙 wait to see the day when the Mongolian Christian Jubilee will be held on the vast open grassland of the countryside. Numerous Ger tents will see the disciples hanging around for fellowship, and even star-gazing, which would most likely happen well after mid-night at a place when the sun sets at 10:30pm�
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