by Ariel Ceballos, Director SIM Mongolia

Have you ever tried travelling without a road or a road map? That was my experience recently. With our truck packed full of books, Bible leaflets, and food to share with the needy, four Bible students and I set out to visit a town in the Gobi Desert. We were going to do evangelism and a church-planting practicum.

Despite a flat tyre and the water radiator leaking, we arrived safely after 12 hours of travel. We were given a place to stay at the students’ dorm, because it was a holiday for the local university. Tired from the long trip, most of us immediately fell asleep.

Fruitful ministry
In the morning, we went to meet the government leaders of the town. We shared our purpose for coming, and showed the letter from our school and our programme during our ten-day stay. She approved it, and informed the police of our activities. We went from *ger to ger, inviting people in the village to attend our English and Korean language classes.

About 45 students came to the classes. We came prepared to teach Basic English courses, but some students were more advanced. I volunteered to teach English Conversation and Grammar. At the end of 10 days, all the classes did a game competition that everyone enjoyed.

At an evangelistic meeting, many chose to follow Christ. On Sunday, around 50 people came back and attended the first worship service. We praised God for his marvellous work. There were already some believers living there, who had heard the gospel when they lived in the capital city. We encouraged them to take up the responsibility of having a weekly worship service. Please pray that a local church will eventually be established there.

Snowstorm!
We anticipated a dust storm, but on our last 3 days, there was a heavy snowstorm that caught people unprepared. The villagers said they had not had a snowstorm like that in more than 20 years.

The journey back to Ulaan Baatar included many faith-stretching moments. The dusty roads we had travelled before were now covered with snow. There was no clear road. Our truck sunk into the deep snow many times and we had to shovel and push it to a higher level so we could continue. I prayed, ‘Lord, lead and guide us till we reach our homes safely’. Later, a Russian jeep came along—and we were able to follow its tracks out.

We reached home at almost two o’clock in the morning, thankful for a fruitful mission trip and for God’s protection in the midst of a dangerous journey.

Pray
• thanking God for his work and his protection
• for a church to be established in this small town
• for God to continue preparing these Bible students for their future ministries

Go
God can use you in Mongolia! If you are interested in finding out about the opportunities there, please fill out a preliminary information form and return it to us.

*ger: a tent-like structure, the traditional dwelling place of Mongolian nomads