On Sabbath afternoon, on the 27th of last month, 155 souls who accepted Christ as their personal Savior were baptized and born again as God’s children at the Suut Resort, about an hour away by car from Ulaanbaatar.
This baptismal ceremony had a significant impact upon the Adventist Church in Mongolia.
The Mongolian Mission (President: SukHee Han) had no choice but to close the church due to a strong government policy after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although they continued to worship using online media such as YouTube and ZOOM, strength was soon lost due to being unable to hold normal meetings.
It was a time when difficulties were aggravated, like when members with weak foundations to their faith turned their backs on the church and wandered away like lost sheep. As a result, the morale of the pastors and members were down and their enthusiasm for mission were cooled down. As the pandemic prolonged further, external support and help had also decreased significantly. The Mongolian Mission was placed in the middle of a crisis where they had to find a way for the church to survive and to find the direction in which they were to be headed.
In the midst of this situation, Pastor SukHee Han, Former director of the His Hands Missionary Movement and assistant to the president at the Northern Asia-Pacific Division, was elected as the new president of the Mongolian Mission last April, 2021. Through this, there has been a revival. Pastor Han dispatched competent and capable pastors with a missionary passion to the local church in order to generate a new wind of the Holy Spirit and spiritual revival in the stagnant local church.
In the midst of laying the foundation for such a resurgence, the Mongolian government has finally loosened its social regulation imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic starting from March. The doors of the churches that had been closed were also wide open. However, the churches that had not been able to meet face-to-face for a long time needed an opportunity to gather and show cohesion. It so happened that the year 2022 was the 30th anniversary of the preaching of the Advent message in Mongolia.
In commemoration of this, all churches across the country were encouraged to hold evangelistic meetings. This is the first time that simultaneous evangelism meetings have been held throughout Mongolia. From the 20th to the 26th of last month, the evangelistic meetings were held in 21 different places, including Ulaanbaatar and Darkhang. Available pastors and missionaries participated as lecturers. Lay organizations such as the Korean Federation of Women’s Associations and the Foot Massage team also formed volunteer groups to help.
155 people were baptized as a conclusion of the evangelistic meetings. Since the mission activities were resumed in March, it was nearly three times the number of people who were baptized prior to the simultaneous evangelistic meetings. As a of August 2022, there has been a count of 214 baptisms. It is a seven-fold increase compared to the average of 30 baptisms per year during the pandemic.
Around 500 people who attended the meetings gave their congratulations to those who were baptized. Evangelists who studied the Bible together and shared the love of Jesus also took commemorative photos and welcomed those who became companions on the journey to heaven.
Pastor Han SukHee, the president of the Mongolian Mission, claimed, “We are pretty close to our goal of 300 baptisms. I will do my best to achieve the goal for the rest of the period.” He raised his voice and said, “Compared to the powerful Chinggis Khaan, whom you take deep pride in, let’s go out into the world with Christ as our King, who is much more powerful.”
The sunrays for saving souls are blazing again on the “frozen land” of Mongolia.