On November 11 to 12, 2015, a very special year-end meeting was held at the Bayan Khair Church in Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia. This time, a total of 22 people, including administrators, department directors and coordinators, local pastors and leaders as well as lay members, gathered to attend at the Mongolia Mission (MM) Annual Council 2015.
It always takes place during the last quarter of the year, and the main purpose of this meeting is praise the Lord for the great things that He has done for us through His Church. On this occasion, during the opening remarks, Dr. Jairyong Lee, the Northern Asia-Pacific Division (NSD) president, provided the spiritual inspiration by reflecting on the life of David. He encouraged the attendees to have faith and courage to keep fighting the holy battle in the name of the Lord.
“All church organizations and departments should place God’s mission as their top priority. When mission is neglected, the church entity loses the reason for its existence”, emphasized Dr. Lee. With this vision into their hearts and the motto “Mission First in All Activities to Reach the World,” the participants watched amazed the annual reports from many areas and ministries of the MM.
They were made to realize how wonderful and blessed the way of God has been in guiding His people, “with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm” (Psalms 136:12) since the earliest years of the missionary work here in Mongolia up to the present.
“The gospel spread in this country for not more than 22 years and with God’s powerful help we see how far God has led us. That is why the Annual Council is a good time to reflect on His sustaining power, rather than focusing on our feeble power”, said the chairman of the meeting, Pastor Bold Batsukh, MM executive secretary and acting president.
Pastor Bold also underscored the importance of retention and reclamation of the church members, as well as the urgent demand to introduce new methods in order to encourage the total member involvement. “We have been very active, but we need to improve our effectiveness. More innovative approaches are needed”, concluded Bold. Indeed, discipleship is the key word in achieving this end!
As a Mongolia Mission team, we truly believe that unity is indispensable for accomplishing our mission. This is imperative for us! Without it, it is impossible to receive the power of the Holy Spirit, whom according to the Bible, is the main church growth factor. Therefore, each department of MM is looking forward to working together as partners into the “battlefield,” with different ministries and approaches, but fully integrated and with the same goal.
Just as how Jesus established the Church as an agency of salvation, as His own “body” over this Earth, and this body needs to work together and be in harmony to faithfully carry out the Great Commission of our Lord, namely: to make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20)!
May all the glory and honor be to Jesus Christ, because God’s work in Mongolia is moving forward by faith. With the power of the Holy Spirit as well as with the hard work of local pastors, church leaders, missionaries and lay members, for sure we’ll be able to overcome each one of our big challenges and share the everlasting gospel with our people throughout the country. Let´s reach the world, Jesus is coming very soon! Halleluiah! Please, pray for God’s Church in Mongolia!
By Yure Gramacho, MM Communication Director