On June 15-17, 2012, the Mongolia Mission Field (MMF) held a family retreat for its members. Over 130 people signed up to come to the Retreat held at the Elima Bayan Uul Camp out among the rolling hills about an hour’s drive from Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. The church in Mongolia is young, and hence over the last ten years, many of the young people and pastors have married and fulfilled the Bible injunction of "be fruitful and multiply." Almost half of the participants were children, and activities were planned for them as well while their parents attended seminars.
Featured guests for the weekend included Dr Willie and Elaine Oliver, Family Ministries Directors from the General Conference, together with Drs Chek Yat and Sally Phoon who do Family Ministries in the Northern Asia-Pacific Division. The Olivers focused on helping couples improve their married lives through the following seminars: Communicating with Grace; Begin with the End in Mind; and First Things First.
MMF Family Retreat Participants (*Click to see a bigger image)
The Phoons discussed the importance of family worship in the home, a safeguard for the salvation of children. Throughout the weekend, they demonstrated how family worship could be creative, interesting and thought provoking, leading the children to engage with God’s Word and learn important lessons in life at the same time. On Friday evening, the group celebrated the Holy Communion and for the first time in their lives, participated in the foot-washing ceremony as couples.
MMF Director, Elbert Kuhn and his wife Cleidi (who is the Family Ministries Director), brought the retreat to a very moving conclusion as they shared their longing for our Heavenly Home. They had just arrived from Brazil at the end of April to take up the directorship of Mongolia, leaving behind their parents and home. Since their arrival, Cleidi had worked extremely hard to organize the Retreat with the help of many colleagues and members.