By God’s grace, Mongolia Mission was able to host EXPO 3004, the Korean Fair Mission team, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. During four days of health expo, July 28 to July 31, 2016, we were able to reach more than 4,000 people, including children and the elderly population. Aside from a school tobacco awareness event in 1995, this was the first big public health expo in the history of Mongolia Mission.
The Korean EXPO 3004 team organized the big event with 28 volunteers divided into the following areas: healing (head, facial, and foot massage, as well as nail art and soap making), wellness (cooking classes and food art), and fun (putting on Korean traditional costumes and playing Korean traditional games) during the expo event.
Serving the general community through health is a very important approach in reaching out to the people as the health ministry is considered the right hand to the gospel. As a former socialist country, Mongolia is not open to any religion except Buddhism as it was considered a main religion before Russian influence. Therefore, health is an effective tool to reach more souls.
Wellbeing Expo 2016 was very productive. A total of 1,450 people surveyed indicated that they were interested in joining cooking classes and other related health seminars.
The Health Ministry Department of Mongolia Mission had Newstart booths during the expo. The theme was “eight principles for a healthy life,” and simple counseling was provided for the participants. The Mongolia Mission workers with the help of the church youth worked successfully and gathered the names and phone numbers of more than a thousand people who are interested in knowing more about a healthy lifestyle.
ADRA’s AROC (Reaching Out Community) project was also involved. Mongolia Mission and ADRA are working together to reach more people through EHR (Electronic Health Records) with GTS (Global Tele-health Services) by checking blood pressure, blood sugar, body temperature, body weight, and body oxygen level for general a checkup. During the four days of the expo, AROC volunteers in two posts were able to check about 250 people. Using the latest, high tech software made the expo more attractive.
Ulaanbaatar Wellbeing EXPO 2016 was helpful not only for newcomers, but also for our church members, our youth, and volunteers who served the community during this event. Based on their report, they received more practical information about how to live healthy lives. Working as a team, the Koreans and Mongolians together learned more about a comprehensive approach to sharing the Adventist health message with our population.
By Enkhbayar Mishigdorj, MM Health Department Director