Mongolia

Anyone can profess a faith in Christ. Jesus though said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14.26-27 Please PRAY God causes people in Mongolia to multiply who comply with this.

Conversion involves complete turning from all forms of paganism. There can be no hanging on to any form of it, and no mingling of it with the Bible. The nature of God is nothing like any concept of paganism. Yet various Mongolians talk of ‘syncretism’ or ‘pantheism’ in Christianity. The Bible bans any mix with paganism. Please pray for clear proclamation of the nature of God which is radically distinct.

Pray for the transcription of the Kazakh braille Bible in the UK and for the production of the Bibles in Mongolia. Pray for clear communication between the team in the UK and in Mongolia.

A Mongolian man correctly said people have no awareness of sin and believe that this life is all there is. They struggle to survive, and to get as much pleasure as possible. A Canadian man found Mongolians are nearly completely materialist with no interest in God. The Gospel goes out, but barely no interest is shown. We toil and toil but no human ability can make even one person repent. We go on in obedience and do not lose heart. PRAY that God will work in people.

Numbers of Mongolians now talk of polytheism in Mongolian society and in the churches. This is at last being brought out after 30 years. Please PRAY. There is schism in Mongolia, a mainly Buddhist country. Some call God ‘Lord of the Universe’ using no pagan terms for Christianity. There is no Bible training available for people who reject pagan terms for the Bible. On the other side missionaries and nationals promote Bibles which use Buddhist terminology for prayer and other key terms in the Bible. They call God ‘Burhan’, which since at least the ninth century and even more so today, is the word referring to Buddha or any image of Buddha. These people have Bible training and are in the majority. So far mission agencies have not told their supporters they support Buddhist terminology. They have different Bibles with names of the books, place and people all different.

Christianity Today wrote an article on Mongolian evangelicalism, quoting Mongolians who said: “The number of Christians has plateaued and even decreased”. It shared their concerns about syncretism which “is deeply engrained in Mongolian culture […] Some see Jesus as one more god to add to the list—as long as he is useful. And if God doesn’t answer a prayer, maybe a Buddhist lama or a shaman will provide better help.” PRAY

Pope Francis visited Mongolia 1-4 September. Apparently two leading Buddhist requested on social media the Pope be welcomed warmly, as “it is the same faith”. Much of evangelicalism uses Buddhist terms for God (Burhan - Mongolians use this to refer to Buddha), heaven (divaarjin – meaning nirvana) and much else. Buddhist confusion is understandable. Evangelicals participated in the Pope’s interfaith meeting. Other evangelicals refuse to use Buddhist terminology, seeing it as ‘blasphemous” and have their own Bible. PRAY

Wonsan 1903, Pyongyang 1907 - 1910, both now in N. Korea saw the open confess of sin, first by missionaries, then church elders, then others. Vast numbers of Koreans professed faith in Christ. Then similar in Manchuria under Jonathan Goforth 1911 - 1927 and in China under Marie Monsen 1927 - 1937. Never did Mongolia, Siberia or Tibet have such in 2000 years. PRAY God will move in Mongolia, especially as many thousands watch evangelistic videos by Bible Society of Mongolia on YouTube. In Mongolia many felt Christendom brought them little, so now it is hard to evangelise and seriously interested people, scarce.

Sichuan Mongols in China: About 29,000 Mongols live in the area of Youngning, and follow Tibetan Buddhism. Though Mongolian in nationality, they have their own unique language and culture, different from the rest of the Mongolian peoples. Pray for Christ to speak directly to this people in signs and visions, and for conversions to take place.

Buryat in Mongolia: There are an estimated 472,000 Buryat in Mongolia, primarily inhabiting the forested lowland regions along the Russian-Mongolian border. Buryat people are mostly Buddhist but also practice shamanism. Only two written gospels exist in the Buryat language, and there is only one known church, so there is much work to do. Pray for freedom from the alcoholism, violence and broken marriages which devastate Buryat communities.

Khalkha in Mongolia: The Khalkha Mongols number over 2.3 million within Mongolia. Many of these people are nomadic, living largely on mutton and dairy produce. They are famous for horse racing, archery, and wrestling. Pray that the Mongolian Church will grow deeper in its faith and support its own missionaries.

Kazaks in Mongolia: With a population of 125,000, Kazak form the largest muslim community in Mongolia. The complete Bible has been published in their language, but they may never have seen one. A large percentage of Kazakh yurts have satellite dishes, so pray for the TV programmes they watch to include those which explain the good news clearly.