Amazing Grace

Carrying his batokin, the traditional two-stringed Mongolian horsehead instrument, resembling the Japanese shamisen, Altantug positioned his chair on the platform and began to play.

As has been reiterated before, in 1990 the nation of Mongolia gained its independence from Russia. At that time there were five known Christians in all of Mongolia. Three were missionaries; one was the missionaries' interpreter, the other their driver. Only two were actually Mongolians.

Today, 17 years later, by the amazing grace of God, there are reported to be over 400 churches and almost 50,000 believers scattered throughout Mongolia.

During September a group of four Mongolians—a professional music and dance team of three, and Asian Outreach Mongolia director, Badmaa; accompanied by Asian Outreach-Japan missionary, Takashi Yoshida, presented concerts in central Japan.

Speaking at the World Mission's Conference in Osaka, Badmaa shared his own personal testimony of conversion, and then went on to share what God is doing today in Mongolia.

As a young university student, Badmaa was an ardent Buddhist. His thinking was, "I am Mongolian so of course I am Buddhist." As the top student in his class, his goal was to become a university professor.

Badmaa had a friend who had become a Christian. This friend insisted on sharing Jesus with Badmaa, to the point that the two of them would often argue over what he was saying. Not being one who could easily settle for losing an argument, Badmaa bought a Bible so that he could find some hard questions to stump his friend and to prove his friend wrong. But amazingly, the friend could answer all of Badmaa's questions. Yet Badmaa's face did not admit his defeat.

One night Badmaa had a dream. In the dream he was surrounded by war. He was afraid he might die. He didn't know what would happen to him after he died. He couldn't get the dream out of his mind.

Then it happened that another friend invited Badmaa to church. He hadn't responded to his first friend's invitation to church, but with this friend, well he would go. Sure enough, it was the same church that his argument partner attended, and Badmaa found himself seated between the two. There was no way to get out.

He thought the people were very strange. Crazy would be a better description. One was raising his hands, one was crying, another was laughing. But the music was nice. Badmaa became lost in the beauty of the music and the words he was reading on the overhead screen. It gripped his heart and right there the new birth process began. Though priding himself in his high moral standards, he now realized what a proud and sinful man he actually was, and wept his way into the kingdom of God. The strength with which he had been using to pursue his own goals was now transferred to serving the Lord Jesus Christ.

After working since 1998 with Asian Outreach Mongolia, under the leadership of the then missionary director, Linda Ching, Badmaa is now the director of Asian Outreach ministries in Mongolia. Here is one of the testimonies he shared.

There was a man, in his mid-fifties, who held a high rank in the police department in the city. This man was involved in a criminal network, smuggling vodka from China to Mongolia. On one occasion he drank so much that he was poisoned and lay unconscious in a hospital bed. While he was unconscious he saw a man with a shinning light. The man said, 'Take off your necklace. Otherwise you will die." He had on his Buddhist necklace. Buddhists believe this will bring you good luck and protect you from harm.

That was such a real experience to him that he suddenly got up from his unconscious estate and removed his necklace, shouting to Jesus, "Jesus save me!" The nurses and doctors were surprised. They tried to push him down into the bed. They thought perhaps he was losing his mind. They tried to give him an injection. He was so resistant and ran quickly away from the hospital. He ran and went to his home.

His younger brother was a Christian and at that very time he was conducting a cell group meeting. The group was praying for him. Running in he said to his brother, "Please forgive me. I was giving you a hard time because you believed on Jesus." He asked about Jesus and received Him as his Savior. He quit his job and started evangelizing, and has started a church.

One of his friends was a very influential Shamanist. This man would curse people through spiritism. One day he became very sick and was dying. He called for his friend, the former police official, to visit him.

It was obvious the man was dying. For a week he had been unable to urinate. The doctors could not help. But when his friend prayed for him, he was miraculously healed! And he got saved, receiving Jesus! Then when people came to him to ask him to bring them good success, or to curse a person, he would tell them, "I can tell you a better thing. You go to my friend. He has a better thing to tell you." So he was sending all the people to the church. All these people were coming to this pastor, seeking help. They got saved and received Jesus. A church was built there. As Jesus promised, "I will build my church."

Joining the batokin playing Altantug, was Baatarjav, doing professional throat singing. Then he would begin to blow on an instrument that looked like a bamboo pole with three little holes. The herdsmen of rural Mongolia have used this traditional instrument for many hundreds of years.

Next Baatarjav would put to his mouth an instrument too small to be seen well from the audience. Plucking a wire extending from the tiny instrument, the pinging sound made every audience laugh. And then 20-year-old Tamir would portray in dance, a story from Mongolian tradition, extolling the majesty of nature.

Whereas this series of meetings was a function of the 40th anniversary celebrations of Asian Outreach, the primary purpose for bringing a group of this nature to Japan was to give the churches an opportunity to invite unsaved people, who have an interest in Mongolian culture, to come to the church to experience professional Mongolian music and dance, accompanied by a presentation of the gospel.

At Machida Christian Center this happened. Pastor Sugimoto shares his reactions:
I was shocked when I heard of the miraculous growth of the Mongolian church, brought about by the work of the Holy Spirit. We started pastoring our church in 1989, about the same time as Mongolia was opened to the gospel. But the Mongolia church has grown rapidly, while in our church we have struggled to see sustained growth. I am thankful to have learned that church growth does not depend on programs, personalities, or other attractions, but on the work of the Holy Spirit.

At the concert an unsaved musician attended. After the meeting he had good fellowship with the team and was even given the opportunity to play the batokin. I am thankful for the good witness that this was to this yet unsaved man.

Daisuke Kobayashi, a high school student from Midorino Christian Church, in Yokohama, told us:
I thank the Lord for the challenge I received from Badmaa's message and the testimonies he shared. I was particularly challenged in the area of evangelism. Badmaa, himself, was saved by the witness of friends. Then he shared the gospel with his younger brother, whose salvation opened up the way for his entire family to be saved. This testimony gave me courage for evangelism and gave me a renewed passion to see the salvation of my own family.

Also, as Badmaa shared his visions and goals, I was made aware of my own need to be trained as a disciple of the Lord. Then I can train others to also become disciples.

I am thankful for the big vision I received and for the blessing I could experience through fellowshipping with the Mongolian team. From now on I want to make the most of the opportunities given to me by God, and to experience my own personal spiritual growth through our wonderful Lord.

Finally, to me perhaps the most impressive moment was when, with the accompaniment of the traditional Mongolian instruments, the group sang in Mongolian the familiar words to the song we all love, Amazing Grace.

It is the amazing grace of the Lord who has built His church in what was less than 20 years ago considered to be the forgotten, closed to the gospel, land of Mongolia. Thank you for the part you have allowed Asian Outreach to play in bringing the saving grace of Jesus to Mongolia. And it doesn't stop there. Mongolian believers are taking their passion into Russia, into the Inner Mongolia area of China, and gearing up for going into the nations to their west, which were earlier part of the Soviet Union, and even before that, part of the former Mongolian Empire.