ⓒ 2009 WATV

Ulaanbaatar is the capital city of Mongolia. Its people as well as its natural environment are all pure and clean. The members of the Ulaanbaatar Zion, who receive God’s love in their pure heart, lead beautiful souls into Heavenly Mother’s arms and are running the way of the gospel with joy and gratitude.

I give thanks and praise to God Elohim who chose and allowed me to carry out the mission of the gospel in Mongolia in this age when the prophecy, “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world, and then the end will come,” is being fulfilled.


In the Land of Clouds and Wind

When I was first sent to Mongolia, I was overwhelmed with gratitude and joy; I felt like I was dreaming. That was because I had dreamed of the overseas mission and God answered my wish. On the other hand, however, I was worried, ‘Will I be able to carry out this important mission with my weak faith?’ I was like Moses who hesitated when God commanded him to go to Egypt, saying, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.” There was nothing I could do on my own. I headed for Ulaanbaatar with a resolution to produce abundant fruit of the gospel by depending on God.

Mongolia is seven times larger than Korea, but 90% of its land is an uninhabited plain or desert. Ulaanbaatar is the most westernized city in Mongolia, but if we go out a short distance from the downtown area, we can easily see horses running in the open field and sheep grazing in the meadow. The most impressive landscape is its sky. It presents a grand sight by raging winds, making a kaleidoscope of clouds. This is the reason why Mongolia is called the “land of clouds and wind.”

Mongolia has a population of 250,000 which is small for its land, and around half of them live in Ulaanbaatar and Darkhan, the second largest city. As more and more people move from rural areas to urban regions because of the governmental policy to move people to cities, there are many modern apartments and housing estates built in the big cities. Yet many people hold on to their traditional life style; they live a nomadic life in their traditional housing Ger (mobile home) in the field, raising sheep. In most regions, people use horses or camels for their transportation.

When it comes to Mongolia, more than anything else, it is known for the extremely cold weather. Mongolia has a long and fierce cold winter. When I first arrived here, it was March but the temperature fell to -30℃ [-22℉]. The temperature dropped even lower because of the piercing wind blowing from the vast expanse of the plains, and I was frozen to the bone even though I wore several layers of clothing. However, I was thankful even for the cold because I could follow in the footsteps of Father and Mother who had gone through the suffering and sacrifice ahead of us.

It was urgent for me to learn the local language than to adapt to the cold. Like most overseas missionaries, I also had a hard time learning the Mongolian language which was unfamiliar to me. It is said that the pronunciation of the Mongol language is difficult, and it was much more difficult for me who was slow of speech and tongue. I used to be misunderstood when I talked with Mongolians because my poor pronunciation delivered a different meaning to them. However, the more difficulty I ran into, the more I prayed to God and made every effort to learn Mongolian day and night; at last, I was able to speak the language and understand the local members’ words.

Although I had problems because of the different culture, language and environment, God was always with me, encouraged me and gave me wisdom. Meanwhile, the gospel mission was being fulfilled, riding the current of the prophecy of God.


Being United in Mother’s Love

Mongolia is a Buddhist nation, which has preserved the tradition of Lamaism (Tibetan Buddhism) for hundreds of years. In the 1930s, when the Buddhism was persecuted, most monasteries were burnt to the ground and their religion was banned, but still nine people out of ten believe in Buddhism. When young people, who are less interested in religion, are questioned about their religion, many of them answer they believe in Buddhism in suit of their parents. Although various Christian organizations have flowed into Mongolia since the nation opened its gate towards foreign cultures in the 1990s, many of them still feel distant from “God” or “church.”

ⓒ 2009 WATV

In Mongolia, the land of spiritual darkness, the light of the truth was shone in 2004 for the first time; after a Mongolian member, who received the truth in Korea, came back to Ulaanbaatar, a missionary was sent here and the number of the souls who received the truth increased. The fire of the gospel which started like that soon blazed up with the grace and blessings of God, and finally Zion was built in Ulaanbaatar. As many souls were led to Zion to fill up the temple, we were granted a big and beautiful new temple before the 2007 autumn feasts started. Now, hundreds of brothers and sisters praise God Elohim with a loud voice in Zion. It is definitely God’s work to lead such Mongolian people who neither know nor seek God.

The members are diligently walking the way of the gospel, concentrating on filling up the big temple with good fruits to please God. I have come here to deliver God’s will as a missionary, but rather learn much more things from their great fervor. Zion is always crowded, thanks to the members who are full of enthusiasm; realizing the value of rewards in heaven, they are diligent in preaching the gospel to find our heavenly family members. They also make efforts to do volunteer work in Zion without wasting any time.

There is the love of Mother in the center of the hearts of the members who work for the gospel with their whole heart. They always think of Mother first, so they don’t get tired even in difficult situations. Since the moment they realized Heavenly Mother, their only wish is to meet Mother. Who can fathom their yearning for Mother? They have watched the videos so many times, but they shed tears whenever they see it. Like Daniel who prayed toward Jerusalem every day, they never stop praying to Mother, earnestly hoping that the day when the gospel work is accomplished and Mother’s suffering ends will come as soon as possible. While only pressing on toward the goal, sometimes we were not united in one mind. However, now we have achieved unity, trying to resemble Mother. I think the reason why the members can overcome any difficulty is because they love Mother.

One day, we went to Darkhan, which is located four hours away from Ulaanbaatar by car, to preach the gospel. That day, the temperature fell to -30℃ (-22℉). Moreover, the car heater broke down and my hands felt like they were frozen while I was driving. We were able to manage to stand the cold while we preached because we kept moving our bodies, but we ran into trouble on the way back. As the sun set, the temperature dropped even lower and the car windows were frozen; it blocked my view so I had to drive the car much slower than usual. The members sang New Songs and shared the fragrance of Zion to overcome the cold, but later just tried to keep up warm without saying anything.

It took eight hours to get to Zion. We were all worn out. Surprisingly, however, the next day everybody came to Zion. They might suffer from fatigue, but they went to preach the gospel as if nothing had happened; I felt their love toward Mother. God was pleased with their earnest heart and devotion, and blessed them with abundant good fruit.


Strong Fragrance of Zion Spreading All Over Ulaanbaatar

Seeing the new members, I can feel that the gospel work is being fulfilled very rapidly. That’s because the members who newly received the truth grow in faith day after day; they become a gospel worker so quickly and give off a strong fragrance of Zion by bearing abundant fruit.

Let me share with you the fragrance about Sister Dolgorsuren first. She was led to Zion around this time last year, but she was too busy with work to study the Word. Through the autumn feasts, however, she was moved by the Holy Spirit and realized the blessing of the gospel work. From that time, she started to deliver the message, saying that she became so anxious if she didn’t preach the Word. She works for a library at an army base. She preached the truth whenever she had time and bore many fruits—among them are many athletes and coaches; most athletes in Mongolia belong to the army so she had many opportunities to come across them.

Sister Battsetseg, a national marathoner, is the fruit of Sister Dolgorsuren. Listening to the truth of the new covenant in the army, Sister Battsetseg was very moved and received God Elohim. She grew in faith by studying the Word whenever she had no training. Saying that she wanted to glorify God through the marathon, Sister Battsetseg pushed on studying the Bible and her training, and accomplished her purpose at last; she won the prize with a high score at the international marathon held in China. As soon as she came back to Mongolia, she ran to Zion and gave all glory to God. She is enthusiastic in preaching the gospel, saying she wants to receive big rewards in heaven as well.

Sister Darakhanchimeg is a young adult member like the dew of the dawn, and gives vitality to the members of Zion. After realizing the blessing of bearing fruit, she said, “Every person I meet looks like fruit. I will preach the gospel hard and lead them to Zion.” She preached the gospel with great ambition and enthusiasm, and led many of her friends to Zion. And her friends also bear fruit; they compete in the good spiritual race.

As the new members are forcefully advancing toward the kingdom of heaven, the members who were asleep started to awake. The male members, who would go straight home right after the worship services, now practice preaching out loud in Zion, and also the female members, keeping up with the male members, take the lead in studying the Bible and volunteering for Church as mistresses of Zion. The young adult members are also doing their best in their given circumstances with a firm resolution to awake all the souls in Mongolia and lead them to Zion.

Being united in Mother’s love, Zion is being filled with the souls who come to God Elohim. During the last year, the male and female adult groups doubled, and many new members grew into workers and have been participating in the gospel mission. We can do nothing with our own ability, but God has accomplished everything for us. We give all glory and thanks to Father and Mother for allowing us, Their weak children, to be united and receive abundant blessings.


May the Water of Life Flow All over Mongolia

In the 13th century, Genghis Khan united Mongolian tribes and conquered East Asian countries and even Europe. The members in the Ulaanbaatar Zion wish to run the way of the gospel like Genghis Khan and shine the light of glory of God Elohim all over Mongolia.

To achieve the goal, our first priority is to raise the banner of Zion in Darkhan as soon as possible. Darkhan was once an uninhabited land, but has made a rapid growth since an industrial complex developed in the 1960s. It is a westernized city like Ulaanbaatar, whose clean natural environment is harmonized with the city. To build the truly beautiful city of God here, we went a long way and have been preaching the gospel in Darkhan since last December. Many souls have been waiting for the truth; even though we visited there only a few times, 40 people have already received the truth until now and they are graciously keeping worship services in their homes.

We have felt sorry for having only one Zion in this vast country, so we will preach the gospel with great earnestness. We are sure that the gospel in Mongolia will soon be fulfilled and we will meet Father with joy when we deliver the truth of the new covenant not only in Ulaanbaatar and Darkhan but also in all the other regions of Mongolia.

Although we, members of the Ulaanbaatar Church, are lacking in many ways and still have much to learn and realize, we will do our best to fulfill the great plan of the gospel by always inscribing Mother’s words in our minds. Father and Mother, let us faithfully carry out the mission of the watchmen of Zion by blowing the trumpet without ceasing until the water of life flows all over Mongolia and every soul comes to life!