Why Mongolia?

This February I will be embarking on the adventure of a lifetime!  I will be traveling to the country of Mongolia where I will be serving with a team of German missionaries.

When I tell people where I am going, they have questions.  I hope I can answer a few of them in this blog.  

Where is Mongolia?

"Mongolia.  That's in Africa, right?"  "So, you're going to South America?"  "That's in Asia.  It's probably really hot there."

Actual glacier.  They have glaciers!

These are some of the responses I've gotten when I tell people where I'm going.  They make me smile.  I was never very good at geography either.  I probably would have said something similar a few months ago.

Mongolia is located between China and Russia.  Think Siberia.  It is best known for Genghis Khan, wild horses, two-hump camels, yurts, and extremely cold weather.


Why Mongolia?

No, I'm not going for the glaciers, though they are pretty neat.

It is difficult to explain why Mongolia.  Before this past summer, I could not have placed it on a map.  I knew nothing about the people or their history and I still have much to learn.  The simple answer is that I feel God is calling me to Mongolia.  At the end of the day, there is no other answer.  If I was not confident of that one thing, I would not be going.

God speaks to us.  Any Christian can identify with that. But to hear something specific and personal, such as a call to go to another nation, raises questions.  I know many people who have had beautiful, tangible experiences hearing from God.  I also know many who haven't.  I want to share my experience because I believe God is speaking and no one who is called by Him has a small destiny.

Last June I had a dream that I went to Mongolia.  That is not mysterious or unusual.  I have lots of dreams.  I have lots of dreams about going to different countries.  But it put a thought in my mind that otherwise I would not have explored.  Months later I was participating in an evangelism intensive called Messenger Bootcamp.  The course concluded with a week-long outreach to New York City.  Busy, congested, beautiful New York.  As much as I wanted to want to go to New York, I did not have any desire.  As I prayed about the outreach, my thoughts would wander off to the sparsely-populated, faraway land of Mongolia.  Unlike with New York, my prayers for Mongolia were accompanied by a strong impression that I was supposed to go.  Often that is how we hear from the Lord: a still small voice or an impression of what to do next.  Finally, one day I flat out asked God if He wanted me to go to Mongolia.  I got in my car and my CD player skipped to disc 2 of a talk given by Cindy Jacobs.  The strange thing was I hadn't been listening to my CD player.  In the middle of her sermon she was speaking about Mongolia!  This was immediately followed by several unsolicited conversations about Mongolia.  God often speaks to us through "coincidences" and by now He was making things pretty clear.  I decided to take a step forward and see what happened.  Things progressed quickly.  Details fell into place with little effort on my part.  Evidently I had pressed the big red button on Mongolia and it was all-systems-go!

Do you know what you're doing?

Not really.  But I like surprises, don't you?

Are you going in a group or by yourself?

I am traveling by myself and meeting up with a ministry called HELP International.  They have been operating in Mongolia for more than twenty years.  HELP has a number of different initiatives that serve the community while spreading the Gospel.  I will be coming alongside their team and serving in any way that I can.

How can I be praying for you?

So nice of you to ask!

Please pray for:

• Details and planning.  Pray that everything will be in order for while I am away.  February is coming fast and I am increasingly aware of how little time I have before I leave!
• Language barriers.  Pray I will be able to communicate well with the Mongolians and my German team and that I will be able to learn some of the language.
• Mongolia and HELP International.
• Finances.  I need to raise about $5000 to cover my expenses.  If you are interested in supporting me financially, you can do so here.