Mongolia (MNN) — Mongolian
Cultural Week opened at the same time China unveiled its grandeur in the World
Expo kickoff this week. The showcase
reveals a picture of a hospitable nomadic people.
It is common in
Mongolia to see several generations of families living together in a khot
ail ("group of tents") and sharing tasks. In this manner, people pool their strength for
herding and other social functions.
A larger neighborhood group called neg
nutgiinhan ("people of one place") generally consists of four to
twenty khot ails that frequently move and work together.
With these groups of people living and
working together, the largest share of the family wealth would go to the
youngest son, ensuring the healthiest means of caring for the elderly.
In that context, the Gospel made sense to the Mongolians, and they responded. Chinzorig Jigjidsuren became the founding
overseer of Emanuel Fellowship in Ulan Baatar, a partner with Asian Access. The church has been seeing healthy growth
under careful cultivation.
Then, Asian Access president Joe Handley
says Jigjidsuren had an epiphany and realized that "he had
spent too much time focusing on the church and not enough time on discipling
his own family and discipling leaders to follow Christ."
This realization prompted Jigjidsuren to
follow a more Mongolian approach to discipleship. It was a radical decision to follow
something that wasn't carrying a label like purpose driven, missional, organic, or emerging.
It boiled down to the context of
the family and Jigjidsuren's heritage. "He's
setting that as a model for his entire congregation. He wants each person
within the church to become kind of a spiritual father over their own family or
small group."
This approach illustrates the
simplicity of the Gospel. It
underscores A2's commitment to seeing a disciple-making movement transform the
world.
Handley says, "Pray that we
would be led to the right countries, that God would lead us to the right people
to lead the movement in each country, and that God would provide the right
resources to make it happen." Click
here if you want to help them.
