Mongolia
Date Entered: 1998
Major Ministries: Church planting, medical and social outreach.
Country Profile
Population: 2,996,081
Peoples: Mongol (mostly Khalkha) 94.9%, Turkic (mostly Kazakh) 5%, other (including Chinese and Russian) 0.1% (2000).
Politics: Mixed parliamentary/presidential
Religion: Buddhist Lamaist 50%, Shamanist and Christian 6%, Muslim 4%, none 40% (2004)
Mongolia is probably best known for the marauding warrior leaders, Genghis and Kublai Khan, who dominated an empire that stretched from China to Poland in the 13th century.
The Mongol dynasties eventually lost their power and Mongolia was subjugated to Chinese rule. When China experienced revolution in 1911, Mongolia declared its independence with Russian backing. A Communist regime was established eleven years later and continued until 1990.
When the Soviet Union disbanded in 1986, Mongolia began to experience a political revolution of its own. The country held its first free elections in 1990, and a new constitution took effect in 1992.
Because of its forbidding geography, Mongolia does not attract numerous foreign residents. The fierce mountain regions where nomadic herders still live in tents are difficult to reach with supplies and medical care. Even the capital city of Ulan Batar does not have dependable electricity, water and sewer supply, and medical facilities.
Mongolian officials have indicated their desire to have “foreign experts” help with pressing social problems. Many children and youth wander the streets in the capital city. ABWE is interested in opening a children or youth center to provide needed services.
Other opportunities include operating a day care center, offering computer training classes, teaching English as a second language, and provision of medical or dental services or training.
In addition to the necessary professional skills, missionaries to Mongolia must be prepared to face difficult living situations far from social and personal amenities, to learn a difficult language, and to love a fiercely independent people who have never heard of the One who died to save them.
The Mongolian people have known the height of glory and the depth of tragedy throughout their long history. At one time the Mongol empire was the greatest the world had ever seen. Today they are an isolated and largely forgotten people. More than 70 years of Soviet influence and Communist oppression has taken its toll. However, recent political freedoms have given the people of Mongolia a renewed hope for the future. This hope includes a fresh entrance of the gospel into the lives of many Mongolians.