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hristianity in Mongolia is growing apace, with a reported average of 680 people turning to Christ every month since 2000. The number of Christians in this vast and remote country between Russia and China has reached 100,000 – about 3.6 per cent of the three million population, according to Christian radio station FEBC Mongolia. It’s a phenomenal rate of growth in a country where there were only 20 Christians in the early 1990s. There was a Christian presence here in ancient times, of course. History records that in the 13th century when Genghis Khan cut a swath through Asia and Europe to set up the Mongol Empire, one of his wives was a Nestorian Christian. The Mongol ruler, despite his ruthless treatment of enemies, embraced religious freedom. The mother and wives of his grandson, Kublai Khan, were also Christians. But Christianity was suppressed during the 70 years of Communist rule when Mongolia was part of the Soviet Union. It returned in 1991 with the influx of missionaries a year after the break-up of the USSR. Radio broadcaster Batjargal Tuvshintengel, known as “Bat”,
was one of the original 20 Christians in the first modern church. Bat, who is director of FEBC Mongolia, told Eternity during a recent visit to Australia that there are now 600 churches spread across the remote reaches of this sparsely populated land. About 40 per cent of Mongolians live in urban areas, in cities such as the capital, Ulaan Baatar, or Darkhan. One third live nomadic lives as herdsmen on the Steppe which makes ministry outside of the capital difficult. On the Steppe, some of the churches meet in gers – more commonly known as yurts. These are portable, round tents covered with skins or felt that are used as dwellings by nomads. Outside the urban centres, families pack up their ger and follow their livestock from one pasture land to another. Churches that meet in gers have to cope with serving a people on the move. As the church grows, the Mongolian Union Bible Society (MUBS) is seeking our help with a project that will enable it to reach more Mongolians with God’s written word
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