Mongolian traditional tents
Every year, before KCCC (Korea Campus Crusade for Christ) in Los Angeles sends out its many short term mission teams to their respective fields, the younger students always get to hear stories and testimonies and stories about what makes each country unique and special. For Mongolia, it was leaving the city of Ulanbaataar to take the Gospel to the nomadic people living in the countryside.
On the Monday of the third week of their mission trip, the KCCC LA and MCCC students and staff split into two groups into two vans and drove out of Ulanbaataar, the capital of Mongolia and into the plains at 9 am on the 16th of June, and drove for over 9 hours while only stopping for lunch and gas.
Their main objectives were to look for two nomadic families to spend two nights with while helping them with their work and getting to know them. On the second night, they would gather the family members together to show the Jesus Film, a movie developed by Cru in the 1970s which tells the story of the life of Jesus Christ and his ministry. This film was specifically produced for the purpose of spreading the Gospel and is still used in mission fields all over the world by Campus Crusade and other organizations.
Out of the 3 million Mongolian citizens, around 70 percent live in the capital city of Ulanbaataar, while the other 30 percent live in the countryside or other smaller cities. Most of the nomadic people maintain a great deal of Mongolian traditional ways of life such living in tents called Gerrs and horse riding.
Most Mongolians are either Buddhist or Shamanist. For people in the countryside, it is especially difficult to hear about the Gospel or the Bible. As a result, the Mongolia CCC for many years has held series of "Nomad Trips" for students and staff to take the Gospel to the nomads. According to MCCC staff, most of the nomadic population have already been reached, leaving missionaries with the task of revisiting them and following up with them.
However, there have been incidents where team members were injured during the Nomad Trips. There were cases where whole teams lost their lives while traveling, since the roads were so undeveloped. Even three years ago, a student from the LA team was wounded while riding a horse. As a result, before the 2014 KCCC LA team left the city, they had to go through a short seminar regarding safety issues and precautions.
At the same time, there were many cases where many souls were brought back to Christ. In the summer of 2013, one whole family of five became believers through the work and prayers of the KCCC LA mission team who were sent that year.
Read more of our coverage on the Mongolia mission trip:
Project Friendship Part 1
Project Friendship Part 2
Project Friendship Part 3
Project Friendship Part 4
Project Friendship Part 5
Project Friendship Part 6
Project Friendship Part 7
Project Friendship Part 8
Project Friendship Part 9
