The United Methodist Church in Mongolia will celebrate the ordination of its first Local Elders in Mission, a new hospice facility, growing missions and new work with children and youth at its annual meeting in October 2022.
By Christie R. House
July 7, 2022 | ATLANTA
In Ulaanbaatar, the largest yet still remote city of Mongolia, Urje led a carefree life without much purpose. That was until she had a car accident and was confined to bed for a time. A Christian visited her and shared the gospel. He asked if she would pray the prayer of accepting Jesus. She didn’t really believe that praying would change anything, but she prayed anyway. Afterward, she found Gerelt (meaning “light”) United Methodist Church, where she attended worship services and was also hired to clean the church, since she needed a job.
Then Urje had a dream that sheep were following her. She could hear their “baa-baaing” behind her. She thought, “what a strange dream!” The dream returned to her a second time. She asked her missionary pastor, the Rev. Millie Kim, what this could mean. Pastor Kim suggested God might be calling her to ministry. Urje prayed about it and before she knew it, she was studying at Trinity Theological College in Singapore, where she received a Master of Divinity. When she returned to Mongolia, Urje was appointed to pastor Gerelt UMC, where she had first served as a church cleaner.
Another pastor, Munkhnaran, was at one time in her life considering suicide. She suffered with a chronic disease. But then, she heard about a medical mission team coming to Ulaanbaatar from the United States, and she met them for a medical check-up at Khonkhor United Methodist Church. She stayed for the worship service, and for the first time, she heard John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…” read by the local pastor, Naranbaatar.
