Countryside Glory to God!

So to those who haven't seen our latest facebook updates, we have safely made it back from the Mongolian countryside. Not only safely but highly encouraged to see what God is doing among the nomadic Mongols! Small house churches are growing and are all crying out for continued discipleship. Our primary purpose was to join God's purpose in missions and bringing joy to his heart by teaching and encouraging the new believers with God's Word. Once again, writing everything God is doing here is a time-consuming feat, so many stories will have to come when I meet you in person, or possibly in rumors becoming reality in a short book I'd like to write when I have time. :-)

For now, I'm simply amazed at God's power to change people from the inside out. I've witnessed and heard testimony after testimony of Mongolian heart transformation that only God can do. Combine Mongolian hospitality and Christian character and you get some pretty amazing brothers and sisters in Christ. After a 16 hour train ride to southern Mongolia last week, we were kindly greeted in Zamyn-Uud and invited to their "church". It was a little concrete room about 10x16 feet full of small wooden stools. The nearby bathroom had a huge hole dug underneath because there's no septic system. Not even ventilation or a window. The kitchen was just next door. Lunch was Raman noodles and dinner was from a hunk of meat and a bag of flour for noodles. They had nothing, and yet they gave all they had! We slept on the floor, but it was thoroughly swept and lovingly mopped before we could lie there. Unfortunately, I slept next to the rickety door leading to the hole filled with sewage.

This is what they have. This is their church. Their "church" building is far from beautiful, yet God sees the hearts of their Church body as both beautiful and lovely! Last year, our Backpackers DTS walked around the town and agreed with God in prayer for the revelation of salvation in Christ alone to sweep across the local people. There was no church, and not even a single believer to count. This year, there is a strong church of 30 people or so. They have all been believers just under one year! God heard our prayers! It just shows the power of simple prayers of intercession and praying what's on God's heart and not just asking him to fulfill our personal desires! Glory to God for making all things possible in His name! Our time there was incredibly sweet as we taught on everything from receiving the Father's love to their identity in Christ alone to loving one another to studying His Word, etc. etc. The children dragged me around playing games and calling me their "Bearded Brother"! Despite the sleeping conditions and eating interesting foods, I couldn't be any happier here in Mongolia!

So that's just a fraction of one day's many stories. Throughout the whole trip we ate lots of meat, prayed for many people, ate some sheep fat, shared the Gospel with unbelievers, ate some more meat, encouraged small groups of believers, ate a whole sheep, taught many Bible studies, and finished each day by eating even more meat and fat. That's what they have in the countryside, so that's what we had. Both our translator's and Lillian's guts couldn't handle it all, so I ended up eating three times as much. We even had the best barbecued Mongolian marmot, which is known to carry the bubonic plague, but o well. The Mongolian guys we went with said I could be their son because I could eat meat like a true Mongolian. Once again, I feel right at home here.

So anyhow, Mongolia is harsh, yet God's grace has proved our outreach to be a highly productive time. After a weekend sharing children's Bible studies with art supplies we brought over, we are now in northern Mongolia in the mining town of Erdenet. So far, we have been in western Mongolia, eastern Mongolia, southern Mongolia, and now northern Mongolia. It's been crazy traveling but so encouraging meeting the few believers throughout the country. Everyone is genuinely crying out for God and His Spirit is hovering over this land. There is sooo much poverty, corruption, sickness, immorality, idolatry and death here in Mongolia. It's a land of desperation causing desperate Mongols to cry out for something more than Buddhism and Shamanism. God is answering!

From a Jubilant Soul living at Home in God's Missionary Heart for Mongolia,

Zach Hooley
hooley4christ@mac.com
www.hooley4christ.com
on Facebook & Skype
Mobile #: 208-315-4707
Backpacker's Discipleship Training School
www.ywamidaho.org