God led me back to Florida to help staff a mission trip this summer with Youth With A Mission – or YWAM – in Orlando. Last year, I went with YWAM to Sweden and Latvia and a few years ago, I went with the group to Guadalajara, Mexico.
This past summer, I helped lead a group of students from all over Americaas well as to the “Land of Blue Sky,” Mongolia.
Mongolia is a country positioned between Russia and China. That geographic position has defined the country for the past 100 years, as it was subject to Communism for the majority of the 20th century. Mongolia regained its democratic government at the fall of the Soviet Union, making it one of the youngest and most fragile democracies in the world today. A quarter of the country’s population is still nomadic, which means they still pack their camels and literally travel to green pastures around three times a year.
The main religion of this country is Tibetan Buddhism, a Mahayana thread of the religion which worships Buddha as God. Other significant percentages of the population are also shamanistic and atheist – a relic from the Westernized and anti-religious Soviet days.
Our team went to an area of Mongolia that is about 5 hours Northwest of Mongolia’s capital of Ulaanbaatar, close to the Russian border, called Erdenet. There, the students performed dramas and dances in the streets and villages, followed by friendship evangelism.
Tony Kim
Tokim25@gmail.com
