The Navigators in Mongolia

Where in Mongolia are you located?  What is the city like?   

We live in the capital, Ulaanbaatar. It is a city of about a million people. It is the key city in every way - education center, government center, population center, religious center, etc. The whole country has only about 3.5 million people and yet it is bigger than the state of Texas so it is very sparsely populated.

 

What is the spiritual climate like?  What kind of background do people have in spiritual things?

The country is historically Tibetan Buddhist. In 1920 when the communists took over the government half the male population were Buddhist Monks. Then for 70 years under Communism they tried to destroy the temples and killed many of the monks. So Buddhism has laid dormant until 1990 when the Communists left and it became a free country. Now most college age students will say, "my grandparents were Buddhists, my parents were atheists, but I don't know what I am." That has created a very receptive younger generation.  There is also a strong Shamanistic (Animistic) influence in the countryside.

Are you working at a university?  Do you work primarily with college students or other groups?

We work with whoever is interested but the ministry was started with high school students who have now finished college and started working. We still have a majority of students in our ministry. Most all of the major national universities are within a few blocks area in downtown Ulaanbaatar (UB). They are within a 15 minute walk from our apartment and The Navigator office. Because the students' relationships overlap universities and the campuses are so close together we work through relational networks rather than by individual campus teams. The Pickerings are currently the only Navigator staff in Mongolia.

 

What are the needs that short term visitors could meet?  What would they do? 

They would be mostly developing relationships with the Mongolians. Much of that is through teaching English, playing sports, hiking, site seeing, etc. There are Bible studies with the Mongolian student leaders that they can be involved with and also some evangelistic opportunities through teaching English. Plus there will be other times of learning about missions, Tibetan Buddhism, culture, history, etc.

 

Is there a stateside leader in place for the trip in 2007?  

Jack Deal plans to lead the team this summer.  Mark Stebbins is the contact at Navigator Headquarters.

 

What is Mongolia like socially and economically?

Mongolia is considered a developing country.  It is a very poor country with many people living on the street or where ever they can when it is 20 to sometimes 30 below zero in the winter.  Students who were here in the summer several years ago really struggled with the difficult environment.  There are no MacDonald’s or Pizza Hut – but there is a BD’s Mongolian BBQ.  More and more things are available.  There are coffee shops and many good eating places that serve foods you are accustomed to.  Prices are cheap by American standards, but are increasing.  It is dirty and not particularly safe (thievery).  Although UB is a big city, less than half of the people have running water. Many still live in felt lined tents or small wooden houses with only a small stove to keep them warm.  Ulaanbaatar is surrounded by mountains so there is an inversion in the winter time causing the air pollution to be very bad.  One airplane couldn’t land because they couldn’t see the runway and had to return to Korea.

 

What does evangelism look like for you?  

We are very much into the "insider" mode. Most of our contacts now come from family members, friends, classmates, workmates, etc. We have done a lot of "cold contact" evangelism but because of the almost total ignorance of God, the Bible, and Jesus Christ even if people do make a decision many times they don't understand what they have done. Therefore we try to get them into a study so that they understand what they are doing before they make a decision.

 

What is the involvement of the Mongolian believers in the ministry?  

Because Marnie and I are still in the early stages of learning the language and quite a bit older than the people in the ministry, Mongolians do almost everything. We are here to help, encourage, and coach them. Some of our oldest believers have been Christians for over 10 years but the majority of our leaders have been Christians for about five years. Our leaders group is made up of about 15 people and the average age is about 22.

 

Is there potential for any of them to be full time staff or is that not realistic?

Currently becoming staff is not an option we talk about because of the problems that it generates.  There is not enough money to support staff at present and to be reproducible we do not want to bring in funds from overseas.  Our thought is that it is best for them to be bi-vocational and do the ministry through their work, family, or other relationships. We do have some people who are teachers and they can continue to work with students as their time permits. We pay our office administrator and translator to work for me but she is the only one who gets money from outside Mongolia.

 

Is there a need for missionaries to come and help the Navigator ministry in Mongolia?

Yes, there is a big need for more laborers to help the ministry in Mongolia.  Like I mentioned there is only one staff couple at present in Mongolia and they are much older than the people they are ministering to. It would be very helpful for younger staff to come and help bridge the gap between the older staff and the young disciples.  Also there is a need for leadership for the Navigator ministry in the future.  At present there are no Mongolian Navigator couples that are potential leaders for the overall ministry so there will be a need for outside leadership for the foreseeable future. If you are interested please write to navsmongolia@gmail.com for a job description and any questions that you might have.

 

How can we be aware of the needs of the ministry in Mongolia so we can pray?

The Pickerings send out a monthly prayer email with answers to prayer and present needs. Also they often give insights into living in Mongolia and other important information. If you would like to receive these requests please contact them at navsmongolia@gmail.com.