“praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” – Acts 2:46

Up until the last part of the twentieth century, there were few if any known Christians in Mongolia.

In 1980 a young Mongolian named Yi (Mongolians traditionally have only one name) went to study at a university in Moscow. Yi received an English-language Bible from a fellow student from Tanzania. “You can study English with it,” the Tanzanian student explained. Yi then studied the Word for seven years, returning to Mongolia and rising to a top English interpreter position with the government.

In 1987 Yi was assigned to an American big-game tourist group, which had come to Mongolia to hunt bear. Doug Coe, a Christian, was one of the tourists. During the hunting trip Yi found the opportunity to secretly ask Doug, “Do you know God?” Doug nodded. Three hours later, Yi was able to whisper, “What is his name?”

“Jesus Christ.”

In bits and pieces of stolen conversations throughout the rest of the big-game hunt, Doug was able to introduce Yi to Jesus. “Don’t worry,” he told Yi. “I know it’s illegal to be a Christian, and it will be hard for you. But friends will come.” Then the foreign hunters left Mongolia. Three years later Yi was assigned to another foreign tour group-a Christian Native American cowboy team. So Yi translated their testimonies on national TV and interpreted their explanation of the Gospel to press groups and officials. Several Mongolians responded to the team’s challenge to receive Christ, and Yi spent hours and hours talking to the team about the Word. Then they too had to leave Mongolia.

Yi began discipling those who’d come to Christ through the cowboys’ ministry. Then another tour group came, a few members of which happened to be pastors. The ministers, after days of intense discipling, realized the depth of Yi’s Bible knowledge and the unusual bursts of his spiritual insights. So they all gathered in a hotel room in Ulaan Bataar one very cold day in November 1990 and ordained Yi as an elder of the first Mongolian church in the history of the world!

Sometimes we may feel isolated as Christians. But God is faithful and He will add to our numbers. Today in prayer, thank the Lord for the fellowship of Christians that you enjoy and pray that He will add other believers in your life.

“The church exploded in growth because the people loved being together. When you get a group of people together who genuinely believe something and who really enjoy each other, it’s such a contagious atmosphere that you can’t keep people away from it.” – Bob Russell

God’s Word: “But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.” – Acts 4:4

By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2005, Devotional E-Mail DEVOTIONS IN ACTS pkennedy6@yahoo.com