Mongolia's Church Growing

3 July 2007

In May 2007, International Director Malcolm McGregor, along with his wife Liz, visited SIM ministries in several Asian countries. One of the places that he visited was Mongolia, and in this report, he shares his thoughts on the country and the remarkable growth of the church:

Mongolia is a nation emerging from the influence of Russian Marxism, which shaped the country until the end of the 20th Century. As an architect, I found it a very depressing place, where the buildings are totally functional, utilitarian, and lack any creativity—it has the feeling of a Russian Gulag in the 1970s.

Genesis tells us that we are created in God’s image. At the very heart of God’s image is his ability to create. This creative energy in God is also part of our very being. When you take God out of a society you are also at risk of taking out of the people the creative energy he has placed in them—a sobering thought on Marxism. Thankfully the new buildings that are beginning to emerge in Ulaanbaatar show another side of the creative energy of the nation.

The Beauty of the Gospel in the Gobi Desert




	A women's Bible study meets. Rene Palacio photo

One of the most challenging locations in Mongolia to work in is the Gobi Desert. Hee Chul, and his wife, Young Ran, work in a small town in the middle of the Gobi. Liz and I have been in many challenging ministry settings around the world, but this location must rank among the most difficult.

There is no vegetation; no green, no flowers—only sand. The living conditions are very poor and basic, what you can get to eat is very limited, and a sense of depression overwhelms you as people seek to go about their life in this harsh environment. We got caught in a sandstorm where the visibility was reduced to about six metres (20 feet)—the darkness was quite overwhelming.

Yet in this little town, a community of God’s people is being established and built up. In an environment of hopelessness, the Gospel of faith, hope, and love is making an impact. It was a very special privilege to see this and to meet people whose lives have been transformed by the Good News.

Explosive Growth of Christianity

Sixteen years ago there were four Christians in Mongolia. The Mongolia Evangelical Alliance (MEA) estimates that there are now around 40,000. The church has grown 10,000 times in the past 16 years—this rate of growth is equivalent to 1,000,000% over this period. These are staggering statistics for which to praise God.

The MEA has a wonderful vision and strategy for the future of the church in Mongolia—to see 10% of the population come to faith in Jesus Christ by the year 2020.

May the Lord continue to help SIM play its part in this nation of 2.5 million people.

Go

SIM partners with JCS International in Mongolia. There are many ways that God can use your skills there. See the Mongolia opportunities list

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Resources

Log and debug messages

#	type	message
1	Context	initialization
2	Controller	initialization
3	Routing	match route [content] "/content/:stripped_title"
4	Request	request parameters array ( 'stripped_title' => 'mongolia-s-church-growing', 'module' => 'content', 'action' => 'show',)
5	Controller	dispatch request
6	Filter	executing filter "sfRenderingFilter"
7	Filter	executing filter "sfWebDebugFilter"
8	Filter	executing filter "sfCommonFilter"
9	Filter	executing filter "sfFlashFilter"
10	Filter	executing filter "sfExecutionFilter"
11	Action	call "contentActions->executeShow()"
12	Creole	connect(): DSN: array ( 'compat_assoc_lower' => '**', 'compat_rtrim_string' => '', 'database' => '', 'encoding' => '', 'hostspec' => '', 'password' => '', 'persistent' => '', 'phptype' => '', 'port' => '', 'protocol' => '', 'socket' => '', 'username' => '**', ), FLAGS: 0
13	Creole	prepareStatement(): SELECT content.ID, content.TITLE, content.STRIPPED_TITLE, content.BYLINE, content.SUMMARY, content.BODY, content.SIDEBAR, content.CATEGORY_ID, content.WEBREGION_ID, content.COUNTRY_CODE, content.CREATED_ON, content.UPDATED_ON, content.DATE_START, content.DATE_END, content.DATE_DISPLAY, content.TAGS, content.COMMENTS, content.IS_APPROVED, content.IS_PUBLISHED, content.IS_DELETED, content.LISTING_ORDER, content.PROJECT_ID, content.BANNER_URL, content.BANNER_CAPTION FROM content WHERE content.STRIPPED_TITLE=?
14	Creole	applyLimit(): SELECT content.ID, content.TITLE, content.STRIPPED_TITLE, content.BYLINE, content.SUMMARY, content.BODY, content.SIDEBAR, content.CATEGORY_ID, content.WEBREGION_ID, content.COUNTRY_CODE, content.CREATED_ON, content.UPDATED_ON, content.DATE_START, content.DATE_END, content.DATE_DISPLAY, content.TAGS, content.COMMENTS, content.IS_APPROVED, content.IS_PUBLISHED, content.IS_DELETED, content.LISTING_ORDER, content.PROJECT_ID, content.BANNER_URL, content.BANNER_CAPTION FROM content WHERE content.STRIPPED_TITLE='mongolia-s-church-growing', offset: 0, limit: 1
15	Creole	executeQuery(): [0.99 ms] SELECT content.ID, content.TITLE, content.STRIPPED_TITLE, content.BYLINE, content.SUMMARY, content.BODY, content.SIDEBAR, content.CATEGORY_ID, content.WEBREGION_ID, content.COUNTRY_CODE, content.CREATED_ON, content.UPDATED_ON, content.DATE_START, content.DATE_END, content.DATE_DISPLAY, content.TAGS, content.COMMENTS, content.IS_APPROVED, content.IS_PUBLISHED, content.IS_DELETED, content.LISTING_ORDER, content.PROJECT_ID, content.BANNER_URL, content.BANNER_CAPTION FROM content WHERE content.STRIPPED_TITLE='mongolia-s-church-growing' LIMIT 1
16	Creole	prepareStatement(): SELECT country.CODE, country.TITLE, country.FULLTITLE, country.SUMMARY, country.WEBSITE, country.BODY, country.SIDEBAR, country.PRAYER_REQUEST, country.REGION_CODE, country.OFFICE_ID, country.BANNER_URL FROM country WHERE country.CODE=?
17	Creole	executeQuery(): [-2538.85 ms] SELECT country.CODE, country.TITLE, country.FULLTITLE, country.SUMMARY, country.WEBSITE, country.BODY, country.SIDEBAR, country.PRAYER_REQUEST, country.REGION_CODE, country.OFFICE_ID, country.BANNER_URL FROM country WHERE country.CODE='MN'
18	Creole	prepareStatement(): SELECT region.CODE, region.TITLE, region.WEBREGION_ID FROM region WHERE region.CODE=?
19	Creole	executeQuery(): [0.00 ms] SELECT region.CODE, region.TITLE, region.WEBREGION_ID FROM region WHERE region.CODE='AS'
20	Creole	prepareStatement(): SELECT webregion.ID, webregion.TITLE, webregion.STRIPPED_TITLE, webregion.SUMMARY, webregion.BODY, webregion.SIDEBAR, webregion.BANNER_URL FROM webregion WHERE webregion.ID=?
21	Creole	executeQuery(): [0.00 ms] SELECT webregion.ID, webregion.TITLE, webregion.STRIPPED_TITLE, webregion.SUMMARY, webregion.BODY, webregion.SIDEBAR, webregion.BANNER_URL FROM webregion WHERE webregion.ID=3
22	View	initialize view for "content/show"
23	View	render "sf_app_dir\modules/content/templates/showSuccess.php"
24	View	initialize view for "global/_banner"
25	View	render "sf_app_dir\templates/_banner.php"
26	PartialHelper	call "hppage->executePrayer()"
27	Creole	prepareStatement(): SELECT hppagecontent.HPPAGE_ID, hppagecontent.HPCONTENT_ID, hpcontent.ID, hpcontent.HPSLOT_ID, hpcontent.TITLE, hpcontent.SUMMARY, hpcontent.IMAGE, hpcontent.LINK, hpcontent.CREATED_ON, hpcontent.LISTING_ORDER FROM hppagecontent, hpcontent WHERE hpcontent.HPSLOT_ID=? AND hppagecontent.HPCONTENT_ID=hpcontent.ID ORDER BY hpcontent.LISTING_ORDER ASC
28	Creole	executeQuery(): [-2549.17 ms] SELECT hppagecontent.HPPAGE_ID, hppagecontent.HPCONTENT_ID, hpcontent.ID, hpcontent.HPSLOT_ID, hpcontent.TITLE, hpcontent.SUMMARY, hpcontent.IMAGE, hpcontent.LINK, hpcontent.CREATED_ON, hpcontent.LISTING_ORDER FROM hppagecontent, hpcontent WHERE hpcontent.HPSLOT_ID=5 AND hppagecontent.HPCONTENT_ID=hpcontent.ID ORDER BY hpcontent.LISTING_ORDER ASC
29	View	initialize view for "hppage/_prayer"
30	View	render "sf_app_dir\modules/hppage/templates/_prayer.php"
31	View	initialize view for "global/_languages"
32	View	render "sf_app_dir\templates/_languages.php"
33	View	initialize view for "global/_navigation"
34	View	render "sf_app_dir\templates/_navigation.php"
35	View	initialize view for "country/_asia-pacific"
36	View	render "sf_app_dir\modules/country/templates/_asia-pacific.php"
37	View	initialize view for "global/_donate-resources-email"
38	View	render "sf_app_dir\templates/_donate-resources-email.php"
39	View	decorate content with "sf_app_dir\templates/layout.php"
40	View	render "sf_app_dir\templates/layout.php"

Configuration and request variables

debug
xdebug
logging
cache
eaccelerator
apc
xcache
compression
syck

Request

---
parameterHolder: 
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attributeHolder: 
  symfony/default:

Response

---
cookies: 
httpHeaders: 
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    /sf/sf_web_debug/js/main: /sf/sf_web_debug/js/main
  helper/asset/auto/meta: 
    language: en
    robots: index, follow
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  helper/asset/auto/stylesheet: 
    /sf/sf_web_debug/css/main: 
    red: 
    site: 
  symfony/response/http/headers: 
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  symfony/view/asset: 
    javascripts_included: 
    stylesheets_included:

Settings

---
mod_content_enabled: 1
mod_content_is_internal: 
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mod_hppage_enabled: 1
mod_hppage_is_internal: 
mod_hppage_view_class: sfPHP
sf_admin_web_dir: /sf/sf_admin
sf_app: frontend
sf_app_config_dir: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\apps\frontend\config
sf_app_config_dir_name: config
sf_app_dir: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\apps\frontend
sf_app_i18n_dir: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\apps\frontend\i18n
sf_app_i18n_dir_name: i18n
sf_app_lib_dir: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\apps\frontend\lib
sf_app_lib_dir_name: lib
sf_app_module_action_dir_name: actions
sf_app_module_config_dir_name: config
sf_app_module_dir: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\apps\frontend\modules
sf_app_module_dir_name: modules
sf_app_module_i18n_dir_name: i18n
sf_app_module_lib_dir_name: lib
sf_app_module_template_dir_name: templates
sf_app_module_validate_dir_name: validate
sf_app_module_view_dir_name: views
sf_app_template_dir: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\apps\frontend\templates
sf_app_template_dir_name: templates
sf_apps_dir_name: apps
sf_autoloading_functions: 
sf_available: 1
sf_base_cache_dir: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\cache\frontend
sf_bin_dir: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\batch
sf_bin_dir_name: batch
sf_cache: 
sf_cache_dir: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\cache\frontend\dev
sf_cache_dir_name: cache
sf_calendar_web_dir: /sf/calendar
sf_charset: utf-8
sf_check_lock: 
sf_check_symfony_version: 
sf_compressed: 
sf_config_cache_dir: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\cache\frontend\dev\config
sf_config_dir: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\config
sf_config_dir_name: config
sf_data_dir: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\data
sf_data_dir_name: data
sf_debug: 1
sf_default_action: index
sf_default_module: default
sf_doc_dir: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\data\doc
sf_doc_dir_name: doc
sf_enabled_modules: 
  - default
sf_environment: dev
sf_error_404_action: error404
sf_error_404_module: default
sf_error_reporting: 4095
sf_escaping_method: ESC_ENTITIES
sf_escaping_strategy: bc
sf_etag: 
sf_i18n: 
sf_i18n_cache_dir: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\cache\frontend\dev\i18n
sf_lib_dir: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\lib
sf_lib_dir_name: lib
sf_log_dir: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\log
sf_log_dir_name: log
sf_logging_enabled: 1
sf_logging_history: 10
sf_logging_level: debug
sf_logging_period: 7
sf_logging_purge: 1
sf_logging_rotate: 
sf_login_action: login
sf_login_module: default
sf_max_forwards: 5
sf_model_dir_name: model
sf_model_lib_dir: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\lib\model
sf_module_cache_dir: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\cache\frontend\dev\modules
sf_module_disabled_action: disabled
sf_module_disabled_module: default
sf_no_script_name: 
sf_orm: propel
sf_path_info_array: SERVER
sf_path_info_key: PATH_INFO
sf_plugins_dir: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\plugins
sf_plugins_dir_name: plugins
sf_prototype_web_dir: /sf/prototype
sf_rich_text_js_dir: js/tiny_mce
sf_root_cache_dir: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\cache
sf_root_dir: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16
sf_routing_defaults: 
  sf_culture: en
sf_secure_action: secure
sf_secure_module: default
sf_standard_helpers: 
  - Partial
  - Cache
  - Form
sf_strip_comments: 1
sf_suffix: .
sf_symfony_data_dir: C:\PHP\pear\data/symfony
sf_symfony_lib_dir: C:\PHP\pear/symfony
sf_template_cache_dir: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\cache\frontend\dev\template
sf_test: 
sf_test_cache_dir: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\cache\frontend\dev\test
sf_test_dir: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\test
sf_test_dir_name: test
sf_timeout: 1800
sf_timer_start: 1258796861.1211
sf_unavailable_action: unavailable
sf_unavailable_module: default
sf_upload_dir: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\web\uploads
sf_upload_dir_name: uploads
sf_url_format: PATH
sf_use_database: 1
sf_use_flash: 1
sf_use_process_cache: 1
sf_use_security: 1
sf_validation_error_class: form_error
sf_validation_error_id_prefix: error_for_
sf_validation_error_prefix:  &darr;&nbsp;
sf_validation_error_suffix:  &nbsp;&darr;
sf_web_debug: 1
sf_web_debug_web_dir: /sf/sf_web_debug
sf_web_dir: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\web
sf_web_dir_name: web

Globals

---
cookie: 
  symfony: n7ilfchf6veboa11b0b6bv87b3
env: 
files: 
get: 
post: 
server: 
  ALL_HTTP: |
    HTTP_CACHE_CONTROL:no-cache
    HTTP_CONNECTION:close
    HTTP_PRAGMA:no-cache
    HTTP_ACCEPT:text/xml,application/xhtml+xml,text/html;q=0.9,text/plain;q=0.8,image/png,*/*;q=0.5
    HTTP_ACCEPT_CHARSET:ISO-8859-1,utf-8;q=0.7,*;q=0.7
    HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING:gzip
    HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE:en-us,en;q=0.5
    HTTP_COOKIE:symfony=n7ilfchf6veboa11b0b6bv87b3
    HTTP_HOST:sim.org
    HTTP_USER_AGENT:CCBot/1.0 (+http://www.commoncrawl.org/bot.html)
    HTTP_X_CC_ID:ccc02-01
    
  APPL_MD_PATH: /LM/w3svc/1384502356/root
  APPL_PHYSICAL_PATH: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\web\
  AUTH_PASSWORD: 
  AUTH_TYPE: 
  AUTH_USER: 
  CONTENT_LENGTH: 0
  CONTENT_TYPE: 
  DOCUMENT_ROOT: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\web
  HTTPS: off
  HTTP_ACCEPT: text/xml,application/xhtml+xml,text/html;q=0.9,text/plain;q=0.8,image/png,*/*;q=0.5
  HTTP_ACCEPT_CHARSET: ISO-8859-1,utf-8;q=0.7,*;q=0.7
  HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING: gzip
  HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE: en-us,en;q=0.5
  HTTP_CACHE_CONTROL: no-cache
  HTTP_CONNECTION: close
  HTTP_COOKIE: symfony=n7ilfchf6veboa11b0b6bv87b3
  HTTP_HOST: sim.org
  HTTP_PRAGMA: no-cache
  HTTP_USER_AGENT: CCBot/1.0 (+http://www.commoncrawl.org/bot.html)
  HTTP_X_CC_ID: ccc02-01
  INSTANCE_ID: 1384502356
  INSTANCE_META_PATH: /LM/W3SVC/1384502356
  LOGON_USER: 
  ORIG_PATH_INFO: /frontend_dev.php/content/mongolia-s-church-growing
  ORIG_PATH_TRANSLATED: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\web\frontend_dev.php\content\mongolia-s-church-growing
  PATH_INFO: /content/mongolia-s-church-growing
  PATH_TRANSLATED: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\web\content\mongolia-s-church-growing
  PHP_SELF: /frontend_dev.php
  QUERY_STRING: 
  REMOTE_ADDR: 38.107.191.93
  REMOTE_HOST: 38.107.191.93
  REMOTE_USER: 
  REQUEST_METHOD: GET
  REQUEST_TIME: 1258796861
  REQUEST_URI: /frontend_dev.php/content/mongolia-s-church-growing
  SCRIPT_FILENAME: D:\www\LocalUser\domain16\web\frontend_dev.php
  SCRIPT_NAME: /frontend_dev.php
  SERVER_NAME: sim.org
  SERVER_PORT: 80
  SERVER_PROTOCOL: HTTP/1.1
  SERVER_SOFTWARE: Microsoft-IIS/6.0
  URL: /frontend_dev.php/content/mongolia-s-church-growing
session: 
  symfony/user/sfUser/attributes: 
  symfony/user/sfUser/authenticated: 
  symfony/user/sfUser/credentials: 
  symfony/user/sfUser/culture: en
  symfony/user/sfUser/lastRequest: 1258796850

Php

---
php: 5.2.9-1
os: Windows NT U15301843 5.2 build 3790
extensions: 
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  - com_dotnet
  - ctype
  - session
  - filter
  - ftp
  - hash
  - iconv
  - json
  - odbc
  - pcre
  - Reflection
  - date
  - libxml
  - standard
  - tokenizer
  - zlib
  - SimpleXML
  - dom
  - SPL
  - wddx
  - xml
  - xmlreader
  - xmlwriter
  - ISAPI
  - curl
  - gd
  - mbstring
  - mcrypt
  - mysql
  - mysqli
  - xmlrpc
  - xsl

type	calls	time (ms)
Configuration	11	52.58
Action "content/show"	1	-2388.65
Database	5	-5086.99
View "Success" for "content/show"	1	2675.90
Partial "global/_banner"	1	62.50
Component "hppage/prayer"	1	-2532.94
Partial "hppage/_prayer"	1	0.00
Partial "global/_languages"	1	0.00
Partial "global/_navigation"	1	15.62
Partial "country/_asia-pacific"	1	6.55
Partial "global/_donate-resources-email"	1	3.15