Report on the church building in Mongolia

The Quiet Hour, in partnership with Mongolian Mission, Korean Union, Northern Asia-Pacific Division, and Volunteers in Action, has financially sponsored the planning and building of a church and pastor’s apartment in Bulgan, Mongolia. This e-mail and image are from Cliff Morgan, project supervisor.

Dear Quiet Hour friends,

I wish to share with you the great progress made on the Bulgan SDA Church building. In the very beginning the project was placed under God’s control and that is why it is going so well.

Peter and Nerida Koolik agreed to supervise the building program and were able to enlist the support of six Ukrainians they had previously worked with in Russia. They arrived in Bulgan in early May, and had difficulty in digging the foundations and getting the building materials that, in their native Australia, are so readily available. There was no ready-mix concrete, and most building materials had to come from Erdenet (75 km) or Ulaan Baatar (475 km) at inflated costs. The building has progressed in spite of the difficulties.

The weather generally has been kind, the civic authorities have been very cooperative, and the multicultural team of workers have worked hard and long. Seven Mongolian workers were hired. They, the Ukrainians, and 11 Australian Fly and Builders can imagine the difficulties experienced on the Tower of Babel, and we had only three different languages being used! However, Bulgan church has always been God’s project and the building program is ahead of schedule. We consider that it will be Bulgan’s best building.

Visits to the site have been made by the Governor of the Province of Bulgan, the mayor and two of his assistants, the newly arrived President of Mongolia Mission and the President of the Union in which Mongolia is located. All have expressed their delight in and approval of the building.

As of today, 21 July 2006, the brickwork is up to the top of window height and the flooring with heating is completed. There is a holdup with roofing iron and this will be sorted out on Monday, 23 July.

In addition to the erection of a building, the team has made a difference in the lives of many people in Bulgan by meeting their needs. In summary, the following contributions have created a lot of goodwill toward our church and raised the profile of the Adventist missionaries in Bulgan.

Contributions:

• $4,000 given to provide $55 worth of clothes, shoes, blankets to each of the 72 poorest families in Bulgan as determined by the town authorities.
• $1,500 given to a World Vision-recommended program allowing three kindergartens to run summer nutritional and parenting programs for 30 different children/parents at each venue for a month. We visited these programs and saw their value firsthand.
• $490 to provide sandals to 150 prisoners, sporting equipment, an exercise bike, and Christian literature to the inmates of the local prison. The day after we distributed the goods and spoke to the prisoners, 120 of the 270 were pardoned as part of Mongolia’s 800th anniversary celebrations.
• $500 to purchase and distribute Bibles and Christian literature written in the Mongolian language.
• A further $600 were used to help church families and poor families that we had met and helped on our previous visits.

A visit to any country struggling financially such as Mongolia, helps one to appreciate more where we live and what we have. On a follow-up visit to the home of one of the 72 beneficiaries of our clothing and shoes program, we called on a scantily-furnished ger (one-room round house) There we found three scantily-dressed children, aged 4, 3 and 1, and their sick mother. It was 12:30 p.m. and the children had not eaten that day. There was no food of any kind in the house. It is hard to imagine a home with no food–your heart goes out to them.

The day before I left Bulgan I reported to the Governor the work that we had done. After carefully taking notes of the support given and expressing his thanks on behalf of the Province, he said, “You have helped us so much, how can we help you?” This was a lovely compliment to our presence there.

Such is the program of Adventist Christians in Bulgan, Mongolia. Peter Koolik returns to Mongolia August 7 and three more Australians go over again on August 20. Celebrations are planned on September 2, when the church will be officially opened and a two-week evangelistic series will start with Pastor Michael Porter’s team from The Quiet Hour, USA, leading out.

While God is obviously guiding and blessing this Bulgan project, He uses people to be His hands, feet and mouth. Thanks must go to you for the contribution you have made. Teamwork has been the essence of this Bulgan project in 2006 and your part in the team has been needed and valued.

Yours in appreciation,
Cliff Morgan