Everywhere we looked, our eyes were met with the sight of mountains under wide open skies. We were in Tosontsengel, a small town in remote Mongolia. Behind us a river flowed, turning the dry countryside green.
Herdsmen working with horses, yaks, sheep, and goats shelter here in the harsh winter months. Many people live in yurts or gers – traditional Mongolian tents. There are some houses too, and a few buildings three stories high. During warmer months, herdsmen and farmers return periodically for supplies, then head back to spend their days in the countryside.
Our team had come to distribute bibles and tell people about Jesus. It was our first time, so we were excited, but also unsure of what to expect.
We nervously knocked on the door of a small, simple home. A woman answered and invited us in for milk tea. This form of hospitality is customary in Mongolia. We all sat down and drank tea with her and her son. The father was out in the countryside working.
As we enjoyed our tea, we began to share with them why we were there. We shared the gospel with them and the woman’s heart was moved as understanding came and she decided to follow Jesus.
We gave some children’s bible materials to her son, too, who was around eight. I could tell God’s presence was touching him from the tears in his eyes even before we started talking to him. He also decided to follow Jesus.
Then I began telling him how I was around his age when God met me. I told him how I felt alone and afraid and how God helped me and set me free. He started to cry even more. It was a good cry – tears from being moved by the love of God.
I continued to tell him that what he was feeling was the Holy Spirit and that the Spirit was here to help him, council him, and lead him into truth.
We were speaking through a translator but I could tell that God was speaking to him in a way that went beyond language. The presence of God was so tangible and thick in the room that everyone started crying.
It was amazing to me how God connected me with a boy in Mongolia who was so similar to the boy I once was, living on the other side of the world in America, who also needed the love, comfort, and guidance of the Holy Spirit. God met him so powerfully through me because he was so much like me, when I was a boy.
Aaron Brogan