News from Chingeltei United Methodist Church and Mission Center in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia Written by Erin Aug. 27, 2010

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Warm greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ! I am grateful for your continued prayer and generous support of the missions work in Mongolia during these difficult financial times Opening of a new branch church: Khonghor United Methodist Church

Months of preparation, prayer and planning culminated in the joyful worship service that filled Khonghor UMC on August 1st. Its opening worship service was led by the church’s new leader, Naranbaatar, who has been a member and lay leader of Chingeltei UMC for the past six and half years. He graduated from the Mongolian Methodist Bible School after four years of study andthen worked full time at the Chingeltei UMC for a year before moving to church did a few years ago- in a large Mongolian ger (a traditional circular dwelling similar to a yurt) that can be easily assembled and moved where it is needed. About two weeks before the opening worship service, a group of young adults spent two days out in Khonghor assembling the ger in its new home. Putting up a ger is a work intensive process and it took about twenty hours and two days for the ger to be set-up at Khonghor. Before any of the ger assembling can begin, the land has to be cleared of debris and made as flat as possible. Once the dirt has been moved around, large piles of rocks are hauled over to what will be the ger’s foundation and spread out in a circular shape. It took the entire first day to prepare a flat surface for the ger, as well as a lot of shoveling, digging and upper body strength.

The second day began with the pieces of the ger being loaded onto a rented truck and transported out to Khonghor. After unloading and cleaning off all of the various parts, the flooring was put together like large pieces of a circular puzzle. Next the framework walls have to be tied together and placed around the flooring so they can begin to form the ger’s circular shape. The ceiling of the ger is held together by a large circular frame that functions somewhat like the inner spoke of a wheel. Brightly colored orange, wooden poles are placed on the top of the latticework and connect to this circular center, creating a framework for the layers of fabric that will be placed over them. Layers of heavy felt (called iske in Mongolian) are then wrapped around the sides of the ger, as well as over the roof. Several layers are placed over the framework and finally, rain coverings and the outer ger covering are pulled tightly over the structure. Once the outer structure is complete, the flooring is laid down inside the ger and any furniture can be brought inside.

Two days and lots of hard work later, the Khonghor UMC ger was up and ready for its first worship service. So many people showed up two weeks later for the first service that there were not enough chairs to go around. Ministry has continued as Naranbaatar has begun weekly worship services, children’s programming and bible studies.

Summer Children’s Ministry Children have filled the mission center during these summer months. A month-long summer school program gave students the opportunity to take English, Korean and computer classes, learn new worship dances and songs, make discipleship class for youth, play table tennis, watch movies, practice the keyboard, drums and guitars and make new friends . The Sunday school teachers have also planned and led two weeks of Vacation Bible School. The first week was for kindergarten-aged children and the second for children in grades 1st-6th and both included lots of worship, Bible studies, games, crafts, dancing and singing. They also hosted a mission team from California who graciously led a four day seminar for the youth and young adults of the church. After two weeks of VBS at the Chingeltei Mission Center, the teachers traveled to the new Khonghor church and helped to lead three days of VBS there. Stories from a New Church

New churches start small-with neighbors and family members and those that find their way there at the beginning. At Khonghor UMC, its beginnings are as much animal-inclusive as they are human and as much young as they are old. One little boy, Jayaa, comes every day to the church, bringing with him his three goats. An eight-year-old with a cheerful smile, he is at home in the church’s yard, as are his three tagalongs. They graze on the grass and leftover scraps of food while he attends Vacation Bible School and they make their goat noises as he plays basketball and soccer and attends the weekly worship and bible study. As a third-grader, he is already a faithful attendee of the new church’s events and his furry shadows are never far behind. In a church that has just been meeting for a month now, Jaaia and his goats are a part of the foundation of what is to come in a Mongolian village, in a ger built by fellow Mongolian United Methodists and in a space set aside to grow and become Khonghor UMC in the years to come.

Please continue to pray for the Mongolian church and the detention center ministries.
I am praying continuously for all of you who are partners with us in missions in Mongolia.

May the peace of our Lord be with you in all that you do.

In His Grace,

Mission Intern Erin Eidenshink and Missionary Sun Lae Kim