“Does Jesus live in Ulaanbaatar?” the old nomadic herder asked the Mongolian Christian and OMF missionary who were on a church-planting trip in the remote Mongolian countryside.

“No, but ...,” the Mongolian smiled as he began his explanation to one of the few in Mongolia who had not ever heard of Jesus.

After the Democratic Revolution from Communism in 1990, Mongolia has opened up to Christians from many nations. Most have heard or read something about Jesus. Yet all manner of beliefs pour into Mongolia, from fengshui to Mormonism, which is regarded as just another sect of the “Jesus religion.”

Were the old herder to travel to Mongolia’s capital, he would find change unimaginable a few years ago: traffic jams, new buildings, youths listening to mp3 players, billboards advertising in English, people talking into cell phones, computer stores filled with products from around the world.

Population and Location

Landlocked between Russia and China, Mongolia is a shadow of the once mighty Mongol empire. Yet the land is still vast, one third the size of the Continental USA. Mongolia is fairly homogenous, with 95% of the 2.9 million people being Mongolian. Nearly 5% are Turkic, mostly Kazakh, while 0.1% are Russians and Chinese. Around the world there are 11 million Mongolian related people, with many in China, Russia and Central Asia. Due to unemployment, thousands from Mongolia go to many nations working legally or otherwise to support their families.

Language

The Mongolian language belongs to the Ural-Altaic group which includes Korean, Turkish, Uzbek, Hungarian and Finnish. Mongolian is not a dialect of Chinese, nor is it tonal. The grammar, with subject-object-verb word order, is similar to Latin. Many hearing Mongolian for the first time think that it sounds like a European language. While Khalkh Mongol is the official language of Mongolia, dialects such as Oriat Mongol in western Mongolia are comprehended easily by speakers of Khalkh Mongol. A Cyrillic, or modified Russian, alphabet was introduced in 1942 and still enjoys widespread usage today. Efforts to re-introduce the traditional downward script in the 1990s as the official written language failed along with the widespread usage of personal computers. Both Cyrillic and the traditional Mongolian alphabet are taught and schools, yet the traditional script is largely used for works of art. In e-mails and text messaging, the English or Roman alphabet is usually used. The teaching of English is very widespread.

History

Chingis Khan (Genghis Khan), meaning “Sea King” (sea meaning “vast”) united various tribes into a single Mongolian nation in 1206. Over the next 150 years Mongolians forged the largest land empire in world history, spanning from the Pacific Ocean to Central Europe. The Moghuls, Muslim Mongols, ruled North India. Mongols introduced paper currency for easy travel over the Silk Road. Kublai Khan, Chingis’ grandson, formed the Yuan dynasty in China. As Mongolian power weakened, Mongolia became subject to rule under China. With Soviet help, Mongolia became independent from China in 1921 and became a Marxist state in 1924. For decades the Soviet Union tried to mold Mongolia into its mold until the Democratic Revolution of 1990 sought to end the monopoly of Communist Party rule and bring about democratic change. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, millions of dollars worth of subsidies suddenly dried up. From the 1990s until today Mongolia has wrestled with cataclysmic changes as it opens up to the market economy and globalized world. There are democratic elections today, with the former Communist Party, now reformed, holding much of the reigns.

Lifestyle

Documentaries of Mongolia typically present the quintessential traditional life, with nomads riding horseback herding their livestock, living in round felt tents or yurts (called ger in Mongolian). Rural Mongolian life is real and deeply beheld in the Mongolian psyche. Yet this only paints part of the picture. Mongolia is 60% urbanized, the three major cities being the capital, Ulaanbaatar, as well as Erdenet and Darhan. Many live in old Soviet-engineered apartment blocks which stand in rows, echoing the march to a workers’ earthly paradise. Other urban dwellers live in ger districts, which include houses and yurts in their own separate yards behind wooden fences. People in ger districts are likely to have electricity, but no running water. Fetching water from the local well station is a common task. Computers are common, and many without internet access go to internet cafes. More people have cell phones than have fixed line phones. Youth today often sport hip hop fashion and listen to MP3 players. Traffic jams are an everyday reality, and billboards are everywhere, advertising everything from cosmetics to heavy mining equipment. Mongolia has many small towns as well. “Villages” are not a good description as these have connotations of farming life. Mongolia has very little arable land and a short growing season. Open range ranching is much more widespread than farming. Red meat, milk products and imported wheat flour are the chief staples. The most common vegetables eaten are root vegetables such as potatoes. Small town people, for lack of work, are moving to the cities, and many from the cities are moving abroad. For a typical Mongolian, to move—whether to Ulaanbaatar or to Denver—is not seen as a burden, as a prevention from being settled, but as an extension of nomadic life to provide for ones’ family and even to see new sights.

Religion

Christianity