Bayaraa with his wife, Zambaga and two sons, Huslee (6-year-old) and Saruul (4-year-old)

Few Singaporeans have been to Mongolia. Most of what we know about the country is from travel documentaries and articles, typically filled with images of cherubic red-cheeked children in their gers – traditional Mongolian homes.

Even less have heard about the silent revival that has swept this nation for the last eighteen years.

30-year-old Batbayar Dashdorj (or Bayaraa as he is affectionately known) was a first-hand witness of this revival, having experienced God’s grace and love during a time of political, social and spiritual change in Mongolia in the early 90s.

Now a second year student at the Singapore Bible College, under a World Vision Singapore scholarship for theological studies for foreign students, Bayaraa relates how he came to know Christ and World Vision’s work in Mongolia.

“ Mongolia opened up in 1990 with the fall of Communism. It was a time of rapid change in the country in all aspects. Some were suddenly left with their own property for the first time; others lost their jobs as factories closed down. Many were discouraged by the upheavals in society and turned to alcohol and crime,” shared Bayaraa.

Mongolia had been under the Communist regime since 1924. It was when the ex-Communist Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party won its first election in 1990 that the country experienced democracy for the first time.

For Bayaraa, life turned around two years later when missionaries visited his hometown, Nalaikh, a district about 40 km away from the capital, Ulaanbaatar. Then, he was merely a face in a crowd of curious Mongolians surrounding missionaries as they shared the gospel. A few months later, attracted by the warmth and friendliness of church members, Bayaraa attended the first church in Nalaikh. There, he received Jesus into his life at the age of 14.

“In those days, it was as if the book of Acts was relived day after day in Nalaikh and throughout Mongolia. Many people came to know Christ. The sick were healed; alcoholics and ex-offenders were transformed. In church, we were all new believers and had to depend on materials from city churches to help us with our ministries. We started forming a team to lead the church and that was how I started becoming one of the leaders of the Nalaikh Church,” recalled Bayaraa.

In the late 90s, Bayaraa started his theological studies at the Ulaanbaatar Bible Theological College (UBTC). During that period, he was also appointed to be the head pastor of his church. Upon graduation from college, he served as a Board Member and subsequently taught part-time, while studying for his degree in Management at the Ulaanbaatar University.

He first came to know World Vision through the work of World Vision’s Nalaikh Area Development Programme ( ADP). Since 1991, in Nalaikh and other areas in Mongolia, World Vision has been serving the local communities by improving the well-being of the people, providing relief during disasters and building the capacity of the communities. It has also been supporting churches like Bayaraa’s local church by equipping its church leaders and members with skills and materials to better serve the local community.

“World Vision is especially influential in Mongolia, among the people and its government. In my hometown, I see World Vision staff going from house to house, talking to children and asking them how they are doing. Besides helping these children, World Vision has also been helping churches by supporting people like me for studies overseas; as well as leaders studying in local Bible colleges. I hope that the World Vision sponsors will continue with what they are doing as they are making a great impact not only in the children’s lives, but in the whole community and churches,” Bayaraa added.

Upon the recommendation of UBTC, Bayaraa was selected as the recipient of World Vision Singapore’s scholarship to help church leaders like him with further studies so that he would be better equipped to teach the Bible when he returned to his homeland. After his three-year Masters in Divinity programme at the Singapore Bible College, Bayaraa intends to teach full-time at UBTC and will continue to serve in the Nalaikh Church to spread the word of God to his community.

Over the past year in Singapore, Bayaraa has developed a passion for telling others about Mongolia. He plans to take a team of people who are interested to learn more about the country for a short-term mission trip to Mongolia next year.

Bayaraa is also grateful for the chance to learn not only about theology, but also how Singaporean Christians live out their faith in their everyday lives. “In my church here, I see how people serve wholeheartedly, whether in big or small ways. I am very impressed by the “volunteer heart” I see in them and wish that the church in Mongolia will become like that some day. In my homeland, people are still struggling each day and although there are a lot of needs in the country, the workers are few.”

To learn more about how you can support the communities in Mongolia through child sponsorship, click here.