Tsogii

October 5, 2019

“We are first generation Christians. We don’t know how to be good husbands and fathers.” I had been invited to Mongolia by the Mongolian national director of Every Home for Christ, but kept rebuffing his invitation until he could identify a reason for my going. I didn’t want to just be a tourist. Tsogoo Khorloo had come to Christ only a few years prior when working as a translator for a Christian missionary, and was now overseeing the evangelization of his nation. I learned from him that Mongolia was the second-oldest Communist country in the world, having declared itself such only two years after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, and continuing until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The Gospel had only come to Mongolia in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet empire.

I couldn’t think of much I had to offer these new Christians until Tsogoo spoke those words to me. “That I think I can do,” I responded, and the decision was made. Linda and I, along with two other couples and the international assistant to the director of Every Home for Christ flew to Beijing and then to the capital city of Ulaanbaatar in the spring of 2003. Tsogoo and his team of national workers met us at the airport. 

Tsogoo is a rather diminutive young man, but his co-worker Tsogii is anything but. Standing six foot two, and built like a linebacker, Tsogii had come to Christ in prison. His wife Tsengel spoke quite fluent English, but Tsogii knew as much English as I did Mongolian. In spite of the language barrier, we got along famously, I taught about Christian family life, and by the end of our time together, he was calling me his spiritual father.

Fast forward fourteen years. Tsogoo had moved to the United States where he still resides. Baaska took over the leadership of EHC, and Tsogii had fallen out of the picture. He and Tsogoo had disagreed over how the ministry was to continue. We lost touch for quite awhile until the miracle of the internet allowed us to reconnect. Tsogii is once more preaching the Gospel, not only to the few and scattered outposts on the steppes of Mongolia, but also to large gatherings of his countrymen. We’ve prayed for Tsogii and Tsengel for these past sixteen years, and have had the joy of watching from a distance as they’ve grown in their faith and are reaching far more people than I’ve personally had the privilege of reaching. Every chance I get, I invest in them, and am grateful tonight to have the privilege of being a small part of their success. I cannot preach Christ in Mongolia, but I can help Tsogii do so, and I am looking forward to someday meeting those who have come to Christ from his preaching and my giving. It will be a glorious day!