By Brian Hogan, Disciple Making Mentors
In the barely accessible and seldom visited central hump of northern Mongolia, just east of Lake Khövsgöl, lies Darkhad Valley, the homeland of the Darkhad tribe. About sixteen thousand Darkhad, mostly herdsmen (though darkhad means craftsmen), cling to a difficult semi-nomadic existence in this harsh and wild environment that is considered remote and inaccessible even by Mongolian standards.
The religious worldview of the tribe is decidedly shamanistic. They rely on traditional spiritual healers to overcome illness and bad luck through ceremony, song, and communion with spiritual forces. The population is suspicious of strangers and not particularly religious. A recently built Buddhist temple now stands empty and abandoned. The Lama living there became angry and offended when not a single Darkhad visited the temple during the months he lived there, so he packed his idols and left.
Mongolian Christians visiting Renchinlkhümbe, the tribal and provincial capital, were told they faced the same destiny. “If we Darkhads are anything, we’re shamanist, and we don’t care for your Jesus,” people said to the team of young Mongolian missionaries. They continued to inform them that they didn’t want their “foreign religion” and asked them to leave. Even the local government officials discouraged their presence. Some were downright hostile to them. The team hit their knees and began to pray and intercede for these lost tribesmen the Lamb had purchased with blood.
How did Mongolian missionaries happen to be in Darkhad territory in the first place?
Between 1993-1996 my family was part of a Youth With A Mission (YWAM) apostolic team — made up of young Swedes, Americans, and Russians — that pioneered a church among the Khalkha tribe (Mongolia’s dominant people group) in the city of Erdenet, Mongolia. The church they planted, Jesus Assembly, went on to plant numerous daughter churches, which in turn planted even more grand-daughter churches, and so on. After three and a half years, the foreign missionaries passed the baton of leadership to the Mongolian leaders and left the country. [for the whole story read the book: There’s a Sheep in my Bathtub, Birth of a Mongolian Church Planting Movement, by Brian Hogan]
The movement was already well underway, but the Mongolian believers, wanting to be fully obedient to Jesus, invited the Swedish team leaders to return and pioneer a missionary training program (now YWAM Erdenet). I went back to train church planters in the School of Frontier Missions. Among the young workers I trained was a team headed for the Darkhad tribe — a completely unreached people group with no churches and few, if any, followers of Jesus Christ. When the school ended they made the difficult journey into the Darkhad Valley and soon found themselves facing deportation and calling out to God on their knees.
Brian’s team asking the LORD for strategy to reach the people!
“Father, we know that you want to welcome Darkhads into your forever family. You called us and sent us here. Now everyone wants us to leave, but we know that you have a plan for great blessing!” The team asked God for a strategy to reach this resistant group. The Lord gave them a strategy — to go to the poorest of the poor!
While praying they had received a picture of a building they had noticed on their way into Renchinlkhümbe. The local poorhouse was a spacious building on a large piece of land. Widows and other poor families inhabited it. The inhabitants were completely destitute, not just financially, but spiritually too. They had zero hope for the future. One consequence was that their house and yard had not been cleaned for twelve years! The local government had tried everything, begging and threats, for years to get them to clean up the mess, but to no avail. It was unbelievably filthy. Both house and grounds were covered in waste, both human and animal, and bones and carcasses, not to mention garbage. It reeked to the heavens and was the shame and eyesore of the entire region.
Visiting materially and spiritually destitute residents.
The team visited the materially and spiritually destitute residents in this cesspool and, taking care not to react to the stench, shared the Gospel in story form. Several of the poor gave their lives to Jesus. The atmosphere in the poorhouse changed suddenly and dramatically. Before long one of the new believers suggested that they clean the place up. “We’re new creations, children of the only one true God. We can’t live like this!” All of them, including the missionaries, pitched in and did a mega-cleansing of the place. They even dug out the polluted soil in the compound and carted out twelve years of waste.
This cleansing had an incredible impact on the community. “This must be an incredibly powerful God! He did what no one, not even the government and the law, could do!” Some prostitutes came out and demanded to know what the team had told the poor to cause this transformation. By the time the team finished telling them the same Good News, they had become believers and changed their behavior so drastically that it caused others to first praise God and then believe in Him! (see Matt. 5:16) Even the Governor, who had earlier ordered the team to leave the region, paid the team a visit, asking them to share their message. When they had told him the Good News he declared, “This is very good. I’m going to summon the whole population and command them to join you in your religion!” The team quickly told him that it would be better if they simply were given freedom to share, enabling the people to make up their own minds and be changed inside. The Governor agreed!
A fellowship of Jesus worshippers had been born in the Darkhad Valley.
An initial fellowship of Jesus worshippers had been born in the Darkhad Valley. Praise God for this dramatic breakthrough among this unreached tribe! Imagine . . . a people that were completely unreached themselves just a decade ago . . . sent out as missionaries by a church just seven years old . . . planting the first-ever church among a tribe in one of the most remote corners of the planet! If that doesn’t stir your faith and imagination, I don’t know what will. Jesus, the Lamb who was slain, purchased the Darkhad tribe with his precious blood and now, thanks to dedicated Mongolian disciples, receives Darkhad worship. Worthy is the Lamb!
Bio
Brian and Louise have a varied ministry.
Brian and Louise, have served in missions since 1987. From the Navajo Tribe to Outer Mongolia, their passion has been to see Jesus glorified and lifted up among those who have never known Him.
From 1993-1996 their team pioneered a church planting movement in Erdenet, Mongolia that continues to grow under fully indigenous leadership to this day. Their Mongolian disciples are now training and sending out their own missionaries to other unreached people groups.
The story of the work in Erdenet can be read in Brian’s book: There’s a Sheep in my Bathtub (Asteroidea Books), and in the case study article – “Mongols Follow the Khan of Khans” – included in Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: A Reader, ed. Winter & Hawthorne (William Carey Library).
Brian Hogan is a Church Planting Coach and Frontier Mission leader with Youth With A Mission (YWAM). Brian trains disciple makers (church planters) worldwide to launch new movements of rapidly multiplying indigenous churches among peoples who have never before experienced life with Jesus Christ. He also is a major mobilizer of this work force through his yearly teaching in over 50 Perspectives On the World Christian Movement classes (locations) across North America.
Brian is probably speaking near your home:
Brian Hogan Disciple Making Mentors, Inc. 4DMM.org
Disciple Making Mentors exists to provide training, gathering, resource, and coaching to teams laboring among the remaining frontier peoples.
We first met Brian when he came to Milwaukee to teach at a Perspectives On The World Christian Movement class.
Brian spoke at Eastbrook Church and taught a Perspectives On the World Christian Movement class at Eastbrook and several other churches in the Milwaukee area and also in Central Wisconsin.
He came back several times, once with Louise and I had the privilege of taking him to other churches in Wisconsin to also teach at a Perspectives class.
Sheep book: https://www.4dmm.org/product/a-sheep-in-my-bathtub-10th-anniversary-edition/
A few of Brian’s videos on Disciple Making Movements website
A short video of Brian recounting their experience in Mongolia
A few pictures from Brian and Louise
Map of Darkhad Tribal Homeland
Darkhad Tribal Shaman
In conclusion, Brian’s words:
“Finally, a word of encouragement. The one thing that God says repeatedly in scripture is “Be Not Afraid”. Remember that Jesus has you and He is not letting go. Be wise and safe but do not live in fear. As Frank Herbert wrote in “Dune”: “Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death.”
It is good to remember that we don’t control or days or the world around us, but we know who does!”
Pingback: Death of my baby in Erdenet Mongolia - Faith Vision Service