Eyewitness - Mongolia
excerptsEvents in chapter 12 World’s End – Mongolia cover the visits made to Mongolia in the years 2000-2005 during the time in which station WIND-FM was getting established.
Here follow three excerpts from chapter 12.
The ranger had us sit down and began speaking to Rudi in Russian. He had a hat and a thick felt coat, and a smile shone out from his rather leathery face. He then produced a small bottle and unscrewed the top, passing it to me. We learned that he was inviting us to smell what was in the bottle and then pass on our comments. Apparently, it contained snuff – and he sought our approval for how good his snuff smelled. We also learned from the photos he wanted to share with us that he had entertained other guests in his ger, some of them very notable. One of these was Madeleine Albright, the former US Secretary of State, who had visited his ger and possibly sniffed the same bottle. We felt privileged. (page 141)
One of the biggest challenges the Mongolian churches have had to address is the matter of the name for “God” in Mongolian. This illustrates a very real problem in missions regarding linguistics and Bible translation. The underlying question is whether we use a word for a supreme being that is already well known in their language or invent or assign another word that can uniquely describe the Christian God. Early Bible translators had used the word Burkhan for God, but others had argued that this was a big mistake, as it carried with it all the connotations of a pagan god. Some had suggested that this was a mistake that had been made in Japan – and as a direct result, the Japanese church has never been strong. Sadly, the discussion rolls on and has caused considerable division in the churches. WIND-FM has tried to ride the storm by using both terms to refer to God in an attempt to demonstrate that the word itself is not as important as the meaning we ascribe to that name and how we show reverence to it. After all, “God” is not unique, by any means, in the English language. (page 144)
In 2003, a major setback befell the station. A fire had apparently broken out in the control room during the early hours of the morning – possibly due to an electrical fault – and had totally destroyed the studio. The first we heard of this devastating news was as we arrived at the first ever FEBC-wide Staff Retreat in Tagaytay, Philippines. The date was 13 January and, as the story began to emerge, we gathered around Batjargal and his wife to reassure them of the support from the international family and to pray for them. Bat had to leave for home early to take charge of the situation and find alternative accommodation for the station. Thankfully, they were able to move into the house next door. (page 145)