An article about great things the Lord has done in the country of Mongolia, also gives opportunity for discussion of the idea of maturity in believers in areas where the gospel is fairly new.

Many of the missionaries there want to see strong disciples, guarded from the dangers of the so-called “prosperity gospel.” They want disciples strong like oak trees.

• Providentially, ‘the prosperity gospel has not flourished like one would expect. Part of the reason was the solid theology of those first missionaries…’

Sharon Luethy is a missionary there who testifys to what God has done and what she’s seeing in the lives of Mongolian believes. Both Luethy and Wood are quoted in the article.

• ‘And their nomadic history means Mongolians don’t mind the travel or the boldness required to be a missionary, Luethy said. “They have reached out to neighboring countries . . . [and] possibly thousands have come to faith outside the country.”’
• ‘That’s encouraging to missionaries who labor on in Mongolia, teaching Bible classes, translating Scripture and resources, and caring for the sick, the orphaned, the hungry. They’re taking the long view.’

Mark Wood is director of Mongolia’s Kingdom Leadership Training Center.

• ‘“We’re finding it takes us about 75 to 100 years in one place to really establish a national church,” Wood said. “In the West, we think we can rush maturity, can bring about a national church in seven years and then be on to the next country.”’
• ‘Not so, he said.’

-Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra

Read whole article here

Also see at GSiV:

Church Growth, Planning, and Multiplication

Starting Churches: Making Disciples

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