October 4, 2007
Just one-half of 1 percent of the Mongolian population is evangelical Christian. Yet in this spiritually needy climate, people are finding Jesus through the ministry of Alliance workers, in partnership with CAMA (Compassion and Mercy Associates), the C&MA’s relief arm.
Fifteen people recently were baptized at the C&MA church in Barong Haraa. After a communion service, the congregation walked 45 minutes to a nearby river.
In the cold water, the new Christ-followers were baptized one by one. A grandmother, along with her daughter and two grandchildren, was baptized on the bright , windy Mongolian afternoon. “We rejoice at the Lord’s grace shown to this family,” said CAMA workers. “In a land that did not have the gospel 20 years ago, three believing generations is an unusual, amazing, and beautiful thing to see.”
The Barong Haraa church is one of several places where Dr. Nghia Pham holds a monthly mobile medical clinic through CAMA. Many of the new believers who were baptized are following Christ because they first heard the gospel from Dr. Pham. The medical clinic has seen more than 40 people make the choice to follow Jesus in 2007. The outreach has been a powerful tool for the gospel and for the church in Mongolia.
Dr. Nghia Pham also operates a health clinic out of the Darhan CAMA project center. While training three other health-care workers, he serves more than 200 hundred patients per month in communities where Alliance churches have been planted.
The clinic sets high standards for patient care, service, and cleanliness as well as excellence in training new health care workers. The clinic also works with short-term medical teams as a means of initial evangelism and a church-planting tool. Every patient treated hears the gospel and is prayed for. There is also the work of ongoing community development projects, which coincide with the clinic’s work.
Recently, CAMA Mongolia hosted a medical team from the Sarang church in Orange County, California. Six members assisted Dr. Pham with various aspects of his work in Darhan and Erdenet. More than 600 patients were treated over the course of five days. Dr. Kang and his assistant, Tai, saw 125 dental patients. The gospel was shared with all patients, and eight made an initial commitment to be followers of Jesus.