This is what a Disciple-Making Movement among the Unreached looks like to us:

One night in the early 1980s, our YWAM staff in Tacoma, Washington heard stories from two friends who had returned from a scouting trip to the mysterious land of Mongolia. To us, it seemed like “the remotest part of the earth.”

Communism had successfully applied its cruel strategy of purging the land of religion. Tibetan Buddhism was nearly blotted out to be replaced with atheism. Mongolia was a spiritual vacuum. In this country of 2.6 million people, a church had never been established. In fact, in modern history there had not even been a single Mongol follower of Jesus. Together we prayed for an isolated people in an isolated land.

FAST-FORWARD 20 years: God answers prayer!

Erdenet, the 3rd largest city in Genghis Khan’s homeland, I’m sitting in a home, surrounded by Mongols who love Jesus. My friends and fellow YWAMers had invested the previous few years sharing the Good News of Jesus with their Mongolian friends. They made disciples, taught them how to obey Jesus, how to make new disciples, and how to start simple house fellowships.

I was invited to one of the fellowships. It was a Mongolian version of the church in the Book of Acts. “All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.” (Acts 2:42 NLT)

Everything seemed to be done in a Mongolian way, including their unique worship music. The only ones speaking English were my translator and me. Mostly I kept quiet, enjoying what was happening. Toward the end of the meeting there was an announcement about an upcoming camping trip. It was springtime, the trip would be in early summer. These people obviously love the outdoors. I thought to myself, “This is a good idea for them. A camping trip will help this group grow in friendship and fellowship with one another.”

No doubt that was true, but I soon discovered that was not the main point. I listened to my translator whisper to me what was being said, “We will camp next to the lake. As we know, the nearby town has no church. So of course, we will go share the Gospel, make disciples and plant a church while we are there.” Everyone eagerly nodded their heads in agreement.

This was one of dozens of fellowships in the early stages of this growing movement in Erdenet. In the following years, multiplication continued—the movement spreading across the country, across cultures, and across national borders.

And that is what a Disciple-Making Movement among the Unreached looks like to us.