Mennonite Weekly Review

ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia — There are no Mennonite churches in Mongolia.

Zangilmaa, left, a student at Union Bible Theological College in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, teaches at a ger (tent) church in Ikhkhet, Mongolia, during an evangelism trip led by Petrus Handoyo, a college professor and worker through Mennonite Mission Network. — Photo by Petrus Handoyo/MMN

But for students at Union Bible Theological College, “Mennonite” means an opportunity to minister.

Last school year, 66 of the 166 Union students received student aid for tuition, dormitory fees, meals and books from Schowalter Foundation grants through Mennonite Mission Network. On campus, the grants are known simply as “Mennonite scholarships.”

The funds also help students dealing with emergency financial problems. For Bat-Tulga Zolzaya, who completed her third year of studies last year, it was the death of her grandfather — the man who paid her dormitory fee. The Schowalter grant filled the gap after her grandfather’s death.

Petrus Handoyo, who serves in Mongolia with his wife, Yuliana, through Mennonite Church Muria Synod of Indonesia and MMN, taught at Union through last year.

“In Mongolia, the churches do not care about denominations. They want to be independent even as they seek partnership,” Handoyo said. “[Mennonites] have not planted any churches. We have just worked with the churches there and supported them.”

That support is more than monetary. Union Biblical Theological College, the largest and only registered seminary in Mongolia, recently translated and published Palmer Becker’s booklet, What Is an Anabaptist Christian?, in collaboration with MMN. More than 200 copies already have been distributed on campus, with positive responses.

Handoyo said the booklet will answer questions, including many from those who receive financial aid and wonder about the Mennonites.

As Christianity grows in Mongolia, more theological students are examining different beliefs and experiences of God and church. When democracy arrived in Mongolia in 1991, there were only a handful of known Christians in the nation. Today, more than 400 churches and 40,000 Christians exist.

This spring, as he has done most of his years teaching at Union, Handoyo traveled with a group of Union students to speak about Jesus. The trip was underwritten by MMN.