Mongolia is a large, sparsely-populated, landlocked country, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south.
It is a windswept land. Windstorms blow soil off the land and make agriculture nearly impossible. In the winter, powerful gusts of bai mao feng – literally ‘white hairy wind’ – can blind drivers and knock their cars off roads. In the 1920s, the wind blew the clothes off famous explorer Roy Chapman Adams.
The majority of its 3.3 million population are professedly Buddhist, writes Mark Foster, many of them still influenced by the Brahmanism and folk religion which remains the religion of about 30% of the population. About 25% profess no religion. It is estimated that 99% of Mongolians are unreached with the gospel. Evangelical Christians total only 0.9%. The challenge of reaching Mongolia with the gospel is further complicated by the fact that over 30% of the population are nomadic or semi-nomadic, moving continually through the vast grasslands of the country.
