Mongolia!
This year, my dad and AIA Wrestling staff member Rob Bronson invited me to help lead the yearly wrestling trip to Mongolia. After praying and discerning where the Lord wanted me to serve this summer, I jumped into the call He was making on me. It's not always easy to discern details of God's calling, but the trip to Mongolia was one of those experiences that when it was over, I knew without a doubt that God had me there for a reason.
We started off the trip with none other than the John Peterson International Wrestling Tournament. My dad has had such an impact in Mongolia over many years that they named the tournament after him! It also helps that he was an Olympic Champion. Since Mongolia doesn't have its own Olympic Champion, they chose to honor John by naming the tournament after him. I'm confident it was also a strategic move by the Mongolian Athletes in Action staff who hoped to have John coming back year after year! Needless to say, I think the strategy worked! John has been to Mongolia countless times since his first trip back in the early '90s. What a privilege it was for me to keep that tradition going by carrying on the torch of ministry in Mongolia this summer!
Sukhee is one of the key relationships John and his ministry friend, Stephen Barrett, have made over the years. He was one of our main interpreters this summer and recently transitioned from AIA Staff to National Women's Wrestling Coach. Sukhee has been faithfully impacting the wrestling world. He was recently named Mongolia's Coach of the Year, not just for wrestling but for all sports! He is a key partner in Mongolian sports ministry, and I love how he is leveraging his influence as a national coach for God's glory in Mongolia and beyond!
This year's trip included a range of wrestlers from high school freshmen up to college seniors; nine total. Two local wrestlers from Cameron and one from UWEC joined us from NW Wisconsin. It was great seeing Connor, Corbyn, and Mason get out of their comfort zone and grow in their relationship with God. They jumped right into conversations with a lot of smiles, hand gestures, and maybe even a little Google Translate :) It was really great watching our team interact so quickly with the Mongolians. Whether it was inviting them to play soccer, trading gear, or laughing together in their rooms, it was unmistakable that connections were being made for a lifetime.
Each day at camp started with a morning workout. We did a lot of running through the mountains, sparring on the turf, and taking in the beauty of God's creation! Wrestling workouts and afternoon recreation, which included a lot of soccer, all built up to the culminating event each day: "club time"! Every evening we gathered together on the mats to worship God with songs, play interactive games, watch hilarious skits, share testimonies, and hear the Gospel message. We started the week with the Genesis story and the problem of sin, and worked our way through God's plan of redemption in Jesus Christ.
During the final night of camp, we invited all 50 campers to ask Jesus into their lives to forgive them of their sins. 16 Mongolians trusted Jesus for salvation! What an amazing night! When I was last in Mongolia 12 years ago, there weren't nearly as many local sports ministry staff as there were this year. Now, these campers have the opportunity to be ministered to by these staff members after they leave camp! What a joy knowing they will be discipled and built into after we leave. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work alongside these amazing Mongolian Athletes in Action staff members who are heavily invested in the lives of the wrestling community in Mongolia! Praise God that he is growing the ministry presence there!
Will you please pray that God would continue sending laborers into his field there in Mongolia? Many of the local staff are underfunded and need your prayers to continue raising a team of financial ministry partners. On that note, I want to THANK YOU so much for making it possible for me to travel across the world to minister to this amazing people group that God loves dearly. What a great opportunity for our team of young athletes to catch a vision for what the Lord is doing all over the world. Again, YOU have made the spread of the Gospel possible. I am grateful for you!
