On August 11-15, publishing ministry leaders from two divisions collaborated to train 28 literature evangelists during the first Mongolia Adventist Mission (MAM) literature ministry seminar. Pastor Vivencio Bermudez, publishing ministries director for the church in the southern Asia-pacific region (SSD), and northern Asia-pacific region’s (NSD) publishing ministry director, Tero Fukui, led out during the event in Ulaanbaatar.
Since the Adventist church in Mongolia was established a mere 10 years ago, the publishing work there is relatively new having started in only the last five years. In addition, with Buddhism as a widely practiced religion in Mongolia, most Mongolians are unfamiliar with Christianity and it can be misunderstood by some. To counteract these factors, Bermudez relied on his 42 years of experience as a literature evangelist to present creative ways on how to share the message of hope through the printed pages.
Pastor Ven Bermudez (seated in the middle) with Literature Evangelists in Mongolia at the Literature Evangelist Training in Ulaanbaatar on August 11-15 (photo contributed by V Bermudez).
In addition to lectures, the seminar participants were organized in groups for a practicum on door-to-door evangelism. Bermudez joined Fukui, MAM Publishing director Batsukh Bold and two other local literature evangelists as they ventured out into the community. Their first stop was to a condo unit where a family welcomed them and listened to their presentation on the books they brought. The family bought a health book and received a complimentary copy of the Great Hope.
Another memorable experience occurred at the hotel where Bermudez stayed. The group met the hotel director who ordered all their books and then asked for samples and a catalog to display at the information desk. Before their meeting ended, the group offered to pray with her. She accepted and Fukui led in asking God to bless the business more. Later that day, the director met Bermudez on his way to his room and told him they had more groups of guests check in that day than expected which she attributed to the group’s earlier prayer.
(L-R) PastorsTeru Fukui and Ven Bermudez shares samples of religious printed matter with a hotel director in Ulaanbaatar.
When seminar participants met later that day, they shared their experiences and reflected on how effective the creative approach was on their customers. To encourage them, Bermudez reminded them that “God sells; We help” and to be dependent upon the working of the Holy Spirit in the people’s hearts. That day, the group was able to accumulate sales that reached $700 and offered over 30 prayers with the people they approached. Such experiences combined with the guidance of nurturing mentors encouraged these earnest literature evangelists so that they can return to their solitary fields and spread the gospel with enthusiasm and joy.
The publishing ministry in SSD oversees approximately 5,000 literature evangelists, 70% of whom are in the Philippines, and is among the top five producing Adventist publishing ministries worldwide. SSD is also home to five publishing houses producing countless books, periodicals and materials each year. [Gay Deles]