Franklin Graham Preaches for the First Time Ever in Mongolia – Over 17,000 Attend Event

Mongolia, an eastern Asian nation roughly the size of Alaska, is primarily a Buddhist country.

About 94 percent of the population of 3 million people practices Buddhism, according to One World Nations Online. The remaining citizens practice Islam and shamanism, a belief system indigenous to northern Asia.

So they definitely need to hear the message of the gospel.

About 70 percent of the people living in Mongolia’s capital city of Ulaanbaatar don’t have running water, so most people do not have easy access to water for drinking, cooking or even washing clothes, according to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Because running water isn’t typically available in people’s homes, they must go to a community well and draw water for their daily needs.

In spite of how complicated life can be for the people of Mongolia, the people are very interested to hear about Jesus, and the churches were excited to have the BGEA present for a 2-day event called Festival of Joy over the weekend.

Local church members gathered at community wells to tell people about the Festival of Joy. About 50 churches partnered with BGEA to put on the festival.

When families would bring their water jugs to the well, church members would explain what it means to follow Jesus and invite people to the free event.

There were over 400 volunteers who participated in getting the word out.

This was the first time that