Inside Story for Friday 19th of September 2025

By Andrew McChesney

Baatka felt so lonely in Mongolia. He often stood at the window of his home, looking outside for a real friend who would be with him forever.

The shy and timid 14-year-old boy was the only son in his family. Father was always at work. Mother had mental health issues, and she spent a month in the hospital every year. Baatka felt so alone. He contemplated death.

Then a cousin, Doogii, invited him to go to a Seventh-day Adventist church in Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaatar. “Come to church,” she said. “Something interesting will happen there.”

Image © Pacific Press

Baatka went because he was lonely. He didn’t hear a word of the sermon. The microphone wasn’t working because of electricity problems, and he had a hearing impairment that made it difficult to hear the preacher. But he liked the church members. They smiled and accepted him. They treated him like a friend. He also liked the singing. The church gave him goosebumps, and he returned the next Sabbath to feel the goosebumps again.

Church members spoke about God as their best friend.

“God can be your forever friend,” one told the boy.

“You’ll never be alone,” said another.

Baatka wondered if God was real. I can’t see Him. Can He be my friend? he thought.

After that, he went to the church every Sabbath. The church became the only positive place in his life, and the church members became his family. Life gained meaning, and Baatka found a desire to live.

Little by little, Baatka began to believe that God was real. His ears didn’t hear God speak, but his heart heard God’s voice. God became his forever best friend, transforming his mind and changing his life.

Today, Baatka Orgil is 31 and a new person in God. The once quiet and timid boy is now a Global Mission pioneer, planting churches in unentered areas of Mongolia. “I love to share how my life has changed,” he said. “I want to help people like me. That’s why I am serving as a missionary.”

Baatka, who is married and has two children, said he once thought that God chose only talented people as missionaries. “But now I understand that He chooses only the right people.”

“Even though I didn’t believe in myself, God believed in me,” he said. “If God could believe in me, I want to believe in Him, too.”

Thank you for your prayers for Global Mission pioneers who, like Baatka, face huge challenges planting churches among unreached people groups around the world. Learn more about Global Mission pioneers on the Adventist Mission website: bit.ly/GMPioneers.

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