This year of 2022, a large portion of Mongolia Mission’s operating budget has been dedicated toward professional and leadership development. This emphasis is a quest for MM to develop leaders both spiritually and professionally as one of the standard requirements to elevate the status from Mission to Conference.
Currently plans are going forward to open a theological school in Mongolia through partnerships with Adventist institutions abroad. The school would offer a bachelors’ program with several pastors from MM who could teach at the school. For those who are already employed as church leaders, the opportunity to earn a bachelor’s or master’s degree in theology within the country or abroad will be given. It is a strong desire of executive secretary, Pastor Nyamdavaa Dovchinsuren, and ministerial secretary, Pastor Nyamsuren Myagmar, to send missionaries to other cities of Mongolia and to countries where there are large numbers of Mongolians.
The 1000 Missionary Movement (1000MM) in Mongolia will re-open the training program in partnership with the 1000MM in the Philippines to begin training missionaries in the local context. Also, the Jesus Discipleship Training curriculum has been prepared for the lay leaders training that will take place in programs under the theological school.
The MM professional development program is not limited to pastoral staff. The treasury department has started a professional development program for accounting staff through online sharing of practical experiences of fellow accountants in other countries. On Jan. 7, 2022, the Korea Union Conference Chief Accountant Kim YoungSik and his team shared their skills and talents with the MM accountants via Zoom. Ms. Sarah Jane Arengo -Deblois, General Conference Auditing Services audit manager, gave a lecture entitled “Working Moms: Work-Life Balance” on Feb. 18, 2022. This professional development program will be scheduled once a month. Lily Cho, one of the NSD treasury staff members, will share her own experiences with the title of “Time Management and Office Ethics” on March 4, 2022.
Giving MM accountants and other office staff exposure to the challenges commonly met by their counterparts in other countries will broaden their perspectives and improve their skills as they learn how to resolve challenges. The MM staff members are also given the chance to join NSD’s Communication and Leadership Advancement Program (CLAP) and this year, a budget has been allotted for the English proficiency online classes of interested accountants for possible registration to a master’s degree program in business administration should they pass the academic English skills requirements.