Tony treated me to Mongolian barbecue at lunch today and, it never fails, with this dish I remember the legendary Genghis Khan.
For me, he was (past tense) the face of Mongolia. Plus, of course, our own Mr. Shooli (the fictitious Mongol, performed and made famous by TV ad director/actor Jun Urbano in the movie Mongolian Barbecue).
My image of Mongolia morphed into something nice and new when I met the three Mongols who wanted to be writers and therefore came to the same writers’ conference I attended in Thailand.
They were nothing like Genghis Khan or Mr. Shooli. They looked like the old friends I keep—warm, earnest, with a sense of humor that brings sunshine to a stormy day.
They ate the same food, sang the same hymns, prayed to the same God, spoke of their families, and shared their grace experiences.
Over breakfast, they regaled us with Mongolia's horrendous cold weather, which could go 56 below zero! They spoke of their government’s effort to encourage their small population of 2.7 million to grow faster: free lands for every citizen and other eye-popping incentives.
Mongolia is a real nice place with real nice people.
Born at an ancient time (1100’s), Genghis Khan has no photos. But the art piece above, currently in the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan, is the closest depiction of him that is generally accepted by most historians. It is also how people like me imagine him, and all Mongols, to be.
He is unlike my new friends—Timothy, Dugermaa, and Pastor Mojic—in every way, but they have one thing in common: they are all warriors.
Genghis Khan fought for and won lands and people. My three new friends from Mongolia are soul warriors.
After they shall have become honest-to-goodness writers (their written works published), they will win more hearts for our Savior.
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