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Ground Breaking for New Mission Center in Mongolia and 'Ode to Joy' Concert |
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By S T Kimbrough On May 13, 2006, ground was broken for a new United Methodist mission center in the Chengeltei section of the city of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Taking part in the ground breaking ceremony were the following staff of the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM): Dr. S T Kimbrough, Jr., Dr. David Wu, Rev. Jong Sung Kim, Mr. Jorge Lockward; and GBGM missionaries—Ms. Helen Sheperd, Rev. Millie Kim, and Ms. Sun Lae Kim. Members of the Mongolia Initiative Support Group, a choir from Korean United Methodist Community Church in Englewood, NJ and its pastor, Rev. Koo Young Na, also participated in the service. The new mission center will house the Chengeltei United Methodist congregation and mission outreach programs of The United Methodist Church in Ulaanbaatar. On the previous evening, May 12, 2006, the Global Praise Program of the Mission Evangelism Office of GBGM, sponsored a faith-sharing concert entitled “Ode to Joy” under the direction of Dr. S T Kimbrough, Jr., Associate General Secretary for Mission Evangelism. The first GBGM faith-sharing concert was presented at the opera house in 2001 with the GBGM Youth Mission Chorale sponsored by the Mission Evangelism Office and the Women’s Division. The program, “Ode to Joy,” was a cooperative Mongolian, Korean, American effort and presented music from all three cultures. A special feature of the concert was the appearance of a United Methodist Children’s Chorus of children from the United Methodist congregations of Ulaanbaatar singing the Christian song “Ded-deen dedd” (“Lord of lords”). Not only was their singing, accompanied by the indigenous Murin Khuur (Horse Violin)Orchestra, inspiring, but it was thrilling to realize these children were from United Methodist congregations which had been established in Ulaanbaatar since 2001, when GBGM presented the first faith-sharing concert. Now there are two major congregations and one satellite congregation. The program included music from Mongolia and two orchestras, the Murin Khurr Orchestra conducted by Tsendiin Batchulun, and the Philharmonic Orchestra, a fifty-voice Mongolian Philharmonic Chorus, the premiere of three songs by Mongolian composer Natsag Jantsannorov, sacred songs and instrumental music by Aaron Copland, Mozart’s Serenade, Korean Christian songs, and excerpts from the sacred opera on the life of Christ, I Am the Way, conducted byJagvaral Burenbekh of the Mongolian State Academic Theatre of Opera & Ballet and Jorge Lockward, Global Praise Program Coordinator of GBGM. Guest soloists for I Am the Way were Craig Hart (bass) and Sewell Griffith (soprano). The concert concluded with the “Hallelujah Chorus” from G. F. Handel’s Messiah sung by the entire company and accompanied by the Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by S T Kimbrough, Jr. The opera house was filled with members and friends of the United Methodist congregations of Ulaanbaatar, members of the Mongolian artistic community, assistant to the prime minister of the government of Mongolia, and other guests. The concert was an inspiring testimony to the faithful witness of United Methodism, its missionaries in Mongolia, and the many churches in the US who are supporting the mission.
Date posted: May 23, 2006 |
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