Danger in the Air

Bobby and Lindsey knew their one-year-old son, Judah, was in trouble. After a morning prayer meeting with their Assemblies of God World Missions (AGWM) team, they noticed his breathing was ragged and retracting. His oxygen level was dangerously low. They rushed him to the only hospital in the small, isolated Mongolian town of Govi Altai where they were told that the prognosis was not good.

In the mile-high mining town the air pollution index regularly sits at over 1,300, more than four times higher than what’s considered “hazardous.” During winter, the below-freezing temperatures and lack of trees cause the smog from coal-burning fires to settle onto the town, forcing everyone inside.

Exposed to these dangerously high levels of air pollution, Judah had developed double pneumonia. The doctors at the local hospital said there was nothing they could do; Judah would have to go to a better equipped hospital in the capital. There was another problem, however. Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaatar, was at least a day’s drive away. The roads were rugged, at times non-existent, and in the winter, often snowed in.

Bobby called his mother, a respiratory therapist, and stepfather, a physician’s assistant. They told him they did not think Judah would survive the grueling trip. Just then they checked Judah’s oxygen and heart rate again and realized he was beginning to go into cardiac arrest as they spoke. “That’s when we learned our son was, potentially, going to die,” Bobby remembers. “That was so scary.”

Bobby and Lindsey rushed back to the hospital, Judah was put on oxygen, and they prayed for a miracle.

Two Miracles

Bobby and Lindsey have served as AGWM global workers since 2021 and had been praying about serving as global workers for much longer. They both received supernatural direction to go to Mongolia and, despite COVID-19 delays, a team of AGWM workers came together to serve the Mongolian countryside. They knew the risks and sacrifices they would have to make, but they were confident God would help them.

As they sat in the cold, bare public hospital room, they depended on the prayers of thousands around the world for Judah. “We had to bring our own everything, bring our own medicine, bedding, and food,” recalls Lindsey. “It was super basic, and it was scary.”

As Lindsey stayed with Judah and Bobby looked after their other son, a prayer came from an unexpected place. A young Mongolian friend, despite being the son of a prominent Buddhist family in the community, had directed his prayers for Judah toward Christ.

“He told us, ‘I decided to pray to your God for Judah,’” Lindsey remembers. “He said, ‘I love your son, and I love your family, so I asked your God to save his life — when I did, I felt something that I’ve never experienced before.’” Following a week in the hospital, Judah recovered from his double pneumonia.

Through that encounter, this previously Buddhist man came to faith and committed his life to following Jesus. He told his friends about the gospel, and six more high school students came to Christ.

This sudden revival was nothing short of miraculous in the spiritually dark environment of Mongolia’s countryside. Less than 1% of the people in the countryside are Christians. Between post-Soviet atheism, Mongolian Buddhism, and local shamanism, workers often face an uphill spiritual battle.

“It takes, on average, seven years [for Buddhists] to come to faith,” Lindsey says. “It was just miraculous how these kids were just coming to faith; they’re just so hungry for the gospel.”

The AGWM team rejoiced as their child came home, fully recovered, and seven more were welcomed into God’s family.

A Safe Place

As Bobby and Lindsey praised God for saving Judah, they felt the Lord reminding them of a vision he had placed in their hearts years before to provide a safe place from the pollution that affected their children and the children of the entire community. Alongside other AGWM team members Jared and Boggie, they planned to build a community center.

“The Lord had put the idea on mine and Bobby’s hearts when he called us to Govi Altai in 2010, before we had even met each other,” Lindsey remembers. “Judah’s near-death experience confirmed both the need and the specific call of God.”

Equipped with air filters and HVAC systems, the building provides a safe place for the children of the community to play and hang out after school, free from life-threatening pollution. “The Lord wanted us to open the community center and to provide a safe place for kids to play and to study that’s safe from the elements,” states Bobby.

Additionally, the AGWM team uses the facility to host English classes, church services, Bible studies, and meet the spiritual and social needs of Govi Altai.

Life in the Mongolian countryside is difficult. On top of the air pollution and extreme temperatures, social isolation, alcoholism, and abuse often wreak havoc on families. The team began a ministry to help parents break cycles of abuse. “We wanted to give the parents a new way,” states Bobby. “The community, social workers, the government — they all were asking for more of this.”

“It’s just a real great way for us to reach out to this community,” adds Jared, who has served throughout Mongolia and Asia Pacific for over almost two decades. “We meet the physical needs, educational needs — through those relationships, we see people coming to Jesus.”

The AGWM team prayed over the center, contacted their supporters, and praised God as He provided the funding. Construction began in 2024 and, as of August 2025, is all but finished. Except for a few furnishings and final government permits, the team is ready to open the center doors as Fall begins.

Govi Altai and Beyond

In a remote village accessible only off road, the Jared and Boggie share the gospel with an elderly woman who has waited her whole life to hear it. On the high Mongolian plains, missionary associate Grayson participates in an archery competition and shares his faith with the new friends he has made. In their house in Govi Altai, Bobby and Lindsey host their Mongolian friends for dinner and tell stories of Jesus.

As they have ministered, they have seen some miraculously come to Christ while others slowly find faith as they learn and live alongside the team. Of the seven high schoolers who came to Christ, some have not continued in their walk with Christ once they moved away. To make a permanent, gospel impact, Mongolia needs permanent, discipling churches across the nation.

In Govi Altai, the AGWM team hopes their community center and outreach efforts can be a model for ministry adapted to the rugged and isolated terrain of the Mongolian countryside.

“It’s an all-country approach,” says Bobby. The team in Govi Altai will host workers, whether from the churches in Ulaanbaatar or churches around the world, and train them to do rural ministry. “We will send them on, hopefully, to all the other villages of Mongolia,” Bobby adds.

But, for this approach to work, there must be workers. Followers of Christ must be willing to live in the remote and difficult parts of Mongolia. They must weigh the cost of going versus the cost of the millions of lost who may never hear the name Jesus.

For the Bobby and Lindsey, and the entire AGWM team, the cost is heavy. But it is worth it because Jesus is worth it.

“Following Jesus can be a heavy cross,” Bobby reflects. “There are splinters in that cross and you must count the cost. But Jesus is worthy. Go out there and share the gospel! He’s worthy!

By Alex Goodrich