... and to overcome hostile situations
I was born in a house of intellectuals. My grandfather was the first University graduate in his family and my mother and father were both teachers educated in Soviet Russia. I grew up in a poor household: 12 people were living in my grandparents’ apartment and most of them were unemployed as a result of the post-communist crisis. Food was scarce but love and kindness were plentiful.
I dreamed of becoming a diplomat since I was a little girl. A straight-A student, I learned English by myself and worked hard for 3 years to collect enough funds to follow my dream. I got accepted at the University to study International Relations.
My dream was coming true.
The day before the start-date, I received a call from the University Dean who told me that I needed to pay 5 million MNT (appr USD 3.000) to secure my seat, which was the double of the original tuition fee. Obviously, I didn't have the money, so they sold my seat to the daughter of the owner of a mining company.
Later on, I was offered the opportunity to go to the United States to attend a Christian conference…
… but I couldn't afford it.
Later on, I was accepted at the University of Glasgow and the University of Edinburgh to study Public Policy…
… but the lack of finances prevented me from pursuing my dream.
All of these failed attempts were tearing me down and leaving me with a deep feeling of hopelessness.
But the next incident hit me the hardest.
Myself, and 3 other people from church had applied for a visa to attend the Finishing Generation Congress in the UK. I prepared all the supporting paperwork for myself and the other participants – 3 young, dedicated university students, who were super excited to attend the congress. All the costs were covered for our trip, but our visa was rejected. We went to Beijing to re-apply and were rejected again “DUE TO FINANCIAL INSUFFICIENCY.”
I saw my younger friends cry at the Embassy and the feelings that I had experienced through my years of repeated rejections from the University came back to me. I completely crashed down and cried out to God and asked “WHY?”
He answered with a verse from the bible: “If the Son therefore make you free, you shall be free indeed” John 8:36
I saw how the enemy was using poverty to hold me back from walking and acting freely in the Kingdom. The Word of God brought determination in my heart and I took a stand for myself: If Jesus has set me free from poverty, then I am not going to live in poverty anymore.
My grandfather had written a book about 8 generations of his forefathers. While reading it, I discovered a troubling fact; they were all hard-working and honest people but miserably poor. I decided right there and then to put an end to it, so my next generations will be free from poverty because Jesus had set me free.
My next step was to start a small publishing company. I translated and published one book; one single book. It may not be a big deal for others, but for me it was a challenging beginning. I had to compete with old established ‘sharks’ in the publishing industry to get translation permissions for the best-selling books. I had to continuously strengthen my confidence in the success of my business and overcome internal storms such as doubt, fear, intimidation and more.
And here we are today: I now have licenses for 6 books, I have 2 employees working for my company and I started building a house. It will be the first property that my family will own. Well, I am still struggling financially from time to time, but I am winning the battles one by one.
Our lives can be different.
Our situations can be diverse.
But the truth is that God is with you.
His word carries you through every situation you've been going through. We need to keep walking, keep listening, keep believing and keep in touch with our partners in the Kingdom.
For those of you reading my story, I highly recommend you read the book "Cross Over" by Pastor Philip Dupont. It will strengthen your mind and help you have a breakthrough in every situation.
Mandukhai Suvd
