MIU- “We put the International in University”

MIU was founded in 2002, surprisingly to me, by Koreans.  I am told that there were three universities founded by Koreans in Ulaanbaatar as Christian outreaches.  One of those grew a  bit too fast and lost its Christian foundation somewhere along the way.  I am reminded that Harvard, Princeton, and many of the earliest universities in the USA suffered the same fate.

MIU is small by US standards with only around 700 undergraduate students.  There are only about 5 majors offered.  But, it’s nets are large!  I met MIU students from USA, Kazakhstan, Russia, Korea, and Afghanistan.  MIU tries to recruit Mongolians who have been displaced to other countries, and seems to have good success.

Despite that the students come from all over Asia, they are similar,in many ways, to my students in the USA.  They are constantly texting or talking on cell phones.  Just like at the Univ of AL, they all have smart phones, whilst I only have a dumb one.  They are into facebook, and have sweethearts.  They speak English, the language of instruction at MIU.  And just like my students, they all need the Christ.

Most of the faculty are young and Christian.  Many are enduring hardship in lifestyle, and have left family behind to serve in Mongolia.  I give 3 talks about teaching and working in the University culture, and they seem engaged.  Because the talks don’t begin until 6 PM, after a long workday, their commitment is obvious.

I met the President of MIU, Dr. Kwon, who asked when I would retire, and suggested that I come to work for MIU.  We prayed together and I asked that G^d would continue to guide MIU in their growth.

I am happy to have met and worked with the students and faculty of MIU.  In the class I taught, I admired the small MIU pin a female student wore.  At the end of class, she came up and quietly insisted that I have it, despite my protestations.

These people are kind, generous, and hard working.  It is good to know they exist.  It is always encouraging to meet Christians who are walking out their faith day by day.  It is always good to know that G^d is at work in distant locales that we Americans never consider.

May G^d give us all “bifocal vision” for ministry, wherein we look not only to what G^d is doing locally, but what He is doing, with gusto, around the world.

G^d Bless Mongolian International University!