Bold had been close to Dad, and he couldn’t imagine life without him. He wondered, “If everyone is going to die, what’s the point of living?” He heard no answer.
To Sabbath School teachers: This story is for Sabbath, January 25.
By Andrew McChesney
Editor’s note: This is the story of how Bold Batsukh, Mongolia’s first Seventh-day Adventist pastor, gave his heart to God in the early 1990s.
Whenever Bold had a question, he ran to his dad in Mongolia.
“I’m scared of the dark,” he said. “Why am I scared of the dark?”
“It’s all in your imagination,” Dad said.
Then the boy heard someone talking about God and the devil. He ran to Dad.
“Is there such a thing as the devil and God?” he asked.
“It’s all in your imagination,” Dad said.
Bold trusted his dad. He had seen Dad read many books, so he knew that he had stored up a lot of knowledge.
But he remained scared of the dark. He also wasn’t so sure that God didn’t exist. He didn’t understand why, but he felt that God must be alive somewhere in the universe.
Although Bold was young, he was very serious. He thought seriously about his future. When he thought about his future, he thought about death. Death scared him.
“Why do we die?” he wondered. “What happens after death? Is that it?”
One day, Dad fell ill. He was in and out of the hospital for treatment for several months. During one hospitalization, Bold noticed marks on Dad’s back from injections given by the nurses.
“Why do they have to give you so many shots?” he asked.
“I’m sick, so I have to get shots,” Dad said.
Bold felt sorry for his father.
Dad grew weaker and weaker. Finally, he couldn’t eat on his own, and his food was pureed like baby food and mixed with water. Someone fed him with a spoon, massaging his throat to help him swallow.
One afternoon, a friend ran up as Bold was playing outside his home.
“Your father’s dead! Your father’s dead!” the boy shouted.
Bold thought the boy was trying to make a joke, and he became indignant.
“Why do you have to joke like that?” he said.
“It’s the truth,” the boy said. “They’re looking for you.”
Bold ran home. An ambulance stood outside the building. No one would let him inside to see his father. Bold realized that Dad had died. He was only 45 years old. Bold was 13.
The boy cried and asked, “Why? Why?”
He heard no answer.
For the first time he spoke to the God whom his father had said didn’t exist.
He said, “I don’t see any reason for this happening.”
He heard no answer.
Bold had been close to Dad, and he couldn’t imagine life without him. He wondered, “If everyone is going to die, what’s the point of living?”
He heard no answer.
Bold had been scared of the dark. But now his fears grew as, in the darkness of the night, he had disturbing dreams about his father. In his dreams, he asked his dad, “Why did you leave us?”
He heard no answer. How he wished that Dad was around to answer his questions.
Dad had been the family’s sole breadwinner. Without him, times were tough. Bold also felt resentment. He thought, “Dad might be alive if only he had taken better care of himself and gone to the hospital earlier.”
Mom also missed Dad terribly. She also had questions. She started to visit a teacher from a traditional Mongolian religion who claimed to have answers.
Bold noticed that Mom seemed to be happier after each visit. He was curious to find out if the teacher could answer his questions.
“Can I go and see him?” he asked.
“Let’s go together,” Mother replied.
Pray for the people of Mongolia who, like Bold, are looking for answers. Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help open a recreation center in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, for other children who have unanswered questions. Thank you for planning a generous offering on March 29.
