This spring we were also able to help 100 Bayankhongor herders. Last summer was very dry and this winter has been very cold. In Mongolia years like this are called a dzud, harsh winter. Many animals have died and the spring was exceptionally cold preventing the new grass from growing. Many different organizations are helping with food and feed for the herder families. Mongolia's pasture is over grazed so JCS and many others thought it would be best to help only with food so that the herder families could make it through this hard time and rebuild their herds.
JCS chose to do their assistance to herders in Bayankhongor through Bayankhongor Development Partnership Team. We chose 2 countryside locations in the Gobi desert and helped 50 herder families at each location. We were able to help with Flour, rice, salt, sugar, tea and oil. We also gave them a book about Psalm 23, the Lord is my Shepherd.
In one of the locations there is a group of believers that meet occasionally and at the other there are no believers that we are aware of. At the second location another JCS team is about to work all summer in digging a well so we look forward to what God will do in the lives of those people. Both locations saw this assistance as coming from a Christian organization even though we are not registered as such. Our name in Mongolian is very long and the local government could not remember it so they called us "The Christian Development Organization from Bayankhongor City".
