My name is Gan-Otgon Lkhagvasuren. I am doing my M.Div at Torch Trinity. I was born in May 30, 1978 as the fifth child of our parents. I have 4 brothers and 3 sisters. Now, we are all grown up and this year my youngest brother is graduating from university. My hometown is Tsetserleg city in Arkhangai province which is in the central part of Mongolia. I also grew up there. I moved to Ulaanbaatar the capital city in 1997 to study at State Pedagogical University and graduated in 2001 as an English language teacher and translator. I became a part time instructor at the same university and I studied and worked there for 3 years as an English language teacher. I married Selengee in 2000 and we have 2 sons, Joy (6) and Joshua (4).

I came to know Jesus through reading Bible while the New Testament and Old Testament were in the process of translation. Two of our relatives started attending church in 1992 and gave me the Bible to read in 1994. After reading the New Testament several times, I was confused as to whether it was a myth or truth. In March 1995, I attended a Sunday worship service for the first time and I was astonished. It was the place where I had never been but I longed for. Is there a place like this? How come I did not know it before? I should have come years before! I had found what I was searching for. That was Jesus and His followers. Since that Sunday I have never missed a worship service. After few Sundays, I became a Christian and was baptized in July of the same year. I served as a small group leader since that time until I moved to Ulaanbaatar. I backslided for one year after becoming a student, but by God's grace, I came back to the Lord and grew deeper in the faith. I began to attend a church named ""Love"" and soon became a lay leader of the church while I was teaching at university. I used to preach once month and in the second half of 2003, I quit my job and started in full-time ministry at the church. In 2004, before I come to Torch, I did Family Discipleship Training School by YWAM with my family.

Korea is a very developed country. Not only its developments but red crosses in the evening night caught my attention and I was so impressed and often think about our country. God really blessed Korea with vibrant, mission minded Christian men and women and churches. I experienced stress because there were lots of people in the buses, on the subway and on the street. It was very crowded. I came from a country where there are 2.8 million people living in a land 16 times bigger than South Korea. But now I’ve adjusted.

I never forget my first arrival at the Torch in August 24th of 2004. It was my first time doing theological studies and I was so impressed and expected even more. I made so many friends during the summer retreat that year. This was again my first time having so many Christian friends and now I am in the middle of wonderful people from many countries. The Torch student community is a place where one can be shaped, encouraged and experience diversity. I had three purposes to concentrate on when I came to Torch Trinity: Theology, Preaching, and Church Ministry. When our school curriculum changed it was a big surprise for me. God opened a door to study more on the above subjects in Church Ministry Concentration Track. Lastly, I’m thankful for the wonderful faculty members, from whom I have learned many things that influenced my life and ministry.

When I go back to my country, Mongolia, I will be ordained as a pastor and continue my ministry at ""Love"" church. At the same time, I want to teach in a Bible College. Also if God allows, I am planning to start BEE (Biblical Education by Extension) seminars for Mongolian church leaders. Lastly, Mongolian Christians need more resources (theological books, articles, magazines, movies, etc) for their knowledge and spiritual maturity. Therefore, I am planning to start a translation bureau office where we can translate as many as books into Mongolian. I have also planned to study further after six years during my sabbatical.