The Missed Opportunity in Mongolian History
A 13-year-old Mongolian inherited land from his father. Through great strategy and awesome fighting ability, he formed fighting bands that conquered village after village. Eventually he became known as Genghis Khan and ruled over 2 million people. His empire stretched from China to India and from Siberia to the edges of Western Europe. Meanwhile in Western Europe a great revival was occurring under the preaching of men like St. Francis of Assisi. At his death, the bulk of Khan’s empire went to his grandson, Kublai Khan. He had 2 Italians in his court named Polo (the father and uncle of Marco) that told him of Christ. Kublai was very interested and he sent them back to Europe with a request to bring 100 missionaries saying, "When we learn about Christianity, there will be more Christians in my empire than in all Europe."
The Polo’s returned to Europe to enlist men willing to share the gospel. They begged and pleaded but only 2 friars and Marco would follow them back to the Orient. So these 5 men began their long journey but the 2 friars turned back. When the 3 men arrived in Kublai’s realm, Kublai asked "Where are the missionaries?"
No one came. No one cared enough. Despite the great revival going on in Europe no one was willing to serve the Lord. Oh eventually, the church did send a small handful of missionaries but by then it was too late. Can you imagine what the largest communist nation today would be like if it were the largest Christian nation?
From a sermon by Adam Cain, M’s of Evangelism, 12/4/2009