The land of Genghis Khan, with its vast steppes, the Gobi desert and long biter-cold winters, seems to be as formidable a land to conquer today as it was in the days of great Mongol warrior. Genghis Khan had it easy. He only had to mount his horse, ride boldly across the land with his army to fierce warriors and this immense country was his.

But for missionary Arianna Cortes, to conquer Mongolia for Christ from the confines of her workplace, had to take on a different approach.

Slightly disappointed about not being able to immediately work on achieving her mission goals--to win and disciple at least 15 Mongolians between the ages of 15 to 30 - due to the limitations of her job, she waited for God's perfect timing. When she least expected it, the opportunity came in the guise of an invitation to teach a short-term English language course at an international language center.

She recounts, "This assignment paved the way for me to have direct contact with young atheists and Buddhists. The opportunity was outstanding because the directors gave me the freedom to preach Christ to my class!"

As a result, she has been able to share the Gospel of Christ to teenagers from influential families such as lawyers, doctors, businessmen, and even national defense officials. Besides these language classes, Ariana is very much into friendship evangelism.

One of her unforgettable experiences, besides that of attaining her initial goals of evangelizing her acquaintances within two years and discipling 15 born-again Mongolians, was the time when everyone in the house church she started were baptized with the Holy Spirit.

Arianna also had her fair share of hilarious situations out in the field. In one incident, she recounts, "One afternoon, I was walking on a street congested with people (when) one big ugly guy came and positioned himself to grab me. Instead of being afraid, I screamed at him at the top of my voice in Cebuano. My vioce (probably) was earsplitting and terrifying enough for him to flee from me at a very high speed."

As for her greatest joy as a missionary, Arianna says, "Being a missionary, I am faced with many opportunities to develop myself as a professional in my chosen field of missions…I find joy in seeing how God is helping me to grow stronger in dealing with difficult circumstances."

Arianna has a degree in commerce and completed her career missionary training at the Asian Center for missions at the Cagayan de Oro center in 1999. She was deployed to Mongolia in August 2001 through the Our God Reigns Ministries but received her call from the Lord to minister in Mongolia back in 1996.

She attributes a substantial part of her training, though, to her family background. "My family upbringing contributed largely to my missionary training. I received practical experience by observing and assisting my parents as they worked in the (mission) field, while they also taught me the Scriptures," she explains. Her parents were missionaries and church planters among the minority tribes in Mindanao.

Her vision for Mongolia: "I have a vision that masses of Mongolians will find salvation throughout this nation… My vision is that thousands of Mongolians will go out as missionaries to the Muslim countries."

It's been almost two years since God panted Arianna in Mongolia. Genghis Khan may have conquered the land and even half the world in his day. But Arianna Cortes is conquering the hearts of Mongolians with the power of Christ's love one friendship and one language class at a time.

• Ariana serves in a restricted country and her real name has been altered to protect her identity.
  
• To know more about the ministry of Arianna Cortes, please contact the ACM National Office.

Note: * the names of the missionaries were changed for security purposes.