Patrick Shuler and his daughter, Charlee, take a break during practice at an Athletes in Action® wrestling camp.
Patrick Shuler and his daughter, Charlee, take a break during practice at an Athletes in Action® wrestling camp.
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The screech of the whistle triggers Charlee Shuler’s instincts. She moves toward her opponent and they grasp hands, jostling in a dance of acclimation, when the referee voices some sort of instruction. Charlee freezes.
What did she say? Was that for me?
Seizing the opportunity of Charlee’s hesitation, her opponent sweeps low to wrap herself around Charlee’s right leg. Charlee drops to all fours, still staring at the referee, yearning for understanding. Her opponent drives Charlee’s head and shoulders into the mat; Charlee’s metal braces draw blood inside her lip. Charlee presses into the yellow vinyl of the mat and becomes rigid, focused on the only thing about which she is certain: Don’t get turned over.
Charlee, a shy but social 12-year-old, radiates a sweet innocence. But beneath this tender exterior, a competitive toughness simmers. So here she is, wrestling in a tournament in the remote mining enclave of Erdenet, Mongolia.
Young people stroll past a mural welcoming visitors to Erdenet, Mongolia’s second-largest city and home to 83,000 people.
Two Mongolian wrestlers grapple during a match at the John Peterson Tournament, an Athletes in Action® event in Erdenet, Mongolia.
Wrestling runs through Shuler veins. Charlee’s grandfather, Don — a former staff member with Athletes in Action®, a ministry of Cru® — and father, Patrick, both wrestled competitively and journeyed overseas to use wrestling’s cultural prominence across much of the old Silk Road to open doors for the gospel.
Mongolia and the Silk Road lands of Central Asia.
Patrick, who coaches wrestling at a high school in Virginia Beach, Virginia, told Charlee that he was taking a few of his wrestlers to Mongolia on a trip sponsored by AIA. She decided to join without hesitation.
She wanted more experience; she had only started wrestling competitively the year prior. “Every 12-year-old girl in the world needs confidence,” Patrick says. “Last year she wrestled on the boys’ team and got pummeled. She only won one match, and the boys weren’t thrilled to have her on the team.”
Now, Charlee would be the only female among 13 American middle- and high-school wrestlers on this trip, on which the students compete with Mongolian wrestlers and share Jesus with them.
Charlee Shuler (left) practices with a Mongolian wrestler in a drill.
Ethan Gould, a high school wrestler from California, mounts a camel as teammates document his effort. The American group spent a day sightseeing and encountering yaks, sheep and camels.
Back on the mat, for the remainder of the first round, Charlee’s face alternatively reveals fear, determination, anger and pain. Her Mongolian opponent scores two more takedowns. The blood on Charlee’s lip reddens; her dark hair loosens from its tight braid and sticks to her face. She’s in a whirlwind, just trying to survive.
Charlee (in blue and white) defends herself against one of her opponent’s many offensive moves. Wrestlers commonly attempt to lunge at an opponent’s legs, grabbing one or both in a takedown maneuver.
Then emotion empowers her. She forces her opponent’s hands to the mat, fighting to stay upright. But Charlee can’t bring her to the ground. Her dad shouts instruction, warning her of the waning clock.
Charlee bears down, but the whistle blows. The round is over. Charlee slumps to the mat, exhausted, shaken and down six points to none.
“Wrestling is all about being uncomfortable.”
Cultural immersion and a hectic schedule brought plenty of discomfort off the mat as well. Most AIA wrestling trips follow the same template: practice and outreach opportunities for a few days, a wrestling tournament, then a weeklong wrestling camp.
The American team grapples with the Genco Wrestling Club at an arena outside Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital and largest city. The group practiced with three different clubs; after each, one of the trip leaders (two coaches and Athletes in Action® staff member Stephen Barrett) explained their faith in Christ.
A traditional Mongolian yurt, or ger, is a portable structure that can be erected in about two hours. Yurts remain the preferred housing of many, especially the 30 percent of Mongolians who still live a nomadic lifestyle. Poorer neighborhoods surrounding urban areas, called ger neighborhoods, contain a mix of yurts and simple block homes.
Christian Holiday (with ball), a wrestling coach from California, and wrestler Jackson Lang (in black, with hat) play pickup basketball with teens on a court behind a small church in a ger neighborhood outside Ulaanbaatar. AIA Mongolia helps many churches use sports to attract young people and demystify Christianity as a “foreign” religion.
Though the adults on the trip do most of the verbal proclamation of the gospel, Charlee and the teens with her have initiated conversations across the language barrier and sought to show God’s love through kindness and friendship. A nightly team Bible study has also stretched them, as many students have never prayed in front of a group or answered questions about their faith.
Christian Holiday (far right) leads Charlee and her teammates in one of their nightly Bible studies. The group used a Bible study for wrestlers created by Fellowship of Christian Athletes to study a chapter from the Gospel of John each evening.
“In Mongolia, wrestling is not a sport; it’s a culture.”
Wrestling has dominated Mongolian culture for centuries. Ancient cave drawings depict wrestlers in combat. Genghis Khan, arguably the world’s most famous Mongol, built his soldiers’ strength and stamina through wrestling. Annual celebrations revolve around the “three manly games” of archery, horse racing and wrestling, which is considered the “manliest” of the three. When families have a newborn son, they will declare a blessing over him in hopes that he’ll become a wrestler. As women’s wrestling has grown, many young girls share the same dream.
The Genghis Khan Equestrian Statue towers over the rolling, treeless steppe about 30 miles east of Ulaanbaatar.
AIA has used wrestling to share Christ with Mongolians since 1992. Charlee and her group are the latest in a long line of missionary wrestlers that stretches back to AIA staff member and 1976 Olympic gold medalist John Peterson, who became such a beloved figure during his many trips to Mongolia that wrestlers insisted the AIA tournament be called the “John Peterson Tournament.”
Gavin Corbe (in red), a high school senior coached by Patrick Shuler in Virginia, dives in to sweep his opponent’s leg during the John Peterson Tournament. In the background, flags of the four nations represented at the event flank a large banner featuring John Peterson’s image and Jeremiah 9:23-24 printed in Cyrillic text.
Before the trip to Mongolia, Charlee told her dad, “I want you to coach me more.” She yearned for time with him, both as her coach and as her father.
How Christianity began growing rapidly in Mongolia
As the Soviet Union collapsed, missionaries punched holes in the Iron Curtain, and Warren and Diane Willis became Cru’s first staff members to venture to Mongolia. When they arrived in 1991, they only knew of five Christians in the entire country.
In January 1992, Jesus Film® completed its Mongolian translation, and Warren arranged for a premiere showing in Ulaanbaatar. Because of wrestling’s cultural influence, Athletes in Action staff member and 1976 Olympic gold medalist John Peterson joined the group sent to debut the film. A small delegation of American congressmen and business executives accompanied them; they’d assist the new government in writing its constitution.
After landing and boarding the bus that would escort them into Ulaanbaatar, Warren asked, “Is John Peterson here? We have a special ride for you.”
A Mongolian member of parliament had wrestled against John in the Olympics and wanted to honor him with a ride in a black Mercedes. The wrestler, not the congressmen or business executives, received preferential treatment.
Members of Mongolia’s government comprised the entire audience of the film premiere. The officials favored the film so much that they threw open the doors for it to crisscross the country during the next several years. AIA benefited from this openness as well.
John Peterson led AIA’s first wrestling team to Mongolia later in 1992. Many more trips followed. As John and others proclaimed their faith in Christ, Mongolians paid attention. The wrestlers’ stature made way for the gospel to be heard in the country.
Now, with more than 40,000 Christians in Mongolia, churches are growing in each of the country’s 21 provinces. Athletic ministry, particularly through wrestling, helps fuel that ongoing growth.
But now, as she pushes herself up and wanders toward Patrick, she looks like she wants to walk away and skip the second round altogether. When he presses a towel to her bleeding lip, she yanks it away, tearing it from his hand. Her face contorts into sadness. She fights it, but the tears come anyway. Patrick steels himself to treat her as an athlete, not just as his daughter. He fans her with the towel and expresses encouragement.
“What are you upset about? You’re doing a good job!” he says. “Just relax; you can be aggressive. You can take this girl down. Just wrestle. You’re fine.”
Charlee’s countenance lightens and her fidgeting slows. The referee’s whistle signals the end of the break. Patrick gently brushes the hair from her face with both hands and guides her back to the mat with his arm.
The exchange between father and daughter lasts only 20 seconds, but Charlee reenters the match strengthened and confident.
Wrestlers who place in the John Peterson Tournament earn a spot at an annual AIA wrestling camp held at Mongolia’s Olympic Training Center the following week. The AIA camp is decidedly outside the norm of their typical camp experience.
Sheep dot a hillside outside the Olympic Training Center, the site of the Athletes in Action® wrestling camp. Nearly 100 wrestlers boarded buses and vans that wound through the hills to the facility nestled above the Selenga River valley, just 40 miles south of the Russian border.
The former Soviet Union, which informally controlled Mongolia for 70 years, used sports as propaganda for the state. Athletes trained relentlessly, hoping to be exported as models of precision and excellence. Most Mongolian wrestling camps still operate out of this mindset, focusing on rigid training and discipline.
The AIA camp combines demanding training with pickup sports, shared meals and evening “club time,” which includes games like a paper-rock-scissors tournament that gets everyone laughing uproariously. Simple worship songs with choreographed hand movements add to the energy. Then the wrestlers sit attentively for a short message about Jesus.
A Mongolian club wrestling coach demonstrates a technique during practice. Camp attendees spend two hours on the mat each morning.
Eli Holiday and Lenny Keyes (arms raised) celebrate a goal during an afternoon soccer game at camp. Instead of solely focusing on wrestling, campers competed in other sports, including basketball and ultimate Frisbee.
During a “club time” skit, a popped balloon showers two wrestlers with water.
Each morning at 7:00, the wrestlers jog up a hill behind the camp for an intense hour of cardio and strength training.
Athletes in Action® staff member Sukhee Sengedorj hands a Bible to a Mongolian camper. Wrestlers left camp with a Bible, a Gospel of John translated into Mongolian script, and a DVD featuring testimonies of notable Christian athletes.
A few of the wrestlers in Charlee’s group have won state championships and battled for Olympic invitations. They’ve reached the mountaintops, and they’ve tasted the disappointment of defeat. Each testimony of God’s work in their lives declares that Jesus provides a satisfaction that can weaken the sting of loss, as well as trump the thrill of even the greatest victory.
The good news of God’s love, forgiveness and friendship entices the young people, especially because the message contrasts with that of Mongolia’s dominant religions — Buddhism and shamanism.
Mongolian wrestlers enjoy a light moment during “club time.” When asked to name their favorite part of camp, most attendees mention this fun evening session.
Each year about a dozen wrestlers indicate a decision to follow Christ. This year, 68 expressed that they’d like to learn more about God. The only AIA staff members in Mongolia, Sukhee Sengedorj and his wife, Jaggi, and several volunteers will connect with these wrestlers for further conversation.
Ethan Gould and Tanner Miller look on as Sukhee Sengedorj (center) reaches for a piece of marmot meat during a visit to a home in one of Erdenet’s ger neighborhoods. By serving guests marmot, a Mongolian delicacy, a wrestler’s family shows great hospitality.
Charlee would ultimately lose her match, but her overall experience in Mongolia was a resounding victory.
On the last night of camp, Charlee entered the wrestling room for club time and found a seat next to a young Mongolian girl. Throughout the week, Charlee bonded with a small group of girls her age. They giggled together through broken communication that devolved into hand gestures and guesswork, but that never dampened their joy in being together.
The phrase “Jesus is Lord” in traditional Mongol script. The script, which has roots in Aramaic and ancient Turkic writing systems, developed as the Mongols conquered much of the Asian landmass during the 13th century.
Charlee Shuler (center, in yellow) looks on intently alongside other campers during an evening “club time.”
Charlee’s friend looked over when she sits down and immediately reaches out an arm and pulls Charlee closer. As the music started, the girls’ hand motions synchronized, following the leader’s prompting. The words on the screen were Mongolian, but Charlee sang along anyway.
The challenges both on and off the mat, as well as the experience of building friendships across a language barrier, forged a newfound confidence within Charlee.
How one young wrestler found confidence and hope at camp
Batbayar (name changed for security purposes), a gifted young wrestler, earned an invitation to the Athletes in Action camp as a 10-year-old. He came carrying a heavy weight — the tragic suicide of his mother just a few years prior.
The camp’s fun, relational atmosphere lessened some of Batbayar’s load and lifted his spirits. Champion wrestlers, including Olympic gold medalist John Peterson, shared testimonies of how they’d faced significant challenges in life and wrestling and found strength and an anchoring hope through a relationship with Jesus. Their vulnerability showed Batbayar that struggle is normal, and even the most difficult circumstances can be faced and overcome.
One morning, an American camper shared how his broken, criminal life had taken a new, hope-filled trajectory after he came to know Christ. As he shared, Batbayar was rapt. He felt that he too could face the difficulties of life and find success. He left camp filled with confidence and hope.
Now, eight years later, Batbayar won his country’s junior national championship (he’s ethnically Mongolian but lives in a neighboring country), and the Olympic Games beckon. He wrestles — and lives — with confidence that blossomed from seeds planted at the AIA camp.
The Mongolians’ devotion to their sport showed Charlee that hard work could enable her to compete at their level. Their grateful spirits and her own experiences of perseverance and faith give her a vision of how she wants to live back home in Virginia. And the adventure with her father into discomfort, confusion and foreignness strengthened a growing foundation of faith in Christ.
“I saw how life could be without God,” Charlee said, reflecting on her time immersed in Mongolian culture and meeting non-Christian wrestlers. “I realized how important it is to have a relationship with God.”
Patrick Shuler and Athletes in Action® staff member Stephen Barrett examine a roadside curiosity during the bus ride between Ulaanbaatar and Erdenet. Mongolia is known as “The Land of the Eternal Blue Sky.”
Short-term mission trips — like wrestling matches — can be confusing and uncomfortable. But immersion into another culture and courageous acts of faith can produce spiritual growth in a short time.
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