Through the miracles of pregnancies and the boldness of sharing the Gospel, God’s hand has been seen in the lives of Sulaimon and his family. SGA team member Elizabeth shares the story of this faithful couple.
Although it doesn’t happen for every couple who struggles to have children, God gave Sulaimon and his wife five successful pregnancies and deliveries. “Miracles,” they were called by the doctors, and after the first miracle they were told that they shouldn’t hope for anymore. However, God faithfully blessed them with one child after another. Being thankful to God over and over again for these children, Sulaimon was faithful to express his thankfulness by sharing the Gospel while in the maternity home. “His joy can’t hold him back and he wants to share his joy with everyone.”
However, everyone was not happy about it or willing to listen. He was eventually fined and also came before a judge who “was disposed toward Sulaimon, his heart was open to him”and suggested an official document so he would be able to evangelize freely (although it has not been allowed yet).
Sulaimon was bold for his faith. He and his wife believed with all of their hearts that God would deliver and keep their babies safe. They put aside all of the difficult circumstances that surrounded their pregnancies and instead they were Gospel witnesses through it all. Please pray for this family as they continue to grow and remain bold for the sake of the Gospel message.
“I want to introduce you to a wonderful family that has committed themselves to God and through that He is doing a great work in Central Asia. Brother Sulaimon’s family is celebrating 24 years of life together. During this time God has gifted them with children—one adopted and five biological children. Doctors had told Sulaimon’s wife that she would not be able to have children. She underwent treatment, but it was not enough to get pregnant. But their faith was enough, so a miracle happened and they had a girl. And when the wife came to the doctor for the second time for treatment to get pregnant, she was told that it is unrealistic, because the first child was a miracle. They were told not to hope for a second miracle. They testified to the doctors, and when they said they wanted a second child, they were told that it was impossible, except by the grace of God. Praise God! They had four children. The eldest daughter is now an adult and went to study at a Christian university.
A special miracle was the last (at the moment) child—the fifth. In the sixth month of pregnancy, Sulaimon’s wife’s water broke, and the doctors urged her to have a Caesarean section. The wife did not intend to give birth to a six-month-old baby and believed that she could carry and give birth to a full-term, nine-month-old baby. The wife wrote a statement that she took responsibility and started the treatment that a doctor prescribed. By some miracle, she carried the baby to term and gave birth to a healthy child. He is now five years old, and you can see him in the picture.
When their fifth baby was born, Sulaimon came to visit his wife. He brings a bag of Gospel literature to every discharge from the maternity home and shares it with the staff. His joy can’t hold him back and he wants to share his joy with everyone. Usually he waits until discharge day, but this time he couldn’t resist and decided to share the Good News even before discharge. But someone was not happy about it and during the discharge he was caught distributing religious literature, which can be considered as propaganda, punishable by law—criminal punishment. For three days he shared the Gospel, and on the fourth day—the day of discharge—he dressed up his four children beautifully, took more bags with the Gospel and came to the maternity home. When he arrived at the maternity home, he met a policeman who asked him to park the car somewhere else. Sulaimon decided to share the Good News with this man as well. The policeman looked at the man and said that he had been looking for a man who was distributing religious literature for three days. The policeman called the captain, and he started scolding Sulaimon while his wife and his newborn baby were waiting for him to be discharged. Sulaimon told them that through the holy book “Kitobi Mukaddas” he learned that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, that it is only way that we can come to God.
Half an hour later, KGB officers arrived and started interrogation. First, they interrogated him at the KGB, and from there they sent him to the prosecutor’s office for questioning. But everywhere the brother went, he took the opportunity to share the Gospel. Eventually the authorities came to the decision to fine Sulaimon. The fine was 6,000 somoni ($600). At the trial, when the decision was announced, Sulaimon was given the floor. He said that he has five children, and this amount is very big for him, as he still takes care of his old parents and his sick sister. The judge entered into the brother’s position and announced a fine of 30% of the total fine—1500 somoni ($150). At the end, the judge decided to ask him why and what he was doing. He told him that the holy book “Kitobi Mukaddas” is not banned in the country. The judge was curious where exactly the information in that literature came from and asked him to bring the book, then Sulaimon began to recite in brief the main events from the creation of the world to the coming of Christ and His life. The judge was disposed toward Sulaimon. His heart was open to him. Then he said that he was surprised that as a Central Asian man with a different faith he spoke correctly and did nothing wrong. Finally, the judge added—let the pastors of your church make you an official document so that you can evangelize freely. But in spite of this, unfortunately it is still not allowed at the moment.