In Central Asia, those who share the Gospel often face much persecution. We continue to pray for believers to remain joyful in the face of this suffering, and we ask for your prayers as well. Elizabeth, who is an SGA Storyteller, shares the story of Thomas below:
Did you wake up this morning in fear of being arrested for your faith? Do you fear neighbors calling the authorities because there are children entering your church doors? Have you ever handed a child a Bible and wondered if that child would be questioned by police on where it came from? Most of us would say no. But many throughout Central Asia are facing rising persecution, both from the government and from those who hold to Islamic teaching or traditions. For believers, such persecution should not come as a surprise. As Jesus was persecuted, so too will His followers be persecuted. Therefore, many of those persecuted—although suffering—rejoice in part for such persecution is evidence of their Christ-like behavior and teaching. Please continue to pray for the faithful men and women throughout Central Asia, and that they may stand strong in the face of these difficult times. For in this, others may see Christ in them.
“Thomas has been a church minister since 2012. Mostly all kinds of ministries are related to youth. In 2014, he got married and since then, he has been carrying out this ministry with his wife. They have three children. In 2021, he was ordained as a youth pastor. A year later, he was put in charge of the local church. So he has been ministering there with his team for several years. During this period, God has blessed a lot of people and allowed them to see the fruit. But to understand this a little bit, I will tell you about this area in general.
There are more than 1,000 mosques and one registered church in the city. In the city, people are more inclined to nominal Islam, but outside the city most people follow radical Islam, where people observe many laws of the Koran. Throughout this country, this particular city has about the third highest level of radical Muslims. The locals do all the activities and training underground, so the local government doesn’t know about it.
The population of the city lives and survives mainly due to migration: some of the families leave to earn money and feed their families from abroad. And those who stayed to live in their city live on the edge of poverty. There is little work and there are almost no big factories.
There has been an awakening in the church over the last six years among the indigenous people. Many people are receiving Christ, and in one to two months some will be baptized. There are only eight church members, but the meetings number from 20 to 30 people. During this period, only 20% of the Russian-speaking population remained in the church.
The church is located in a private sector where there are many houses nearby. The neighbors have different attitudes towards it. Some are very positive, and some are negative. One day there was an incident in this regard. The neighbors did not like the fact that many children came to church on Sunday, and called the relevant authorities to check the church. The police came and at first were afraid to enter, but then they brazenly entered the building where the meeting was taking place, filming everything on their cell phones. They went through the whole auditorium, went on stage, and filmed everything. When this man came on the stage and saw the faces of all the people he was surprised and said, “Oh, there are all “Central Asians” here.” He was puzzled as to what “Central Asians” were doing in the church. This country is by law a country of free religion, but the majority is inclined to the Muslim religion, so Christianity is alien. After checking the hall where the service was held, they went to the children’s Sunday school. There they found a lot of children’s literature in which Bible stories (these are forbidden in our country) are told.
Thomas, two other church ministers, and one missionary were taken to the police station for questioning. Thomas talked to the police, the district police officer, and other state bodies so that all the responsibility was put on one person. That’s why all but Thomas was released. He tried in every possible way to convey to them that his team was doing good. Helping, not causing any evil. The main questions for them were why there were many “Central Asians” in the church and why new ones were coming. State officials were offended by the argument that this country is a country of free religion, and they considered all the work of the church as propaganda and agitation.
The police decided to issue a heavy fine and put a policeman in charge of the church’s affairs. If any guests came to the church, the police officer would come the next day and ask about them. Thanks to tithes and donations, the church was able to install video surveillance cameras, thus securing themselves. And children are gathered separately from the main meeting, where they are told different stories, without any literature, and the stories themselves say that they are just instructive.
The authorities see that the church helps a lot and want to make money from it by various bribes. One of the solutions was secular jobs for the main ministers so that the locals would realize that those who serve have regular jobs like everyone else in the church.
On that day, when everything happened, I was worried not for the fine and the ministers, but for the church. I was afraid that it would scare the locals, push them away from the church, because many of them were just parishioners who had not been baptized. But the situation was completely different: parishioners came to comfort and encourage, saying that the police were doing their job, the main thing was to intimidate. There were a few people who stopped going, but the majority of people stood firm, which surprised Thomas.
There was a girl whose parents do not attend Sunday school. A few weeks before the incident, she had been given a small book with stories and questions. She was asked to take it with her to reflect on the questions and could reread the story again. When the KGB staff asked her where she got the book, she answered firmly that it was her book, that her mother had given it to her and that she had bought it at the bazaar. The girl boldly took the position of the church. The staff answered her that such things are not sold in our bazaars, but she bravely held her position. It’s funny how the child spoke so boldly to them, even using a little bit of lies.
Sunday schools consist of almost 90% of national children. Some neighbors have a bad attitude and don’t let their children go to the meetings, and some on the contrary—they send their children even though they don’t go themselves. When Sunday comes, my sister, who does not speak the language, understands because another girl takes on the role of interpreter. Of all the children who attend Sunday school, 70% go without parents. Parents are very worried about what society will say about them, which stops them from coming to the meetings. Since we have many missionaries who visit women, communicate, pray with them, lead groups, there are many women who are faithful to go. They read and listen to worship, but it is difficult for them to cross the barrier and go to Sunday meetings. But there are those who dare to do so.
Our interest is to reach people with the Gospel so that they will be saved and strengthened in their faith. Therefore, there is no pressure from the church.”