God is using your prayers and gifts to open doors

Central Asia can be deadly cold. Yet it is an increasingly fertile mission field for SGA-supported missionary pastors. This past winter has been truly a busy season for them. 

Oleg is one such pastor who ministers in one of the Muslim-dominant Central Asian countries. Not only are your prayers and support helping him reach people in great need, but they are also helping to send out young believers to reach their peers with the Gospel . . . 

Hello, dear brothers and sisters. I thank our Lord for you and your service to our people. I thank God for putting my family on your hearts, and for the help you have rendered to us. The cold season is here again—winter arrives late in our republic, but at times due to passing storm systems, it gets extremely cold, and many people start falling ill as they are not prepared for such cold temperatures. Many people, especially children, are suffering from colds and flu. Thank God, we have prayers from believers that encourage us during difficult times. I continue to work in social services and visit the districts of our region, participating in home groups and leading one home group in a nearby town.

Our church continues to engage with needy and homeless people. Apart from feeding them every Tuesday and Thursday, we have started distributing a loaf of bread to everyone who comes. We anticipate that with the onset of cold weather, more people will attend our meetings, as it becomes harder to find sustenance compared to summer. However, we are glad to serve all those in need, aiming for the glory of Jesus Christ to be revealed through these services, and for these individuals to experience God’s love for them, realizing that they are not forgotten or abandoned.

Our church has a bakery, and now we provide hot bread to homeless people and children in one of our towns. Our brothers and sisters visit there for ministry, conducting sessions with children and adults. The church youth started visiting one of the hostels in our city where very poor families live with many children. Knowing these families, they take bread to their rooms, interact with them, inviting them along with their children to holidays and sports events. During each meeting, the youth share a biblical story and pray with the families. I have visited these families several times with our youth, aiming to communicate with the people, yet we approach these interactions delicately, as we don’t want people to think we are buying their favor with gifts and bread. 

Every Wednesday, along with a brother named Peter, I visit a small town where predominantly Uzbek-speaking people reside. We got acquainted with an Uzbek family there—they have a child with cerebral palsy. When we visit them, we take a translator to communicate and pray for the girl and her family. According to them, often after the prayer, she feels much better, and they thank God for His mercy towards them.

In addition to this, we travel to the border with Uzbekistan and bring the Holy Scriptures in the Uzbek language. We continue to assist needy families, and now we are supporting 90 families with food. Thank God for this service, because we see much joy in people as prices for groceries increase each time. God never leaves any issue unresolved, and we haven’t faced difficulties in visiting these families. Once again, I want to thank you for your love for us and our people. We wish you abundant blessings from God, His mercy, and protection. May God keep you, your families, and your church!

Please pray for Oleg and his fellow workers as they share Christ’s love in a region where opposition to evangelical churches is great. We praise God for the eternal impact Oleg is having in his region!