Day 25
Kazakhstan
When Open Doors began working in Kazakhstan 30 years ago, there were literally a handful of Christian Believers. When Kazakhstan came out from the Soviet Union, many returned to Islam, the religion they followed before Communism. So the Church was an underground movement for many years. Still many Christians meet in homes, as permission to register a church to meet officially is hard to get. Open Doors helped to provide Bibles in the Kazakh language to help disciple and train Believers. Pray that the Christians will once again experience a fresh touch from the Lord this Christmas season (The Bible, Titus 2:11-14).
Source: Esther’s Pioneering Ministry to Central Asia (Missions Box)
A large country the size of Western Europe, Kazakhstan is the world’s leading uranium producer and the economic leader of Central Asia. Soviet-era nuclear testing and toxic waste dumping plague the nation as well as elevating drug addiction levels and HIV/Aids rates. Islam had a resurgence after the Soviet era, but more legal restrictions are being imposed on all religious groups. Unregistered Protestant churches and their Believers suffer the most persecution. Political instability and infighting between the ruling party and opposition groups have been the mark of the last three years. The impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine has been felt hard in the neighboring nations, with many migrant workers in Russia losing jobs due to sanctions, and the rising cost of living impacting the poor.
