Kyrgyzstan

Women and young girls are vulnerable to sexual and physical abuse throughout Central Asia. In Kyrgyzstan, the so-called protectors of the law are often the perpetrating criminals. Crimes reported against women and girls are not indicative of the real numbers at all. Government officials, judicial officers, and high-ranking police personnel fudge the numbers. This exercise is not to shield the country from a negative international image. It is to protect the perpetrators of heinous crimes against women and girls. They are often from the police department. Real action is a reality only in a few cases due to public protests. Victims face additional trauma from their own families and the community for reporting the crime against them. There is a consensus among the police and the public that they can get away with violent crimes against women and girls. This evil nexus cannot continue to torment our dear sisters in Kyrgyzstan. The Church is the greatest authority on this planet, and we have to fight this evil on our knees.

Lord, repay the perverted perpetrators in Kyrgyzstan with Your divine retribution and wrath according to the evil they have done. When evil comes against innocent women and girls like a flood, oh Lord, raise a standard against them (The Bible, Isaiah 59:19).

Kyrgyzstan remains one of the poorest countries in post-Soviet Central Asia. Unemployment, corruption, inflation, and religious and human-rights violations still plague people’s lives, as it did before the Tulip Revolution. In 2010 a parliamentary constitution with elaborate checks and balances was adopted, making Kyrgyzstan the only Central Asian country in which the president is limited to a single term. Most Kyrgyz are nominal Muslims, but a growing Islamic identity is concerning. A lack of growth in the Church has been observed. There is diversity even within Kyrgyz culture: city, youth, and village cultures, Russian and Kyrgyz speakers, let alone other people groups including Uzbeks, Tajiks, and Uyghurs who live in Kyrgyzstan. This poses a very real challenge for effective church planting.