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A mission trip to northern Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan
At the beginning of December, a group of 16 travelers set off for Central Asia, visiting Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The purpose of the trip was to provide humanitarian aid and spiritual support to fellow believers. But we weren't the only ones who were a blessing. The experiences also brought us great blessings and sometimes gave us pause for thought.
To kick off our mission trip, we – 16 participants from various BFECG congregations – met on Friday, December 2, 2022, at the mission house in Speyer. After a shared lunch, we packed the mission's suitcases with humanitarian aid such as clothing and hygiene products. We then traveled to Frankfurt. From there, we went to Istanbul and then on to Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.
In Istanbul, our connecting flight was delayed by almost four hours, so instead of departing at 1:00 a.m., we didn't fly to Bishkek until 5:00 a.m., spending the entire night at Istanbul airport. After landing in Bishkek on Saturday afternoon, our fellow believers from Kyrgyzstan picked us up, and we drove to our first destination: the congregation in Karabalta. Karabalta is about 60 kilometers from Bishkek. The congregation has a guesthouse where the male members of the group stayed. The women were accommodated in the "House of Mercy," a women's shelter run by the congregation.
After our arrival in Karabalta and a shared lunch, we held our first church service with the local members. The church building can accommodate approximately 200 people. It has stood on this site for a very long time. Unfortunately, none of the church members could tell us when the building was constructed. After the service, our group split up for the first time. Part of the group continued on towards Uzbekistan, while the others remained in Karabalta.
Distribution of aid packages to people in need in Karabulak
Group division for effective service
On Sunday, the group that had remained in Karabalta split up again. One part continued on to Tokmok (about 130 km from Karabalta) for the church service, and the other part went to Belovodsk (about 25 km away). In Belovodsk, we attended the service and participated with a program and sermon. The congregation runs a rehabilitation center for drug and alcohol addicts next to the church building.
During the service, former alcoholics were converted and asked for forgiveness of their sins. This was a beautiful experience and encouraged the church staff to continue their ministry. Many churches in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are struggling due to high emigration. Over the years, about 500 members have emigrated from the Belovodsk church. The pastor also had several opportunities to emigrate to America, but he doesn't want to abandon his congregation and continues to serve the Lord.
The story of a young boy in Belovodsk particularly touched us. The boy is about 9 or 10 years old and has non-believing parents. Despite this, for years he walked 20 kilometers to church every Sunday. Now he can afford a bus ticket.
After the church service, we had a Kyrgyz meal and visited a boarding school for children with intellectual disabilities with some members of our congregation. Although the boarding school is Muslim, our brothers and sisters are allowed to hold a kind of children's service there every Sunday and tell the children about Jesus.
Children's home in Tokmok
In Tokmok, the local community runs a children's home. This home houses not only orphans but also children whose parents are unable or unwilling to care for them. Part of our tour group stayed in Tokmok for the entire trip. Every morning, we held a prayer service with the children before school. We also received donations of goods and money from the community and the children's home.
Since some of the participants in our trip had lived in Tokmok themselves, we visited their old houses or the houses of the young people's parents. We then traveled to the surrounding villages and delivered humanitarian aid to the community members. A major problem for the people in the villages is the lack of prospects, which often leads to alcoholism. This is a particular danger for young people.
Distribution of aid packages to people in need in Karabulak
Continue to Kazakhstan
On Tuesday, a small group continued on to Kazakhstan. In Kazakhstan, we encountered a completely different picture than in Kyrgyzstan. While Kazakhstan's economy is doing better, the country is in a spiritual crisis. Unlike in Kyrgyzstan, the congregations here are more spread out and smaller. There is a severe shortage of church workers in Kazakhstan. In Kokosek, we visited a small Kazakh house church with about 10 members and participated in the service. The songs in Kazakh were particularly unusual, but very beautiful.
Although people in Kazakhstan don't own large or modern houses, we were received and treated with great hospitality everywhere we went. The next day, we continued on to Karabulak. There, we participated in Holy Communion. The church is an old, renovated German Lutheran church that still possesses many old German Bibles and hymnals, some of which are over 250 years old. The local Pentecostal congregation is permitted to use the building. Particularly impressive was an old handwritten German hymnal, which had been copied by hand when printed Christian literature was banned during the communist era. Communism is now history, but God's word is still proclaimed in this place.
Visit to the community in Karabulak
Complete devotion
In the evening, we attended a church service in Taldykorgan. There, too, we encountered a small house church and were warmly welcomed. The brothers and sisters in Kazakhstan receive few visits from Christians abroad and are grateful to God for every encouragement. One brother told us that he had planned to emigrate. However, God spoke to him, telling him to stay in Kazakhstan. Since then, he has been serving God in Kazakhstan.
Our driver in Kazakhstan was Brother Sergei, who is also responsible for the congregations in the Almaty Oblast. We greatly appreciated Brother Sergei, as he dedicated himself to the congregation and to us. It is certainly not easy to lead many small congregations in such a large country, all of which are widely scattered. Therefore, it is all the more important to pray for the ministers in Kazakhstan. We spent Thursday in the car, driving back to Karabalta in Kyrgyzstan. After more than 10 hours of driving and a long wait at the border, we arrived.
Back in Kyrgyzstan
A fraternal conference took place in Belovodsk on Friday. We young people took the opportunity to visit Bishkek, the country's capital.
A church conference took place in Bishkek on Saturday, to which several congregations from northern Kyrgyzstan, including our tour group, were invited. The service lasted all day and included a full program. On Sunday, most of the group stayed in Tokmok for the service, while a small group attended the service in Sokuluk.
On the last day of our trip, we drove to a church on the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul. Issyk-Kul is a large, beautiful mountain lake in the Tian Shan Mountains. The church there, however, is very small and located away from other churches. About five older members and one younger brother attended the service. He told us that God was using him there and that's why he couldn't emigrate, even though he had the opportunity. This devotion deeply impressed us.
Return journey
On Tuesday morning, our return flight from Bishkek via Istanbul to Frankfurt departed. We landed in Frankfurt around 6 p.m.
The 10 days in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan were a wonderful and blessed time for all of us. With God's help, we served the communities there as a blessing. Many of the young people had the opportunity to visit their parents' homeland. The people in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan need not only material support, but above all, spiritual support.
We would like to thank God for His support and ask you to pray for the communities in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Simone Nehring
Municipality of Sekach
Further information about the projects in the countries, the Christmas campaign and the opportunity to donate:
https://cdh-stephanus.org/kirgisistan/
https://cdh-stephanus.org/kasachstan/
https://cdh-stephanus.org/weihnachtspakete/
