Fined $400 for belief in Christ

One evening seven policemen came to my home searching for a “criminal” though they had no search warrant. I wasn’t at home, only my brother Timor*, my younger brother, and my nephew. The police did not find their criminal but did shoot video of my home. Our house was clean (that is, no Christian literature) but the police tossed out two Gideon New Testaments in Russian and one Good News in our local language. Video cassettes and disks which I had at home were not Christian but ordinary films which are for sale at the market.

When they searched our home, neighbors served as witnesses outside the door, while my boys were held in the other room. The police showed our neighbors the material they had “found” (though it was what they brought to my home). They drew up a report of the search that stated they found these books in my house. I was called home by a brother saying that the police wanted to talk with me. By the time I arrived the police were getting ready to leave. They had already compelled the two brothers to write testimony of what was happening, and also they took away my younger brother’s passport.

Then later police subpoenaed me to the city police department. I was interrogated by the major of the department of terrorism. He accused me of proselytizing. And he threatened that unless I renounce Christ he would imprison all my relatives simply because of our faith in Christ. They also subpoenaed brother Timor, who testified that he also believes in Jesus Christ, and threatened him with imprisonment unless he testified against me for compelling him to believe in Jesus Christ. When brother Timor said that by law everyone has the right to believe in any religion, the investigator said that this law did not have force in our region. In a few days I was summoned to the prosecutor’s office. I was told to sign a document from the public prosecutor warning me of criminal article ###-3, that is, if they find Christian books in my home again they will accuse me on point ###-3 to the full extent of the law and put me in prison. I refused to sign this paper because it was contrary to the law to make this charge prior to having received a prior charge. He summoned two witnesses documenting my refusal to sign the decision of the public prosecutor.

Three weeks later I was summoned to court by phone. In attendance was the public prosecutor’s aide, the secretary of the judge, and also the judge, who accused me of illegally keeping Christian literature, video cassettes, and also disks for distribution. I had statements from our neighbors who had been witnesses that they did not participate in the search of my house but stood outside my home and did not actually see where these things were found. When I asked the judge to summon and question those who participated in the search and the witnesses, she said there was no need to question them, all was clear. I was under surveillance by the police because I believe in a strange religion, that is, Christianity. And she said that I must return to Islam without delay. When I said that I will continue to believe in Christ the judge said that I would be fined $400 without even saying the article against which I was judged.

*Timor is not his real name.

Persecution and church growth in *closed country*

2008 for us was a year of mulitplication. Our primary objective was to share the gospel in the suburbs of our city and in other districts of our republic, and also to open home churches. We shared the gospel, and 20 of those who accepted Christ continue to grow stronger in their faith.

Because of persecution this year some believers recanted their faith, and others, though they continue to believe, do not meet with us. Not focusing on these difficulties, our believers continued to share the gospel and opened five active small groups.

Though our annual results failed to meet our goals, we saw that God nonetheless worked mightily in our church. Many believers became stronger in their faith and began in earnest to look at ministry. We declared 2009 the year of ministry, where ministry begins with our family. And our motto is “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Because of our current persecution it is difficult to meet in small groups, even as small as three. So we decided to conduct services within each of our families. Only leaders will meet at night to prepare other leaders who will serve their families. We have services now within 21 families. Of these, 13 families are entire households that are saved. The other families have nonbelievers, but we trust our prayers will purchase their salvation.

Our focus for 2009 is to evangelize mainly among our relatives so as not too offend law enforcement authorities, because each time we are caught, they say that we should believe in Jesus at home rather than out in other places. Every family is focused on evangelism among their relatives, and each hopes to open a minimum of three small groups among their relatives.

We thank you for your prayers and support, and ask you to continue praying for our country.

In the Face of Inflation

For 2 to 3 years the Kazakh tenge had held its value against the dollar. Lately we are seeing a weakening of the tenge. For example:
As of 01-Jan-2009 ... as of 11-Feb-2009
120.3 KZT/US$ ... 148.5 KZT/US$
155.45 KZT/EUR ... 191.48 KZT/EUR
3.37 KZT/RUR ... 4.1 KZT/RUR
This means we get more tenge for each dollar we convert, which for people with dollars to exchange it seems a good deal. Or it takes more tenge to convert to dollars, which for many of our staff that are needing to pay rent or return loans in dollars makes things much worse.

With the exchange rate changing, it often affects the prices of things to buy. Most of the merchandise in stores is not manufactured or packaged in Kazakhstan, from milk products to cars. And with international transactions usually done in dollars or Euros, it means that the tenge price to the buyer is rising higher.

Christians Cannot Die

At least that is the political stance in this closed country. One of our brothers in this closed country sat down next to me and just poured out his heart.

“One of our sisters died. Of course, most of her family are not believers. And when the family went to bury her there were problems. The local Mullah refused her services. The local government officials refused her a burial plot. The family was denied a traditional funeral by their friends. It almost seemed like a cartoon gone awry, except that it wasn’t funny. Basically, it was a total disaster.

“We are struggling with how to bury our dead, how to minister to those grieving, how to reach through the tragedy of death to share the hope of a real future in heaven with those who have no hope. This is just the first one in our region, we know others have begun to wrestle with the issue, but it is a first for us. And as yet, is still totally unresolved. Hopefully no one else dies anytime soon so we have time to sort through this a bit.

“Pray with us. This just adds to the burden we bear. The government is always watching, arresting, searching our homes, threatening. Family members are afraid to associate with us. Friends disappear whenever there are difficulties. And even believers shrink away. And now we are becoming a stench to all because we cannot bury our dead.

“We do not grieve as those who have no hope. Jesus Christ will sustain us. We will go on. But sometimes the joy is just missing.”

Shingis, How are you adjusting to your new work schedule?

Well, this is new to me, and I am finding it difficult to find the balance between my personal ministry and my regional responsibilities. But I do think this will be good.

So far, this is what my weekly schedule looks like:

Monday – I’m in the office for our weekly team prayer, reporting and accountability. It’s a great time to touch base with everyone.

Tuesday – I am in contact with all my regional coordinators and working on our regional plans and strategies. One of these coordinators will likely become our new regional director, as I work myself out of that role. Presently he is my accountability partner, as we help each other grow. There is one more coordinator that I am mentoring long distance.

Wednesday is preparation time for the lessons we will be working on in our small groups.

Thursday and Friday are days of our two small groups. One is a new group and the other is a more mature group we are looking to have start another new group this summer.

Saturday is our day for entertaining guests, and in true Kazak fashion we have a lot of guests.

Sunday – Our cell church worships together one Sunday a month, the other Sundays I have committed to doing prayer walks with my family and my disciples.

Of course, I spend a good bit of time with my three disciples. Mostly one-on-one, but sometimtes as a group.