Pray for Muslims in Kazakhstan

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Written by a Christian in Kazakhstan

My Kazakh friend invited me recently to visit our town’s newest congregation, a gathering of several people at another friend’s home. I went, my heart full of anticipation. I arrived on time, but the meeting could not yet begin; hardly anyone else had arrived. Soon older and younger Kazakhs arrived one by one. There were many friendly faces, some serious. They were mostly women; all spoke Kazakh, a Turkic language.

We were sitting in the living room, mostly on the floor. I was surprised that so many had come, perhaps 30 people. Orinbek says a short prayer and then plays his guitar, which needs tuning, but this does not disturb the singing of one song after another. Orinbek explains that there has been a spiritual breakthrough recently; eight people have found “the Way”. After everyone is introduced, we read a passage from the Holy Book. The sermon is like a conversation. Orinbek and Gulnara do not seem to be specially gifted teachers or leaders. They are more like spiritual parents who take care of their “new-born children” and love them with all their heart. It was a pleasure to watch them.

People Changed

Afterwards, several people shared recent experiences with the Lord. An old Kazakh woman shouted, “Do you remember how I was a month ago? I was so nervous and agitated. Have you noticed the change in me?” Others confirmed that there had been a great change in her during the last month and praised God for this. This group doesn’t seem to need a “proper church building”. A lesson in tuning guitars would do nothing to improve the fellowship they have. It is my prayer that there would be such a church on every street of our town. It is a real “house of God”.

Church Growth

Kazakhstan is the size of most of Western Europe, with 16 million inhabitants. Of those, 9 million traditionally share the religion of folk Islam. Whereas there were hardly any Kazak believers in 1990, they are estimated to number over 10,000 today! The church of God is continually growing.

Prayer guide for Kazakhstan:

* Differences in culture and language are a great challenge for the emerging Kazakh churches. Pray for unity.

* The Gospel has not yet reached most of the villages and rural areas. Pray that the Kazakh churches have the courage and the wisdom to meet this challenge.

* Pray for healthy families and courage to be a witness for Jesus.

* Corruption, prostitution and crime are everywhere present. Pray for the country and the president (1 Tim. 2:1-4).

* The New Testament and half of the Old Testament have been translated into the Kazakh language. Pray for the work of the Bible translators that the Kazakhs would soon have the whole Bible in their native language.

Background on Kazakhstan (World Factbook)

Native Kazakhs, a mix of Turkic and Mongol nomadic tribes who migrated into the region in the 13th century, were rarely united as a single nation. The area was conquered by Russia in the 18th century, and Kazakhstan became a Soviet Republic in 1936. During the 1950s and 1960s agricultural “Virgin Lands” program, Soviet citizens were encouraged to help cultivate Kazakhstan’s northern pastures. This influx of immigrants (mostly Russians, but also some other deported nationalities) skewed the ethnic mixture and enabled non-Kazakhs to outnumber natives. Independence in 1991 caused many of these newcomers to emigrate. Current issues include: developing a cohesive national identity; expanding the development of the country’s vast energy resources and exporting them to world markets; achieving a sustainable economic growth outside the oil, gas, and mining sectors; and strengthening relations with neighboring states and other foreign powers.

Economy of Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan possesses enormous fossil fuel reserves and plentiful supplies of other minerals and metals. The opening of the Caspian Consortium pipeline in 2001, from western Kazakhstan’s Tengiz oilfield to the Black Sea, substantially helped the economy. Kazakhstan also has begun work on an ambitious cooperative construction effort with China to build an oil pipeline that will extend from the country’s Caspian coast eastward to the Chinese border.

About Kazakhstan

Population: 15,340,533 (July 2008 est.)

Life Expectancy at Birth: 67.55 years

Ethnic groups: Kazakh (Qazaq) 53.4%, Russian 30%, Ukrainian 3.7%, Uzbek 2.5%, German 2.4%, Tatar 1.7%, Uygur 1.4%, other 4.9% (1999 census)

Religions: Muslim 47%, Russian Orthodox 44%, Protestant 2%, other 7%

Languages: Kazakh (Qazaq, state language) 64.4%, Russian (official, used in everyday business, designated the “language of interethnic communication”) 95% (2001 est.)

Literacy: 99.5% — Male: 99.8%, Female: 99.3%