A football match in minus fifteen degrees in a foot of snow with a white ball? That was one of the interesting and enjoyable experiences of the last trip to Kazakhstan. But far more exciting, was to witness the enthusiasm and commitment to the Gospel of students from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, as they applied themselves to their studies in the classroom at the Almaty Bible Institute and then took their Gospel faith out to share with others.
The football match was an outreach event organised by the young people of the Second Baptist Church in Almaty, in which the students of the Institute took part. The game was followed by lunch and an evangelistic talk to the teenagers from the other team. They had been trained and also taught the Gospel by Sasha, a converted drug addict. What a joy it was to see them listening intently to the Gospel message.
We met some special students during our visit. Here are the stories of two of them.
Student Testimony No.1
The year 2007 was a very difficult time for our church because it was the year of the President’s re-election in our country, even though he had no right to be re-elected for a third term. Because of this, all the non-registered churches and groups were under persecution from representatives of the government, and the church where I carry out my ministry suffered unlawful action by them. They forceably entered houses and apartments where church meetings were going on, without giving any explanation.
It began with the district officer knocking at the door and saying that he wanted to conduct a passport control. He had a right to do this check. The owner of the house opened the door and eight men entered the house. They began taking photographs and then asked people questions and frightened them with threats of imprisonment. They unlawfully searched the apartment and took away Christian books. After such an unlawful action by the government two of our brothers had to leave the country with their families and even now they cannot come back to their homeland.
This had a bad influence and effect on groups of believers and churches. They stopped bringing their Bibles and Gospels with them to the services. They were afraid. Only the leader or a preacher from the group brought his Bible. We thought that persecutions would stop when the election was over because they took this cruel action against those whom they believed were in opposition to the President. They went to great lengths to elect him for the third term and our hopes fell. Persecution still goes on today, but we are not discouraged. We continue to serve! At present two or three small groups are organized in each of twenty neighbouring towns. Our brothers carry on their ministry there and some even moved to live in the areas where they carry on their ministry. Some visit their groups each week and hold services. I visit one of the towns once a month to encourage a brother who moved there in order to organize a new church. There are twenty-five members in the church at present.
Part of my ministry is to help our pastor in administrative matters, and I also lead and minister to a small group of sixteen in the church. This is really too many for a small group in our situation, so we have decided to divide into two groups and I am now preparing a student to lead the second group. People are close to each other and do not want to see the group broken up or disturbed, but when they are divided they will then want to make their group bigger and will start to work with their friends and acquaintances and share the Gospel with them. In this way the group will develop and begin to grow again.
Last summer one hundred people were baptized in our church. Six were from my small group. We had to do it secretly so that the government would not hear about it. That is why we had to organize ten trips into the country to do the baptisms.
When I was converted I had a friend who did not want to accept Christ in his heart. Instead he did his best to make me come back to ‘the faith of my fathers’ - to Islam. When he saw my effort and hard work in my ministry he started to do the same in the cause of Islam. He started to pray the Muslim prayer “namaz”, to worship Allah, and to attend the mosque. Very often we used to debate our beliefs and they always finished with sadness. At that time I did not understand how I could reach him with the truth and save him from the errors of Islam. We stopped meeting and
The football match underway in minus fifteen degrees.
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seeing each other. I continued to carry out my ministry and soon entered the Bible Institute. I liked to learn about Islam there. It was very helpful and useful for me. After that I had a great desire from God to meet again with my friend, who had told me about Islam and wanted me to be with him.
Student Testimony No.2
I was born in Uzbekistan. The town is located thirty km from Tashkent, the capital city. I grew up in a family where they did not talk about God. My mother was a person of Soviet thinking which believes that there is no God. My father was not a religious man, but he was against Christianity because he was of Turkish nationality.
Student Maksim deep in concentration at the Bible Institute.
I was born in 1984. When I was eleven years old my father was taken to prison. My mother, my younger sister who was about ten, and I, Iived without him. After that a step-father came into our family. He was a very cruel man. Then he died. The darkness of the world was shown to our family and my mother began to go to church. Soon she accepted Jesus Christ in her heart and became a member of the local church. I was seventeen years old at that time. Once she invited my sister and I to visit the church. We went there without any interest. Then in January 2003 we started to attend more often and soon found the truth. After that we repented and I was baptized in August. I soon started to preach and helped in youth ministry at the church.
I wanted to study very much, but there were difficulties. God led me to enroll in the “Emmaus” Bible Correspondence School. They sent the courses and exam papers to my home. I was a hard-working student, and in the end I got a certificate, but I had a great desire to study sometime at the Bible Institute where there were well-educated teachers with a deep knowledge of the Bible. God gave me the opportunity to enter the Institute in Almaty. I went there with great joy and thanksgiving in my heart. I passed the entrance exams for the missionary faculty and became one of its students.
I enjoy studying there very much. I like the teaching of the subjects at the Institute. During my study I began to know more about my God, Jesus Christ. Here I have learnt to present my thoughts and views correctly according to the Bible. It became easier for me to preach because I learned to work on the text, paying attention to the Greek translation and the meaning of the words. Many of my views have changed with progress in my understanding. I have become self-controlled in my words and stronger in God’s truth.
One day I met a Jewish person of orthodox belief. During our conversation I learned that he had graduated from a public institute. I told him that I was a student at the Bible Institute where I studied the subject of world religions and their errors. Our conversation lasted for an hour. Then he replied: “There were institutes of Marxism and Leninism in the Soviet period. And now there are institutes where Bible subjects are taught. It’s great!”
Soon after, I met him for the second time on my way to work one morning. He was interested in our beliefs and our society. He had a lot of questions. He asked me about baptism, ministry and moral rules for life. He really was interested in family life and family matters. It seemed to me that he had some trouble in his family relationships. I was very pleased to talk to him. I will continue to care and pray for his soul and heart.
The student group in a time of relaxation beween lectures.
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