Kashkumbayev reportedly transferred to pre-trial prison

(Map courtesy Wikipedia)

Kazakhstan (MNN) ― Could you take a few moments to pray for Presbyterian pastor Bakhytzhat Kashkumbayev?

Earlier this month, we shared how the 67-year-old church leader was being detained in a psychiatric center. According to Forum 18 News, Kashkumbayev is accused of "seriously harming the health of citizens."

Authorities claim the pastor "prayed for the sick and psychologically influenced" church members. The woman they say Kashkumbayev harmed, Lyazzat Almenova, told Forum 18 "[Kashkumbayev] is totally innocent and has not harmed my health at all."

International Christian Concern says Kashkumbayev is now being held at a pre-trial prison in the nation's capital.

"By all accounts, this is a very, very troubling development," says  Joel Griffith with Slavic Gospel Association. "When you see somebody that gets locked up in a psychiatric prison for practicing their religious faith, that basically calls back to the days under the former Soviet Union."

Evangelical Christians aren't directly affected or involved in this case, Griffith notes. But that doesn't mean they're protected, either.

"What impacts one group can indeed have ripple effects on other groups," says Griffith. "It just remains to be seen how this [will be] handled."

Religious freedom and the protection of religious minorities in Kazakhstan are already threadbare. Griffith says Kashkumbayev's case, along with mixed signals from Kazakhstan's president, aren't helping.

"With him putting out what looked like, on one hand, that olive branch, then to turn around and pass laws that are very restrictive...it's just very troubling and I'm sure confusing to a lot of religious bodies to know exactly what the government's going to do there," says Griffith.

A highly-restrictive 2011 Religion Law, supposedly intended to curb religious extremism in Kazakhstan, has instead put shackles on religious minorities.

While Griffith says levels of persecution vary from region to region, one thing is constant across the board: faiths viewed by the government as "traditional" (Islam, Russian Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Jewish) function without problem.

"I don't think that you will find Russian Orthodox churches in those regions encountering anywhere near the same difficulty that evangelical churches would encounter," observes Griffith.

Pastor Bakhytzhat Kashkumbayev was arrested and detained at the end of May by Kazakh authorities. The leader's family has expressed concern for his health. Kashkumbayev himself has appealed to international bodies such as the UN Human Rights Committee: "Though I am 67…and I cannot boast of ideal health since I had a heart attack in 2011, have chronic [inflammation] of both ears, varicose veins in my legs, chronic bronchitis, [and] chronic gastritis." He stated in a written appeal on July 18, "I am psychologically healthy."

Details concerning when and if a trial will occur are unavailable. Please pray for Pastor Bakhytzhat Kashkumbayev. Ask the Lord to sustain his health, and pray for his immediate release. Pray for comfort and peace for his family members.

Possible kidnapping of Ukrainian church member

(Map courtesy Wikipedia)

Ukraine (MNN/SGA) ― Picture the most devoted Christ-follower you know. How would you feel if that person suddenly went missing?

That's what happened in the Ukraine at a church supported by Slavic Gospel Association. What follows is a verbatim report from their prayer letter.

Today we received an urgent prayer request from brothers and sisters in the Ukrainian city of Nikopol. One of their dedicated church members, Julia Tsapko, vanished without a trace on her way home from church August 4, 2013. She was last seen at the Nikopol Baptist Church Sunday, August 4, and then was seen walking on her way home. She never arrived.

For a time, Julia was here in the United States, fellowshipping at Grace Family Church, a Russian-speaking congregation in Carmachael, California. She is described as a fervent Christian who loves God and people, and one who has always been involved in various ministries including youth ministry.

She is a graduate of Tavriski Christian Institute, an evangelical Bible school in the city of Kherson. In the past year, Julia returned to Nikopol, Ukraine, where she lived with her parents.

The e-mail we received contained the following statement:

Julia's disappearance has shocked and greatly affected all of her family, friends, and acquaintances. Since she would not have left on her own, this case probably involves abduction. Despite numerous unanswered questions and not knowing, we trust in our God and His mercy, love, and faithfulness. We pray that God will shine His light on this situation, and that He will keep Julia safe, returning her home, and to glorify and lift up His powerful name as a testimony to all people.

President praises country's religious freedom; law introduced to punish faith-sharing

Kazakhstan (MNN) ― There's an interesting back-and-forth battle in Kazakhstan.

Forum 18 News says early last week, the country's president claimed Kazakhstan respects religious freedom. But within 48 hours, there were heavy fines against Protestant Christians who celebrated Easter Sunday.

According to Forum 18, the raid brought one elderly member under enough stress to trigger a heart attack. This person told Forum 18 that police "have decided to use fear to separate us from God, something they can never achieve. They cannot ban me from my Christian faith."

By the end of the week, says Joel Griffith of Slavic Gospel Association, a new law was in the works.

"Reportedly, it introduces a new maximum penalty for those who share their faith, or witness," Griffith explains.

"If that actually comes into law, that really is of great concern."

Under the proposed law--alluded to in a separate Forum 18 article--those who share the Gospel openly could be imprisoned for up to four months.

"It does certainly seem that some storm clouds are on the horizon," says Griffith. "Even if there isn't an official code that's been voted on by Parliament right now…, the [Agency of Religious Affairs] seems to be taking quite a bit of authority on itself and trying to put pressure on religious groups."

In the scope of Central Asian history, Kazakhstan's current state of affairs is nothing out of the ordinary. Griffith says it reminds him of their days under Soviet rule.

"Officially, they had freedom of worship and freedom of religion in their constitution," he says. "But in practice, they didn't have it. People were arrested; people were sent to the gulag."

At this time of great persecution, SGA began a prayer movement for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

"We prayed and prayed and prayed about that, and miraculously in the late 1980s the Berlin Wall came down," Griffith recalls. "And then in 1991, the entire Soviet Union broke apart, and each of those 15 nations became independent."

Griffith says the Gospel enjoyed great freedom as Kazakhstan took its first steps of independence.

"But we've seen backtracking on that in recent years," says Griffith. "This is just certainly more evidence of that."

As was the case in Kazakhstan's Soviet days, Griffith says the most important thing to do is pray.

"The Lord answered prayers during that time, and the door was opened for the Gospel there like never before," he states. "Well, now we're beginning to see the doors close again. The most important ministry we can do for them is intercessory prayer."

Pray that God would keep opening doors for missionary pastors in Chechnya

(Image courtesy of Wikipedia)

Chechnya (MNN) ― Jihad rages on in the North Caucasus, but it suffered some major losses in recent days.

Some reports say bombings and attacks from Islamic radicals are a weekly occurrence in the political region consisting of Chechnya, Dagestan, North Ossetia, and six other former Soviet Union nations. As a result, Christian work must be done discreetly.

"They're very much Islamic terrorists, and that can certainly make things very dangerous for Christians that are there," says Joel Griffith of Slavic Gospel Association.

Earlier this week, Russia announced Gusen Magomedov--the last surviving militant involved in Moscow's 2010 twin suicide bombings--had been killed by forces patrolling a forest hideout in the North Caucasus.

In March 2010, Magomedov had been seen escorting one of the suicide bombers to her destination: a busy Moscow underground where twin bombings claimed more than 40 lives. The attacks were orchestrated by Chechen Islamist rebel Doku Umarov.

At the end of January, Russian forces killed at least 11 Islamic militants in Chechnya. Among the dead were two senior jihadists commanders, Khusein and Muslim Gakayev. The brothers were among Russia's "most wanted" men for their active involvement in terrorist activities.

Despite the deaths of these key militant leaders, Griffith says Chechen believers aren't in the clear yet. Pray that the Chechen government would take its foot off of the Church as it gains victories over Islamic terrorists.

Pray "that they would lessen the controls that are on evangelical Christians there to allow them more freedom to minister and operate," requests Griffith.

Pray also for open doors to share the Good News of Jesus with jihadists.

"Yes they're terrorists, yes they're out to committing a lot of violence and atrocities, but they're still human beings in need of the Gospel," says Griffith.

SGA supports missionary pastors who live in neighboring countries and visit Chechnya to encourage believers there. You can help their work by clicking here.

"When they go into Chechnya and some of these other heavily-Islamic regions of the Caucasus Mountains, they do so in a very low-key way, and we don't publicize when and where and what they're doing," Griffith explains.

"We know that God is at work changing hearts and lives, so we just need to remember them in prayer, that they would find more opportunities and that the people would come to saving faith there."

More people punished for their faith

Kazakhstan (MNN) ― It's been a year since Kazakhstan expanded its Religion Law, and more people are being punished for their faith.

According to Forum 18 News, several large fines have been handed out since August, and two more are pending for local Baptists. Forum 18 says believers are being punished for "illegal missionary activity," and the fines are equal to seven months' wages, or $1,150 USD.

A few of the seven people punished for "illegal missionary activity" were sharing their faith on the street, while others were leading religious meetings within their communities. Forum 18 says prosecuted individuals include four Jehovah's Witnesses, two Muslims, and a Christian.

The two believers awaiting trial are part of Almaty's Council of Churches Baptist congregation, reports Forum 18. Along with accusing Yuri Bronitsky and Fedor Karabeinikov of violating Kazakhstan's new religion law, officials visited another Baptist church in the region.

"[Police] came during worship and photographed us," congregants complained to Forum 18. "They said they had an order…that now the new law has been adopted, they will close us down."

Elsewhere in Kazakhstan, reports Forum 18, courts fined a believer for handing out Christian books to people on the streets. The man expected a hearing for his case, but instead was taken directly to the court after work.

These are the latest cases in a series of crackdowns since Kazakhstan passed two new religion laws in October 2011. It was thought to be one of the freer countries in Central Asia, but with more and more cases surfacing, Kazakhstan is starting to look very similar to the other restrictive "Stan" countries.

Crackdown on religious freedom continues

(Image courtesy of Wikipedia)

Central Asia (MNN) ― Like the steady drip of a leaky faucet, authorities are slowly but surely draining religious freedom from Central Asia.

According to Forum 18, Kyrgyzstan leaders flew under the public radar in recent days, adding new censorship amendments to the country's Religion Law.

While authorities were unable to tell Forum 18 what censorship categories like "extremism," "separatism" and "fundamentalism" meant under the new amendments, a political analyst said it could spell trouble for Protestant Christians.

"No one will check Muslim Board or Russian orthodox literature, but faiths deemed 'non-traditional' could face problems," the analyst said.

Joel Griffith with Slavic Gospel Association says, "It's apparently going to increase state control over religious literature and other materials. It really remains to be seen, though, exactly how this is going to be implemented and carried out.

"This is all part and parcel of something larger that's actually been going on in the so-called 'Stan' countries for some time."

Central Asia consists of five countries that once belonged to the Soviet Union: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. While Kyrgyzstan is tightening the collar on its Religion Law, church registration is a challenge in Kazakhstan and having more than a Bible in Uzbekistan could send you directly to jail.

"The interesting thing is: in the former Soviet days, you had atheistic Communism that was against religion in general," Griffith states. "Nowadays what we're seeing, even though the governments of these nations are…considered secular: [Islam is becoming] predominant. Because of that, other religious groups tend to receive some pressure.

"But…and this is an interesting thing to watch," Griffith continues. "The governments are also concerned about Islamic extremism and terrorist activity."

He cites last year's attacks as an example.

"That had not happened in Kazakhstan before," Griffith explains. "Even though Islam is the predominant religion inside these Central Asian countries, you're going to have the secular government scrutinizing very closely what's going on."

Could the region possibly be returning to its atheistic Soviet roots?

"It really is a mixed bag of what governments are doing and the reasons they're giving for doing i. But in the sense of religious freedom in general, the trend is not promising, and we need to make that a matter of prayer," Griffith says.

Pray for wisdom and discernment for God's people in Central Asia.

"We need to pray that as [believers] share the Gospel, the Lord would grant them open doors to be able to do that," says Griffith. "We also need to remember that God is not stopped by human governments from accomplishing His purpose."