Christian CDs lead to government fines

Mosque in Kazakhstan.
(Photo courtesy of Ken and Nyetta/Flickr)

Kazakhstan (MNN) ― Do you own a Christian music CD? Have you ever given one as a gift? This may seem trivial, but it could get you heavily fined in Kazakhstan.

David Degterenko, a nine-year-old Kazakhstani, gave Christian CDs to two of his teachers, according to a recent report from a Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) source, Forum 18 News. One of the CD covers was labeled, “God loves you, too.”

A head teacher saw the Christian CD in the teachers’ lounge and immediately called the police. Degterenko was interrogated without his parents. When the investigator asked Degterenko who allowed him to bring the CDs to school, the boy replied, “My mother.”

David Degterenko’s mother, Tatyana Degterenko, has been heavily fined one-month’s wages for illegal religious activity. She appealed the fine on July 30, but the court held its verdict, according to VOM.

Kazakhstan’s population is 70% Muslim and just over 25% Christian. Most Kazakhstani Christians are Russian Orthodox. Open Doors USA says there is a bias in Kazakhstan against the Christian minorities who are partially denied registration. They are then deemed illegal by the state and face harsh religious laws.

Please pray for Tatyana and her son. Pray for the Christian music to touch hearts. Also pray, ultimately, for religious freedom in Kazakhstan.

Anti-extremist program may hurt Christians

Sergey Rakhuba with the Kazak Ambassador to the USA.

Kazakhstan (MNN) ― Kazakhstan is again raising eye-brows. According to a report from Forum 18 News, the government would like to implement what they're calling a new State Program to Counter Religious Extremism and Terrorism for 2013-2017.

If adopted in its current form, all places of worship would require security systems and require the teaching of what the government calls "traditional religions."

President of Russian Ministries Sergey Rakhuba met with the Kazak Ambassador to the United States last week. "I was very much optimistic having a chance to openly discuss these issues, but when it comes from the reports from the ground like this, it shows there is a lot more that is to come."

Rakhuba is referring to additional restrictions to religious freedom for evangelical Christians. He believes the new program will put more pressure on evangelical churches and will create more difficulties for their work, but won't stop it. "That's why we are always trying to be proactive and finding ways we can continue to be effective in spite of all these difficulties. That's why School Without Walls perfectly fits this reality."

That program doesn't require registration or a permanent facility. "We provide non-formal training to these young potential leaders," says Rakhuba, "who live in the reality of the difficulties and continue leading their congregations and offering new outreach initiatives."

Although their summer camp ministry may be affected, "now we have to be more creative, so we're not just calling them Bible camps. We will do some other initiatives." Sport camps and other youth ministries will be used to share Christ this summer.

Russia Ministries needs your help to send 5,000 kids across the former Soviet Union to camp. How much does it cost? "$50. That helps us to send one child to summer camp for one week. That also includes a children's Bible or other Christian literature."

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."

A registered church is raided in Kazakhstan, says Forum 18

Kazakhstan (MNN) ― In former Soviet Union countries, preaching or attending an unregistered church is against the law. But if a church is registered, they have so far flown under the governmental radar.

However, according to a recent article from Forum 18 News, that seems to be changing.

Forum 18 says a visiting pastor was delivering an Easter sermon at a New Life congregation in Kazakhstan when four police officers raided the church. The pastor was accused of being a missionary and conducting illegal missionary activity; but in reality, he was a local pastor associated with the New Life network.

He and the lead pastor were brought to the Police station to write down their statements, but the police found no evidence of any law-breaking, so they were allowed to leave. This is one of the first raids on a registered church in this area.

Joel Griffith of Slavic Gospel Association says, "If this is now something that is being done by authorities on a registered church that actually has an existing legal charter, that's a definite change in the game on the ground there."

Kazakhstan's restrictions against the church have risen in the past few years, but this raid is something Griffith hopes doesn't become a regular occurrence. He says, "We're going to have to watch and see how this filters down to the rest of the registered churches."

Because of increased pressure, SGA has made it a point to be discrete when it comes to their ministries. Griffith says the pastors' safety is a "top priority."

If the situation worsens, SGA will be with Kazakh Christians every step of the way. "We're going to try to serve them however they need us to serve them," he states. "We will be there to support them in prayer and we will be able to support them however they have need for us."

Court orders destruction of religious literature

Kazakhstan (MNN) ― Religious freedom is losing even more ground in Kazakhstan, says Forum 18 News.

For the first time since the country gained independence in 1991, a court ordered religious literature to be destroyed. According to Forum 18, 121 pieces of religious literature--mostly in the Kazakh language--were taken from a believer in northern Kazakhstan.

Vyacheslav Cherkasov was reportedly handing out religious literature on the city streets when police arrested him. He was fined a month's wages, and a suitcase full of religious books--Bibles, children's Bibles, books and tracts on the Christian faith--were confiscated.

Earlier this month, a judge ordered the literature to be destroyed.

"Most likely the books would be burnt," an official told Forum 18.

Authorities accused Cherkasov of violating Kazkahstan's Religion Law, which was rewritten in 2011 to include more things as "religious offenses." Right now, Cherkasov is appealing the case.

"We know that religious literature has frequently been confiscated since the new Religion Law came into force in 2011," human rights defender Yevgeni Zhovtis told Forum 18. "But I've never heard that religious literature is being destroyed, unless it is extremist.

"This is terrible, terrible!"

Pray that Cherkasov will not lose his appeal and that the Gospel won't be held back in Kazakhstan.

This case seems to highlight the fact Kazakhstan is moving back toward its Soviet roots. It now joins neighboring Russia and Uzbekistan as a country where courts order the destruction of religious literature.

When Kazakhstan's government signed a new Religion Law in 2011, its restrictions were seemingly intended to curb extremism. However, most of its resulting consequences fell on the shoulders of minority Christians.

For example, in early 2012, AsiaNews.it reported the ban of 579 religious groups if they had less than 50 registered members. This forced many unregistered Protestant congregations to go "underground," meeting in members' homes. But even there they weren't safe. Forum 18 frequently reports on Kazakh police raiding homes, the latest incidents occurring in January.

Furthermore, a third of all religious groups in Kazakhstan were reportedly shut down in October 2012--another step in the crackdown on religious freedom.

The rapidly-declining situation calls for much prayer. Pray that the government will release pressure on Christians so Gospel work could continue. Ask the Lord to protect His followers in this country and give them boldness.

Pray that the crackdown on religion in Kazakhstan will end.

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."

Pastor awaits extradition in Kazakhstan

Makset Djabbarbergenov with his wife, Aigul, and three sons in 2010.
The family now has four boys and is expecting a fifth child.

Kazakhstan (MNN/ODN) ―Last week we told you about a former Uzbek house church pastor facing deportation from Kazakhstan. We now have received an update from Open Doors News.

32-year-old Makset Djabbarbergenow is in a Kazakhstan jail, awaiting a ruling on whether or not he will be returned to his native country, even as Kazakhstan's Supreme Court considers whether to declare him a refugee from almost-certain persecution.

Kazakhstan is in Central Asia and Eastern Europe.

According to a story by Open Doors News, Djabbarbergenov was arrested Sept. 5 in Almaty, Kazakhstan's financial center and largest city. Uzbekistan wants to issue back-to-face charges that he practiced religion outside state regulation.

Open Doors News said it's not the first time Djabbarbergenov, 32, and the father of four--soon to be five--has been detained by authorities who have frowned on his leadership of unregistered Christian communities. But he told a friend he has been shaken by this arrest.

Speaking from his jail cell, Djabbarbergenov told the friend that he was too disturbed to eat during the first few days of his incarceration, according to Open Doors News. To shield his identity, Open Doors News is not reporting the name of Djabbarbergenov's friend. Djabbarbergenov initially told his friend that he told God he did not want this cross. Now, he said, "I pray that if this is from You, Lord, I will accept whatever You say. Just help me carry it."

He has carried a cross for more than a decade. Open Doors reported that born in Uzbekistan in the small town of Symbai, Djabbarbergenov became a Christian in 2000 and soon became an active church leader in Nukus, the capital of Karakalpakstan, the autonomous republic of Uzbekistan.

Currently, no Protestant church in Karakalpakstan has an official registration. They are considered illegal.

Open Doors News said Djabbarbergenov was hauled into court six times. Police raided the family's apartment in Aug. 2007, prompting Djabbarbergenov and his wife, Aigul, then pregnant with their third child, to flee to Tashkent, the Uzbek capital. He crossed into Kazakhstan the following month, his family following a few months later.

Their time since then has been spent seeking asylum in Kazakhstan. Open Doors News said while the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees determined the family to be refugees who would face prosecution in Uzbekistan because of their Christian faith, the Kazakh government disagreed and has ruled against Djabbarbergenov at several turns. His case now rests before the country's highest court, which has yet to set a hearing date.

Even as Djabbarbergenov's refugee status hangs in the balance, Open Doors News said prosecutors have moved ahead in response to Uzbekistan's request to return him to face charges.

In a detailed account of the lengths to which Kazakh investigators have gone, Open Doors News said the Norwegian religious freedom watchdog agency Forum 18 reported they held his sister-in-law for two weeks in an attempt to flush him out.

From her cell phone, they obtained the phone number of Djabbarbergenov's wife and tracked down the location of the family's home, where they arrested Djabbarbergenov on Sept. 5--his youngest son's 2nd birthday--Forum 18 reported.

Open Doors News said the two charges awaiting Djabbarbergenov in Uzbekistan each carry a maximum penalty of three years in prison. Uzbekistan is ranked No. 7 on the World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.

"Christians are fined or given short-term prison sentences. When brought to court, fair treatment is not ensured," according to the World Watch List.

Open Doors News said the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom have designated Uzbekistan as a "country of particular concern."

The Uzbek government violates the full range of human rights and harshly penalizes individuals for independent religious activity regardless of their religious affiliation," including Muslims, the Commission declared in its 2012 annual report.

Officials to return Uzbek pastor, a religious refugee since 2007

Kazakhstan (MNN) ― According to the Forum 18 News Service, officials are sending Pastor Makset Djabbarbergenov and his family back to neighboring Uzbekistan, the nation they fled to escape religious persecution. Forum 18 says Uzbek authorities put the Protestant pastor on a wanted list for illegal teaching of religion and literature distribution, religious "crimes" he had committed in 2007.

The charges against Djabbarbergenov each carries a maximum of three years' imprisonment. Pray for the pastor and his family as they endure this persecution. The Djabbarbergenovs are expecting their fifth child in April. Pray that their faith remains steadfast.

An assistant working in the District Prosecutor's Office told Forum 18 that "Uzbek authorities are seeking to imprison Djabbarbergenov because he led an unregistered Protestant church in his home town.

"As a person, I can say this is not right," he added. "But we have to follow the rules. We just collect the documentation."

Kazakhstan has a reputation for returning religious refugees in order to maintain political favor with China and Uzbekistan. Forum 18 points out that in June, the United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) criticized Kazakhstan for extraditing 29 Uzbek Muslim refugees in 2011. Though the men sought asylum and religious refuge, Kazak officials accused them of being terrorists and sent them back to Uzbekistan, where intense persecution is routine.

Uzbekistan has steadily moved higher on Open Doors USA's World Watch List, a compilation of the world's most heavily-persecuted nations. The Central Asia nation ranked #10 on the list two years ago but has since moved to #7 following increased governmental suspicion, police attacks, and raids. Common cruelty used by Uzbek authorities includes electric shock, beatings, rape, asphyxiation, and psychological abuse.

A report issued earlier this month from the human rights group International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) says religious persecution is to be expected from Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member nations. Created in 2001, the SCO includes Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikstan and Uzbekistan. The FIDH says the Shanghai convention is used as a "vehicle for human rights violations," because members are expected to accept any accusations made by another SCO member, no questions asked.

Richard Wild, a law professor who worked on the FIDH report, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that member states essentially use the SCO as front to hide human rights violations.

"The threat in terms of human rights comes from the SCO because, on the one hand, it is playing the international game of speaking a human rights language -- using 'human rights' within their charter," said Wild. "At the same time, it actually results in a coordinated regional form of extradition on the basis of suspicion rather than evidence.

"And it lacks any kind of transparency or international oversight."

Reality of Kazakh religion law comes into focus

Kazakhstan (MNN) ― Fears about Kazakhstan's new religion laws are coming to fruition.

Forum 18 News Service reported last week that the first known use of Kazakhstan's amended religion law went into effect against a Baptist shoe-repairer and father.

Aleksei Asetov was fined what locals estimate to be about a year and a half's average wages for leading a small congregation of believers in his home, according to Forum 18.

"Apparently this was done under some provision that was introduced in the new amendments to the religion laws that we've been talking about thus far. Then this judge, I guess, also banned the congregation from meeting," explains Joel Griffith with Slavic Gospel Association.

SGA has had a close eye on the new religion laws since their inception in October, 2011. The laws seem to incorporate harsher punishments for unregistered religious groups and put into question ministry to small numbers of people or to children. SGA and its Kazakh contacts have been nervously waiting since then to see just how far these laws would go.

The situation with Asetov appears to be one clue as to how the law will be enforced. Although Asetov is not the first religious person to be fined since the new laws were introduced, he is the first to be tried under new penalties. Forum 18 reports that when prosecutors presented a case against Asetov, it was to try him under the old law's conditions. The judge apparently told the prosecutors to start over with punishment suggestions from the new law instead.

It's not a good sign for the direction of Kazakhstan, says Griffith. "At least from what I'm seeing, we're going to start more and more incidents like this from varying degrees of severity just as this new law begins to be implemented across the country."

A number of raids have indeed been conducted on religious groups since October. In one incident, officials raided a church and confiscated all of their literature and religious DVDs, claiming the church was violating the law by distributing the literature. Though the church does not seem to have been distributing it at the time, officials say they must hold onto the materials for at least two months to investigate whether or not  they contain anything "negative."

This is only the beginning for this religion law in Kazakhstan, a nation that until recently has been one of the freer countries in Central Asia when it comes to religious rights.

At this point, though, there are still a number of questions as to how this law will affect its nation.

"What sort of obstacles are going to be in their way for forming a new church because of the numbers of requirements that would be imposed?" wonders Griffith. "Let's say if they're innocently trying to witness their faith out on the street, are they going to be arrested for doing so because they're outside their church building? Who knows? Are they going to be prohibited from working with children?"

For those answers, we will have to wait and pray.

Pray for the church to stay bold and encouraged. Pray that new laws would not prohibit the Gospel from spreading.

SGA will continue to assist churches as they are able. Click here for information. 

Elections don't change much or give new freedom in Kazakhstan

Training for church leaders.
 (Photo courtesy of Slavic Gospel Assocation)

Kazakhstan (MNN) ―Leaders in Kazakhstan are looking to lift the state of emergency that was to last through January 31. Things seem to have settled down in the oil-rich town where riots between striking oil workers and security forces claimed over 50 lives in mid-December.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev declared the emergency in response to uprisings that took place--a move that was partially aimed at salvaging his image of stability right before elections. 

On January 15, voters went to the polls against the backdrop of the smoke of the government crackdowns. The result: two more parties will join Nazarbayev's party in parliament for the first time in 20 years of independence. The new Parliament is slated to open its first session today.

The ruling party Nur Otan took the lions' share--nearly 81% of the votes. Ak Zhol, the Democratic Party garnered nearly 7.5%, and the Communist People's Party brought up the rear with just over 7% of the vote.  

However, not everyone was pleased with the results. Opposition leaders organized a modest rally in Almaty denying the legitimacy of the January 15 election that reinforced Nazarbayev's power. Joel Griffith with Slavic Gospel Association' says, "The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe issued a statement pretty critical of Kazakh authorities for de-registering parties and candidates at the last minute. They were basically saying that it deprived voters of their choices."

Still, it seems clear that things will remain as they are for now. "President Nazarbayev continues to maintain a fairly firm grip on power, and I don't think we see that changing anytime soon. What will be interesting in the days ahead will be if this continued criticism manages to encourage any further democratic reform."

As with any democratic election process, there's a slim hope that change will result from casting a vote.  Toward the end of 2011, the country adopted harsh new restrictions that raised eyebrows among human rights watchdog groups. Griffith says between the same people in power and the trend of the region, that hope appears to have been dashed, especially when couched in security terms. "The reasons given for passing these types of laws are they want to put controls on Muslim extremism."

In reality, Griffith says, "Once these laws go into place, it's the evangelical churches that appear to take the brunt of the crackdown that takes place. It's definitely a situation that bears watching. It's definitely a situation that bears for a lot of prayers. We need to pray for the security and protection of the evangelical churches that are there."

SGA has come alongside evangelical churches in Kazakhstan through a variety of ministries, including support of the Almaty Bible Institute. Griffith says that won't change. "These churches are going to  continue their ministry, regardless of what government does. But of course, they'll have to do it in a much more secure, discrete fashion, and we certainly don't want to do anything that would jeopardize their security in any way."

SGA supports children's ministries such as Immanuel's Child, Orphans Reborn, summer camps and national church-planting missionaries. There's more at our Featured Links.

Kazakhstan and other former Soviet nations earn a spot on the World Watch List

Photo by Irene

Kazakhstan (MNN) ―Kazakhstan has experienced a lot of religious firsts over the last year, including the introduction of two new restrictive religion laws. The start of 2012 has thrust them into another one: a spot on theOpen Doors World Watch List.

The World Watch List is a detailed analysis of Christian persecution worldwide, ranking the top 50 nations with the worst persecution worldwide. The 2012 list came out this week, revealing Kazakhstan at slot 45.

It's Kazakhstan's first time on the list. Still, Joel Griffith with Slavic Gospel Association says he wasn't surprised to see Kazakhstan ranked.

"When you consider the ‘Stan' countries that are largely Muslim in makeup, Kazakhstan--since the Soviet Union broke apart in 1991--had really been a country where there was quite a bit of religious freedom," says Griffith. "Here in the past couple of years, we've seen that steadily start to decrease, sadly, with Kazakhstan joining the other central Asian Islamic Republics and cracking down on their religious groups."

Kazakhstan does seem to be following suit with surrounding countries. Other former Soviet nations have been on the list for years. Tajikistan came in at 34 this year, Azerbaijan at 25 and Turkmenistan at 18, to name a few. Uzbekistan moved up from 9th last year to a ranking of 7th for 2012--a placement two spots worse than Iraq.

"It's hard to imagine that the Soviet Union and atheistic communism came to an end 20 years ago," says Griffith. "It's almost like we're waking up and entering that world all over again. Even though it doesn't go under the name ‘Soviet Union,' we're seeing some of the same restrictive practices rear their heads again."

Much of the reasoning behind crackdowns in these nations is the avoidance of radical Islam. Unfortunately, Christians suffer so much as a result that ministry may need to resort to old ways, says Griffith.

"I think basically we have to do what we did during the Soviet days--as long as we're able to assist [churches] with resources, to do that as directly as we can. And then we have to start planning for times when maybe access is going to be very restricted and we need to be a little bit more creative about how we do it."

Ministry will not need to revert completely back to Soviet days; Griffith points out that the addition of internet and smart phone capabilities to ministry now certainly allow for more opportunities. Still, the safety of the church is a priority.

Prayer is needed for these former Soviet nations. The Gospel is still spreading despite restrictions, but pray for safety and boldness as these Christians enter a new year of hardship. Pray, more immediately, that SGA children's Christmas programs would not be disrupted tomorrow, Russian Christmas. 

Tightening of restrictions felt by Kazakh religious community with prayer room bans

(Photo by Irene)

Kazakhstan (MNN) ― A month after two new religion laws came into effect, Kazakhs are beginning to feel the ever-tightening squeeze of restrictive legislation.

The laws introduced in October cover a great deal of ground in an attempt by the government to eradicate extremism. New restrictions imposed range from registration regulations for religious groups, to fewer rights for children involved with religious activities, to the banning of prayer rooms in public places.

The latter bit of legislation has caused an uproar in Kazakhstan over the past weeks, according to Forum 18 News and Slavic Gospel Association (SGA).

Joel Griffith with SGA explains: "We've seen increasing restrictions being enforced, and it's going across the board, from what we've seen. Not only evangelical churches and Orthodox churches [are affected], but also Islamic mosques are being shut down and prayer rooms being shut down in prisons. And they're citing basically these two laws in doing so," explains Griffith.

Forum 18 reports that prayer rooms in care facilities have already been closed. In one instance, a prayer room that was closed for renovation is simply not being reopened. The hospital claims that it needs the space for beds, but dozens of religious leaders have said otherwise.

Religious leaders argue that prayer rooms are greatly needed in hospitals when people are looking for hope in difficult circumstances. But, church leader Aleksandr Suvorov says, "The government argues that having such prayer rooms allows them to be exploited by extremists."

Griffith says this mentality could be extremely harmful to ministry---prison ministry in particular. Prayer rooms in prisons are being removed in compliance with the laws as well, which could be detrimental for Kazakh prison ministries.

"A lot of churches actually are formed behind prison walls, and these prisoners basically have their own congregations behind prison walls," explains Griffith. "It seems now like [with] some of the prayer rooms, these new laws are being cited by the government to shut them down. And obviously we're concerned if this is the case...it's obvious that prison ministry is going to be made a lot more difficult."

On top of these concerns, as the laws make their presence known throughout Kazakhstan, SGA remains uncertain about children's ministry. "It remains to be seen, now with Christmas coming up, just how are these laws going to be used to impact maybe children's ministries?"

Kazakhstan is just beginning to feel the weight of these new laws. Believers are determined to continue to spread the Gospel, but outreach is getting harder and will likely continue to do so.

"We here as Christians in the West need to not only continue supporting our Kazakh brothers and sisters, but to really engage in intercessory prayer that the Lord would change hearts and that this law would not be as rigorously enforced as it could be. If there would be a change of heart, pray that maybe the constitutional court there would overturn the law or that the law would be repealed. Certainly the Lord can accomplish anything through the power of prayer." 

Kazakhstan explosions come on the heels of new religion laws

Mission Network News: "Kazakhstan (MNN) ― Two explosions went off in Kazakhstan yesterday morning, killing one man and injuring no others. The man killed was reportedly a suicide bomber responsible for one of the two attacks.

The first blast apparently came from a trash bin and went off near an administrative building in Atyrau, according to Reuters news agency. The second went off near the offices of the city's prosecutors, breaking windows but harming no one except the bomber."

Read more...

Christians cringe as Kazakhstan passes restrictive religion laws

Mission Network News: "Kazakhstan (MNN) ― Two new restrictive religion laws were signed into effect by Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev last week, raising the concern of human rights groups, Muslims, and Christians."

Read more...