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.

Children's camps raided, threatened in Uzbekistan

Each summer, hundreds of children have the opportunity
 to attend church-run Christian camps across
 Central Asia. (Image, caption courtesy SGA)

Uzbekistan (MNN) ― Religious freedom is hitting a new low in Uzbekistan. According to Forum 18 News, police raided one children's camp and is trying to take the property of another.

Local Protestants were holding an unregistered children's camp recently when four buses carrying 80 officials arrived carrying 30 police and 20 riot police. Brandishing rubber batons, a source told Forum 18, they began questioning everyone-- including small children.

After collecting statements for six hours, the officials took everyone at the camp--9 adults and 22 children--back to the police station for further questioning.

And in another region, a children's camp is at risk of seizure. "Camp Joy" sits on property purchased in 2000 by the Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptist (UECB), a registered group of congregations supported by Slavic Gospel Association.

"The state does not want to buy the land back from the UECB. Instead, they want to confiscate it. The intention then is to turn around and sell the land to somebody else," says SGA's Joel Griffith.

Although the property's intended purpose is for hosting children's summer camps and activities, it hasn't been able to since 2009. That's when UECB had to change their leadership as a result of a police raid on Camp Joy.

"They actually have not used that for children's camps since then because it does carry a risk of arrest with it," Griffith states. "Whatever children's activities [UECB has] are held at different locations around the country."

Baptists told Forum 18 that officials have no legal ground to stand on. Under Uzbek law, actions like this have to be done within three years of the land purchase. The UECB bought the Camp Joy property in 2000.

Believers told Forum 18 that they don't understand why authorities waited 13 years to raise an issue like this. However, the case will go before a judge tomorrow.

"Once this court hearing gets held on August 15, we'll have a clearer idea of where things stand," says Griffith.

Pray for justice in tomorrow's court hearing.

While Uzbekistan's constitution guarantees religious freedom, Griffith says it's basically non-existent in everyday life.

"Whatever the churches do, they try to do it as quietly as possible; but it's always at great risk," he says. "[Uzbekistan is] supposed to have a very secular government; but again, you have the government cracking down on people of all faiths."

The battle over Camp Joy is only one challenge the UECB faces. Griffith says they also have a hard time registering new churches with the government: another state requirement.

"All religious faiths encounter difficulty," he explains. "Freedom of religion and freedom of thought, freedom of conscience, freedom of practice: they all encounter difficulties."

It's a problem noted in Forum 18's religious freedom survey, published last week, as well as the U.S. International Religious Freedom Report for 2012. Open Doors USA puts Uzbekistan at #16 on their World Watch List, a compilation of the world's 50 worst persecutors of the Christian faith.

"Pray that the Lord would move in the hearts of the authorities to change the situation on the ground in Uzbekistan," Griffith states.

Will you also ask the Lord to protect Gospel workers in Uzbekistan? Pray, too, for the Gospel to go forth unhindered.

"The Church is determined and committed to carrying out the Great Commission, no matter what man may do, and they've certainly proven that through the years," says Griffith.

"Despite the opposition, they're going to go on proclaiming the Gospel."

See how SGA supports the church in this mission.

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."

Religious oppression continues in Belarus

Belarus (MNN) ― Imagine having the state control where you have church. Imagine having to stay out of sight when you practice religious freedom. In Belarus, officials are often hostile toward Christ-followers: people they see as a threat.

(Photo Courtesy of SGA)

Joel Griffith with Slavic Gospel Association (SGA) says, "It's Evangelical Protestant Christianity that they give a hard time to, particularly."

New Life Church in Minsk is famous for its back-and-forth battle with the government. In 2002, they had to fight to keep control of their private church property. In November of 2012, they were once again threatened by the government.

In Belarus, members of a religious organization do not have the right to share their convictions or to carry out any religious activity beyond the borders of the location where the community is registered.

"In terms of religious freedom, though, it really has proven to be a mixed bag through the years. The government does indeed keep very tight controls, especially over evangelical Christianity. But it seems like, if you watch it over time; you have periods of ebb and flow," Griffith said.

He adds that there are times when some local regional leaders are quietly supportive of the ministries. "You can see some significant ministry take place, as long as they keep it low key."

Forum 18 noted that in the most recent years, the government has been more reluctant to crack down on religious freedom. Griffith noted, "The reason they attribute to that is that they don't want political opposition to increase."

He adds, "The evangelical churches that SGA serves are certainly dedicated. They're intent on proclaiming the Gospel, and I think one thing that works in their favor...is they try to avoid politics. They really just want to focus on their ministry and proclaim the Gospel."

SGA is very flexible when it comes to supporting local pastors, churches, and other Christian ministries. "We do our best to sponsor missionary pastors," Griffith said. "We help them distribute Russian language Bibles and Christian literature; we're involved in helping evangelical churches there do orphan's ministry through a program we call 'Orphans Reborn.'"

"Our basic purpose is to serve evangelical churches in whatever way the Lord opens up. We don't view it as our place to be a sending organization, to send western missionaries over. We very much believe in serving the indigenous church and helping them reach their own people," Griffith said.

Griffith asks you to pray that the "freedom to worship and minister would open up, that there would be a change of heart in the leadership so that they would really allow true religious freedom there and freedom to proclaim the Gospel openly, without having to be quite so discrete about it."

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."

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."

Kyrgyzstan's coalition falls, impact on Christians unknown

Kyrgyzstan's coalition falls.

Kyrgyzstan (MNN) ― Another government in a predominately Muslim nation has fallen. This time it's a former Russian Republic -- the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. This is a nation that has increasingly become antagonistic to evangelical Christians and has taken steps to curb religious freedom.

Slavic Gospel Association has limited work in the country for this very region. SGA's Joel Griffith says this isn't the first issue in Kyrgyzstan, but he describes what happened. "The most recent flare-up is this collapse of the coalition government. The two parties apparently withdrew in protest, and Reuters says basically their objections were a bad economy alleged corruption."

The two parties claim Prime Minister Omurbek Babanov has yet to enact a single reform and is accusing him of using "shadowy" organizations to handle money. It unclear what will happen next as there is no clear majority coalition in the five party system.

Griffith says the evangelical church has been under fire the last few years. "With an unstable situation, depending on who actually comes to power both in the parliament and in the presidency later, it could have a significant impact on evangelical churches in their freedom to either worship or proclaim the Gospel. So it's something that needs to be watched."

While persecution isn't new, Griffith says, "No matter what happens, churches are going to continue to proclaim the Gospel no matter what. But it certainly does stand the pressure is more than likely, the knot will tighten up in the days ahead."

According to Griffith, prayer is essential. "We really need to intercede for the churches there that the Lord would use this situation to somehow open the door for the churches to be able to freely worship and also to proclaim the Gospel. That certainly doesn't go with the trend, but the Lord can do anything, and that has to be our prayer."

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.