A rugged and beautiful country of Central Asia remains one of the most spiritually needy regions of the former Soviet Union. Large areas of the country lack any Gospel church or witness.
The compassion of SGA-sponsored missionary, Iraj (name changed), motivates him to action. Friendship evangelism with refugee Muslim families from Afghanistan, and offering lifts in his car are means of creating Gospel opportunities. Iraj is dedicated to the ministry, but this may come at a cost in his country.
Iraj shared in a recent report how he was interrogated and fined for his religious activities.
The local authorities had warned me that they would want to see me in their office. But before they ever invited me to come over, they broke into our Sunday service, took the names of all the members and parishioners, and took me to their office. They interrogated me for 3 hours, took an explanatory letter and fined me 10,000 [£800]. They let me go but warned me that this time the National Security Committee would demand that the prosecutors start a criminal case against me. Five days passed, I was summoned to the district court and fined another 26,000 [£2050].
Believers face immense challenges in seeking to live and witness for their Saviour. According to the Joshua Project, evangelicals make up just 0.02% of this nations’ population.
Pray for the 10 SGA-sponsored missionaries with their families as they faithfully serve in challenging circumstances.
One effective means of evangelism is establishing Hope Centres which also provide help and humanitarian aid to vulnerable adults and children. Iraj is thankful for the Hope Centre that has been recently completed in his area. Despite being confronted and interrogated by the authorities, he has a vision for this work.
Our vision is to begin feeding homeless children and teens there, as well as children from low-income families. We plan to offer them literacy classes and help some of them with their homework. And, of course, it is our desire to bring the message of the Gospel to them and work with them spiritually.