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Ministry Center Updates 2005 Last Updated 12/5/2005 |
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2005 Summary: We continued to hold an evangelistic lunch every Friday until August. We read through a pamphlet of Old Testament prophecies that Jesus Christ fulfilled and then we began a book of common questions that Kazakhs ask about Jesus Christ, and Christianity. Byeram's wife Goolmeera began cooking for us early this year. We averaged around 12-15 people each week. Everyone enjoyed our late August trip to a nearby lake with a sand beach. Since the purchase of our church building in late 2004, we have been spending more and more time there. You can read about the ongoing remodeling at the church by clicking on the following link. Living Word Bible Church In Kalkaman
Ladies and Men's Bible Study, which used to be held in our ministry center is now held at the church. We have also discontinued the evangelistic lunches indefinitely. Why? Well first of all a new law came into force in July 2005 which for all practical purposes prohibits us from doing evangelism with more than 2 people at a time. You can read more about this new law at: Registering a Church in Kazakhstan under the New Law. Second, Byeram and His family moved in in September so that they could be closer to the church and their ministries here. Now that they live in the building the evangelism is continuing in a different form. Many are openly hostile to Byeram and the Gospel. But the Lord has many people in this city.
Read about the increasingly difficulty (due to the political climate here) of obtaining visas to remain in Kazakhstan at: Hostility toward Humanitarian Foundations and other NGOs.
Read about the process we must go through when we obtain visas at: The Road to Bishkek: How we spent our summer vacation getting visas.
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| With The Lord In Glory. Sahrat Ata (pictured right). His name means time. We called him "Father Time", 77 years old. Sahrat was a shepherd all his life. His wife died about 30 years ago. Sahrat had trouble hearing and we brought him to have his ears cleaned several times. After that he could hear pretty well. It was important for him to be able to hear well because he couldn't read. He was also very forgetful. After hearing the gospel a few times from Byeram he said one day: "I want to profess Christ right now because in a few minutes I might be able to remember what Jesus did for me." He always remembered to take the bus to church in town by himself every Sunday. He was a model of faithfulness, humility, and affection for his fellow believers. He always gave me a big hug when he saw me. Sahrat Ata died in July of 2004. He was hit by a truck in front of our ministry center. He was the 2nd person to trust Christ through our ministry in Kalkaman and the first to join the Lord in Glory. |
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Above: Our Ministry Center. Our office is on the second floor of this former dormitory for Hospital workers. Two hospitals are across the street. |
Above: Evangelistic Lunch in our apartment/ministry center. In June of 2005 the director of The Master's Mission and his wife and one of our supporters visited us for 10 days. | |
 Above: in the back yard of our Ministry Center: Former English club students play "Asuk". This game is like marbles except is is played for and with sheep knuckles. |
2005 Ministry Center Project. This year our building finally got rid of the corrupt manager that had skimmed off as much as she could for years. We now know how much she skimmed because of how much the new manager has been able to spend. We had 5 feed of mud in the basement. She has cleaned it up like it was never there. She has fixed the roof. She has repaired the broken lighting in the halls and on the stairways. She has invested thousands in rewiring the entire building. Before when people didn't pay their bills the entire building's power was cut for 3-10 days 3 or 4 times a year. With the new wiring only the delinquent is cut. Our project this year was contributing $1000 toward the new individual unit wiring. The new manager has also secured funds to fix the elevators. 2 of the four are now working after 7 years of stair climbing in this 9 story building! The new manager is a devout Muslim but her assistant is a believer.
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Update on Kuterbye and Goolnara.
Pictured left: Left to Right. (Kuterbye, Sahrat Ata, Byeram)
Kuterbye was the first person in Kalkaman to profess Christ during our ministry.
Pictured below left in the blue sweater: Goolnara.
Kuterbye and Goolnara both entered alcohol rehab at different centers in September of 2004. They had both professed Christ and were planning to be married after their 18 month treatment. They are doing well! It has been 13 months so far. They haven't been able to talk to each other in all of that time. They were also restricted to the grounds of their respective centers for 1 year. Goolnara's family has really come through for her. Their visits and support have been a great encouragement. Kuterbye's relatives live much further away and they have not been supportive. Pray for their reconciliation with him and for their salvation. | |
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The following are also frequent guests at our Evangelistic Lunch |
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Roozila is one of our oldest friends here. We visited her family in her home village on the Aral Sea in 2003. Roozila began teaching at Islamic school and has become more and more distant.
Noorzila (with head scarf) has had poor health
for the last few years. She is 72 years old, a widow. She
moved out of the apartment a few months ago to live with her children.
She was always outspoken in here denial of Jesus Christ. But she
clearly understood the gospel of salvation by faith alone in Christ
alone. |
Above:
Daria and Aman Keldi.
He professed Christ in August, she in October of 2003. They live with one of
their sons and he is very upset about their new faith.
Aman Keldi told his son that his faith was his own
business but Daria Apai is not sure what to do but she has many questions
relating to the usual worries about whether your nationality determines
your religion. Aman Keldi has some brain damage from drinking and blows to
the head. He gets
a headache when he reads more than 5 minutes at a time but he is able to
understand Scripture.
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Right: Dave, Kumbat. Dave and Kumbat live on the 4th floor. They have been married for 54 years. Dave (not his real name) is a devout Muslim. He goes to Friday prayer at the central Mosque every week after our lunch. They have been coming to our lunch for 2 years, since they moved here from another city to be near their children and grand children. They are "great" people by the world's standards. Pray for their salvation. | |
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Left: Eye Sulu, Maria, Kuanish. They all come regularly to our lunch. Eye Sulu lives on the 9th floor. She washes the 9 story main stairway in our building every day. Her 85 year old father, husband and 2 young sons have also come. She had a hysterectomy last year and her health has gone downhill. But she was healthy enough to come with us in August to the beach with the church. Her two sons had a blast. | |
| Maria above middle lives on the 7th floor. She is a widow. She is Russian Orthodox. She asks good questions but does not believe. | Kuanish (last on the right) (her names means joy) sells sunflower seeds at the bus stop outside our apartment building. She is 70 years old and a widow. She has visited Germany. She defends Jesus but has not professed faith in Him alone. | |
