Kalkaman Bible Church 2009

Last Updated 1/20/2009

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Kalkaman Bible Church 2008  2007

Photos and Profiles of Regular Attenders 2009 2008 

General Information about Kalkaman Bible Church:

We started holding Sunday services in our home in Kalkaman on September 26, 2004.  At that time we had 12 members and regular attenders.  This was the culmination of 6 years of preparation including 5 years of ministry in Kalkaman.  Nearly 3 years after that on May 7, 2007 we had completed the process of official registering Kalkaman Bible Church with the Department of Justice in Kazakhstan.  Now, at the end of 2008 we have 22 members and regular attenders. 

Over the last 4  years many of the registered churches have folded.  We took over the registration of one of those churches.  There is much to pray for here including the disqualification of too many Kazakh pastors, too many congregations looking for a pastor, an exceptionally restrictive 2005 law on religion, an even more restrictive proposed law, a Judges 21:25 society, and an deep economic downturn to name a few.  You can read more about this at:  

Pray for the Church in Kazakhstan 2009

2008 Highlights

You can read the highlights of what happened in 2008 to many of those in the flock at the following link. Photos and Prayer Profiles of Regular Attenders 2009.  What follows are the headlines of what  happened in 2008. 

• The water pipe froze at the church from mid-January until mid-April.  We held services at our house during that time.  See photo at Right.

• Byeram lost one job, found another, built a 2nd house on his property, and rented out the new one.  Goolmira still works as a nanny but only until June of 2009 when the American couple she works for will move to work in India. 

• Goolmira's sister Gowhar found 7-10 housecleaning jobs for teachers at the international school and continued to work toward her Bachelors Degree. 

• Kooderbye found work at the MK school, had a busy summer working and taking care of our house and the church while we were on furlough, and completed the process of getting all of his documents in order. 

• Kooderbye's nephew Adilbek and wife Amangool attended faithfully all year. Adilbek's sister bought a small local grocery store and provided emnployment for  in the family including him.  Adilbek also started working as a guard at the MK school.

• Goolnara continued taking on more responsibility at the alchohol rehab center.  She visited her grandson and children and worked a month in a start-up center in another city. 

• Keray Ata had his 16th grandchild, and brought his wife to church once in the spring. 

• Bakut Djan got a haircut and visited relatives near the Caspian Sea for 6 weeks. 

• The Heinz family went home to the US for 4 months of furlough during the summer.  Lucy and Amanda came to Kazakhstan for Christmas break.

2009 Ongoing:

• Adilbek officially got the guard job at the MK school in late January.

Our Sunday Schedule:  Pick up Keray Ata at 10am. Meal preparation at the church from 10-11,  Service from 11-12:15,  Prayer Meeting from 12:15-12:30, followed by a meal and fellowship until about 2pm. In the winter we enjoy ice-skating on our home made ice-rink in the backyard.  At other times of the year we play ping-pong.  During the week we have men's and ladies Bible study. 

Ongoing Prayer Requests

• We continue to pray (10 years and counting) that another family will join us on the field.  Loneliness is taking its toll and our children are leaving for college further reducing our team.

• We continue to pray for and look for a man God will raise up to pastor this church after me. (4 years and counting.)

• Pray that we will lead our fellowship in delighting in and living for the glory of God.

• We continue to pray for visitors from our supporting churches.  Thank you Howard and Beth for visiting in 2007!

• Pray for our adjustment to our oldest daughters (Lucy, and Amanda) being in America at Clearwater Christian College. 

• Pray for the continued spread of the Gospel of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ here in Kazakhstan.

• Praise that we now have 5-8 unbelievers attending regularly and that most of them are increasingly receptive to the Gospel.

Before: Sept 2004

After:

Above:  Our Building In Kalkaman.  We purchased this building on September 22, 2004.  It is located about 2 miles from our house and 3/4 of a mile from our ministry center in a Kazakh speaking area of Kalkaman.  Most of the homes in the neighborhood are less than 4 years old.  Since it takes most people 10-20 years to finish their houses that means that most of them are works in progress.    

For a Map and tour of our neighborhood see:  Map/Tour of Our Neighborhood  or see:  Church Neighborhood to only see photos of that area.

You can see an overview of the work we have done at:

 Building Remodeling Overview 

And you can see step by step photos of each project by following these links:    Fence      Driveway       Front      Basement

Left and Above: Sunday Services in Kalkaman.  Some Kazakh's prefer to sit on the floor so we have an area set aside for them.  We have fellowship meal (pictured below) every week after service. 

Freedom of religion is severely limited in Kazakhstan.   In July of 2005 Kazakhstan passed a law which made this country one of the 15-20 countries in the world who require the registration of churches.  You can read more about this at:   Registering a Church under the New Law On Religion.  Legally, we became a church on May 7, 2007.  This enables us to meet and teach legally.  But, Biblically, we are not a church, since we do not yet have more than one elder.

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 during a bad year at: 

The Road to Bishkek: How we spent our summer vacation getting visas.  

Right.  Ping-pong in the church basement after service.