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The BIG PICTURE Last Updated: 1/20/2009 | |
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The focal point of our ministries Kazakh speaking church plant on the far western side of Almaty in the Kalkaman district. Map of Kazakhstan Photos of Faces Of People In Kazakhstan
We live on the western outskirts of Almaty in a house in a neighborhood called Kalkaman. Click Here for a map/tour of our neighborhood This is a Kazakh area (meaning that most the people that live here are Kazakh rather than Russian) and is becoming more Kazakh every year as new homes are completed and more Kazakhs move in. Poor Kazakhs from the village are moving here as well as wealthy Kazakhs from the city. The enormous tracts of farm land have filled in over the last several years with new homes in various states of construction. (Building a house normally takes 3-20 years here).
There are around 7,000 homes and 9,000 apartments within 5 miles of our house. Most of the homes have been built within the last 5 years. The population is between 100 and 200 thousand.
August 2008 - August 2010: We are currently in our fifth term: years 11 and 12. Kazakhstan is trying to pass a law on religion that is even more restrictive than the 2005 law. Kalkaman still has 3 churches with a total attendance of around 100 people. Our church has 22 regular attenders. Many churches have shrunk or closed in the last 2 years. Kazakh pastors are even more scarce than before. Most of the seminaries have closed due to more restrictive laws. There are many fellowships without pastors. Click here for more info on Kalkaman Bible Church 2009
August 2006 - August 2008: We are currently in our fourth term: years 9 and 10. Because Kazakhstan has a strict law on religion which limits the activities of religious groups, we had to register our church with the government. We completed that registration process on May 7, 2007. There are 3 churches with a total attendance of 100 people in Kalkaman. Our church has 19 regular attenders. We are continuing to look for man to turn over the pastorate to in the long run. Click here for more info on Kalkaman Bible Church 2007 2008
August 2004 - August 2006: Our third term and furlough: years 7 and 8. We started holding Sunday Church services here in Kalkaman in September 0f 2004. We also purchased an unfinished building and began to remodel it. Click here for more info on Kalkaman Bible Church 2005 2006
October 2002-August 2004: Our second term and furlough: years 5 and 6. The highlight of this term was serving as pastor/teacher of a Kazakh church in the city called Alpha Omega. We also continued our evangelistic work in Kalkaman and 8 people professed Christ here in Kalkaman. Our deacon Byeram started working with us full time here in Kalkaman. Click here for more info on Alpha Omega Fellowship
May of 1998 - October 2002; Our first term and furlough: years 1-4. Our primary activities were language learning, making friends, and dealing with the bureaucracy here. We purchased a house in May of 1999 and an apartment to use as a local ministry center in August of 2001. Click here for more info on our ministry center in Kalkaman
Background on the church here. General facts about Kazakhstan: Kazakhstan has roughly 16 million people, roughly 7 million Kazakhs and 7 million Russians and 2 million other nationalities. The population of Kazakhstan has declined since the breakup of the Soviet Union. Kazakhstan is about 1/3 the size of the US, four times as big as Texas. The inflation rate for 2005 was around 6%. The big sectors of the economy are oil, gas, and minerals. 27% of the worlds uranium is in Kazakhstan. An estimated 50 billion US Dollars will be invested in these sectors between 2002 and 2015. The economy is expected to grow by 9% in 2005 and by 9% in 2006. For an abundance of current information see: Kazakhstan- CIA World Fact book
1 out of 350 people of Russian nationality and 1 out of 700 people of Kazakh nationality profess Christ. There are around 20,000 professing Russians and 10,000 professing Kazakhs. Around 250 (Protestant) Russian local churches and 100 Kazakh (Protestant) churches scattered all over Kazakhstan. Click here for items of Prayer for the Church in Kazakhstan 2009.
The city of Almaty where we live is home to 2 million people. It has almost doubled in size in the last 12 years since the fall of the Soviet Union. We work almost exclusively with people of Kazakh nationality. Kazakhs are Asian Muslims. One out of 700 Kazakhs profess Christ. Kazakhs from the surrounding small towns have flooded into the city to find work. They are ostracized from the family and are considered traitors to their race if they convert to Christianity. For Kazakhs, the extended family is all-important. Family ties are carefully nurtured and maintained. | ||