Central Asia (MNN) — The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has released a new report calling out five countries in Central Asia — Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan — for using extremism laws to target peaceful religious activities.
Slavic Gospel Association (SGA) supports Christian ministry in Central Asia. SGA’s Eric Mock explains, “In the sense of combating extremism, they push all faiths down. What this has meant is a tremendous amount of pressure on all faiths, [including] on Christianity.”
Christian family in Central Asia. (Photo courtesy of SGA)
While each country and community in Central Asia is unique, SGA receives reports from ministry partners about the increasing pressure they are experiencing for their faith.
“What they are writing to us about now is that it is becoming a little more complicated for them,” says Mock.
“In fact, some of the pastors are even arrested or brought down to police stations to explain what they’re doing. Some churches have had law enforcement break into the churches and interview each of the people, directing them never to come back and gather again.”
The difficulties are not limited to government censorship and law enforcement. Christians and ministries in this Muslim-dominant region deal with challenges on multiple fronts.
Mock says, “When they hold a Christmas celebration such as an SGA Immanuel’s Child-supported Christmas program or summer camps or orphans ministry, they not only face increasing difficulties from the government, but they also face persecution from the predominantly Muslim society. Even children who are coming to faith in Muslim homes are kicked out of the Muslim homes if they hold to their faith.”
As you consider this report, please pray for our Christian brothers and sisters in Central Asia living out the Gospel. “None of them ask us to pray for an end of the persecution. They only pray that they would be abundant lights,” says Mock.
“We look upon changes in government and the persecution that comes from these Islamic groups as a detriment, but the believers see it as evidence that they’re displaying Christ in their community.”
Learn more about SGA’s ministry work here.
Header photo: Samarkand, Uzbekistan (Photo courtesy of AXP Photography/Unsplash)
