We approach you with a case about Bibles and Bible-related written material.
On 8 July 2008, the Bible Society of Uzbekistan, a legally registered religious organization still operating in Uzbekistan, was informed that their shipment of 11,000 Bibles and other Christian literature had been detained by the government's Committee for Religious Affairs. The committee, which monitors all shipments of religious literature to Uzbekistan, has detained the shipment at customs in the capital Tashkent since May 19 this year and is now demanding that the shipment be returned to the sender in Russia. The Danish European Mission has for many years been an important sponsor in the translation work of the detained Bibles.
All the customs papers submitted by the Bible Society had been approved by customs and there has been no satisfactory explanation as to why the Bibles are being held. The Bible Society fears that they will be heavily fined by the authorities in the form of a storage fee for a case they are not responsible for.
The Bible Society is also experiencing an increase in official searches by the Ministry of Justice in all its branches of work, despite the fact that the organization had its license renewed in 2007.
Because Bibles are vital to the spread of the Gospel and ethnic groups in Uzbekistan have hungered to read the Word of God in their native language, the Danish European Mission places great emphasis on this cause.
We encourage you to pray for the Christians in Uzbekistan. You can also get a letter to put pressure on the Uzbek authorities.
Sincerely yours
Mission Possible
Benjamin Bach
Network coordinator
