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The female evangelist says: It was the weekend and a friend and I traveled from the capital to a small town for one of the meetings we usually have there twice a month. My friend had just returned from a conference and brought a couple of books in Turkmen. They were the Pentateuch [published in a collected edition and translated with support from the Danish European Mission], and she gave me one copy. I was very excited to be able to hold this book in my own language in my hands and I even cried. I took the Pentateuch in my language with me so that I could benefit from it during the meeting. Translating from Russian to Turkmen is hard, but with the Pentateuch in Turkmen, everything is easier.
On Saturday we had two meetings, and in both meetings we used the Pentateuch. Sunday morning we had another meeting with a family. Murad came and sat down with us. I had told him about the Pentateuch, which we now had in our own language. Murad asked if I would give him the book so he could look through it and if he could buy one himself or otherwise get one. However, we had to tell him that there were only a few in the country. When I gave him the book, his eyes filled with tears. I could see him holding it, and after a while I asked him to give it back to me. I didn't want to lose it because we only have a few of them in the country. We had a good time praising God and being together in the Word. After a while, I saw the Pentateuch again in Murad's hand. I thought I could get the book again later, but I forgot about it. When it was all over and we had eaten, Murad hurried out of the house and headed home. Under his jacket, I saw the Pentateuch. I was shocked that Murad had stolen my Pentateuch.
Murad reads to the family
I told the others, who wanted to go after him and get the Pentateuch. However, I told them not to, as it is good that people steal the Word of God. Then my friend told me that we would soon have more. It's great that people are so hungry that they take our books from us. Murad's wife told me that every evening he gathers the whole family, reads from the book in Turkmen and asks what they have understood. Murad cannot understand everything from God's Word himself, but every time we explain God's Word to him, he is always touched by the Holy Spirit and his eyes fill with tears. His hunger and zeal for God's Word inspires us. All glory to God. Praise the Lord that we have the Pentateuch in our own language. Thank you for the project and all employees.
In this way, Murad's wish was fulfilled - a wish many Christians in Central Asia live with and must ask God to fulfill themselves, as they live in countries where the authorities do everything in their power to prevent them and their fellow human beings from reading the Bible. Thank you to everyone who supports the Danish European Mission's Bible translation and Bible distribution projects.
* To protect the identity of persecuted Turkmen Christians, the name has been changed
