29 years ago, the Soviet Union collapsed and Turkmenistan gained its independence. Communism was gone and the people had to find their identity. There were very few Christians and the Turkmen built their identity around Islam instead.
"Turkmenistan has evolved to be the Central Asian answer to North Korea. When the country was under communism, people belonged to a very weak Islam. The communist ideology was so strong and atheistic that my father, who was Turkmen, practically lived an atheistic life with his generation. But since 1991, Islam has become more and more important and now a Turkmen is a practicing Muslim. Radical Islam has gained ground in recent years," says Nury*, who himself became a believer in 1993 as one of the first after the fall of communism.
"In the early years, Christians were arrested and tortured for their faith, but the security services have moved away from that practice now. It causes too many problems with the West. Instead, Christians are persecuted by having less access to study, work and being pressured in a variety of ways. For example, as a Christian, you can't get a job in the public sector and you are also considered an inferior citizen. When you convert, you are first pressured by family and friends. Then, when you start actively sharing your faith, the next wave of persecution comes - the authorities. If you get blacklisted as a preacher, evangelist, church leader or anything else, your phone is tapped, your travel is restricted and you are monitored. But there are always degrees of persecution. In short, the more actively you share the gospel, the harsher the persecution. That's why many Christians leave Turkmenistan and many leave the church after a short time because of the pressure."
Even though Christians are persecuted and some fall away, the number of Christians is growing. Not explosively and rapidly, but steadily. There are approximately 5,000 Christians in the country, of which 90% are converts and the vast majority are in the underground church. There are very few registered churches in the Central Asian country, which has just over five million inhabitants. In order for a church to be registered, it must meet a number of conditions. For example, the pastor must not be Turkmen and the service must not be conducted in Turkmen. But people meet in their homes and encounter God's love there.
"They hear the gospel the same way people have heard it throughout history. Christians spread the gospel with friends and family and share it one-on-one. It's a mission method that has been effective since the apostles and I believe it will be useful until Jesus comes again," Nury says with a smile and adds:
"But growth is more than people being saved and coming to faith. It's also about them staying in the faith and growing in it. That's a big challenge in Turkmenistan. But the persecution is not a surprise to Christians. It's part of our preaching and teaching that we cannot share the gospel without pain and suffering. The Bible says that if you live a godly life, persecution will come. That's the way it is, and all Turkmen Christians know that. Yet about half of them fall away after coming to faith."
Nury is an evangelist himself, and although he has fled Turkmenistan, he still supports the church in the closed country. He teaches leaders from outside, supports the church financially, and broadcasts sermons and teaching via satellite TV and YouTube to Turkmen around the world. Danish European Mission donors have supported the filming of a year's worth of Christian television programs for the country. The programs were recorded in a studio in Copenhagen and sent in via satellite TV.
"The web is an opportunity to take the gospel to every house in Turkmenistan. We can support house churches with good preaching and teaching, but we can also reach those who have not yet heard the Gospel. For a large part of the population, the internet is the only source of hearing the Gospel - and they can even hear it in their own language. The YouTube channel has 400 followers every week and the same programs can be seen in Iran, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan on satellite TV. There's no way of knowing exactly how many people are watching it, but it's available to millions of people. We've gotten a lot of feedback over the years and built a good relationship with many people - some of whom have also been saved and sent to a local church. About 10-20 people write to us every week through social media, chat rooms, email or text messages, and we hope that the internet will soon become more free and less monitored in Turkmenistan, making it easier to make contact. Not everyone is comfortable contacting us and that makes it more difficult. But media is a very effective tool, especially in a closed country like Turkmenistan. However, there are many spiritual and physical problems for Christians in the country. Pray for the Christians who are being persecuted and pray that the country will open up so that more Turkmen can hear the Gospel."
*The name has been changed for security reasons
