Through bags of hope, the church can reach more people

More and more Muslims in Central Asia are coming to faith in Jesus.

Growth is quiet as Christians have to tread carefully. Governments have placed many restrictions on churches. For example, it is not legal to preach outside of church buildings that have been approved by the authorities for the purpose. Christians are also not allowed to hold meetings in private, but only in approved church buildings. 

In this situation, the project is Bags of hope a powerful tool to demonstrate God's love outside the four walls of the church. Bags of hope are bags of food for poor and dysfunctional families. The parents may be addicts, for example, and the distribution of the bags ensures that vulnerable children get food to eat. 

Since 2012, Danish European Mission improvers and donors have supported a church in a country in the northern part of Central Asia in distributing bags of hope. The project has gone well, and was expanded in 2019 to a city in South Central Asia, and in 2020 to a city in a country in Southeast Central Asia.

One of those who has been helped is Saltanat. Here she talks about her encounter with the Christians:

- My name is Saltanat, I am 26 years old and married to Kuanjsh. We both grew up in the Muslim faith. 

- We have three children together. Our two sons Abay and Mazi are 8 and 5 years old, and our daughter Nurali is 2 years old. My husband Kuanjsh is 30 years old, autistic and hearing impaired.

- Throughout my childhood, I lived with my mother and I never knew my father. When I was three years old, my mother remarried and I always called my stepfather Dad.

- He took good care of my mom and me. When I was five years old, my mother became very ill and she was often hospitalized. My stepfather worked and the neighbors took care of me when I wasn't in kindergarten.

- As time passed, my mother got worse and she was no longer released from the hospital, and she died a year later at the age of just 25. After a few months, my stepfather decided to hand me over to an orphanage. I was six years old at the time and I never saw him again. Neighbors later told me that he remarried and went to Germany.

Life as an orphanage child

- I cried often and missed my mom and dad, just like any other orphanage child. This is how my orphan life began. Once when I was in fifth grade, believers from the church started coming to our orphanage. They told us about God and brought many gifts for Christmas, Easter and other holidays. 

- The other children and I looked forward to the Christians coming. We were excited because they loved us and it felt safe and good with them. We loved singing songs about God and doing different crafts with them - I remember that clearly.

- Once the teacher in our class took us to church for Easter and I was very happy. I still remember it very clearly.

- But unfortunately we were only allowed to do that once, because our teacher was fired for that very reason and the believers were banned from visiting our orphanage. I was very sad because I liked my sweet teacher so much. Only later did I realize that my teacher was a personal Christian and came to church!

- I lived and went to school at the orphanage until ninth grade, and then I studied sculpture and painting.

- I was living in a college and that's where I met my future husband Kuanjsh. I got pregnant with him and we decided to get married. We couldn't stay in the dormitory, so we rented an apartment. 

- I worked a little, but after the birth of my son we had to live on my husband's small disability pension and it was very difficult.

- Over time, we had two more children and it became even more difficult for us as I still couldn't go to work because of the children. I decided to turn to the church that I remembered for help. 

- Normally it would be difficult for Muslims to approach a church, but I had had a positive view of the church and Christians since childhood, so that wasn't what made it difficult. What I did feel was that it was shameful to ask for help, and in my culture shame can weigh very heavily on the heart.

- So when they said yes in church and a Christian woman gave me a big warm hug, the tears came! 

- It was our physical needs that brought me back to church and to Jesus.

- Every week we now walk together as a family across town to the church for a meal, receive a bag of hope for our family, and then we have the opportunity to hear a message from the Bible. The trip home is paid for by the church as it's a very long walk. We are all very grateful for this. Many thanks to God, the church and everyone. Hallelujah! Saltanat concludes. 

Read also: When Zanagul's nightmare became a reality, she got help from Christians

Through Bags of Hope, Christians can reach further

It's touching to read. In all the predominantly Muslim, post-Soviet countries of Central Asia, during the Cold War it was mainly Russians who were Christians.

Only a few people from the Muslim majorities became Christians, for example if they came to the West. But since the 1990s, people from non-Christian backgrounds have started to come to faith in Jesus, and churches are adapting to accommodate people from the predominantly Muslim majority populations. In the church in one country, over 90 % of the congregation are former Muslims. 

Through project Bags of hope Christians can reach out and help the most vulnerable in society - in societies where there is no welfare like in Denmark. The average price for a bag of hope is DKK 90.

The church can show people in unfortunate circumstances God's love and care in a practical way. Slowly, relationships form and in these relationships, Christians can share their faith. And where it is illegal to preach, it is actually legal for Christians to share what faith means in their lives. The law does not consider personal testimony to be preaching.

Thank you for praying for the bold Christians in Central Asia.

Topics of concern

• Pray that more Muslims and people from other non-Christian backgrounds will come to faith in Jesus.
• Pray that God will give Christians joy, peace and strength in ministry.

• Pray that God will give Christians the wisdom and ingenuity to maneuver in a tight religious law and use the opportunities that do exist.
• Thank God for the new believers. Pray that they will grow in faith and persevere, even if they face opposition from family or even the authorities.

Intercessory prayer is the most important gift to the church in Central Asia and the region. Thank you for praying for these people groups who are only now being reached with the message of the Bible and where indigenous churches are emerging for the first time in world history.

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