Danish European Mission's donors and improvers support several different projects in the countries of Central Asia.
Some Christians in these countries face persecution, discrimination, harassment or surveillance. Their situation is in many ways different from ours.
Here we elaborate in point form what resistance can look like:
Persecution
- Physical persecution can take place in villages where some converts are beaten when they become Christians. Children of converts can also be beaten at school. This is why some converts move to the big city, where people are more open and it's easier to go under the radar in the anonymity of the big city.
Read also: What is Christian persecution?
Discrimination
- Some are demoted or dismissed from their jobs when they convert from Islam to the Christian faith. Some Christians in important positions therefore keep their faith secret.
- Many churches want to be legal, but their applications for legalization can be ignored in some areas.
- All Christian books must be approved before they can be legally sold and distributed.
- In Kyrgyzstan, Christians can face challenges being buried in public cemeteries. It can be traumatic when Christians spend several days trying to figure out what to do with their deceased. Some are buried in deserted places in the mountains.
Harassment
- Converts may face pressure from their family, village and workplace to return to Islam and attend a mosque.
- Christians have the right to meet legally. And while several churches are legal, in some cases applicants are harassed into abandoning their application, especially among Christians who have converted from Islam.
Monitoring
- Pastors can count on KGB successors placing informants in their churches who report to the intelligence services.
- China has started selling its advanced surveillance equipment to some countries in Central Asia, potentially turning them into advanced surveillance societies.
Support and prayer
We can use this insight in our prayers for Christians in Central Asia. May God protect and bless Christians who are persecuted and face great opposition.
The Danish European Mission's projects supported by donors and improvers aim to help persecuted Christians through relief and development projects. As well as enabling Christians to show God's love in their local area.
