Murat is a pastor of a church in a Central Asian country, and 80 % of the members of his congregation have a Kazakh Muslim background. Danish European Mission's intercessors and donors have ensured that he has been able to get a bachelor's degree in theology - and are now supporting him to get a master's degree in theology. Murat has experienced various forms of opposition in his ministry, including his church being closed three times in six months by the authorities.
We meet Murat in Indonesia, where we are consulting on church planting in countries with Christian persecution. At first impression, Murat seems to have a stone face when you talk to him, but you don't have to talk to him much before he regularly lights up with a big smile.
Thirty years ago, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, virtually no indigenous people were Christians, but were instead Muslims. The population could therefore be characterized as a people group that was unreached by the Gospel. Traditionally, only people from the Russian minority in post-Soviet Central Asia were Christians.
Fortunately, today there are an estimated 33,000 Christian converts in the country. But growth is not always healthy and some pastors lack theological training. Sects and easily accessible, skewed preaching on YouTube can even cause new Christians to leave the church.
Murat's experience of the heresy
Murat explains: "On YouTube, new preachers are becoming popular all the time. Currently, it's the Shincheonji movement from South Korea, which has also come to our country, whose teachings are not based on the Bible. The leader of the movement claims that he is the messiah and that he receives revelations from God just like Jesus. Some believers get caught up in the teaching and stop going to church. If a believer is grounded in the Bible, Christian preaching videos on YouTube can be beneficial, but if not, new Christians can be led astray by videos on YouTube where anyone can stand up and say weird things," says Murat.
The theological education is also beneficial when dealing with Islam, where the young church used to be apologetically on the back foot when Muslims asked challenging questions: "For example, the Bible's doctrine of the Trinity, which is a topic you often talk about with Muslims. Before, we didn't know which leg to stand on and we couldn't argue properly for the doctrine of the Trinity. But now it's the other way around, now it's the Muslims who say: We don't know - you have to talk to our mullah!"
But the church is not only being equipped to meet non-Christian currents. The church's preaching based on the Bible has also become healthier: "The line of our preachers has changed. It's not possible if the preaching is not biblically based. This was probably especially true for us in the 1990s, when the leaders were strong leaders rather than strong theologians. But the church has come back to the Bible and has become healthy. The foundation of the church is the Word of God. I truly believe that I protect my church by focusing on the Word, not on emotions and questionable revelations. Leaders' stronger focus on the Bible has also meant that members are beginning to work more with God's Word, which has led to a greater longing for God, not just emotional touches of God."
Global mission - from Central Asia
Years ago, the United States and Western Europe were the continent that sent the most missionaries to the world. But now from the West to the rest has now become from everyone to everywhere. Murat is an example of new churches rising up and taking responsibility in mission. He visits India annually where he teaches and prays for people.
"I travel around my own country preaching, but I also travel once a year to India, to an unreached people group in a border area. I help a home for refugee children. The vision is to reach this people group with the gospel. My theological education helps me to work with churches in India. There is an open door, but there is also a lot of resistance."
Facts about theological education
Since 2015, donors have ensured that 60 pastors in Central Asia have received basic theological training, either at diploma or bachelor level. 81 pastors are currently receiving theological training, including leadership, pastoral care, ethics, economics and other topics.
