What is God Doing in Kyrgyzstan?

Kyrgyzstan            

Population:  4.8 million

Capital:     Bishkek

People Groups:  45

Main Religion: Islam 78%

All Christians:   7%

    (almost all are Russians)

Islam is losing ground in the Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan with 79.3 percent of the population following the religion, down from 84 percent just three years ago, reported Islam Online net in a recent website report (June 26, 2004). "Some 100,000 Muslims in the country's 5 million people have converted to Christianity" due to Christian mission, the report continued. Though more than 2,000 of the Kyrgyzstan's 3,000 mosques have been built since the year 2000, the nation has full religious freedom, and many Muslims are turning to Christ. Omurzak Mamayusupov, director of Kyrgyzstan's Religious Affairs Committee, said he is considering setting up a "religious police department" to counter missionary work, prevent a religious war and safeguard the nation's internal security. Although the country has a Muslim majority, the secular-communist regime of President Askar Akaev, who came to power after the fall of Soviet Union in 1991, has largely shown apathy to missionary activities. July 2004,  www.islamonline.net

A team belonging to the missionary athletes' movement "Athletes in Action" (see last week's Friday Fax) reports from their visit to the Central Asian republics of Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan: "One of the journey's most interesting experiences was to listen to a large number of people telling how they became Christians," writes team leader Jason Taylor. "Previously, they had been atheists or Moslems. Some told us how God had spoken to them in dreams. Others told us how they had had headaches for days after hearing about Christ. As soon as they decided to become Christians, the headache was gone. One woman told us that on the night she heard about Jesus, nothing happened until she went to sleep. While she slept, she had a terrible dream, in which a satanic figure told her 'You will never escape from me.' But now she has also become a Christian."  Linda Brown, Athletes in Action, August 1997