Uzbekistan
"And the gospel must first be published among all nations"
Mark 13:10
ANTIENT UZBEKISTAN
Missionary Outreach Project
The country has a history of several millennia, unique monuments of antiquity and surprisingly hospitable people. There are interesting monuments in Uzbekistan concerning the ancient history of Israel. In Samarkand, you can visit the tomb of the Prophet Daniel. The population of Uzbekistan is more than 32 mil. Some of it are Slavic peoples, Tatars, Koreans, Uighurs, etc.
First of June 2017 in Tashkent there was an official presentation of the complete translation of the Bible into the Uzbek Language. The work ended, which lasted for 23 years. Thank God! Uzbekistan is positioning itself in the international arena as a secular, democratic state with freedom of speech and religion. But in fact, not everything is so smooth. Yes, in Uzbekistan, today you can find the Bible in the Uzbek language, but there are several “howevers” here.
- The store is located in the Biblical Society of Uzbekistan in Tashkent - this is the only place in the whole of Uzbekistan where the Bibles are officially sold. (32 million people and vast distances).
- The editions of the Bible in Uzbek is very insignificant and is bought up instantly.
- If you are seen reading the Bible in any public place, it will be immediately confiscated. And, you may be fined in the amount of couple monthly salaries.
At the beginning of June 2018, our representative visited Uzbekistan and went to this store. The last delivery of the Bible was at the beginning of this year and it was bought very quickly. The next installment is expected at the end of the year, but no one can tell when it will be and how many Bibles should be expected.
In Uzbekistan, we have contacts with over 100 home churches and underground groups of local nationality believers converted to Christ. At the beginning of June, we were able to visit the Fergana Valley and have a meeting with 11 leaders of the underground groups of Uzbek believers. The most urgent need for today is the Bible in the Uzbek language. Great need in a good Christian literature as well.
Considering all the circumstances, today the most appropriate way to saturate this land with Bibles and spiritual literature is the use of modern technologies. We have an Audio Bible and 17 Audio Christian books. The recording was made by professional radio and television broadcasters in a clear and correct Uzbek language.
For over 20 years not a single new church has been registered in Uzbekistan and the only thing that remains for the believer is to develop the ministry through home groups. As time and experience shows, this is a very effective method.
Recent statistics says that Iran, despite very strict laws and restrictions regarding other religions, is the country where the most intensive growth of Muslims coming to Christ. These are mostly young progressive people. Something similar is happening in Uzbekistan. A converted Uzbek brother tells the story of his conversion: In 1998 in the city of Nukus, someone brought him a New Testament in the Uzbek language. He and his two friends, who had just finished school, began to study the Bible and after a short time, as he put it, - “we were born.”
Their friends began to come and the room could no longer accommodate everyone. The group split into two. Further, these two groups also had to split, etc. When in 2007 this brother was going to move to Tashkent, the leaders of home groups in Nukus gathered and it turned out that the total number of Uzbeks turning to the Lord had already exceeded 600 people. But no matter how large the number of believers was, there was no question of registering a church. So far in Uzbekistan, all this is prohibited.
In September 30, 2018 we received a letter from one of the pastors in Uzbekistan. “... We make many trips around our country, from the Tashkent Region to Surkhandarya Region. (Termez, Denau, Verabad and many villages) There, Uzbeks believed in Christ and there are many deaf people among them. Twice a year there is a baptism. This is a great joy for us and at the same time tedious work. It happens that for three days we sleep only a few hours. Unprecedented spiritual thirst opened in the Uzbek hearts. They are ready to listen to the Word of God for days. Some houses, we can only visit at night, so that neighbors or relatives will not know, because they will immediately call the police and everything will fail. Children in such families are fearless and have a faith that exceeds the faith of their parents. They remind us to pray and read the Word of God, to uphold our Christian principles before the world. For several years we have been conducting summer Christian camps there. This year there were about 100 people. Although they are not registered in a legal manner, they have defended their rights and calmly gather and the authorities no longer bother them.”
“Word to Russia” opened the project “Bible to the People of Uzbekistan”. Our initial goal is 5,000 Audio-Bibles and 17 Audio Christian books in the Uzbek language recorded on Micro SD. In fact - it will be a mini-library. The price of one Micro SD is now about $ 5. (Class 10, UHL, 8 GB.) There are Master Copies and equipment for copying the Bible.
Take to heart this tremendous need. With all the known difficulties of life in Russia, in Ukraine, the Bibles there are freely available in any city and in unlimited quantities. But the situation in Uzbekistan is quite different. In a country where there are one store for 32 Million people where people can buy a Bible, this is truly a number one need. Your donation of $100 will help to record 20 Audio-Bibles and 17 Audio books. Audio Bible on Micro SD can be listened to on the phone, on the computer, in the car, etc. Micro CDs are easy to hide from unwanted eyes and easy to copy. Thus, each Audio-Bible can be copied hundreds of times and only God will know how the Seeds of Life will spread throughout Uzbekistan. These will be your “personal” electronic missionaries in this amazing country where God is opening the hearts of its people to accept the Truth of Salvation.
To make donations please
click here.
