A Christmas Story from Tajikistan

Anxiously, little Mamokh is sitting in the corner. This is not the first time the Tajik girl has come to the local church of Bokhtar, but today there are so many children that she wants to observe the events from a safe distance.

150 Tajik children have come to the Prayer House. They are children from the villages around Bokhtar. Children who are always hungry because they live in great poverty. There is only electricity for three hours a day, and they fetch water with buckets from the river or the well. Most of the children grow up without fathers, as the men work abroad as migrant workers to support their families. Mamokh's father has not left, but poverty continues to bring new suffering to her home. And there is something else that makes the girl sit apart from the other happy children. It is the fear that someone might see her scars. Mamokh is ashamed.

Mamokh first heard about the church in Bokhtar a few years ago when her mother was very ill. The family had not been able to raise the money for the urgently needed surgery. The brothers and sisters of the church had responded to the need by giving their little resources. At the time, Mamokh's mother had made a commitment to come to church as soon as she felt better. But then she had never fulfilled her promise.

But God was already at work in Mamokh's family! Her father started coming to church, and he brought his daughter to Sunday School!

Two years ago, a terrible accident happened. Mamokh was playing with other children and fell onto a heater. Her dress caught fire and the girl suffered fourth-degree burns. Mamokh had to undergo several complicated skin transplantations. Again, the church members helped with all possible means. For the father of the family, this was a powerful testimony of God's love, which ultimately led to his repentance and coming to faith in Jesus Christ.

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That is why Mamokh's dad has brought his daughter to church today, because it's Christmas in Bokhtar. It is the birthday of his Lord Jesus Christ, and his daughter should learn why Jesus came into this world. He wants her to know that Jesus loves her - despite her poverty, despite her scars. He wants her to feel the joy in the Christmas carols that are sung in Farsi, and to learn from the Christmas story performed in Farsi, her mother language.

Finally, all the children receive a Christmas package. With her eyes shining, little Mamokh dares to come out of the corner, and her dad is full of gratitude to see that the Joy of Christmas has entered his daughter's heart.

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Thank you for praying for Mamokh and her family! Pray for the children of Bokhtar, and please help to bring Christmas packages to children in "closed countries" so that children's hearts would  be filled with joy and peace as they understand what Christmas is all about.

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Share the Joy of Christmas today!

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Today, God provides a wonderful opportunity to equip the believers in restricted access countries with Christmas boxes packed on the mission field, containing candy and cardboard figures to craft the Christmas story.

For your gift of $10, we can reach out to a child with a Christmas package and the message of Christmas in these countries:

‍Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Turkey and Mongolia.

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Thank you for sharing the Joy of Christmas, and thank you for impacting the lives of children and families living in countries that are closed for the Gospel, countries of a Muslim dominated world!‍