In the heart of Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, people are being reached for Christ in a creative way. Coffee Zone is a ministry focused on creating relationships with the younger population in Kyrgyzstan. 

From 4:00 until 8:00 on Fridays, believers host non believers from the communitz between the ages 18 and 25.

The Coffee Zone hosts students for coffee and a program for time together. They begin with board games to break the ice with the students. After that between 50 and 80 students join talking clubs. English is the most popular, but now there is a Turkish group! After this they take time for training, either how to improve something in their life or learn a skill. This is a place where believers can speak about their faith. They then finish the night with either a talent show or quiz battles. 

It’s a place to invite and reach out to nonbelievers, which make up a large portion of Kyrgyzstan’s population. Ravshan Abdiev, the leader of the Coffee Zone ministry, said, “Most things in Kyrgyzstan have to be built through relationships, without relationship you have nothing. Coffee Zone is a bridge to build relationship.” 

Reaching young people is a major challenge for Christians in Kyrgyzstan. The Central Asian country has an incredibly young population. 35 percent of the country’s people are under the age of 15. The average age in Kyrgyzstan is only 26. Additionally 90 percent of the population identifies itself as Muslim. 

He said, “No one will come if you ask them on the street, they could call the police. Students trust us and we take them in.”

Many students have accepted Christ in the 8 years of student ministry in Bishkek, including Kanykei, a young Kyrgyz student. 

She grew up in a Muslim family, and had no interest in pursuing God. “As far as I remember, I always tried to keep God away from my heart because I hated Him,” Kanykei said. 

Kanykei was disappointed with her situation, specifically her family, country of origin and as a girl. She said, “The way my parents treated my brothers was different from the way they treated me. To my questions of why, my parents always answered, ‘you are a girl.’”

In 2021 she was invited by a friend to Coffee Zone and she started to attend mostly to utilize the talking club. She noticed Christians there were different from the people she had met in her life. They told her after some time about God and the Savior. At first it was hard for Kanykei to understand how God became a man.

She was invited to church, and soon after accepted Christ as her loving savior. She said, “I felt God's love for me and realized that no matter how I pushed Him away from me, He still thought of me and called me.”

Kanykei said, “Since my rebirth, I have learned to love myself, those around me, and God. I stopped imagining Him as an evil person who only counts my sins; and a desire to grow and serve has emerged. In my prayers every day I ask God to open my parents' heart to the truth so that they may have eternal life.”

Now Kanykei is one of the students who help to lead the group. Leaders are being developed from beginnings in Coffee Zone to now leading the ministry. 8 volunteers now are a part of the leadership team. 

Most nights between 50 and 80 students come to Coffee Zone. This outreach is primarily in Kyrgyz, the native language of many in Kyrgyzstan. Russian is prominent, but many ethnic Kyrgyz see God as a Russian god and not for them.

The ministry is expanding to create more places to connect with young people. Recently the soul club began, it’s a girls ministry that meets 2 times a month. A new boys ministry with a focus on camping and mountain adventures will begin soon. Thirdly, there is a more intentional book club that meets. They’ve read Christian literature such as the Narnia books and Pilgrim’s Progress.

Coffee Zone just celebrated it’s sixth year of ministry in Bishkek.

Pray for the Coffee Zone ministry to continue to be fruitful and reach new students. Pray for further deep connections to be made, and for Christians to show Jesus to those who have never seen him. We are looking to build a building specifically for the Coffee Zone ministry, to donate or pray for this project, connect with us here.

Isaiah 12:4: And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.”