On our trip to Kazakhstan, I felt like we were in a true melting pot of cultures. The native Kazakhs, Russians, Germans, Uighurs and more live together in the Central Asian country.

Yet there’s one people group there that has become a major focus of ministry. 

In Uzunagash, Kazakhstan, we visited a hope center called the Church for all Nations. There the Lord has equipped a ministry to focus on the local children. Uzunagash is a village about 45 minutes away from the country’s biggest city, Almaty.

Sergej Kadyrlukow serves as the pastor at the church, he described to us in a previous article how God has revitalized the church since it peaked during Soviet rule. Sergej saw the need to serve the children of Uzunagash, and one Sunday 25 kids came to church. 

Sergej described watching them run around and play, then all of a sudden many of them were getting sick. He checked and it was because they hadn’t been eating, one girl got most of her food from the ground at the Bazaar. After this, the church started to provide food and care for the children more deeply.

“We were noticing many of the kids who needed help were Kurdish,” Sergej said. The Kurdish people group is one without their own nation. The homeland of the Kurds is in the Middle East, northwestern Iran, southeastern Turkey and the northern sections of Iraq and Syria. 

According to a BBC article: “In the early 20th Century, many Kurds began to consider the creation of a homeland - generally referred to as "Kurdistan". After World War One and the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, the victorious Western allies made provision for a Kurdish state in the 1920 Treaty of Sevres.

Such hopes were dashed three years later, however, when the Treaty of Lausanne, which set the boundaries of modern Turkey, made no provision for a Kurdish state and left Kurds with minority status in their respective countries.”

The Kurds represent a sizable minority in Kazakhstan, with around 50,000 citizens legally and potentially many more living undocumented. 

Sergej painted the picture of how many Kurds near Uzunagash were living; “Many families live in buildings that are 25 square meters for five or six whole families. Some don’t have chairs or tables, they just live all together.”

The situation for the Kurds in Kazakhstan, especially those undocumented, is a scary thing to contemplate. Sergej described a cycle of poverty that the Kurds in Uzunagash are in, that often begins with no father in the picture.

“Kurdish families live generationally as clans, all together,” Sergej said. “The young boys have only two options to make money, stealing or dealing drugs. The girls can only leave their territory until they turn 14.”

Kurdish girls live in fear of human trafficking as they get older. Because many in Uzunagash are illegally there, they are less likely to call the authorities. Sergej described the culture still operating where a young man has to “take” his wife. Girls often don’t have a choice and are essentially kidnapped and forced to marry. 

Sergej continued to describe the cycle; “Many have 5 to 10 kids, then the husband either gets killed or sent to prison. Then it leaves the children to be raised with just their mother.”

Continued brokenness and poverty keep these kids from paths to healthy lifestyles and work they can be proud of. To break the cycle, the church began to teach welding, woodworking and furniture building to the young boys, and the girls are taught how to crochet beanbags, neck pillows and more.

“Money you earn will always be better than money you steal,” Sergej said. 

The church also operates as a Bible Mission Hope Center, meaning that when children or families are in need they can come and get help. 

Through serving the Kurdish children there, the church can show Christ to them. Many Kurds follow Islam, and over the last few years the amount of Kurdish children coming to the church has dwindled some.

Sergej said, “A new Mosque was built in Uzunagash, and they tell Kurdish kids not to come for church.” Some still come for holidays and summer camps, but for now they are limited by the Mosque. Sergej reiterated that the Mosque was not actually providing help, just trying to keep the children from Christians.

Despite the opposition, God is doing amazing work in the Kurdish community in Kazakhstan. Some have come to faith and are growing to maturity in Christ. Sergej told us of Bayran, who wants to be the first Kurdish pastor in the area. He originally came as a kid just looking for food and now is “burning for the Lord.”

This Hope Center could use your prayer. Pray for Sergej and his wife Svetlana, that the Lord would continue to strengthen them for the ministry ahead and give them his vision. Pray for the children of Uzunagash, that God’s hope would come to them, and pray for the church as they look to create sports fields.

The church in Uzunagash needs about $8,000 to make their volleyball fields and finish their new banja (sauna). The church has a vision of a safe place for Kurdish children to come and play in the village, allowing them to share the gospel. If you’d like to help this church you can connect with us and help share the Gospel in Kazakhstan!

Bible Mission is working to translate the Bible into Kurdish, you can help the mission of getting Bibles to this people group in their native language. Reach out to us here at biblemissionglobal.org for the next steps.

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Colossians 3:14-15

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

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