Navigating Challenges with Local Authorities in Central Asia

While we were traveling through Central Asia, in two different regions I'll call Central Asia 1 and Central Asia 2, we faced some pretty tough situations. In Central Asia 1, we dealt with a lot of pressure from local authorities who are in charge of religious activities—kind of like the old KGB, though I’m not exactly sure who they are.

The group we were working closely with had to get rid of all Bibles and Christian work. Some members of our team had to hide bibles in the walls of a building yet somehow this information was leaked and they ended up having to burn all evidence! This was because an underground church we were connected with got discovered/ratted out.

It all happened on a Sunday morning during a small church meeting in someone’s home. The authorities barged in and stopped the service. Thankfully, no one got hurt, but everyone there was arrested. My team and I weren’t at that meeting, so we didn’t get caught or else we could've been fined and deported.

Afterwards, the local believers were really worried. To stay safe and avoid more trouble, they decided to move us out of the church building which we were staying in and go incognito for the next few days. It was a tough decision, but they felt it was necessary. The situation had nothing to do with our participation but we were caught in the middle of it!

Seeing all this happen was a real eye-opener. It’s hard to believe stuff like this still goes on today, but it showed me how strong and brave these believers are.

I have even more respect for the underground church now, and I’m more committed than ever to praying for and supporting people who face persecution for their faith. It’s a powerful reminder of what it really means to follow Jesus and hold on to hope, no matter what.