Ken and Emily (and their children) minister in central asia– in a land that is 99.8% muslim. They were home on furlough, so we took a little time to ask a few questions about life on the mission field.

Can you describe the spiritual condition of the place and the need you see today?

      Even though this country has Christian roots, it is 99 % Muslim. The missionary movement started 30 yrs. ago and is in the work of breaking ground and making Christ known in a place where there is a distorted view of Christian society. We see our job as making Christ known there. People are very hungry for God and we find people are very open to prayer. Their society has very strict formula for prayer and they are very interested in how we pray-from our hearts. While it is predominantly Muslim, individually we see a big hunger for God.

      There is an acceptance of your lot in life. It is how it is. They are aware of the fact that something is missing in their life. While they recognize the wholesomeness in the face that they present to the world, they know that they are still struggling w/ their own sinfulness.

With the people you’ve gotten to know, if you ask them what their view of an American Christian, what do they say?

      They have a general perspective of Americans being amoral. But as they get to know us, they are surprised by how we live our lives. They say that we are morally better than the nationals. One family we have gotten to know over the past two years, has said that they’ve found that we are “just like them.”  As we live out our life among them, they see that we are different (than their perception of Americans). 

Do you find that there is minimal amount of practicing Muslims?

      They identify as Muslims because it is part of their nationality. It is even on their ID cards. It is part of their national identity.  There is a trickle going in and out of the mosques. Everyone identifies themselves as a Muslim because it is seen as THE religion of the country.

How aware is the average Central Asian of the history of Christianity in their country?

      They are somewhat aware. They are more interested in the Ottoman history, and the connection to the Ottoman Empire.  There is very little information available about Christianity and the history of it within the country and it is often only available in English.  People there do not recognize the basic Bible stories.  When we tell a Bible story, people are very interested, because it is new to them. It opens up doors for us to talk about Christ with people. These are the seeds we are able to sow in our friends.  Those are the moments that really get us through.

      We see it as such a privilege to sometimes be the first to share the gospel with these people. Knowing that God is calling these people to us to hear these stories is very confirming of the fact that the holy sprit is at work. 

What is it that you would want most for people to understand or learn about what you are doing?

      Everything we do becomes ministry. Our heart is for our friends and building relationships w/ people. It had also became clear that we needed to be working.  So I (Ken) am teaching science at a school in the city. Our school has become a ministry as well. Since we are officially recognized we are now we’re trying to take the next step and reach out and connect to other schools in the city.  Just recently I was able to speak at a teacher’s conference and connect with other educators in the city.  In all of those situations we represent Christ.  The school is one way that people can see Christianity lived out in daily life.  We are also educating kids who are going to go out and impact the world.

      Emily has spent the past couple of years focusing on learning the language and building relationships with neighbors. She is almost fluent by now and has made some great connections with national women. Next year Emily will be teaching almost full time at the same school. This will allow Ken to spend time focusing on his language education.

What is your own family life like in Central Asia?

      It is good. Our boys are doing really well. They don’t LOVE living there, but they are benefiting from our situation. We have a lot of fun in the city. We feel very close as a family of four. We are blessed to have a good place to live and never go without.

      Initially, we struggled to find a church to plug into. But this past spring, this one pastor has begun to do a number of home fellowships. He invited us to worship with them and we have felt very connected with them. We kind of see this as our church for now. We are planning on praying over the summer and see if the Lord is leading us to go ahead with the home fellowships.   

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 at 12:05 pm and is filed under God sightings.