In August I preached at the most powerful meetings of my life, firstly at SOZO – All-Central Asia Youth Conference, held for 3 days in Almaty, Kazakhstan August 20-22, then evangelism on Sunday 24th. Thank you for supporting in prayer and finance. Costs were enormous but the result – money could never buy. Coming out of extreme persecution, revival is breaking through and the Holy Spirit came down!
‘SOZO’ (Greek, meaning to save, deliver and make whole) is a Central Asian initiative to set young converts on fire for Jesus and to raise the next generation of leaders. 1500 young people registered to attend this year’s conference, primarily from the Central Asian ‘Stan’ countries – buses were organised to bring them in and cheap accommodation arranged. In total delegates came from 356 churches, 89 cities – and 22 countries worldwide.
During the conference, 100 young people dedicated themselves to the Lord as evangelists. In all the years of SOZO, they have never seen such hunger for God – to receive from Him and to serve Him.
It is an amazing breakthrough in a region that was formerly part of the Soviet Union and is culturally Moslem. Today in Kazakhstan (where the conference was being held), Bibles can now be legally imported, but in the other CA countries, by law, you can only bring in a personal Bible for yourself. Printing Bibles in these regions is extremely difficult, and possession or distribution of Christian materials can be risky. It is in this context that we saw, during the conference, the launch of the Alpha Course in Central Asia (having been driven out of Putin’s Russia).
What affected me is that in Central Asia, out of 100 people, only 2 will have had fathers who were actively present in their lives; but to break with Islam and become a Christian brings the ire of both relatives and the community – with severe beatings to ‘save the soul’ lost from Islam. As a result In any Kazakh congregation, 50% are secret Christians.
And it was in this context that the Conference began with a message on the ‘Forgotten Commandment’ – Exodus 20:20 – honour your father and mother that it may go well with you. The speaker (and host of the conference) came from such a dysfunctional family and such a community and has learnt the power of forgiveness.
Katie records, ‘this was followed by a ‘powerful message from David, how he has known God as Father throughout his 93 years of life, not just in the good times, but in difficulty, trouble and trials, especially in that communist prison where he experienced first the depths of despair under interrogation and torture, then the Glory of God as he has never ever experienced in any church. He shared the price he has had to pay, the price his family has had to pay, and his desire to be as a father to this young generation in Central Asia. This message set the whole conference alight with the Fire and the Power of God, until they said, they had never experienced God’s Glory as they did during these few days together this summer.’
Yes, 6-7 representatives from the KGB/security services were present throughout the conference – they didn’t know that the colour of the wristbands given to them identified them to the believers! But God is unstoppable. For 20 years public witness and worship in Kazakhstan have been prohibited, even on their own church territory. But on the closing night, loudspeakers were set up and 1500 young people filled the open outdoor space to worship and sing the Glory of God!
