Kazakhstan

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Official name: Area: Government: Official languages: Monetary unit: Cities:

DEMOGRAPHY Population: Population density: ECONOMY GDP (PPP): per person: </small>

LIFE & LIBERTY HDI

Contents 1 Geography 1.1 Location 1.2 Climate 1.3 Natural Resources 2 Demographics 2.1 Peoples 2.1.1 Language 2.2 Provinces 3 Life 4 Economy 5 Government 6 Religion 6.1 Islam 6.2 Buddhism 6.3 Christianity 6.3.1 History 6.3.2 Churches 6.3.3 Church and State Relations 6.3.4 Mission and Evangelization 6.3.5 Broadcasting 6.3.6 Councils and Networks 7 Future Trends 8 For More Reading

[edit] Geography

[edit] Location

• The famous Silk Road passed through this country on its way from China to Turkey:

[edit] Climate

[edit] Natural Resources

[edit] Demographics

[edit] Peoples

Kazakh (7,9 million)

Uzbek (0,4 million)

Tatar (0,3 million)

Uyghur (0,3 million)

Russia (5,6 million)

Ukraina (0,9 million)

German (0,4 million)

Korea (0,1 million)

100+ other peoples

[edit] Language

• Imagine trying to learn Kazakh (or Russian for that matter) when many locals switch between the two languages without warning, often mid-sentence. Pray for patience and perseverance for our new workers. And don’t forget the frustration this sometimes provides for old-timers as well!

[edit] Provinces

• The Provinces of Kazakhstan

• The Cities of Kazakhstan

Astana - capital

Almaty (1,2 million)

[edit] Life

• Alcoholism is an enormous problem in the whole former Soviet Union. One team plans to set up alcohol support groups this year (2008), aiming to help both believers and non-believers.

[edit] Economy

[edit] Government

[edit] Religion

[edit] Islam

• Kazakhs have been nominally Sunni Muslims since 1043, but theirs is a folk Islam strongly influenced by animistic practices.

[edit] Buddhism

[edit] Christianity

[edit] History

[edit] Churches

• The Church among Kazakhs is young but alive and growing. Kazakhstan needs more people with more passion doing more church planting in more places. Why? Kazakh believers grew from almost zero at independence in 1991 to an estimated 5000 by the year 2000 and about 10,000 by the year 2007 in over 40 congregations. Since then church growth has been slow. Most of the believers are in a few larger cities. So we need ‘church planting’ to reach this vast country. May the Christian Church continue to grow among young people. Usually, the smaller the town, the greater the opposition.

• Pray for unity among all believers in Kazakhstan: between Kazakhs and Russians, between different denominations, between various church leaders, church planters and pastors. May each take their part in building God's kingdom - be that sowing, watering or reaping, rather than trying to build a monument to themselves.

[edit] Church and State Relations

• Although the constitution guarantees religious freedom, in practice the amount of hassle depends on local officials. However, in recent months, some pastors have faced difficulties which seem to have come from central government. This is a worrying trend. Pray for continued freedom, and that all civil servants that they would rule with wisdom and justice.

[edit] Mission and Evangelization

• Many humanitarian and holistic mission opportunities in this troubled land.

• There are 24-hour prayer houses which are rising up and intercessors come together for praying.

• Despite harassment, the number of Kazakh evangelical believers has been growing since the fall of Communism in 1991 and they hope to plant hundreds more churches over the next 10 years. These churches will need trained pastor-teachers. The Almaty Bible Institute has a strategic part to play but faces some major challenges, mainly due to a shortage of financial resources.

[edit] Broadcasting

[edit] Councils and Networks

[edit] Future Trends

[edit] For More Reading

• Wikipedia
• Joshua Project
• GRN