"We know we belong to a family."

In 1991 I was adopted into a very large family. A family that takes care of me, prays for me and supports me and I am very grateful to the Lord for finding me and bringing me home.

We have a totalitarian regime in our country and a spirit of fear pervades our land. People are afraid to express their thoughts in public; they are afraid of going out in the dark. They do not fear thieves or criminals, but they are scared of the police. For no reason whatsoever you can be arrested and deported to one of the faraway corners of our country to work there. The power and influence of the government are continually on the increase. Everything and everyone is being controlled.

(Photo at left: Turkmen Christians meet in secret.)

Let me give you an example. As believers we can’t get together in official churches any more, so we try to meet in someone’s house. Of course we don’t meet every time at the same place, nevertheless the Security police seem to get wind of where we are. One evening we arrived in a town at about 10 p.m. to meet with our brothers and sisters there. Not one of them knew that we had arrived. The next morning we all went out of town and had a service on a riverbank. Within 20 minutes three Security police officers arrived on the scene and started to register everyone’s name. As we had come from a different town, they took us to their office where we had to stay until the evening. Afterwards we got a police escort who took us back home. At every checkpoint on the road details of the car were registered and orders were given that we were never allowed to return.

Another time we got together in a different town in the west of the country, also in someone’s home. It wasn’t during the weekend, but during the week. We stayed for a while and on Friday the people there urged us to stay for the weekend, so we could preach on Sunday. The next morning we got up at 5 o’clock and left the town. That same day a large group of policemen and Security people came looking for us. They knew where we were and when we had arrived.

Sometimes, however, the confrontation with the Security police gives us unexpected opportunities to witness. Once a father and his son were called into the police station and one of the Security people started to hit the father in his face with an iron bar. It started to bleed and that startled him. Suddenly the father thought, blood? Now, wait a moment. God has said that all mankind has issued from one person, from one bloodstream. So, you friend, may be hitting me right now, but in a sense you are my brother. For about 20 minutes he then had the opportunity to witness to the Security officer, who stopped hitting him, got a handkerchief, some water and started to help him.

Turkmen people are in general quite law abiding. They want to show their faith in God and their obedience. The president once told us in a television broadcast, to adhere to our faith. Islam? As a result, people are very hesitant to listen to us as soon as we witness about Christ.

The government has implemented a plan to close down all our church buildings. Their first step was to register all the details of church attendees: surname, telephone number, address, place of work.

Their second step was confiscating and demolishing the church buildings. First they came for the Baptists. In the middle of the night a group of about 15 people forced entry into the courtyard. They beat up the guard, handed him an axe and made him demolish the door. They confiscated the building, expelled the Ukrainian pastor and took the guard to the police station where he was abused even more.

The next step was the destruction of the church buildings of the Seventh Day Adventists. That happened in full daylight. Next victim was the Full Gospel house of prayer. After 5 lawsuits the building was confiscated.

Then another group of Baptists became the target. Without any explanation the house of prayer was sealed and confiscated. Even though the pastor still had the key, the seal itself had enough authority to proclaim the place off limits.

Then they continued executing their plan in other parts of the country. They used to take away the documents, study them and find a pretext for closing and confiscating the church. The Russian Orthodox Church is the only officially registered one.

The apostle Peter tells us that we are foreigners here and sojourners. Often we feel that we are not welcome in our country. I know that in other countries matters are even worse. However, we have no experience and no history whatsoever of persecution. When I came to faith in Jesus in the early 90’s, you, the worldwide Body of Christ, came into my life as well. I know that I belong to a large family now who pray and care for me. I’m very grateful for what you do, for your prayers and your support.

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