We Made It!

“From the Tropics to the Tundra”

An Update from the Blair family in Kazakhstan, Central Asia

October 1998

E-mail:            blairstan@hotmail.com

New address:              Send support money to:

Blair’s                         Pioneers

c/o KECS                    12343 Narcoosse Road

P.O. Box 244              Orlando, Florida 32827

Almaty 480000           [checks are to be made out to “Pioneers”

Kazakhstan                  - noted for Blair’s on a separate paper]

Phone (from USA) -  011-732-72-636790  [we’re 14 hrs ahead of Pacific Standard Time)

Aloha from Almaty

            We’ve been here for about one month and we are all well and happy serving the Lord. God’s gracious, sustaining, hand is helping us adjust to life here. We are especially grateful for your support and prayers. Please continue to faithfully partner with us in this strategic ministry. This will be a longer than usual letter as we want to provide a picture of our life and work here.

We made it!!

            We clearly sensed the Lord’s hand upon us in all our travels here. We praise Him for safety, having traveled more than 8000 and miles across America’s highways this summer. It was wonderful to see family and friends.

            Just days before our flight here we became concerned that our passports had not been returned from the Kazakhstan Embassy in D.C. to us in Pennsylvania with our entry visas. Over the telephone they said, “They are in the mail.” After two days frantic searching in the local post office, our departure day came and went, and we were left behind. It happened that the day we planned to fly was the day their Embassy moved across D.C., thus that it was impossible to contact them. The next morning we were told, “The passports are here, you must come pick them up.” So Mark and Dayna set off on the 2 12 drive to D.C.  Just outside Baltimore, about 30 miles from D.C., our van stopped running. From the shoulder we watched cars speed by us on Interstate 95. We managed to flag down a tow-truck driver whom we could not afford to pay. Yet he was willing to drive us to the nearest exit, leaving our stalled car on the highway. In less than 2 hours the Embassy would be closed and we had re-booked to fly out of Newark, N.J. the next day! In a nearby McDonald’s, we met a Nigerian man who kindly drove direct to the Embassy. We made it in time and collected the passports and the necessary visas. Then we called AAA and asked for our 100 miles of free towing, so we and our van were charioted back to Pennsylvania on a fancy new tow truck, 12 hours after we left! It was a wild finale to our three months of USA travel.           

           

Almaty, Kazakhstan - our new home town

            We have joined the 1.4 million residents of this beautiful city, the nation’s largest. Until last year it was the capital, and it remains the center of business, education, and national life. We have a one year lease on a three bedroom apartment. It is sparsely furnished with some things from the landlady. We’re on the 11th floor of a building in the center of the city. We live across the street from a big park a bath house/indoor swimming pool; walking distance from the major shopping area of the city. Our schools are easily accessible by taxis and bus. A bus (usually crowded) across town is about 25 cents, a taxi is about $ 2. We’re managing to get around town and find what we need. Out our windows we have a spectacular view of the 19,000 foot Tien Shan mountains. We’re hoping that our container coming from the States will arrive this month. We’re eagerly anticipating our own beds. We think the bed we’re now using is really a museum piece from a Soviet torture chamber, we’ll be glad to return it. We’re also walking distance from the Symphony Hall where we went last week to a free performance of their world class orchestra; it was fantastic. We’ve even found a few good restaurants, including a Mexican restaurant; so we’ll not be suffering as much as we feared! Sound like a nice place to live?! But how’s the weather you ask...

            Have you ever heard of a White Columbus Day? Well, we don’t have to dream of it. Our first snowfall - over 2 inches - was on October 10. We have learned that winter here lasts about six months, most of that time temperatures are below freezing - isn’t that special!!! Also in our container is a washer and dryer which will allow us to take down the maze of clothes drying on lines strung all across our apartment. When the boys go out to play in the snow three times on a Saturday, each trek out demands a dry outfit. Imagine!!

            One prayer concern is that we could get a regular arrangement with a taxi driver for Dayna and the boys to travel with to and from school. Standing out on the road trying to flag one down in the cold is not going to be fun. Returning home from school they must walk a couple blocks to even catch a taxi, so that is a real need we’re facing.

Kazakhstan Evangelical Christian Seminary

            The day after we arrived the Fall term began at KECS. It was a great to gather with all the students and staff, old friends and new. Mark gave the convocation sermon (after just a few hours of sleep!). At this gathering Mark was named the “Director” of  the seminary which was a pleasant surprise, an honor, and a burden all at the same time. It has meant being much more involved in helping Pastor Kong, the seminary President, with administrative duties. At the same time Mark has been busy teaching in both the Kazakh and Russian language programs - we are blessed with wonderful translators in both. He presented a course on “2 Timothy” and is now teaching a course on “Worship.”

            This year we have almost 60 students in the two departments. They are a wonderful group of men and women from throughout this nation, and other Central Asian countries. Among the 20 students in the Russian language department is a Medical Doctor and a former KGB agent! It is more of a “commuter campus” as students are involved with families, jobs, and ministries in the city. The Kazakh language department is now entering its second year. Last year when we visited here, it was just a dream. Now there are 38 students living in the newly purchased two-story facility, most of them in families, including 25 children. There is also a Kazakh language church which the students lead on the campus.

            In this multi-ethnic nation, Kazakhs are almost  50% of the population, and the people most unreached by the gospel. Most Kazakhs are Muslims.  Prior to this decade, there were no known Kazakh Christians. Of the 8 million Kazakhs, less than 5,000 are Christians. So to see them growing in faith, and going out to reach their kinsfolk is quite exciting. Yet it is not easy. One unique challenge is that the Kazakh cemeteries are all owned by Muslims. A Kazakh pastor recently reported that many Kazakh’s are convinced by the truth of the gospel, but are worried that there will be no place for them, or their family, to be buried should they follow Jesus! This is just the “final” problem, there are many acts of persecution and restriction within the villages against new believers now. We heard of a Kazakh Christian who was martyred recently less than 50 miles from Almaty, this is not the first one, pray it will be the last! Despite opposition we are seeing a unique move of the Lord in bringing Kazakhs to Himself. Many wonder how long this will be allowed by the Muslim dominated government.

            Mark has committed at least two Sundays a month to being at the seminary’s Kazakh language church. Between Sundays he will meet and encourage the leaders. We believe it will be strategic to create a strong “model church” for the students to observe and lead, if God wills. There are very few Kazakh churches in this nation. Nearly all will go from the seminary to parts of the nation where no church exists. Our hope is to mentor students to become “cell church” leaders in this congregation and thus plant more Kazakh churches in the city and surrounding villages. Last Sunday he lead a communion service. There was such a strong sense of joy and gratitude to Jesus who died for our sins, nearly all the people were weeping. We felt so thankless at the way we often take this sacrament for granted as just another monthly church event, something that takes up 10 more minutes of “our” precious time on Sundays!! Pray for God to establish His church here with both deep roots in His Word and big branches to hold the many who need Him.

Tien Shan School

            We are so thankful for the Tien Shan School where the boys attend, and Dayna is the High School teacher. This year there are about 100 students in K - 12th grade from about a dozen countries/ . Aaron is in 6th grade with Miss Renee from New Zealand. Josiah is in 8th grade with Miss Pedersen from the States, having taught the last 2 years in Korea, and Nathan, now in 9th grade joy has seven teachers and his dear mother! Actually, Dayna teaches three classes and supervises 12 other parents  who come in and teach courses in their areas of expertise. They are all getting a great education. The interaction with classmates from around the world is wonderful. The boys have already been on weekend overnights to new friends houses. They are also doing well in their Russian language courses, having increasingly longer conversations with the taxi drivers they travel with daily. Recently TSS had a Sports Day and we all enjoyed the chance to meet the different families in the community. Currently, the school is using rented facilities. They would like to buy their own building, please pray with them about this important need. Countless hours of ministry are possible here because parents have a good school for their children. In addition to the excellent learning experiences - and mission training - the children are receiving.

A Whole New Way of Speaking

            Please remember as you correspond with us, by letter or e-mail - or especially over the telephone, to exercise caution in your vocabulary. The presence of  Christian workers is not completely welcomed by this government - and the old  KGB never died, they just changed their acronym. Here are a few specific alternative possibilities (be creative):

            Missionaries = “m’s”                          God = Him, Dad

            Churches = gatherings                                    prayer = thinking deeply

            converts = followers                           Jesus = Brother

                                    evangelize/ism - don’t even say it!!

Our concern in this area is not so much for ourselves, we have an official “m” visa, but we want to protect those we work with, many of whom are “tentmakers” in this land.

“P.I.” Mission Team

            We specifically want to protect our P.I. (as our board is known here) team of 4 other workers. Scott and Lora have been here for 4 years and ably lead the team. They have 4 beautiful daughters ages 9 to 1 1/2. The boys enjoy watching videos with them during our weekly prayer & fellowship team meeting. We also work with Marcie and Ann who both came this year. All four are from the States and working at building friendships and assisting the growth of the church. They are also currently in Kazakh language courses. I know they would appreciate prayer for this. It is really a blessing to be a part of this team, and the larger P.I. work in this part of the world.

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Mark’s Slice of a Saturday morning

            This morning I met with about 8 men for a prayer breakfast, hosted by an American in a house his family is renting. He had given me a quickly drawn map to the place. So I hailed a “taxi” (actually a privately owned car that just stopped as I held my had out, everyone wants to make a little money). The driver was a Kazakh who knew no English so it was a fun challenge to point him down the street, following a crude map, to a place I’d never been. Upon arriving, I feasted on the first pancakes I’d ever eaten here! Around the table was one other American, from California, a Haitian, three Australians, and an Englishman; most of us had never met, here to work in various Christian ministries. We had a great time. We plan to meet every month for pancakes...I mean prayer! I came home to find Dayna trying to talk to our new Russian housekeeper who knows very little English. She seems good. She knows how to cook enchiladas, lasagna, and shepherd’s pie from the Canadians she used to work for - all the essentials. Aaron and I walked up to a little market one block away and bought some fresh baked bread. We returned home and he sliced it for some toast in our $ 11  Malaysian made “Nippon America” brand toaster. Its two weeks old and the handle has already fallen off.  Nathan and Josiah just came home from an overnight with  an Australian family which has two boys their ages. They skateboarded around their area. They all took part in an international Christian youth meeting last night. They traveled alone in one of these “taxis” the 10 miles or so from their friends house. This afternoon, we’ll walk down to the shopping area. Something I’m not thrilled about in any language. We’re looking for a fridge and stove. There are many shops, most of them all have about the same items for sale. So it is a matter of going from one to the other, comparing prices..a real shopping adventure! So went my Saturday.

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We pray this letter finds you well and happy in the Lord. We are grateful for your faithful support and prayer. We’re very thankful to be a part of the special work God is doing here in this part of the world. From this vantage point,  reaching “all the nations” with the Good News of Jesus seems like a “do-able” task if we all do our part.

For His kingdom,

Mark & Dayna Blair

Nathan, Josiah, & Aaron