Kyrgyz Students 2004

Last month Mark taught a course on “Paul’s Letters” to about 20 young leaders in the city of Osh in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. Half of the class were former Muslims. Islam is often depicted as an impenetrable monolith of zealous Muslims. Indeed, among the world’s billion Muslims, many are ready to die a martyrs’ death. But there are a large number who silently question their authoritarian leaders – who cringe at the violence and terror – and wonder if there is another way. Here are three I had the privilege of teaching in Osh.

Shengiz became religiously aware in 1999 when a Jehovah’s Witness man in his village said the world would end that year. When the clocked rolled over to 2000 the villagers gave a sigh of relief and booted the false prophet out. A year later Shengiz was invited to attend a birthday party with his college friends. He soon found this group of Kyrgyz kinsmen offering up prayers to God in Jesus name. This was the first time he had heard anyone pray in Kyrgyz. (Muslims there pray in ‘Arabic;’ at least they are supposed to. In reality very few actually know that holy language so they mumble ‘Arabic’ sounds.) Shengiz heard these classmates daring to speak to the Almighty in their colloquial. His first thought was that they too were Jehovah’s Witnesses! But they explained they were Bible believing Christians who trusted in Jesus (‘Isa in Arabic) for their salvation. This set Shengiz on a year-long quest to discover “who is Jesus?’ He read the Quran, religion and philosophy tomes, and the Bible. On one night-long read through the New Testament he called out to Jesus about 5 a.m. He then returned home carrying a Bible and was promptly thrown out of the house by his parents. His two brothers have attended Christian meetings with Shengiz but dropped out because they did not want trouble with their father. Over the last few years Shengiz has deepened in his Christian experience and continued to be a loving and respectful son. He is now his father’s favorite son, admired for his maturity and his convictions.

Jedegul, a Kyrgyz young lady, found Jesus along the road one day. She was walking the several miles from a hospital to the town. Her companion had just been discharged from one year of hospitalization. Wanting to fully experience all the sensations of her new freedom, they walked! As they passed a fancy home the two girls expressed their envy. Just then – almost like Jesus on the road to Emmaus – a man came up from behind and told them that true riches were only found in God. Their walk became a Christ-centered trialogue. By the time they reached town, all three knew Him. That night Jedegul gathered all the girls in her college dormitory and took them to a prayer meeting at a Russian Baptist church. For these Asian Muslim women, it was much like a trip to Mars. Yet the God who breaks down all barriers created a bond between them and a number have continued with Him. Jedegul’s parents soon found out about their young mass evangelist and they were not pleased. They appeared at her dorm unexpectedly and ordered that she renounce her faith in Jesus. She respectfully refused. Then her father had a talk with the college director. The next day this official met with Jedegul saying that if she did not renounce Jesus, she would be expelled. She refused and she was. Having no where to turn, Jedegul returned home, and stopped attending church. For several years she went every day to the bazaar and helped her father sell his wares, but she never stopped believing in Jesus. One day a summer team of American Christians visited that bazaar and engaged Jedegul in conversation. She then realized she could no longer keep her light hidden and returned to church. She still works alongside her father in the bazaar six days a week. But now he pretends not to know where his daughter has been slipping away to every Sunday for the last four years. Recently he told his daughter of his admiration for her. And then he added, “I too believe that Jesus is God. But if I say this openly, our Muslim neighbors will burn our house down.”

Sonarbek, a young Kyrgyz man was only a nominal Muslim, despite his father being an ‘Imam’ (Islamic prayer leader) for their village. When he came to faith in Jesus through the witness of some friends, both his parents were angry. Yet Sonarbek intentionally left Christian books and literature – all in Kyrgyz language – in the sitting room so his family could know what he had come to believe. He often found his parents reading this material. Soon his father was reading the Bible quite regularly and citing Biblical themes in his conversations. One day Sonarbek’s infant adopted sister became quite ill, near unto death. Sonarbek’s father desperately sought his prayers saying, “In your Bible Jesus says, ‘Whatever you ask in my name I will do.’ Ask him to heal your sister!” Sonarbek refused. Rather, he challenged his father saying, “I think Jesus would rather you ask Him yourself.” So this Muslim Imam prayed to Jesus, pleading for his young daughter’s life. God heard his prayer and the girl was healed. Sonarbek’s mother is now quite openly praying to Jesus and reading the Bible, though still praying in a mosque. His grandmother is doing the same. Grandma recently told Sonarbek, “When you choose a girl to marry find her in your church, not our mosque, the best one’s are in the church.” His father is at this point a secret disciple of Jesus, still leading prayers in the mosque.

Not long ago Sonarbek went to visit a friend in a neighboring village of about 500 people. While visiting and sharing the message of Jesus with this friend, the Imam from that village arrived. Sonarbek placed the Kyrgyz Bible on the table in the room as they visited together. Eventually the Imam picked up the book and was interested that it was in their language, Kyrgyz. Sonarbek explained that it was a Bible. The Imam became quite fascinated and read intently. After some time he said, “I need this book. This is the message I need to teach in the mosque.” Sonarbek said that as he had written many notes in the book it would be more appropriate for him to give the Imam a new copy. (Muslims revere the Holy Books themselves and would not respect a book as well-marked as S’s Bible.) In a matter of days Sonarbek presented a new Bible to the Imam and he has begun to use it as the basis of his messages in the mosque.

Yulia’s father is an Uzbek Muslim and her mother is Russian Orthodox. Neither one was very happy when at the age of 12 Yulia announced that she wanted to follow Jesus. Over the years, as they have watched Yulia grow into a mature Christian woman, wife, and mother - their opinions have softened. Her mother has become an interested student of the Bible, still praying in the Orthodox church. Her father kept his anti-Christian arguments going for several years. But a few years back both mother and father found themselves unemployed. The father challenged, “You pray to Jesus for a job, and I will pray to Allah for a job.” Jesus gave her mother a job, the father is still unemployed, and no longer speaks about Islam.

The course I taught in Osh was an intensive night course. The students are busy with their normal work and study demands during the day. But there were arranged lunches with small groups of students each day to have some informal time together. All week we joined the small crowd in a ‘western style’ restaurant. In a city where the population is 50% Kyrgyz, 35% Uzbek, and the rest Koreans, Chinese, other Central Asian peoples and Russians, Western cuisine is not their specialty. So all week I dined on what was no doubt their best effort to make ‘cutlet’, ‘baked chicken’, and ‘beef stroganoff.’ Throughout the week I kept asking my host where the local people ate. On Friday I found out. We found the “In and Out” of Osh. It is located right across the street from the city’s central mosque where several thousand gather for Friday prayers. I think half of them found also found their way to our restaurant. They specialize in ‘Samsa’ which is a meat pie found throughout this part of the world. But this place serves up the ‘Mother of all Samsas!’ Eating one of these samsa’s is the equivalent of consuming two Burger King Whoppers – not that I would know, of course. A meat and onion mix is placed into the bread dough and the ball shaped entrée is stuck on to the side of a huge rounded clay oven. We arrived just as a batch was being taken out and distributed to the several dozen people who lined up, or sort of lined up. Many had multiple orders to fill. Some hopped onto bicycles and raced off for steaming hot deliveries. So we missed this batch. We spent the next half an hour sitting at our plastic table in a large bustling open air patio area, drinking tea and eating fresh baked bread. These loaves are round and flat, about the shape of a ‘Frisbee’, also cooked along the walls of rounded clay ovens. My host, an ethnic Russian, and I were about the only white skinned customers in the cavernous dining area. A steady stream of bearded men, wearing robes and Islamic prayer caps, came to eat. About a fourth of the crowd were women, most wearing Islamic head covering. The occasional western dressed young woman came in, and all the prayer caps turned in her direction. Finally, after numerous cups of tea, and nearly consuming the entire ‘Frisbee,’ it was samsa time! We reached across to a nearby table for the common knife used to remove the hard baked top from the pie, steam gushed out as we sliced. A savory mix of meat, onions, and fat lie awaited us. As I spooned down more fat than I would normally choose to eat – which tasted great! – I clung to the words of a colleague on the Atkins diet who recently told me, “fat is your friend.” This day that friendship intensified.