Summer 2007
In 1982 U.S. President Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union the “Evil Empire.” Cut off from the rest of the world, darkened by its embrace of atheism and history of oppression, the USSR was a vast, seemingly impenetrable land of people who hated the West, capitalism and Christianity.
But from within as well as outside this so-called Evil Empire, people like you were praying. People like Ludmila Kaluzova, a Ukrainian believer, were surviving against all odds to preserve their belief in a sovereign God. Born in 1933, Ludmila saw her pastor father eventually exiled to Siberia for his role in spreading the gospel in the former Soviet Union. Her family paid the price for their faith, and they held on.
Others, unlike Ludmila, had no understanding of the gospel. Muslim Central Asians, absorbed into the Soviet system, were stripped of their cultural identities and told God did not exist. But even in unheard-of places like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, God was pouring out his grace long before Western Christians could see the impact of their prayers. Men like Talgat were having dreams of a man who would come and tell them about the true God; women like Fatima were finding Bibles washed up on river banks.
God was softening hearts for the good news to come. In 1991, the landscape of the world was forever changed as the Soviet Union dissolved into 15 independent republics. Southern Baptists responded with speed and loving determination. Since that time, millions of dollars, hundreds of missionaries and untold prayers have reached into the heart of this beautiful land.
In the form of spoken words of prayer and encouragement, blessings are an important cultural tradition among Central Asians. With that in mind, the Central Asia region would like to make 2008 a year of blessing for the Central Asian peoples of the former Soviet Union. In his time, God chose to liberate millions of Central Asians from an oppressive political system into a climate of freedom and opportunity.
In 2008 you have the opportunity to pray for God’s blessing on the peoples of the former Soviet Union. Each month we will feature a Central Asian people group living within the former Soviet Union. Each month we will add additional stories, prayer requests and downloadable resources about the featured people group to our website.
Will you commit to making 2008 a year of blessing for the former Soviet Union?
The Former Soviet Union: Etched into God's memory... and ours
Learn more about the peoples of the former Soviet Union
Kazakhs :: Kyrgyz :: Muslims of Moscow :: Tatar :: Turkmen :: Uzbeks