Persecuted Church: UZBEKISTAN – #16 on World Watch List (Open Doors UK)
Political Map of Central Asia
UZBEKISTAN (Wikipedia)
Population: 28 million (208,500 Christians)
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Authoritarian (republic)
Source of Persecution: Dictatorial paranoia/Organised corruption
The regime will do anything to stay in power, so no religious activities outside state-controlled institutions are allowed.
The Russian Orthodox Church has more freedoms, but evangelical Christianity is seen as a destabilising element that needs to be eradicated. Churches live in fear of raids, termination of services, confiscation of literature, and the imposition of heavy fines, which are frequent and increasing. Church members face harassment, detention and arrest for holding private prayer meetings or possessing illegal literature.
PLEASE PRAY:
- That God will strengthen and encourage Christians under pressure on many fronts
- That larger Christian groups will find ways to gather for worship or training
- For Tohar Haydarov, imprisoned in 2010 for ten years, on trumped-up charges.
PERSECUTION DYNAMICS:
Systemic corruption is rife in Uzbekistan and anyone opposing this, as Christians do, comes under pressure. Muslim-background believers face pressure from family, friends and community and are perceived as bringing shame to the community. The importation of Scripture is hindered, churches require compulsory registration and there are again frequent and increasingly heavy fines for conducting services or possessing material.
The future is unlikely to see improvement for believers, with an expected transition in leadership in coming years and the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan in 2014, which could lead to an influx of Islamic extremists. Uzbekistan also has the highest number of political prisoners among all former Soviet Union states (estimated between 5,000 to 10,000). If those prisoners – frequently imprisoned on true or alleged terrorist charges – are released, this could further fuel sentiment against the Christian minority.
Lena, Ayoub and Latife faced intense persecution when the police had found Christian materials in Ayoub’s father’s house. Police arrested him and Ayoub’s brother, and then took Lena to the police station, where they were all questioned. They were also looking for Ayoub to arrest him as well.
Preparations for court cases were made: the first one being under administrative law, the second one would be more serious and under the criminal law. The tension and stress seriously affected Lena’s health.
Ayoub recently sent Open Doors a note saying:
“First of all, I would like to express our gratefulness to all those who prayed for us during this time of severe persecution. I would like to share the good news with you: God heard our prayers!
During the first court case we faced we were fined for our activities and had to pay 5 minimum monthly salaries, which amounts to approximately US $160. We worried about the second court case as this was going to be under the criminal law and would be far more severe and difficult for us.
We were totally amazed by God’s intervention when we heard that the second court case had been cancelled. God had softened the hearts of the people who were in charge of our case and for some reason or other they decided to close the case. A serious illness of one of the officers’ relatives had occurred and significantly delayed the proceedings. That is probably why the decision was taken to cancel the court case.
We believe that God was in control of each day. What happened was a real miracle to us! We have never heard about a case like ours where the investigators just asked for a traditional meal of ‘plov’ to be served and closed the case. God greatly encouraged our family and we felt your prayer support.”
The Peanut Gallery 