The closed Muslim country where HopeRussia Seminary 2016 graduate “Ridon” serves is hostile to Christianity. He founded Truth and Freedom Church in August, 2011. It is a house-church movement that has grown significantly. Many people of Muslim background have professed faith in Christ and joined the church. This evangelistic fruitfulness continues to this day.

The nominally-Muslim population comprehend little of Islam. Politically and culturally dominated by Russian-Soviet authorities for more than a century, the people are open to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In this patriarchal culture, if the head of the household becomes a believer, the rest of the family soon follows. Recently Ridon led a man to Christ, and very soon his wife and three children also made a decision to be baptized and joined Christ’s church. Praise God! 

To help keep Ridon’s location under wraps, if anyone asks you exactly where he is church planting, tell them that he works in the little-known republic of Jennifer-Ani-Stan.

Key Statistics

• Population total for Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan is 75 million, the vast majority of whom are nominal Muslims.

• Russian, as well as being spoken by the six million ethnic Russians and Ukrainians of Central Asia, is the de facto lingua franca throughout the former Soviet Central Asian republics.

• A large percentage of these Central Asian republics also speak the languages spoken in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran.  This language bridge could allow the fruits of our work in these republics to spread beyond their borders.