R.K.'s Travel log, part 3:
celebrating agape's 20th Anniversary

august 2009

.......... After the mountain retreat, everybody was transported back to Almaty where we entered into a three days magnificent celebration with a thousand plus believers.
               It was conducted in the elegantly decorated Agape church hall, beautified with flowers, white and blue balloons gathered in artistic clusters, the flag of each nation represented, and rich, blue fabric draping the front and back walls from ceiling to floor.  A festive backdrop for the joy and enthusiasm bursting forth as the talents and gifts of the participants found their expressions in a variety of creative ways under the guidance of the Holy Spirit in thanksgiving and worship to the Lord!    Yuri and his pastoral and administrative teams did an outstanding job, down to the minute details! 

xxxxxx The main speakers preached on the Kingdom of God, exhorting the people to continue to live by faith and reach out to the unsaved, the rejected, and the wounded.  The natoinal pastors and missionaries shared the Word of God with us. For three days - a piece of heaven on earth!!

xxxxxx Agape’s founders and main apostolic leaders/sponsors, each individual and couple, were honored by a crystal trophy. On the top of the column, it displays two hands holding the globe , signifying that .. "He has the whole world in His hands!" Above from left to right: Piet, Nina, Ragnhild (RK), Elena, Baikal, Lena, Nikolai, Irina, and Yuri.

xxxxxx The worship - a burst of joyous creativity via instrumentals, songs, dance, drama, and testimonies. The children and the youth did a particularly impressive Biblical drama from the story of Joseph, as well as several interpretive dances performed gracefully with great skill, energy, and precision. Their colorful costumes were sewn by members of the church.

xxxxxx The worship team, every one of them accomplished musicians, brought the congregation into joyous worship and thanksgiving. Everybody reflected the excellence in what they put their hands to. They exemplified what should be the hallmark of every believer: to do everything as unto the Lord, not just unto mere man (Eph. 6:7-8).

xxxxxx There were wonderful testimonies and greetings from many of the missionaries and district church leaders, as well as from the local pastors present. Gifts were presented to Yuri as tokens of their appreciation of his leadership and service toward the Lord and them. The Minister of Religious Affairs, as representative frolm the Kazakh government, expressed appreciation to Agape for their members' outstanding community service. Perhaps the most moving expression of thanks came from the Leader of the Kazakh Evangelical churces, who gave Agape a beautifully handmade Kazakh rug, as well as honored Yuri with their national costume. He and another Kazakh pastor then prayed and declared blessings on him, his family, and Agape's future.

xxxxxx On Sunday evening, during the last meeting, app. thirty inter-denominational pastors who were present at the celebration, got up onto the podium and began exhorting the believers and praying for one another, for blessings upon the believers, for unity of the Body of Christ in Kazakhstan and Central Asia, for boldness in witnessing, and strength, grace, and courage to stand in faith during the hard times they anticipate will be coming for the believers in their country. It was a significant, powerful moment in the Spirit.

xxxxxx A new law is in the making, if ratified, will all but outlaw the Evangelical churches in Kazakhstan. Presently there are over 1000 Evangelical churches and fellowships in the country. Yuri is the head of the Union of Evangelical Churches, and he has been instrumentl in bringing these inter-denominational leaders together regularly for prayer and mutual support. There is an amazing unity among the churches -- a thing we can learn much from in the West! This was a great conclusion to an amazing three days of celebration!

xxxxxx Like the rose garden in front of the building, everything is blossoming at Agape Drug Rehabilitation Center, located in a village app. 30 min drive outside Almaty. The app. 15.000 sq. feet building used to be the village town hall.  In the mid-nineties, a Canadian businessman bought it and donated it to Agape, to provide housing for the Bible Training School (presently Agape Bible College).    In 2001, the school moved back to the main Mission Center in Almaty. 

xxxxxx Yuri gave the building to Nikolai, a major drug dealer turned man of God, to be used for his newly opened Christian drug rehab center.  Since then, several hundred men and women have been set free from the slavery of drugs and crime by the power of the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus, and are now model citizens, actively serving God in various capacities.  A number of the alumni have gone on to Agape Bible College. As graduates, they have been sent out as pioneer missionaries to establish new rehab centers in other parts of the country, of which there are now six in various districts, all of them mainly financed by the main center.

 
xxxxxx A few years ago, in assisting the rehab center toward financial self-sufficiency, The Bridge gave US$3,000 toward the purchase of farm animals.  This has been hugely successful, as their barn now has enough animals to daily supply adequate protein to the 40 full time residents plus the staff, in addition to 30 homeless taken in during the cold season.  The overflow, plus the extra produce from their vegetable garden and 140 fruit trees, are sold at the market place. The proceeds provide funds for purchase of other needed items.

xxxxxx Recently, the center opened two new successful enterprises: an auto shop for rebuilding and repairing of cars, and a business producing hand-made rod iron gates.
Last year, a friend of ours from Paris, France, donated US$2,000 through The Bridge toward the laying of a new roof on half of the building. Blessings upon blessing! Nikolai is looking for funds to finish the new roof on the remaining of the building, which is leaking.  

xxxxxx The day we traveled from the mountain retreat center back to the city to participate in the Celebration, a group of us were invited for lunch at the drug rehab center. What a feast!! Everything on the table (except for the Coca Cola and Soda) was home grown and delicious: roasted duck, turkey, chicken, beef, rabbit, deviled eggs, cheese platter, mixed vegetables, cabbage, salad with fresh vegetables, homemade bread — a large cooked sturgeon fished in the nearby river! The centerpiece: freshly picked roses from their garden!

              I spent two days with Sargon Daniali and had a meal with him, his wife and four children, and some of their friends and coworkers in his home (picture to the right).  Sargon — an Assyrian Iranian national who has lived and served the Lord in Kazakhstan for fifteen years, is in the process of building a home in the in the outskirts of the city.   It still needs to be completed.

xxxxxx Sargon is an evangelist /educator at heart.  His vision is to equip Central Asian nationals to go out and conquer the Silk Road and Middle East with the Gospel.  He invited me to teach in a Korean mission school which had fifteen students committed to missions, mostly in closed Muslim nations!
xxxxxx A group of American missionaries are working toward establishing a fully accredited Kazakh Theological Seminary in Almaty.  Sargon, who is on the Task Force, invited me to have lunch with them and the leader of the Kazakh Evangelical Churches, to participate in the discussion on how to proceed.

xxxxxx I had a lovely ethnic Japanese meal with a pleasant, warm-hearted couple from Japan whose mission is to reach every community in Central Asia with correspondence Bible teaching courses They are doing a great work!

xxxxxx Sargon then took me to the office of the Jewish Agency for Israel where we met with the Director who gave us insight into the history and culture of the Central Asia’s Jews.  There is a good relationship between Israel and Kazakhstan, and also between the Jews and the Christians. I took a symbolic picture of the two men in front of the Israeli and Kazakh flags: an Israeli and an Iranian standing side by side in peace and harmony — only by God’s grace!

              On the plane overseas to Kazakhstan, I had caught a virus which, as the days passed, progressed into a violent respiratory problem (a touch of the swine flu?).  I refused to buckle and go to bed, so prayers and good care kept me on my feet. Nina Chin-Smirnova, one of my roommates, was the instrumental person in St. Petersburg, Russia under Piet’s leadership who, right after communism fell, established The Bridge Church and Bibleschool.  She interprets for Piet when he travels in Russian-speaking countries.  She is now married in Switzerland.  Nina and I traveled back together on the plane and spent a couple of days in St. Pete.  I visited Most Church (The Bridge Church), a warm, welcoming group of people who have a ministry toward abused, emotionally hurt people—of whom there are plenty in Russia!  A brilliant pulmonary doctor and a very proficient masseuse at Most Church lovingly cared for me — I quickly got healed!
xxxxxx I then spent three lovely days with Lena Shemka, my friend and business woman who effectively shares the Lord among young entrepreneurs, and disciples many of them.  I visited her church, and also met her boss who just came to faith in Jesus. 

xxxxxx This concludes this ministry trip.  It was a very satisfying, prosperous journey!  And you – my partners and friends – you were all with me in my heart and prayers.  Those of you who sponsor these nations, are partakers in the fruit of their righteousness (2. Corinthians 9:9-10)!