The Sealed

Almaty
Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Dear Brethren in Christ,

By the Lord’s wonderful grace I have arrived safely in Kazakhstan. My luggage did not arrive with me, and I pray that it will arrive tomorrow morning on the same flight.

Kazakhstan is a vast country in Central Asia bordering China and Russia with land area exceeding even that of Western Europe. There have been prophecies declaring that the Lord will use it to send forth missionaries to all of Central Asia and China. May the Lord use The Elijah Challenge Training this week to equip His people to fulfill that prophecy.

The indigenous people of Kazakhstan, the Kazaks, descend from the Turks and the Mongolians, and so possess a beautiful blend of Asian and Caucasian features. There are also Russians living here who look distinctively Causasian. I was told that there are also Tartars here, and I’m looking forward to seeing what they look like.

The Kazaks are predominantly “folk Ms” who follow their religion mostly out of allegiance to their culture. They are not fundamentalists which makes our job of evangelism a bit easier than, say, in Malaysia. Again, the obstacle to them entering the Kingdom of God of one of “religion.” To them the Christian religion is the religion of the Orthodox Russians who are very dry and very worldly (and drunk) and who once colonized them. Islam, by contrast, is the traditional religion of their ancestors.

The Church must learn to stop presenting the Way as a religion that directly competes with indigenous religions. That inevitably results in opposition and conflict—which may in fact be unnecessary. Here we are not going to proclaim the religion of Christianity, but rather Isa Almasih (Jesus Christ as He is known in the Koran in Arabic) as the One who heals diseases and forgives sins. We are ultimately looking for a mass movement of Ms not into Christianity, but into the Kingdom of God through repentance and following Isa Almasih as Lord and Savior—a mass movement of M followers of Isa.

The church which is hosting me here—Spring of Life—is the very first church in Kazakhstan which is already using this approach of contextualization to proclaim the kingdom of God to the Ms. What I will do is add the tool of miraculous healings to demonstrate to the Ms that Isa can forgive sin and grant eternal life.

Below is our schedule of meetings to begin tomorrow at 4 PM.

Wednesday through Friday, July 23 – 25, 2008. Each day Training session in the church hall from 4 PM till 9 PM. (4.00 – 4.30: Worship, 4.30 -6.30: first session, 6.30 – 7.00:
dinner, 7.00 – 9.00: second session). We are expecting about 150 – 200 people every day.

Saturday, July 26, 2008: 4 PM onwards healing crusade outside the church building. We are praying for 1000 people.

Sunday, July 27, 2008: 10.30 AM Sunday worship service.

Thank you for your ministry of intercession on my behalf, dear partners.

Nothing is impossible for God, and for those who have the faith of a mustard seed.

Sincerely in Christ,

William