Uzbekistan/Turkmenistan: Spirit of Courage

"Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are stiffened." -Billy Graham


"Well done, good and faithful servant" are words that every Christian hopes to one day hear from their LORD. What would this Christian look like, I wonder? Just as no two snowflakes are exactly alike, no two followers of Christ will be exactly the same and lead the same lives. Though just as snowflakes all have similar qualities, so do Christians. Courage and faithfulness are just two of these qualities. In today's video you will see the story of a man who was arrested for his faith in Christ, and went willingly to prison. When he was released, he was ready to resume preaching, but people were too afraid to come and hear him. He preached anyway, even though no one was there to hear him. For two days he praeched to the walls around him. He remained faithful to God's calling on his life, and God honored his faithfulness. A month later, most of the congregation had returned. Sometimes, all it takes is one person courageously standing on the side of God to call others to him. We live in America, not Uzbekistan or Turkmenistan, but we can still take a stand for God. Even if we are standing alone or we don't see the results or we wonder what possible good we can do because no one else is listening. Remember this pastor's story and have courage to do the right thing, even if you can't see where it is going. May we be a light of courage for God in this dark world this Christmas season.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Uzbekistan

Religion: Muslims 83.5 %, non-religious 14.52%, Christian 1.52 %, Buddhist 0.30%
The country is a secular state that promotes a moderate form of Islam. Almost all the Christians are ethnic minorities. The population is estimated at 26,593,000.

Politics: The constitution allows for democracy, but in reality, the executive holds a great deal of power and the legislative and judiciary has little power to shape laws. Under terms of a December 1995, referendum, Islom Karimov's first term was extended. Another national referendum was held January 27, 2002, to yet again extend Karimov's term. The referendum passed and Karimov's term was extended by an act of parliament to December 2007. He is still the current President. Despite multiple media outlets, they are either controlled by the government or they rarely broach government topics.

Human Rights: The Constitution asserts that "democracy in the republic of Uzbekistan shall be based upon common human principles, according to which the highest value shall be the human being, his life, freedom, honor, dignity, and other inalienable rights." However, non-government human rights watchdogs, such as IHF, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, as well as United States Department of State and Council of the European Union, define Uzbekistan as "an authoritarian state with limited civil rights" and express profound concern for "widescale violation of virtually all basic human rights." According to the reports, the most widespread violations are torture, arbitrary arrests, and various restrictions of freedoms: of religion, of speech and press, of free association and assembly. The reports maintain that the violations are most often committed against members of religious organizations, independent journalists, human rights activists, and political activists, including members of the banned opposition parties. In 2005, Uzbekistan was included in the Freedom Houses's "The Worst of the Worst: The Worlds Most Repressive Societies". A concern has been expressed and a request for an independent investigation has been made by the United States. European Union, the UN, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. The government of Uzbekistan is accused of unlawful termination of human life, denying freedom of assembly and freedom of expression. The government vehemently denies the accusations, insisting that it merely conducted an anti-terrorist operation, exercising only necessary force.

Persecution: Each church must have an official government registration in order to hold services. Police have made unannounced visits to churches demanding to see their registration papers. Churches unable to produce their registration are immediately closed down and their doors sealed by police. Pastors have been arrested, detained, and their members threatened. Evangelism or missionary activity can earn three years in prison and organizing an unregistered group, five years. Ethnic minorities, (Koreans and Russians) have considerable freedom to reach their own people and are doing so. National Security Police raided several churches in 2004, threatening heavy fines if the churches did not register. House church meetings in Uzbekistan are illegal. In one raid police reportedly said there was no need for Christians or faiths other than Islam in Uzbekistan.

Prisoner: Dmitry Shestakov, arrested Jan 2007. To learn more about him go to http://www.prisoneralert.com/ and click on Uzbekistan.





Turkmenistan

Basic Info: Turkmenistan is located in Central Asia and borders Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Iran. It is about the size of California and 80% of the country is made up of desert. It has extensive irrigation, and half of the irrigated land is planted with cotton. Despite having large oil and natural gas reserves, worth tens of billions of dollars, most of the population is still living in poverty and they have the lowest life expectancy in the region. Even after gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the country has remained mostly closed to outsiders. The population is about 5,179,571.

Government: The country is a republic with an authoritarian presidential rule with little power outside the executive branch. The country was run for years by President for Life Saparmurat Niyazoy. He called himself Turkmenbashi (Father of the Turkmen) and made himself the center of a personality cult. Cities, aftershave, and a meteor were all named after him. In 2002, he renamed all the months of the calendar-April was named after his mother. He wrote a book called Ruhnama, a collection of his thoughts on Turkmen culture and history. It is taught in schools as theology, it is preached in mosques, and there is even a giant replica of the book that ceremonially opended every night in the capital city. Niyazoy died in December 2006, and Turkmenistan held its first multi-candidate presidential electoral process in February 2007, though many people claim the election was rigged. Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov, a vice president under Niyazoy, emerged as the country's new president. Since his coming to power, he has sought to implement some reforms. He has improved the health care and educational systems and he has increased access to the internet in both schools and cafes. He has broken down some of the personality cult of his predecessor, but partly to initiate his own. A new mosque was named after him in 2009 and book shops are full of his own publications. The government still has significant control over the population. Formal opposition parties are illegal, and the government has absolute control over the media. They monitor all media outlets, operate the printing presses for the newspapers, and have editorial policies. Programs from Russian TV stations are censored before broadcasting.

Religion: There are only 2 legally registered faith communities in Turkmenistan: the Sunni Muslim Board and the Russian Orthodox Church. Religious activity from all faiths is highly restricted, and controlled/monitored by the government. Registered religious groups are often denied the right to worship and are banned from importing or printing religious literature. Unregistered communities are often raided and their members are assulted and threatened. The government has confiscated or destroyed many churches, and it is impossible to build a church without registration. Many pastors within the country have been exiled, beaten, heavily fined, and/or imprisoned. Foreigners involved in religious activities are regularly expelled from the country.

Information taken from BBC News Country Profile: Turkmenistan, CIA World Fact Book, VOM Canada: Uzbekistan/Turkmenistan, Wikipedia




President for Life - Turkmenistan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6XK-yGi7NA