"He who is the Bread of Life began His ministry hungering. He who is the Water of Life ended His ministry thirsting. Christ hungered as a man, yet fed the hungry as God. He was weary, yet He is our rest. He paid tribute, yet He is the King. He was called a devil, but He cast out demons. He prayed, yet He hears prayer. He wept, and He dries our tears. He was sold for thirty pieces of silver, yet He redeems sinners. He was led as a lamb to His slaughter, yet He is the Good Shepherd. He gave His life, and by dying He destroyed death." -Unknown
I chose this quote because of it's contradictions. When we look at Jesus' life, to an outsider it wouldn't seem to make any sense. But as believers, we see the beauty in it because we know that we have a God who can understand us. While he was on this earth, Jesus suffered as we suffered and he was tempted as we are tempted (Hebrews 4:14). Despite Jesus being God and us being mere people, we are one with Him and can approach the throne of grace with confidence because of that. The idea of having unity inspite of being world's apart, is the theme for this month. As I was preparing for this month's study, I was struck by the opposite nature of the two countries we are focusing on. Kazakhstan is very affluent and has a thriving economy; Chiapas is a very poor region and 40% of the population suffers from malnutrition. In Kazakhstan, the people speak two languages and they have a 99.5% literacy rate; in Chiapas, most of the general population does not even speak the language of their country (Spanish) let alone know how to read it. Kazakhstan is very stable politically; Chiapas has suffered for years from fighting by leftist revolutionaries who even control parts of the state. But despite all these differences, the Christian people in these countries are united in their suffering for Christ. It just shows that no matter our walk in life, we will always face persecution because of our stand for Christ. But more importantly it also shows that the bond we share as believers in Christ transcends any man made distinctions. Wealth or poverty, educated or uneducated, at peace or at war; all these differences pale in comparison to the unity we find in Christ. I pray this month that as we lift up our brothers and sisters who are worlds apart from us, that we would remember that no matter how different our lives might seem, we are united in Spirit and connected in a way that transcends the space between us.
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Kazakhstan
Religions: Muslim 47%, Russian Orthodox 44%, Protestant 2%, Other 7%
Basic Info: Kazakhstan was conquered by Russia in the 18th century and was a mix of Turkic and Mongol nomadic tribes. When the Soviet Union came to power, they encouraged people to move to the northern pastures of Kazakhstan to help cultivate them. This resulted in a large immigration of Russians and other ethnicities who eventually outnumbered the native Kazakhs. Kazakhstan is the largest of all the former Soviet territories and its economy is larger than all the other Central Asian states combined due to their vast natural resources and political stability. It has a significant illicit cultivation of cannabis and the government does little to destroy these drug crops. It is also a significant consumer of opiates. About 58% of the 15,399,437 population is urban. Even though the state language is Kazakh, the official language for everyday business is Russian and is spoken by 95% of the people. Also the country has a 99.5% literacy rate.
Government: The government is a republic with an authoritarian presidential rule with little power outside the executive branch. The leader is President Nursultan A. Nazarbayev. The President appoints the Prime Minister and the First Deputy Prime Minister with approval from the Mazhilis, part of the bicameral parliament. Constitutional amendments in May 2007 shortened the presidential term from 7 years to 5 years, and established a two term consecutive limit. However, the changes don’t take effect until President Nazarbayev is done with his terms; he is allowed to run for president indefinitely. The legal system is based on Islamic and Roman law. At 18 years of age citizens have compulsory military service for 2 years.
Religion: The constitution has guaranteed freedom of religion since 2002, but parliament also passed a law requiring all church groups and missionaries to register. The President however did not approve the new law. Still, a new draft has passed parliament that would require all churches and religious organizations to register with the government. Despite not having passed into law yet, authorities consistently act as though registration is required. Believers who remember the communist regime of the Soviet Union recall how government control was part of forced registration and are reluctant to register now. Churches and pastors have faced fines and church closures due to their refusal to register with the government. The draft law was further amended in November 2008 to include mandating a fixed fine of 50 times the minimum monthly salary for those found guilty of worshipping, building or opening places of worship, or publishing or distributing religious literature without government permission. The amendment would also require both parents to give permission before a child could attend a religious event and would ban believers from expressing their faith beyond their "own circle."
Video Encyclopedia of Kazakhstan (gives an overview of the country; good for anyone who would like to picture the country better)
Chiapas
Basic Info: Chiapas is the southern most state of Mexico and borders Guatemala. It has the ruins of five ancient Mayan city states within its borders, and about 25% of the population are either of full or predominately Mayan descent. The area is mostly made up of poor, rural, small farmers and many people in rural areas do not even speak Spanish. The state has the highest rate of malnutrition in Mexico, affecting more than 40% of the population. The Mexican Constitution grants religious freedom with some restrictions, such as only gathering in their own building and church leaders are not allowed to criticize Mexico’s laws or authorities.
Religion: After 300 years of rule by Spain, most know that the Catholic Church has a strong presence in Mexico. However, in Chiapas, due to the Mayan descent of most of the population, Catholicism has been blended with traditionalist pagan practices creating what is known as traditionalist communities. These traditionalists sponsor “festivals” 13 times a year, like the Day of the Dead, and many villages require residents to pay a fee to cover the costs of the event. However, many evangelicals say that these festivals are really just drunken orgies, and refuse to participate or pay for them. This has resulted in believers being jailed, even though there is no law requiring them to pay for the festivals. Reprisals, such as the destruction and burning of church buildings has occurred as well. Traditionalists have even threatened to burn the Christians inside the church, and leaders face death threats.
Persecution: Protestants are sometimes seen as a threat to Mexico because they are seen as having ties to the United States, and persecution against evangelicals is escalating. In 2007, twenty incidents were registered with the government. In 2008, a Christian family was attacked by neighbors who accused them of witchcraft. Three were killed and six were seriously injured. A lot of the persecution originates from the Caciques, powerful community chieftains/town bosses, who try to keep the evangelicals out of their villages. They often make up their own rules to ‘protect’ their culture. Christians have been jailed and even killed for sharing their faith with a non-believer or for even entering a traditionalist town. Thousands have been forced from their land and expelled from villages for simply accepting a non-traditionalist faith. Christians also face persecution from Zapatistas (leftist revolutionaries) and the pagan native tribes (especially witch doctors). After the Zapatistas revolution against the Mexican army in 1994, they confiscated land from evangelical Christians. Although some of their guns are hidden, they continue to control some villages and mountainous areas. In 2003, they declared all Zapatistas territory an autonomous area independent of the Mexican government. Human rights attorney and pastor Esdras Alonso has documented hundreds of incidents against evangelical Christians. He says that people are violating individual believer’s rights for the sake of the lifestyles and customs of the indigenous peoples. In their efforts to ‘protect’ these native groups, they have threatened and even killed evangelical Christians, denying them their constitutional protection and rights.
The Persecution of the Church in Chiapas, Mexico
Persecution in Chiapas Mexico
Sunday, March 7, 2010
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