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News from Kazakhstan
By Gina Bulica
Thanks
be to God, who … through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the
knowledge of him… Therefore we do not lose heart… For our light and
momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far
outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what
is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is
eternal. (2 Corinthians 2:14; 4:16-18). | | 
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Dear sisters,
Finally,
after a slow recovery from the long journey and challenging time in
Kazakhstan, two lots of dental surgery that I needed to undertake
because of a bad abscess and a conference in Serbia for pastors and
Christian workers and their wives where I was the main speaker for the
women’s part, here is the long awaited report about Kazakhstan. Thank
you so much for your patience with me!
I remember a T-shirt from
a conference my husband and I attended in Manila, in 1990, during which
time we experienced a very strong earth-quake, terrorist threats and
caught a bad virus. On it was written: “We survived Manila 2000”.
With a large, happy smile on our faces and with thankful, joyful
hearts, this is what my husband and I feel like saying now: Praise the
Lord for His goodness, Gina survived Almaty 2009! There were no
earth-quakes, no terrorist threats, not even a virus, and yet, it
seemed one of the hardest things I have ever done.
From the
moment I started preparations for this trip I experienced strong
opposition from the enemy in all sorts of ways. Yet, by God’s grace, I
accomplished everything I felt called to do there. For this reason both
my husband and I are so thankful to all our supporters who lifted this
mission trip in prayer before the throne of grace, for we know I could
not have done any of the things I did without God’s special protection
and help.
As you are well aware, my state of health had been a
concern from the start but my determination to trust and obey God’s
call continued to be unmoved throughout the whole trip, in spite of
continuous challenges. On the journey from Prague to Almaty the
pressure in the aeroplane was so bad that my oxygen level went down to
76%, which was pretty dangerous. For this reason I had to keep the
oxygen concentrator working throughout the flight. I am really thankful
that my husband accompanied me, especially as Alina, my team-mate could
not come with me, after all. One concern as we left Timişoara was that
one of the 3 spare batteries for the concentrator could not get charged
before the trip, so I was only covered for about 6 hours out of
the whole journey. But, as it turned out, this is all that I needed. I
even had some 20 min of oxygen left to use in the car from the airport
to the flat where we stayed. God’s provision of grace is always
sufficient!
Almaty had a not so pleasant a surprise in store for
us, one for which we were not prepared: the level of pollution was
probably the highest we had ever encountered, and this affected me
quite a bit, as the car the organizers hired for us had no
recirculation or air-conditioning and the traffic in the city was very
bad.
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Furthermore,
during the three days of the women’s conference, I had problems with my
oesophagus, so I could not eat or sleep much because of the pain.
Despite all these drawbacks, God enabled me not to miss even one
session, and I managed to cover all the material that I had prepared (8
sessions). What a great God we have! Although I encountered problems
and limitations, one remarkable thing will always remain in my memory –
that deep feeling of peace and happiness I experienced throughout this
mission trip, which comes from knowing that I was in the centre of
God’s will. If only for this, all the struggles and frustrations have
been more than worth enduring!
Can you imagine how it would be
not to have the Bible translated in your own language? (Only 4 books of
the OT and the Psalms are currently translated in Kazakh!) Or not
to be able to study theology in your own language (that is, if you are
able to study it at all!)? Do you know that presently there are more
ethnic Kazakhs who went to Seminary in Moldova than in Kazakhstan? And
that Kazakhstan is at the moment the most open of all Muslim countries
in that part of the world regarding the Christian faith?
Realising
all these truths made me even more aware of the pressing need to train
and mentor national Kazakh women leaders while this is still possible,
so that the impact they have on their own people would be powerful and
lasting, even in the event of less freedom in the future. This is one
of the main things that I feel God has called me to do. I also realised
there how important it is to provide the translation of a basic
leadership training course in Kazakh, and with God’s help, this will be
done in the next 12 months.
The main purposes of this trip was
to train the ethnic Kazakh national women leaders and to identify a
group of pastors/leaders and women with leadership potential that we
can continue to mentor via Skype, helping them to grow in their walk
with God and their knowledge of Him, so that they can become what God
desires them to be and serve Him on His terms, not their own. I am very
happy to tell you that steps were taken and, with God’s help, I hope to
start investing long term in 2 (possibly 3) Kazakh women. We were also
very happy to find a Romanian young woman that serves in that part of
the world who would also like to be mentored by me. |
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The
women’s conference, in many respects, exceeded my expectations.
Although it was meant to be the Kazakh Women’s National Conference (the
last one was held in 2007), some of the leaders from Russian churches
also came in the first evening. From the second day there were just
over 30 participants, most of them from different parts of Kazakhstan,
with some sisters from Karakalpakia (an autonomous region in
Uzbekistan, with a distinct language and culture) and from Uzbekistan,
with the translation for most part in Kazakh. Some of these ladies were
ready to take a 2 days and one night train trip together with their
small children only to participate in the conference! |
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All
the women who attended were very enthusiastic about the teaching
received and the greatest majority of them wrote in the evaluation form
that the conference had exceeded their expectations and that they had
been challenged to grow in their prayer life, ministry and family
relations by what was taught. Many indicated that during the conference
they felt the Holy Spirit calling them to particular areas of ministry.
Anara (my Kazakh friend who is the leader of the Kazakh Baptist
Women) and I were very disappointed that a group of Kyrgyz sisters who
were invited to the conference were not allowed to attend by their
Union leadership, although they were in Almaty at the time as part of a
singing group who performed at a pastors’ conference. Women’s ministry
is still very much regarded with suspicion in that part of the world,
which is very sad.
There was also a historic moment at the end
of the last day, when for the first time the Kazakh women’s ministry
received official recognition from the Kazakh pastor in charge with the
supervision of all Kazakh churches within the Baptist Union. A national
team of 5 leaders was appointed and Pastor Galim prayed for them,
asking God’s blessing over them and the ministry they were entrusted
with. I felt very honoured and privileged to be able to be a part of
such a special moment. |
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Looking
back, there are many more things that I would love to share with you
about this mission trip to Kazakhstan that I will always treasure in my
heart, but I do not wish to try your patience any longer. I cannot
close this letter, however, without thanking you from the bottom of my
heart for the loving support that you offered for this trip (both in
prayer and the donation of 500 Euro that were used toward covering
conference costs for the participants).
Please continue to
bring before God’s throne of grace the women’s ministry in Timişoara
and Romania, asking Him to lead and sustain us as we continue to serve
Him. I also urge you to pray for the Kazakh people, asking God to send
out many workers into His harvest field in Kazakhstan, so that His
Kingdom will be extended among the Kazakhs.
Yours, with love in Christ, Gina Bulica
Gina is President of the Baptist Women’s work in the district Timisoara, Romania.
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