BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN:
There has been a deaf church group in Bishkek for some years. Pastor Blake had the privilege of visiting this group several years ago.
The group has been struggling with a membership drop and the current Gospel Outreach worker, Pavel, is trying to reverse this trend.
Kyrgyzstan was a Russian satellite nation for many years and is made up of national Kyrgy persons and also those of Russian accessory tracing back to the Russian occupation. Pavel tells us that the deaf group has moved from their own “House of Prayer” church building to worshipping with a heavily Korean church in Bishkek.
Earlier this year Pavel led out in a Health Fair that even included a free massage- if you wished.
The deaf group combined efforts with the Korean members and put on a beautiful Korean costume sort of pageant demonstrating aspects of Korean culture.
With help from abroad, they have helped feed two very poor families. In September 2019 they put on a Harvest Festival.
Because of complications with access to their new location, they had to work on a gate and ended up with an attractive metal gate giving easy access to the church.
They have also put on a culinary class to round out a broad series of attempts to get close to their deaf community. Do join in prayer for our Bishkek group!