Issyk-kul
From a pastor
“Mountains occupy 70% of the Kyrgyz territory, other 30% - this is the territory where people live and land for grazing cattle, sowing crops and planting vegetables. Therefore Kyrgyzstan is an import-dependent country, we depend on Russia and Kazakhstan. We have planted potatoes in February, also there should be the harvest of winter in Kyrgyzstan. But for now, due to the state of emergency and of quarantine in the country, we are missing the best time for planting vegetables and cereals. And we don’t know when the quarantine will be lifted.
“The food situation in the country is acceptable. The products as such are available in stores, but due to the economic situation around the world (Kyrgyzstan is not an exception) food prices have increased significantly. The authorities do not tell us for how long food supply will last, as borders are closed and there is no import of the main product - flour and oil, flour products (pasta)…
“Due to the introduction of a state of emergency in the country, it is forbidden to conduct any kind of services in the house of prayer. As church is an organization, the fine for meeting is very big. This situation made us gather at home groups secretly. On the home groups we get to know each other's needs and help as much as possible. At the moment, neither schools nor kindergartens are working, and even if someone had a job, they have to take unpaid leave and stay at home with the children. The most poor Christian families live very grievously, but thank the church many needs are covered. The groups in the Internet are being created to assist our brothers and sisters, and all the neediest.
“The main spiritual problem, which appeared in the country, is fear and panic among people. Because of fear, not because of the coronavirus, many people die. In the Issyk-Kul region 5 suicides of teenagers has been recorded. We call Christians to inform people that the information they are hearing is mostly unreliable. The Church preaches the Gospel whenever possible and prays passionately, so that the Lord would solve this situation and send deliverance…
“The most important encouragement we received from the Lord is that our prayer house is not empty, we were forbidden to hold services and were asked to provide our building for quarantine for all people who had no time to leave the city or were just homeless. The prayer house continues to serve, people from the Church are engaged in feeding those people who did not have time to leave the city, feed the homeless. For me as a pastor this is great encouragement, because our church continues to serve the Lord. The authorities, seeing our zeal, have provided us with lists of elderly single people and, as far as possible, we help them with food. The ministers of our church were given passes, for they could move around the city and help people. Thank God we serve, and therefore we live.”
