11 Thoughts about Kazakhstan

11 Thoughts about Kazakhstan

11. Kazakhstan is located in central Asia, south of Russia and West of China.  It used to be a part of the Soviet Union until the USSR collapse in 1991.  It is the largest country (other than Russia) in the former Soviet Union.

10. There are two main cities in Kazakhstan, Almaty and Astana.  Almaty is the biggest city (where I was at), and it is in the south, while Astana is the capital city in the north.  It takes 20 hours to get between them on a train, which shows you how vast the country is.  Other than the two main cities, there are vast expanses of mountains and wilderness, and not much else.

9. Almaty is bordered on one side by a mountain range, some of the most beautiful mountains I have ever seen.  Some mountains are up to 15,000ft. tall, which means they have snow and glaciers on them year-round.  I got a chance to hike a bit of the mountains there, and standing on the mountain looking at the city below was a beauty I won’t soon forget!

8. Cool random fact- it is believed that the Silk Road ran right through the center of Almaty.  Not very often do you get to say you walked on the Silk Road of thousands of years ago!

7. This city is also quite well-known for its winter sporting facilities.  Although it was about 90 degrees each day I was there, in the winter, they have skiing, ski jumping, hockey, speed skating, and many other competitions.  This year, they hosted the Collegiate World Championships, which brought athletes from America, Canada, Russia, and many other prominent countries.  Almaty also holds the world record for the world’s highest elevation outdoor skating rink, where many speed skaters come to train before a big competition. 

6. Recently, archeologists have been discovering new remains in the Eastern part of the country.  The last grave that was dug up had a cross on the gravestone, possibly signifying that the first descendants to this country were actually Christian, not Muslim.  This would be a very big discovery for the religious trajectory of the country moving forward- be praying that they find more conclusive evidence here!

5. Kazakh food is quite tasty, especially a dish called “lagman.”  Lagman is similar to Indonesian mie goreng, with thick, handmade noodles, beef, green peppers, tomatoes, onions, and egg, all fried together.  This dish is one of the main ones that people miss when they return to the States!

4. The traffic laws are followed to a T, because of the police activity from a few years ago.  In an order to ensure better drivers, police ticketed every person who did not stop at a crosswalk and run a red light.  Now, the drivers stop well before a person even steps out into the street- quite a nice contrast from other areas of the world I’ve visited!

3. Fellowships of believers are allowed, as long as they are registered.  Having a fellowship that is not registered is extremely dangerous, similar to Vietnam.  While I was there, I was able to help lead worship for an English fellowship, and it was cool to participate in a different style of fellowship than what I am used to. 

2. Kazakhstan culture and Indonesian culture are actually quite similar, even though the countries look vastly different.  The people are quite warm and welcoming towards foreigners, and I even got asked to practice my English a few times.  Their culture does not run on much of a schedule, similar to Indonesia, and there is quite a developing economy based around new ideas from the President.  Even small details, like taking shoes off at the door and shaking hands when people arrived were quite similar.  It was very interesting to see a place that looked like Europe (with wide roads, modern buildings, traffic laws, and lots of activities) but a culture that felt fairly similar. 

1. There are so many people trying to do ministry to the local people.  Kazakhstan has been named a Muslim country by the President, but there are small pockets of believers and many, many believer families are trying to reach out.  I met people doing various work: business training, English camps, ethnomusicology study, and drug addict recovery just to name a few.  In addition, there is an International School to support the children while the parents work.  Please be praying for safety for these people and continued growth of the Word through these areas. 

Luke Forshey

June 25, 2017