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UzbekistanRestricted
Christian Persecution in Uzbekistan
Overview:
Though Uzbekistan has long been a highly restricted country, its government has made incremental reforms in religious freedom in recent years. This improvement, with unity among believers across several Christian denominations and a focus on training and equipping Christian leaders, is a positive development for the small number of Uzbek churches and Christians. Though restrictions on churches and Christian organizations have eased, evangelism and conversion are opposed, and it is still illegal to distribute evangelistic literature in public.
Major Religion:
83 percent of Uzbeks are Sunni Muslims. 2 percent are Christians. Many are irreligious as a result of suffering under decades of atheistic Communist rule prior to the fall of the Soviet Union.
Persecutor:
The government gives families tacit approval to reject other family members who become Christians, or to try to force them back to Islam.
What It Means To Follow Christ In Uzbekistan
Converts from Islam are persecuted by their families, communities and sometimes by the government. Christians outside the Orthodox denomination are considered religious extremists and have been fined and detained for holding worship services, which the government sometimes considers to be illegal religious activity. Orthodox churches meet openly and legally, but most other Christians meet in unregistered groups. Uzbekistan’s government once routinely imprisoned Christians, but in the last four years even fines and short detentions have become very rare.
Access To Bibles:
Bibles are difficult to obtain and, for some Christians, risky to own. Give Bibles
VOM Work:
VOM distributes Christian literature and equips pastors and evangelists with ministry tools that expand their outreach and other ministry work. Give to VOM’s Global Ministry
Prayer Requests:
- Praise God that fines and detentions are now rare and Christians have greater freedom to practice their faith.
- Pray that unregistered house churches will remain undetected by the government.
- Pray that Uzbek Christians will forgive family members who reject them because of their faith.
- Pray that those who rejected the gospel while living under atheistic Communist rule will now find new life in Christ.
- Pray that Uzbek church leaders will have the necessary ministry tools to expand their gospel outreach.